Engulfing the Gopher

My capstone reflection project for CLA 1002

[engulfingthegopher]

Where am I going?

Where am I going?

I do not know much about the path ahead, but I am not worried, because I know that with my friends by my side, and my school at the forefront, nothing can bring me down, and everything will work out. Next year, my future roommates and I will be beginning the next step in our lives together at the Marshall apartment complex in Dinkytown, and I could not be happier with our decision to live together in this new home.  I will continue my studies in Professional Strategic Communication, and I will continue to love my life everyday as it happens. I had a wonderful first year experience that I cannot wait to see what the next few years may bring forth. 

I set goals for myself for my second year. These goals include:  joining a student organization, continue to broaden my circle of friends along with keeping up with my current ones, get a job, and be accepted into the Management minor.  I know for a fact that this upcoming year will be amazing and filled with even more incredible experiences. The only advice that I can think to give to myself in regards to the next year is to continue to walk along this unknown path with confidence, and not to sweat the little things, because in the greater scheme of my life, the little stresses are of minuscule importance in comparison to the paramount experiences that life has to offer.

[engulfingthegopher]

Where am I now?

Where am I now?

I have grown so much over the course of my freshman year. I have found friends that I think will last me the rest of my life. I love the girls in my hallway, and I will be so sad not to be their neighbor anymore. This group of boys we call the "Floco Five" are some of the biggest nerds I know, and I absolutely love them because they are not afraid to just be who they are, like they do not try to put up a "cool person" persona. My Frontier boys, whom I love also, are such nice guys, and I find myself spending more time in their rooms than I intend to because their personalities are so happy and contagious. My roommate and I have a better-than-imaginable friendship, and I feel like I can go to her with just about anything. She is an amazing listener, and even though we have different circles of friends, we have a beautiful relationship, and she is a wonderful friend. I could not have been paired with a better random roommate. And lastly, my future roommates. They are so outgoing, and so funny, and so incredibly kind. I do not even know how to begin to describe them, other than that I love them through and through.

I also have declared my major, and one of my minors.  I am officially declared a Professional Strategic Communication major, and a Spanish Studies minor.  I am also on the pursuit of a the Carlson Management minor. There are so many other areas that I want to minor in that I am considering adding a third minor. I would like to choose between Youth Studies, and Film Studies for a possible third minor, but I just cannot decide. Every course offered at this school is so interesting, that I want to focus on all of them, which tells me that I picked the right school for me.

[engulfingthegopher]

Where have I been?

Where have I been?

The pictures above were taken at my first Big 10 football game, during Welcome Week. The first picture is my with all of the new friends I made that first week. The second picture is of me and my roommate. 

At this point in time, I had no idea what college was going to be like. I had no idea what my roommate would be like. I had no idea what my friends would be like. I had no idea what I wanted to major in. I had no idea what my professors would be like. I had no idea where any of my classes would be. I did not even have a clue as to what a "Gopher dance" was. I really had absolutely no clue as to what to expect about anything. All I knew is that I was ready to take it on. I was ready to jump in, head first. 

It is safe to say that I learned so much through out that first semester, and I found answers to all of those questions. I met so many incredible people last semester that I cannot even put a face to every new name in my phone contacts. Even though I did not remember the names of all of the new people I met, I still felt as if I was good friends with all of them. Everybody just seemed to click, and we were all excited, and we all bounced off of each others' personalities, and it was all so wonderful.  I think this was because we all felt a sense of belonging and unity. Each and every one of us freshmen were uncertain as to what the upcoming year would bring forth. Each of us were a little scared, and nervous, but excited nonetheless. Every single on of us was in the same boat, each of us was starting anew. I remember this aura of common friendliness, like all of us were on the same page, and it was just understood that everybody was assumed a friend until proven otherwise. In that sense, Welcome Week was one of the best experiences to ever happen to me.

Before coming to college, the only previous "college experience" I had were the CIS (College In the Schools) classes I took in high school. I thought that those were difficult, so I was extremely worried about my first semester, and about having professors that would not really make an effort to get to know me. The worries I had ended up making me really quiet in class, which is totally the opposite of what I was like while in high school. However, in order to compensate the sense of smallness I felt in such a large university, I made the decision to sit in the front row of all my classes to make the room feel smaller, and to make the professors appear to be speaking to me, and me only. This made such a difference, that I often did not even notice that some of the lectures had over 100 people, and I was able to make friends with other students in my row.

I began the year with so many questions, and so many apprehensions, however, college was not nearly as frightening as I thought it ought to be, and I soon fell in love with my school, and everyone in it.