The University of Blog

This summer I took biology and bio lab at University of Kansas and Microeconomics online through Johnson County Community College. It was a great way to get some of the requirements out of the way so I could take more classes at Mizzou. And, for those seven credits, it was under $1000. The best bargain came through the community college. It was  quite a deal!

My online class took a lot of self-motivation since there weren’t any deadlines. Because of this I actually finished early. Microeconomics is not the easiest class to take without a professor, but I read and did the practice exercises before each quiz. I studied a lot for bio and finally finished. It was not the most exciting thing taking a few classes, but it was smart to prepare for the future. The next step is getting my transcripts sent to the registrar’s office at Mizzou. That way I can get the credit and enter my sequence next semester.

No more class, at least for a week.

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.

I like free stuff. I especially like free music and free food. When they are culminate in a wonderful event, I get very excited. MSA (Missouri Student Association) put on the Little Big Free featuring the Foundry Field Recordings. We were serenaded by some mellow tunes while videology played in the background. Last year the Big Free featured Three 6 Mafia. There were no big names this year, but it was still worth it.

While listening to the tunes, we were able to eat a nice BBQ dinner. After our meal, I decked out a snow cone with both blue raspberry flavor AND cherry. It was a delightful treat.

I was also able to tie-die a shirt, which was a completely new thing to do for me. My inspiration was the sunshine. I chose orange, yellow, pink and red in a sunburst pattern. There also were painted tattoos and balloon animals. Unfortunately, the line was quite long for the balloon animals, however the balloon man was very talented. He made palm trees, parrots that stood on a shoulder and special hats. I missed out, but I got a lot of free stuff.

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.

I had a delightful evening at the house of an alumni couple. I ate real food: pork tenderloin, risotto, strawberry salad and peach pie. was able to chat with other students in various areas of interest rather than just other journalism students that I usually interact with. It was so wonderful. In addition, it was an opportunity to get away from my dorm and have good conversation with new people.

Being a True Tiger (member of the student alumni association) is a great experience. I am able to attend events and network with both alumni and other students. So far, I have attended the Network Dinner earlier in the year (catered steak meal). Aside from being an opportunity for free food, I was able to meet and get advice from professionals in my future field. A retired broadcast journalist told me that he learned more in his four months in his first job than he did in his four years at Mizzou. But he really valued his well-rounded education because in a career, he focused solely on his job. I really like the advice that college is the time to explore all your interests or you might not have the opportunity to. Thus, take advantage of all of the opportunities that Mizzou offers.

Other events include tailgating events with alumni before football games, trip to a game in a different city, and painting the M by Faurot Field. It is only $20 to sign up True Tigers, and you get a free t-shirt and glass cup (it pays for itself). In addition, you get discounts all over town. Free food, good conversation, discounts and networking opportunities: what more could you want?

As programming director for the Society of Professional journalists, I helped planned a panel for how to be an awesome intern. I came away with a lot of good tips. I would like to intern this summer for my local paper, but we’ll see. If I do, I will be sure to follow some of the journalism panelists’ advice.

1. Research the community in which you are working. Get lost in the community. Know everything and plan story ideas ahead of time. Be proactive in your curiosity about the world.
2. Swallow pride. Yes you attend the University of Missouri (world’s best journalism school), but you still have a lot to learn.
3. Bring a clock. Always be on time and professional. You are auditioning for your professional career.
4. KNOW you can do it.
5. Find a champion. Seek out another person who you can turn to and accept constructive criticism from. It’s a safe place.
6. Stand out by asking questions and being prepared.
7. If an internship isn’t structured, find a way to make it meaningful. Ask “what will I be doing?”. If the answer is “it’s up to you,” seek out opportunities.
8. You are a millennial, use it. People will be seeking you out for knowledge about technology.
9. It’s all about the clips—quality clips. It doesn’t have to be hard news, it just has to show your talent.
10. Know what your “news philosophy” is. In interviews, you might be asked “what is a good news story.”
11. Do not have typos or grammar errors on a cover letter or resume. This is a first impression, create a good one.

Just some thoughts to keep in mind if you are in the internship boat.

I’ve seen a lot of tours around lately. I remember visiting during a Black and Gold Day. I believe you can visit the school anytime, but there are special days where programs are offered to give you more insight into the school. There are several times to visit. One includes Mizzou Black and Gold Day where admissions holds an overview of the school, financial aid, and residential life. There is then a campus tour and a FREE lunch at a wonderful dining hall. You got to love the freebies. Visits are usually held on Fridays and enrollment is online. The next Black and Gold day is March 16. The next Meet Mizzou Day is April 7.

I remember lugging around a huge bag of glossy brochures, but it also allowed me the opportunity to envision myself at the school that I would be going to for the next four years of my life. I visited once during my junior year and once during my senior year. My mom and I loved the college visits. I visited 12 colleges altogether (Boston College, Boston University, Yale, Williams, Stanford, New York University, Syracuse University, Pepperdine University, Drake, University of Kansas, USC and Mizzou). I got to go on so many vacations masquerading as college visits. It allowed me the opportunity to know what to look for in a college and be completely happy with the school I finally chose.