My 1st Semester Experience

First semester has been interesting, to say the least. Upon coming here I knew that I would have a lot more freedom and independence, but it still stunned me how in charge and in control i was. I got to choose what I did, when and what I ate, what time I came home, etc. It was new and, most importantly, liberating - I loved it. I'm also really glad I joined a FIG because it let me have people I knew in my classes and we could all help each other. It created for us a bit of a floor family. I've met some wonderful people and interesting characters who I know I won't forget.

I have also managed to keep my grades at a level that I wanted them to be, and since I wasn't always successful with this in high school due to pure laziness and indifference, it is a big deal to me. I am also glad to have been able to learn so much even through FIG class and J1010 about convergence, as it is what I will be doing for the rest of my life. I have not decided to change my major, as many people have told me I will likely do at some point in my college career. I'm sticking with journalism and am currently toying with a few minors in my head.

I'm also glad I was able to get involved in the university outside of class by earning money at the Catalyst Cafe - luckily I got it before the hiring freeze - and being part of your Gillett residential recycling crew with Trupti and Austin. I've also had fun decorating for the Christmas party and being a part of other floor activities. It's been real. Thanks for a good first semester!

A great semester

I just wanted to take a post to thank each and every one of my Figlets for a great semester! I am truly impressed with the discussions we had in class, as well as their thoughts on this blog. This is a very very talented group of students. I look forward to seeing what path they decide to go down in the future. Whether it's Convergence journalism or something completely different, they will succeed without a doubt.

Thanks for a great semester!

Carla

Better late than failing FIG class

Sandy Davidson, a Communications Law professor, spoke to our FIG and other journalism students two months ago (I know, what a timely blog piece, right?) and the issues discussed are still churning around in my brain, ranging from the election to the nature of news.

Davidson shared with us a few stores from Newsweek about Sarah Palin and other key figures in the election that really made me question the nature of news today.

As journalists, it is our duty (or desire/obsession/ life choice) to cover the news.

However, when the stories being reported on become merely gossip about celebrities serving jail time and corrupt politicians, can one really call that news? Sure it is new, entertaining information that satiates that little gossiping monster inside of all of us, but it is certainly not news.

News is relevant information to our lives. News is also whatever the audience wants to read about. But when the audience wants more Britney and Paris, should the news business ignore that, especially when newspapers across the country are dropping like flies?

I believe the answer is no, even though part of me feels like the gossip is tainting the newsy-credibility just a little bit.

Another interesting trend I have noticed is that while various news-media outlets are covering more entertainment stories, girly gossip magazines are covering an occasional issue more pressing than the latest addition to the Jolie-Pitt clan.

Maybe someday there will just be one massive media group: a place where People, Time, CNN, and Cosmo are one and the call their product news. I ,for one, hope that day isn’t tomorrow as I am not sure I could handle that in addition to my biology lab final.

Take Home Message

So, it's that time of year. The first time home. I know exactly how it's going to go.

Going home will be cool for the first couple of days. My family will love me. There'll be hugs, Christmas five days into it and lots and lots of homemade food. Awesome.

And then in that space between the end of the holidays and the time we go back, some cold Saturday morning in January, my Dad will sit down with me on the couch and drop a seemingly innocuous question into the silent room.

"So, what did you learn in your first semester?"

Now, just like any test question, you'll do fine with this if you have an answer ready to roll, like you've thought about it for a while and could sum it up three sentences or less. Old man just wants to know if the tuition dollars are returning on investment.

The problem is that I probably can't do it in three sentences or less. I've learned a lot this semester about journalism, convergence, writing and just being a reporter in society in general.

I learned a lot about convergence journalism through my FIG class. I've learned that technology is hurtling like an asteroid at the sleepy planet that is conventional, Cronkhite/Hearst/Woodward and Bernstein journalism. We're feeling the pebbles raining down as it descends on us through the job layoffs at your local broadsheets and the sudden popping up of news Web sites as the only viable media in a number of markets, but its going to rock our world very shortly here. There will be a day in our lives when newspapers will be as obsolete as typewriters, I now believe.

That said, I'm currently working for a hard copy newspaper, although it has an online version, the increasingly common escape pod. The lessons I've learned on the job there are ones you'll learn regardless of your medium and they are essential. For space, I'll sum it up like this: call everyone as early in the morning as possible, expect that they will take all day to get back to you with comment, be willing to ask stupid questions to verify basic, essential information and be the most friendly, flexible guy in the room. After a couple dozen issues with the Maneater, I can tell you that you have to do these things or the story won't happen. And then someone above you will be mad. When you do them and do them every time, you can pull off stories people need and then other folks are happy. The Maneater, like any paper, is a lot better place when people are happy.

So, the take home message: work hard in FIG, get on the Maneater ASAP and work hard there and make notes for every assignment you do about what you could've done better.

I think that's a pretty good answer for that day on the couch.

Yay for late work!

At long last, a comparison of the Google News website with the CNN website.

My first reaction after looking at both of the sites was the comparative lack of advertisements on Google News. CNN has a substantial amount of screen space devoted to ads and links to partner sites, whereas Google News has no advertisements on the main page. 

That's about the only place I can say that one site is clearly better than the other. From here on out, it's mostly differences of style and personal preference. Whereas CNN has a variety of news media, including video and podcasts, Google is devoted exclusively to printed stories. Naturally, since Google itself isn't a news organization, it has compilations of stories from various sources for each pice of news, while CNN is limited to its own view. However, CNN also offers more than just news stories. It also tracks weather, stocks, and a few blogs. 

Also, CNN uses popularity as a way to organize articles more than Google News does. Google is more topic-centered organization, while CNN has most of its stories organized by popularity. Personally, I prefer Google's topic-based, no-ads setup. 

When I first got to Mizzou, I didn't know anyone, where anything was or even what I was really doing here.  I've wanted to be a journalist for a while now and people had told me this was the place to go if you wanted to do journalism. Now, after just one semester here, I am wondering if journalism is what I actually want to do.  The only reason my parents were willing to pay out of state tuition was because of the reputation of the School of Journalism and now I'm thinking about changing my mind.  Although J1010 is an annoying class, I think I learned so much about what journalism is and what journalists actually do because many of the speakers had real world experience.  I would tell incoming freshmen to be open to change.  College is so different from high school, especially if you are leaving your home, family and friends for an extended period of time for the first time ever.  Even if you think you are positive you know what you want to do after school, at least consider some other options if anything else interests you.  The structure, people and environment might not be similar to what you are used to but change is often good.

Heed My Advice, Figlets

To be honest, the first few weeks that I was at Mizzou, I was utterly convinced that there was not a single cool person here. I missed the familiarity of home, and people whose sense of humor I understood, and the big city feel of Dallas, Texas. So my first piece of advice to you would be to not have preconceived notions about anything or anyone. It totally killed my first weeks here, and let me tell you, your first weeks are extremely valuable for making friends and exploring what sorts of organizations you might be interested in. Be optimistic, and be proactively friendly. If you want to make friendships and connections that will last, you have to actively go out and ask people to go and hang out with you places. Make a plan to stay actively involved in things like clubs and going to the rec 3 times a week and stuff, because if you don't set goals like that in stone, you won't do them after a few weeks of feeling swamped in school and making excuses to sleep in or stay on facebook for hours. 

School takes studying. Well, you may take a few blowoff courses that require no effort outside of class, but in your gen ed classes, if you don't study, you won't pass. The great thing about the academic side of college is that it really is true that it is relevant to your life, much more than the monotonous crap they fed you in high school. And with all of the studying you will be doing, you will suddenly find yourself actually remembering the things that you learned in class all semester, not just until the test. Having knowledge stick is a nice feeling. 

Dorm life is always interesting. Keep your room clean so that your roommate does not hate you, and keep personal boundaries. You do not want to make enemies on your dorm floor, because you cannot avoid them. 

Case and point, your first semester in college will be an awesome experience if you don't slack off of your goals and you are optimistic about the outcome. 

Don't Judge.

So, a semester has come and almost gone, and I have learned a great deal. It was more than I expected, and fantabulous. Advice, right, that is what we are supposed to write about, lessons learned, etc.

Here's my advice: don't judge. I came to MU a tad bit scared of what I was getting into. I had no idea who my room mate was (Trupti) and at the beginning we didn't exactly hit it off very well. We didn't fight or anything, but we weren't best friends or anything like that. Band camp went by, I spent little time in the room, as school started and the first couple weeks nothing changed, all the people on my floor hung out, everyone seemed to like each other and had settled into their cliques, and I felt like the oddball out. Then we went to Sparky's Ice Cream. (Recommendation, and each time you go in ask for Peanut Butter and Jelly and Chocolate Chip Sandwich flavored. They haven't made it yet, but you never know.) We talked and stuff. And we sorta started over, we just got to know each other a little bit more and realized that we weren't as different as we thought we were. We got back and the girl across the hall came in and pretended to yell at us because we were hanging out and didn't invite her - "I liked you better when you hated each other!" and we just cracked up laughing. And from then on we have been friends. It's great. So, don't judge. Things change. And you have to act for them to change - we had to invite each other to do stuff at first, try to get to know each other. It doesn't just fall into your lap magically, but if you try then it probably will work. The end.

Title

I'm feeling especially unmotivated as I write this blog. Being unmotivated to do work is something freshman should get used too. At least until they get through gen ed's. But anyway...

College is pretty much what its cracked up to be. Staying up till 3 in the morning is the norm. Whether that is because of homework, video games, or thirsty thursdays, no matter what, you'll be staying up late. Just get used to it. You'll eat a lot of food. Make a lot of friends, that is if you don't act like a complete ass. You'll see/hear things you'd never expect to hear, but those are things you'll only get to experience living in the dorm. Gillet is pretty dingy but its still a place to live and its created many awesome memories for me already. Spell check should become your friend if it isn't already. Spark notes are still useful but reading the actual book is more helpful. Study in groups. Not only do you meet people but you'll learn the material better. Try and find a place where you can get your studies done and not be distracted. 

Please treat your computers/other technological gear with great respect. You're going to need it to last you. Plus i'll hunt you down if you mistreat an Apple computer. 

But the most important thing coming into your freshman year is to just be yourself. Don't worry about people judging you. Find people who have similar interests to you and be yourself. Be kind, generous, and happy. 

P.S Also cheer very very loudly for the Tigers football team. They're going to need the love next year.

My First Semester Experience.

My experience this first semester at Mizzou was the last thing I expected. While I was home, I had grow accustomed to the way things were and to be honest, I wasn't that excited about coming here. The idea of being away from my friends and more-so my family, wasn't a favorite of mine. However, I was very happy to find out that Mizzou was much better then expected and was a place that I would grow to be very fond over the next semester. While I still keep in contact with my old friends, I've made new friends here that I know I'll have the rest of my life. Living in the dorms has been the best part of the whole experience because it's given me an opportunity to meet people from different places and make new friends. Another big reason that I was a bit nervous about coming to Mizzou was the classes. I'm not exactly the brightest person you'll meet and I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to do the work. However, again I was proven wrong as my classes have been enjoyable, but challenging at the same time. I've found that I'm learning more in these classes than any other I've taken. I'm actually doing better in my Spanish class here than the one I took at high school, which is saying something. Overall, Mizzou has been a big surprise and a very pleasant one as well.

One semester down, seven to go

I expected college to be the time of my life and everything to just fall into place and be perfect.

What I didn’t expect from college is that it would be difficult and some of the teachers barely speak English. I’ve enjoyed being in a FIG because it allowed me to meet a lot of people and develop many friendships. Whether we are studying for psychology or venting about biology, I am positive that we all enjoy the sense of community that the FIG environment provides.

The biggest piece of advice I can give to incoming freshman and future figlets would be to get involved, but also to know your limits. I was involved in everything in high school and my grades suffered because I never quit any activity. But in college, the second (or maybe a few seconds) after I realized I was in way over my head with commitments to organizations I had joined, I began to eliminate some of my commitments. I’ve never been a quitter and had previously looked down on quitting, but I realized that I wouldn’t be able to achieve my full potential if I was weighed down with so many commitments outside of the classroom.

The thing I enjoy most about college is the variety of new and interesting things available for me. For instance, you can go watch a ballet at Jesse Auditorium or you can go downtown and experience new and exciting thinks like Lollicup and Sparky's.

Not only are the there many opportunities to try new things, but by living in close proximity to so many people, you learn new concepts and ways of viewing them, which I find incredibly fascinating.

At the end of your first semester of college, you’ll look back on your experiences and realize how much you have grown as an individual and you will be truly amazed.

[generic retrospective title]

First semester of freshman year is probably the most looked forward to thing in the entire world except maybe a trip to Amsterdam or the moon or something like that. For the most part, college (at least at a NCAA D1 school) lives up to all the hype. The dorms smell like dudes, every room has at least 3 open packages of food and 2 sweaters on the floor, people draw pictures of dicks on the message boards and throw up on the elevator, etc.

Class work hasn't been overwhelming, but for me the course load here is slightly easier than high school. Then again, I ended up taking 13 credit hours and having classes that aren't exactly work intensive. The work we do here is less of the insipid busy work that made high school so much fun. Academic success lies entirely upon how much work you are willing to do. If you want to skip a ton of classes, feel free. But you'll probably manage to miss getting into the j-school and have to switch majors, appeal for credit, or a host of other things you really don't want to do.

Make sure to enroll early for your classes you want next semester, and have a good idea what you want to be when you grow up before the end of your first semester. If you won a scholarship, prepare to be run all around campus and subjected to academic check ups that you run on yourself. It's just as stupid as it sounds, but the money is just too good to pass up.

Residential life is pretty much all it is cracked up to be. The food will make you sick, the PAs and CAs will be buzzkills, the halls will occasionally smell like a locker room, people will come up from other floors to smoke on your balcony/vomit on your toilets. People will go out and drink on Wednesday night, and if you are really lucky, one night you might hear a sorority girl throwing up at 3:30 on a Tuesday night.

Rooming is fine, being forward with about rules is pretty important, because they will probably all be disregarded within 10 hours of meeting your new roomie. As many people on the floor will tell you, the worst can and will happen. Food will rot, milk will go bad, clothes will go unlaundered, and a seething hatred for all things related to the person who shares your 9 x 9 will develop if you let it. To be successful room mates, you don't have to be friends. Just take care of your things, keep your room tidy, and don't show a flagrant disregard for all rules of social conduct.

Social life is much more prickly pear that you'll really have to crash your own way into. My advice is to be as welcoming and as friendly as possible, grab up as many acquaintances you can, and try to maintain at least 50% of those relationships. Knowing people will help you get out and about and an extensive list of contacts is an asset for any freshman.

Anyway, that's my advice for you incoming freshmen, and if you didn't read any of that:

Take care of yourself, do your work, shower daily, and make friends and things will be fine. Also, you're a college student, which means you get to do pretty much whatever you want, so do your best not to screw that one up.

Nothing's black and white...or even black and gold.

So. I've been through my first semester at college. If you listen to what the media tells you (generally a mistake) you probably picture me as a more or less lazy guy that puts more emphasis on enjoying himself than anything else, and treats his academics like an annoying afterthought, to be taken care of after more important things, like gaming and hanging out with friends, have been taken care of. You more than likely envision piles of unwashed laundry in my room, and never-been-opened textbooks on the shelf gathering dust. If you knew me a bit better, you might anticipate the massive stack of fantasy novels next to those textbooks that have been read and re-read. You, dear reader, fresh from high school graduation and chomping at the cliched bit to spread your wings and fly free of your parents' houses and get out on your own, are likely drooling in anticipation of this slacker's lifestyle. 

The script says that this is the point where I tell you that this is all wrong and that I am actually a hard working, dutiful collegiate learner, and that you will be in for a big shock if you come here looking to spend more than a fraction of your time enjoying yourself.

I hate scripts, and I hate lying even more. Almost as much as I hated doing my parents' dishes, in fact.

To be clear, the things you will hear at Summer Welcome (you are planning on going to Summer Welcome, aren't you?) are completely true. Time management is a must if you don't want to waste all the money you spent on your first and only semester, it is perfectly simple to have fun without drinking, and not doing your homework is the single best way to flunk out. 

That said, there are many other things that are also true. The adjustment from living at home to living in a dorm isn't that much of a shock, unless you had a maid at home, or don't know how to do laundry. Horror stories about roommates driving each other crazy are simply that: horror stories. There's a very good chance your coursework first semester will be of equal or lesser difficulty than the courses you took in high school. That includes tests. It's not hard to get around campus without a car, and there are few places to park it if you do bring one. You will be able to spend quite a lot of time having fun without causing your grades to crash, as long as you know when the appropriate time to have fun is. Two o'clock Monday morning is not the appropriate time to have fun when you have a test at eight.

In short, with simple application of common sense and work ethic, your first semester will not be hard to get through. The thorn among the lilies, however, is that this easy ride won't last. Come second semester, and the other three years of your career, some serious work will be required. This first semester is easy because it's designed to be a transition period from high school to collegiate life. So master the needed skills of time management and so on in your first semester, because you'll need them later. At least, that's my theory. If I'm wrong, I really don't know why everyone says college is so hard.

One last thing, for those of you who like your advice in pill form: Believe the university staff that say they want to help you. They do, and the things they tell you will. I mean, if I had all the answers for you, I wouldn't be an undergrad. I'd be a professional essay writer.

The FIG experience

When I first heard about the FIG program at Mizzou, I was a little skeptical. I did not think that it would be as beneficial as the University said it would be. The thought of taking similar classes with people on the floor seemed to have its drawbacks. I thought that it might limit the types of classes that I take, or even the people that I meet. However, joining a FIG was one of the best decisions I made here at Mizzou.
The summer before my Freshman year, I was worried about my experience here at Mizzou. I was the only student from my graduating class to go to Mizzou, and I worried that the transition from Chicago to Columbia would be rough. Not to mention, I would not know a single person at the University. I arrived at Mizzou a week early to go through Sorority Rush Week. This was a great opportunity for me to make friends and join a sorority, and to find my niche in such a large university. While I did make some great friends throughout rush week and within my sorority, the friendships that I built within my FIG are more like a family.
Another great part of the FIG program is that it is very easy to form study groups. You will have a couple of classes with other members of you FIG, and so it is very easy to go over and exchange notes, and stay updated on assignments.
A word of advice that I can give with regards to roommates is that you have to keep lines of communication open, and also you have to be willing to make some compromises. It can be difficult to live with a complete stranger, however you cannot expect that your roommate will tolerate living habits that you or your close friends deem ‘acceptable’. It would be very beneficial to lay down some ground rules before problems erupt. Also, it is very important to get involved in school activities. Whether you prefer activities that require more responsibility such as writing for the Maneater, or just having fun in cheering sections such as Tigers Lair and Zou Crew, getting involved in an organization can greatly improve your experience at Mizzou.

First Semester

As odd as it sounds, I had been looking forward to college since 8th grade. My first semester at Mizzou was all that I expected it to be and more. One of the main suggestions I have for new freshmen is stay on top of your school work. I know it sounds cliché, and I'm sure you've heard it a million times before, but: college is vastly different from high school. No one is here to remind you about your test next week, or your project that's due. Plan things out. Time management skills are a necessity, especially when it comes to studying for 5 or 6 different classes.

Get involved. Joining a FIG was probably one of the best decisions I made when enrolling at Mizzou. It's a great opportunity to meet new people that have similar interests and goals in mind. It makes it less awkward during the first week, as well. Don't be afraid to leave your room and meet new people. 

Accept the fact that going to college means change. You're living on your own. Your parents have no idea what you're doing. You're responsible for your own actions, so act accordingly. And take responsibility. You're paying good $$ to come here, so try and take advantage of every opportunity available. 

Karma Is Very Cruel

This freshman year has pretty much gone the way that I envisioned it would go.  It has been delightfully pleasant and I really wouldn't change a thing about it.  I would like to take this opportunity to compare my year so far to the journey of the great American explorers Louis and Clark.  Much like the two famous and well-respected men I ventured into uncharted college territory and conquered unknown dangers, such as crossing the street to get to Baja Grill, or passing my first test.  Unlike Louis and Clark, however, I had no Sacajawea to guide me to the promised land, I had to do it on my own.  

The only blights on the year so far have been all of the technology problems that I seem to be having.  In the span of three months my ipod, phone, and xbox have broken.  There are a few other things that have gone awry, but they shall not be mentioned here, lest I have to rewrite this blog.  The things that have gone wrong are really based on luck from what I can tell, so I guess I really can't blame college all that much for them.  

If I were to give out some advice on how to get the most out of your college experience, I would first say you should ask someone else.  If you insist on my advice I would tell you to read your books because they help and to just chill out as much as possible.  That advice is about as vague as it gets, but its the best I can give as an unqualified source.  My experiences thus far in the dorms have been absolutely fantastic and really I could not ask for anything better.  We will see how next semester goes but for the most part, college is awesome and all things are good with the world.

FIG Rewind

When I first heard of the Freshman Interest Groups (FIGs) at Mizzou, I was not interested in joining one. I thought I would be limiting myself in the classes I would take and the friends I would make during my first semester in college. I was wrong. Becoming involved in the Convergence FIG was the best decision I could have made as an incoming freshman.

The classes I took with fellow FIG members satisfied some of my general education requirements. FIG also allowed me to co-enroll in classes with students in my FIG for second semester. Having class with people I live with took away the fear of not knowing anyone. It made the transition to college life smoother, especially in the first couple of weeks of school.

I would recommend to future Convergence figlets that they make a sincere effort to get to know the people in their Freshman Interest Group and get involved in extracurricular activities. Whether you hold a part-time job on campus, work for The Maneater or are simply in Tiger’s Liar, becoming involved makes the week go by a little faster and introduces you to new people in the process.

Freshman Year

College is a huge change for a teenager to make.  It is the first time living on my own and being on my schedule only.  I get to pick what time my classes are and I have a whole lot more freedom to do what I want.  The first couple weeks were a little weird for me.  I didn't know what to do with myself.  I didn't have anyone to tell me what to do or that I need to clean up or get my homework done.  I didn't even have to go to class, but for some reason I couldn't let myself not go.  I feel that I started out on the right foot; the only day I missed classes was when I wasn't feeling well.  I feel that you can learn a lot from just going to class.  Most of my teachers gave a good idea of what to study for on the exam during classes and reviews, but if someone wasn't there, then he just missed out.

When I really started to enjoy my first semester was when I started playing rugby.  I really wish I would have joined the team earlier in the season because I only got to have two practices and one game.  I had so much fun and everyone was so welcoming and helpful when I had no idea what was going on.  I think of it like a sorority, with the whole "sisterhood" kind of idea, but without the crazy cost to join.  Someone always gave me a ride to practice and took me with them to get something to eat afterward.  They made me feel more at home.

If I had any suggestions for a newcomer, there are two that pop into my head immediately.  Stay on top of your schoolwork because once you get behind, catching-up is a never ending uphill battle.  School really isn't that bad, just get out of bed and go to class.  The other is to get involved.  College wouldn't be college without the exciting, new social experience.  Whatever your interests are, you can find people who have the same.  Get out, make friends, and have fun!

First Semester Suggestions

As many people would say, college truly is much better than being back at home. The freedom, fun, and all around experience of a college career is something not to be missed. While the experience is great, there a few things freshman must do to keep your self in check to stay successful in the academic realm of things. 

First of all, I am not suggesting you become a hermit and dedicate your life to studying. There comes a limit though on how to manage your time. If you expect to go out and party monday through thursday, the odds of you succeeding are slim to none. Especially if you are a pre-j or even a Journalism student trying to get into or stay in the J-School. You can still go out, but just wait for a Friday or Saturday night. Even Thursday if you are that desperate to go out. You just have to keep reminding yourself that school comes first.

The other important thing is having a passion and motivation for what you choose to with you career. If you expect to get though the pre-j segment of college and not care about what your future is, your care for school will diminish as well. Make sure you choose the right major before you get too far. Also, get involved with what you enjoy to do. No matter what it is, there is some way to expand on just having it as your major. Not only will you find these enjoyable, but also rewarding to you resume in the future.

In all the first semester of college has been one of the best experiences of my life. Not only has it been fun, but also helped me get my shit together in a much better way. Time management is no longer an issue when it comes to finding time to do homework. In turn with that, grades have gone up, and I am now more confidant in my academics. MU has everything here so far, great friends, great fun, and great academics.

First semester of freshman year presents many new circumstances and situations.  Adjusting to college life can be hard, because college is so different from high school- it's like nothing I've ever experienced before.  It can be hard balancing the social aspect of college with the work aspect, but it's important to find this balance.  It's important to keep up with the work load in the beginning of the year to help set the pace for your time management, and it also helps you adjust to college.  College is supposed to be the best four years of your life.  You grow and change a lot, and you're constantly learning both in and out of the classroom.  It's important to stay focused on school and classwork, but to also have fun.  Finding a balance between your school life and social life is important, and it will help you ease into the college life.  My first semester was amazing, and I wouldn't change a thing about it.