I cannot believe I am already a month into my senior year at SMSU. It seems like not too long ago I was the nervous incoming freshman girl that didn't know what she wanted to do with her life. Fast forward three years later and you have a confident and determined young woman who knows exactly what she wants to do... or so I say so, right? A lot has happened in my years at SMSU, and I wouldn't change any of it as I have grown immensely from my experiences.
If you Google "Why go to college?" it says:
"If you go to college, you'll gain information and skills that you'll use for the rest of your life. That's reason enough to pursue an education beyond high school, but here are more practical considerations. Some benefits of extracurricular activities. Have more job opportunities."
Really Google? That is your response?
If you would ask me that same question, "Why go to college?" my response would be something like this:
College allows you to have a bit of an identity crisis as it throws you into a world of different people, new responsibilities, and opportunities that will challenge you in more ways than one. It is a time not only to receive an education, more importantly it leads to self-discovery, and finding your place in this crazy world.
I think everyone has a different response to this question based on experience, and this is true of myself. There were times in the past three years that I was unsure of who I was and what I wanted because of the challenges that were in front of me. At times I wanted to give up or find the easy way to overcome these obstacles but if I did, it would mean I didn’t learn anything in college.
What you learn in college goes well beyond the information given to you in a textbook. In college, you are challenged to think differently, question authority, and to work through anything that is thrown your way. With the support of professors, classmates, family, and friends I have been able to embrace the challenges that have come my way, and to discover a little bit more of who I am.
My college experience is not over yet. I have about 7 months left and in that time I hope to take full advantage of it. In the following weeks, I hope to center my blog posts on my days at SMSU and what I am thinking because after all there is only so much time I can say that my blog is about “50,000 thoughts of a college student living in southwestern Minnesota”.
Early Memories of SMSU:
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| Freshman Year: Powepuff Football Team |
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| Jello Jam 2012, because who doesn't want to throw jello at each other? |
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| Freshman Year: Finally in the student section! I got to know SMSU through basketball, as my Dad is a basketball and baseball alum. He brought me to Hawaiian night years before I was even thinking about college. I have truly been a "Mustang for Life". |
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| Freshman Year: Our Dance Dare video made it onto the Ellen DeGeneres Show! We also made the front cover of the Marshall Independent Newspaper. |
Dance Dare Video
Wow! Can't believe we're seniors! Powderpuff sure doesn't seem like it was all that long ago...
ReplyDeleteRight!? That was at the VERY beginning. Crazy to think how far we have all come.
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree with Google's reason to attend college, but this also means that I happen to agree with you that college puts you into an identity crisis. College is so much more than going to class and doing the work, it's about building connections/relationships with people that can help you in the future. Also, internships really help you down the road because you get to apply your own skills and what you learn in the classroom gets put to the test in the real world. It's a scary thought for me as well as I get ready to graduate and head on off to the real world.
ReplyDeleteAnother question I wanted to ask was about the Dance Dare Video:
ReplyDeleteWhose idea was it to create the video?
How did you find out about the video being on Ellen and how did you react to it?
What were the SMSU community thoughts about the video being on Ellen?
Hi Ryan,
ReplyDeleteEllen came up with the idea on her show and challenged her viewers to do it, so we did! We submitted the video and about a week later we were contacted by the show. We were all very excited! The SMSU community loved that it was aired. The link was posted on SMSU Today, were were on the front page of the Marshall Independent, and one of my professors at the time showed it to our class.
Powerpuff....I can't believe that it was already four year ago that we played! I can remember coming in as freshman with matching tshirts thinking that this was for fun. Little did we know that all the upperclassmen teams had coaches, so I remember finding a coach after we got there. It is awesome to see how we have all grown and are so close to graduating! I am so excited to see what God has in store for all of us! :)
ReplyDelete