My College Career (So far)
I have discovered, as a college student, that by giving attention and effort to my classes, that I can achieve a lot more than I thought. I breezed through high school without paying much attention to grades. I got mostly B's, with the occasional A or C. After coming to college (and realizing that I am now paying for my education) I have worked on developing strong study habits and other educational skills. I have started caring about the grades I get- I have an important final tomorrow morning and am currently stressed about maintaining my A in the class. I have also decided that if my professors next semester offer extra credit I will do it. The class I am currently worried about did, and now I am looking back at the course and wishing that I did.
Even though I have decided to be stricter about my grades, I have also discovered that being more relaxed and open to new ideas and opinions helps in meeting new people. Throughout high school I always tried to be friendly to everyone, and in college this trait helps immensely. Simply laughing at someone's joke, no matter how corny, can cause a new friendship to blossom. I am actually not looking forward to break, as I am accustomed to being with my new friends all the time. Not seeing them will be a hard transition.
I have also discovered that I am very independent. I prefer to do things on my own schedule than to tag along to others, which I did often in high school. Here, I can be my own person, while in high school you were fit into a mold and expected to behave as you were told. By being independent and my own person at college I have learned much about myself; one of the greatest is that what may be important to others may not be what's important to me. After learning this, I look at life with a new light. I must put my own needs, especially educational, before most others.
After deciding that majoring in history was not for me, I started looking into photojournalism. I have always had a passion for creative writing and photography, and having a career in what you love is more important, to me, than making a lot of money. Happiness outweighs wealth. I have also decided to double major in advertising, so if photojournalism does not work out for me I have a back up plan.
I came to Southern knowing I would transfer, and it has been quite an adventure finding a college or university that is in the area where I want to move to and has my majors. The original university I wanted to transfer to was the University of Vermont, or UVM, but they do not have journalism as a major. Luckily for me, there are several colleges in the same city that UVM is located. I then found Champlain College, which has a very good journalism program. I may also move to Georgia, so I discovered that the University of Georgia has an excellent visual journalism program. I haven't looked at their advertising programs yet, as I have decided today that I would like to double major.
To accomplish this, I must maintain a GPA of at least 3.2. I have around that now, so next semester I am going to try to bump it up to at least a 3.5. I think this is possible, especially if I continue to use the strategies I learned this semester. I am also going to try to join more clubs, even though it may be late in the year to. I have to make sure my transfer application looks as balanced as possible. I fully believe that I can accomplish this, and if I set my mind to something, I make it happen.
