The University of Blog

I am all moved and excited for my sophomore year. School starts tomorrow and I was enjoying my last few days of freedom. To fully kick my semester off right, I went to get free Shakespeare’s Pizza. It may have been just for freshman, but I will never pass up free food. The rain hovered over the day, but I will not let rain stop me from getting a good deal.

Then came Tiger Walk, which is where the freshman walk through the columns to start their first year at Mizzou. I was tempted to attend for the free tiger stripe ice cream, but living off campus makes getting to those events a little more difficult.

Thursday night was the Midnight BBQ with what else, free food and a DJ. Friday I went to the fall welcome events at Lowry Mall. One of these was a hypnotist. Volunteering for this event, I did silly things on stage. The funniest thing was when one guy was talking in a different language and another translated for him. I don’t think that it worked so well for me, but it did give an excuse to do silly things on stage.

I have one recommendation for this: start early! Moving in the dorms can be tricky with hundreds of people using the same two elevators and trying to get into the same place at the same time. We lucked out by getting a laundry cart. This is the best method for moving a lot of stuff from a car to a small room.

Have you talked to your roommate? My roommate and I emailed each other back and forth to decide who was bringing what. I brought the microwave and Kristin brought the fridge. You don’t need (nor can you have two of) these items. To save space we got a over the toilet storage unit to stack all of our food on top of the fridge. Communication is essential.

Bunking the beds add space, but who wants to climb up and down all of the time? We decided against bunking because we wanted to have the opportunity to lie on our beds (and also I store stuff on mine). We had a small tv, which was a good addition to be able to have Grey’s Anatomy parties.

Living in the dorms is a great experience. There are tons of people to meet. It is the best way get acclimated to college life and share that experience with so many others going through the same thing. I’m a fan, and I will definitely miss living in the dorms this year. I will especially miss the convenience of eating in the dining halls and having someone else cook for me.

I rushed last year. This included moving in a week early and going through the rush process. I originally decided to rush because I wanted to meet people. At the end, I decided that Greek life wasn’t for me, but I am incredibly glad that I decided to rush.
house decorations for homecoming decorated by a frat/sorority team

It is a recruitment/ mutual acceptance process. The first day we went to every house and talked to a girl there and learn about each house. Then the next day we received a list of which houses invited us back. We go to fewer and fewer houses until the end when we are invited to up to three houses where there is a preference ceremony and then we numbered the houses that we wanted.

We finally found out what houses that we were selected for during a ceremony at the quad. Each house sang their respective chant and we opened up all of the envelopes at the same time and ran to our houses. From there we ate in a relaxed atmosphere, got gifts and had a chance to meet all of the girls.

The rush experience was a ton of fun and I’m very glad that I rushed. In the end, once I was selected for house, I decided that I didn’t have enough time to dedicate to my sorority and that I had met a ton of great people already. Mission accomplished.

The moving-out process was daunting to say the least. The 80 degree weather combined with everyone moving out at the same time made things a little, or a lot, stressful. It was hard to find a laundry cart, ad half my stuff fell of the cart that I did use. Luckily, I had my parents to help the process. I would recommend that you try to move out before the last day of finals week. With some finals, it may not be an option to leave before then, but it is a lot easier on Wednesday or Thursday. We made several trips to a storage shed and then we were good to go. Our storage shed, however, is SUPER full with furniture for our apartment.

And then I forgot that I would have to move back IN my house. Thus, I got rid of a whole bunch of stuff in my room (I hadn’t done that in several years) to make room for my college stuff. It took the entire weekend to move back into my house. It made me think that I had way too much stuff. However, it does feel good to be home. I now have an entire summer to relax (and work a lot) at home.

My summer plans include working at a local restaurant and taking a couple of summer classes. It will be busy, but hopefully I can get a few credits out of the way as well as make a bit of money. Let me hear about what you are doing this summer before college. What are you all up to?

Moving out is a big process. As I finished up my last final, the thought then hit me on how to move out all of the stuff from my room. I have been packing for a couple of days and it looks like nothing has changed. The walls look a little barer, but other than that, I have so much stuff. I can’t believe that I’ve accumulated so much—and that it fits in my small dorm room. But I figure that I’m living here more than I live at home, so it is totally worth it to bring more stuff to make Mizzou home.

My parents will come tomorrow to pick up my stuff. So far I have rented a storage shelter (Storage Mart to share with my friends to keep the things I need for next year. It is kind of pricy, but I don’t need a lot of this stuff at home anyway. The dorm checkout process is pretty simple, except the fact that we need to bunk our beds and clean everything really well. If we don’t clean, then they charge an hourly fee for a cleaner.

The rush to get an elevator is a bit challenging, and there is usually a battle for the laundry carts, but a little endurance will go a long way. Moving out will feel really good when done. The hardest part is saying goodbye to all of your friends. At least knowing that you will be back in three months to see them helps.

One of the advantages of living in the dorms is the free food. And you can never deny college students free food. Tonight in the lounge, we have Panera bagels. Tomorrow we have Jimmy John’s subs, and Thursday we have Gumby’s Pizza. The food comes from the activity fees from the beginning of the year (since I am in the Journalism and Communication Community).

Then, we have a school-wide midnight breakfast at Brady Commons tonight AND one in the dining hall Wednesday night. And these are open to all students living on or off campus. It is great to have these kinds of opportunities for students to be able to take a break from studying for finals. This week we don’t have classes, just lots and lots of tests. I have two tomorrow and one on Thursday. So I plan on taking a lot of food breaks.

I know the college-deciding process can be daunting. If you have made your decision already, congratulations. If you are still deciding what college to go to, don’t worry, you still have some time. If you have any questions at all, you can post them or email me. OR you have the option of chatting with me online at firegirl720. Whatever college you decide to go to, good luck and I’d love to meet you. I’m honest (look at picture below).
As I am finishing up my last two weeks, I am looking forward to the summer, but It has given me time to reflect about my freshman year. And what a whirlwind it has been! I’d love to talk to you about it online and through several reflective posts. I’ll be honest. I promise.

One of the advantages of living in a community such as the Journalism and Communication Community is that it provides great opportunities to network and meet people. A group of about 20 students went to three journalism professors’ houses for different courses of the meal. It was great to be able to meet these important people in such a low-key setting. Plus, who can pass up free food?

We had salad at Katherine Reed’s house, who teaches a reporting class as well as is the adviser for Adelante!, the student-run bilingual publication. Reed mentioned that students can either chose Adelante! for their beat or can volunteer there. She spoke in our Cross Cultural class about this cross-cultural success story.

Next, we headed to the Associate Dean of Journalism Brian Brooks’s house for the entrée. We spoke about how to navigate the journalism system and the Walter William Scholars program. With a 33 ACT, journalism students receive faculty mentors and a scholarship

For our dessert, we ate at the director of mymissourian.com Clyde Bentley’s house. Mymissourian.com is a blog site for Columbia. He spoke about citizen journalism and the convergence program. I leaned a great deal about the direction journalism is going.

The weather is actually nice. Dress and skirt weather. Weather where you can laugh and not feel your lungs freeze together. All in all, good weather.

Have fun in the weather. Go out and do something spectacular. My friends played outside and threw Frisbees around. Other fun activities include walking downtown and window-shopping. Ride a bike. There are many 45 miles of hiking trails around Columbia including the MKT trail, an urban walkway, which connects to the Katy State Park. The Katy Trails were converted from a railway and I read that it is a 227 mile east-west path that goes across most of the state. I’ve heard great things about it. And the Santa Fe Trail starts in Boonville, about 10 miles away.

Also, there are 3000 acres of state parklands 10 miles within the city. I have yet to locate the other parks, but within walking distance is Peace Park. Many community groups use the park. I was walking downtown (after I had just read Don Quixote), and I found a Medieval Reenactment group practicing at Peace Park. I felt a little like Don Quixote and a bit crazy. They let us know that if we were interested in learning more, we were always welcome.

Like to rock climb or spelunk? There are options at Rock Bridge to explore Connor’s Cave. At Mizzou, there is an Outdoor Adventure Club. Also, there is the Venture Out program that has several trips that are intended to introduce people to rock climbing. There is even an Alpline Tower (big climbing course) for another fun challenge.

There is no reason not to go outside. I even saw a rollerblader today. It reminded me of those lazy fourth grade days. There is no reason not to go outside when it is so nice outside. I can’t wait to explore some of those trails.

Sometimes it can catch up with you to be away from your family. Sometimes everything can just get a little overwhelming. Sometimes you can just feel a little blue for no apparent reason. There are some things you can do that might help with this.

Go outside. If it is nice weather outside, nothing makes me feel better than going into nature. On the outskirts of campus, there is Peace Park with a babbling brook. The grassy knoll by the columns is also a nice spot to study, play Frisbee or just hang out. I have a friend who hosts a wiffle ball game on every Wednesday there.

Get away. Since you are going to class in the same place that you live, it can be hard to separate relaxing time from studying time. I am a big movie buff, so to relax, I really enjoy going to the movies. It is a good idea to get off campus if you can. That way when you are relaxing, you don’t have to be constantly reminded of school or what you have to do. If driving somewhere is not an option, going for a walk is also a nice alternative. Hanging out at a coffee shop or downtown can also help you relax.

Set aside some time for yourself. Participate in your favorite activity at least a few times a week. If you like to read, set aside time each day to read that novel you’ve been dying to finish. Maybe crocheting or painting is fun for you. What about a rousing game of Scrabble? The Craft Studio (located in Brady) offers classes or just a membership ($30 a semester) to go there and do art. My roommate knows how to throw pottery so she always brings back her creations, and I’m always impressed.

Work out. A great way to relieve stress is by releasing some endorphins at the wonderful Rec Center. Several options include treadmill, track, Tiger x classes or swimming. Inclined toward water? There are many options including the lazy river, whirlpool, hot tub, steam room and Olympic size swimming pool.

Still blue? The Counseling Center offers individual and group counseling. The health fee includes 12 individual visits as well as unlimited group therapy. This can be used if you are just a little stressed or feel depressed. Sometimes it’s nice to have someone else to talk to.