A Few College Tips

As I sit here on my couch at the end of my first official day of summer, a multitude of thoughts come to mind.  For one, there’s the thoughts about the pile of things in my entry hall that still need sorted through and taken to my room until it’s time to get back at it this fall.  Then there’s the looming dread of getting my wisdom teeth out next week.  More important than that is remembering there are two more delicious chocolate and peanut butter cupcakes in the kitchen waiting for me.  But, with all of that said, the biggest thought right now is how I already miss Starkville.  Don’t get me wrong, I love being at home.  I love being back in my own house and getting to spend the days with my family.  DeSoto County and everything about it will always hold a special place in my heart, no matter how far I may go.

The fact that I already miss Starkville means such great things.  It means I feel at home there, it means I have great friends there, it means I have great experiences there, it means I picked the right college.  Well, maybe it just means I made the most of the college I chose. 

Yeah, that’s it.  When it comes to picking colleges, I don’t think there is one ultimately correct choice.  Sure, there are lots of wrong choices, but there are tons of colleges out there that could work for you.  However, there’s only one right choice when it comes to your attitude towards college.

Regardless of where you end up, whether it was your first choice or the choice you came to see was the best, my advice for incoming freshmen of all universities and institutions of higher learning is to enjoy every second of your college years.  Look at me, for example.  I’m already halfway done with my undergraduate years, and I feel like I just got to Starkville for the first time a few months ago.  Has it really been two years?!

Get involved in something as soon as you can.  For me, that was band.  College band was one of those things that I was a little wary of my senior year in high school.  I wasn’t sure if I felt up to another year of marching.  My plan was to audition for MSU’s wind ensemble and not march.  Luckily, though, I came to my senses and auditioned for the Famous Maroon Band in mid-May of 2013…way later than the average audition date.  In hindsight, I should have come to my senses a few months earlier.

Band was the first thing I did after moving into my dorm.  I moved in that morning, and the afternoon brought a few hours of a new members only band camp before the vets arrived the next day.  Funny story: we were supposed to go check-in at the band hall that morning after we got mostly settled in our dorms.  Guess who completely forgot about that?  This girl.  I moved all my stuff in, went and had Mugshots with my family, and chilled in my room for a little bit before heading to the band hall.  I got there and everyone had these construction worker bags (things I would later come to know as, “drill bags”) and music folders, and I had no idea where they came from.  I asked my squad leader, “where am I supposed to get all of the music?” “You were supposed to get it when you checked in this morning.”  *cue scared look of realization on my face*  Needless to say, I headed straight to the band office and got things sorted out with the band’s lovely secretary.

But on a better note, that first little bit in the band hall was where I met my first new friend, a girl who would go on to become my college mom and one of my favorite things about my first two years at MSU.  It was that same day that I met my new best friends.  It’s weird to think that I almost didn’t choose to do band.  It’s weird to think of how my life at MSU would be different had I not spent my first day in Starkville with the Famous Maroon Band.

And so with that I say, "get involved."  You get to do so much more when you're involved in an organization (I mean, the FMB took me to Disney World on New Year’s Day, so that’s pretty darn fantastic).  Don’t stop with just one thing, either.  Find the organizations that do things you love, find the organizations with great networking opportunities (one organization I’m involved with gave me great connections that landed me a job in one of the engineering laboratories.  I’m super pumped to start that in July).  Another has allowed me to get some service hours in the Starkville community and will also allow me to mentor some freshmen next semester (also super pumped about that).  And let’s not forget the MSU Wind Ensemble (you know, that great thing that let me go to Italy this time last year).

But I think the most important thing of all to remember as you start your college career is this: don’t be afraid to make new friends.  People come to college in different places in life.  Some come knowing a few people but wanting to start fresh.  Some come not knowing a soul.  But, if you’re like me, you come already having a great group of friends, and you don’t know how to go about this college thing.  At first it felt like that making new great friends meant moving on from the old great friends, and that scared me and made me sad.  However, after a few weeks I realized that I had it completely wrong.  Life doesn’t come with a friend box that only fits x number of people.  Life comes with a friendship train, and you can always add on more passenger cars.  So that’s what college is.  It’s adding on one, two, ten, twenty-thousand more cars to your friendship train.

I'm glad to say I've added a number of cars on to mine in the course of two years, and I’m looking forward to adding many more. 

So here’s to a great summer full of great memories before I head back to my second home in July to start work and a summer class.  Here’s to loving the memories I’ve already made in Starkville, and here’s to many more to come.

And to you kids still in grade school: when looking at colleges, at the end of the day, it’s always great to be saying, “Hail State.”

(But you pick the school that’s best for you.  I’m not ordering you where to go to college and saying that everywhere else is subpar.  But I am saying that Starkville truly is a lovely place.)

That’s all for now.  Hail State.

Mo

P.S.  I’m much more prepared when it comes to band things now.  I made sure to check-in last year, and I always double check itineraries to make sure I don’t miss anything.  It only takes screwing things up once to teach you a lesson, folks.