Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

First step: toughest, but rewarding I came to col lege having never really been away from home on a long term basis. Now I’m not trying to get too dra matic. I know we can’t really call George town an epic journey from Columbia. Kevin Langston is a senior in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications lNevei me less, the miles that would come to sep arate me from the place I had lived for 18 years would force a series of adjust ments on me. I would have to learn the campus, prepare for college curriculum, familiarize myself with the surrounding . city and meet new people—all with out the support of my family and friends. I think it was too much thrown on me at once, but I couldn’t just give up. It was all supposed to be part of the “col lege experience” USC had been selling to me and my family for a year. This is what I expected, but I still dreaded it. For the first few days of the semes ter, I would wake up and then meet up with my friends from high school. I ba sically slept in my room. That was it. I didn’t talk to anyone, and I didn’t try to meet anyone new. 1 felt 1 didn’t have to branch out. I had all the friends I need ed. There was no risk in hanging out widi people you had known for over five years. At least I wasn’t alone. After repeating this routine for a couple of days, I learned that things weregoing to be different be tween me and my high school friends. They would have to be. It made no sense for us to dwell on the days of Geoige town High. We were in college now. I know we all had some initial difficulty with learning the ropes of college, but a point was reached where we knew we all needed to give each other our own space. A true friend of mine once told me that I was too dependent on people, that I couldn’t exist by myself. Initially, these words were tough for me to swallow, and I couldn’t shake them from my head once both my families had left me. I was going to have to learn how to exist on my own, or this was going to be a long year. What was tough for me to handle, at first, was adjusting to a completely new way of life. For 18 years, I had lived in the same house, had the same friends and shared the same memories as several of my other friends. The ties and bonds it had taken me 18 years to form would have to be severed. I would have to start all over again and reinvent myself. But rather than letting this over whelming issue keep me down, 1 decid ed to use it as my advantage. 1 could start all over again with the knowledge it had taken me a lifetime to acquire. After a floor meeting, 1 elected to walk in an open door and introduce my self to a fellow floor mate. We began talking and were joined by another floor mate. There were eventually five of us in the room, and we basically talked about nothing, everything and anything for two hours. 1 made my first friends in college in that room. Sure we had our differences as the year went on. You can’t have 20 guys living on the same floor for a year with out there being some static. However, we all walked away at the end of the year with a strong bond. Some of us were clos er than others, but we all shared an ex perience that we will not soon forget. Some of those days on that floor with those guys are the best I’ve ever lived. Did 1 completely forget about my high school friends? Of course not. For me, I have a good mix of friends I’ve met while at USC and friends I brought with me. I ant closer, now, with some of the friends from high school than I ever was. We just needed time to shed our high school skin. I can’t really tell a person how to adjust to the first few days of college. We all come from different places, and we all have different stories and situa tions we must deal with. I just hope every one knows that it can only be as good as you want it to be. At first, my family could have called and easily caught me in my room. Now, they’re lucky to ever reach me. Clemson fan swallows pride at USC Dentographically, I'm not tlie average graduate stu dent. Average graduate students are thought to be in their mid 20s, and many worked some in their respective fields before deciding they either needed a more advanced degree, or the field they were in was not what they had expected. 1 possess none of these char acteristics, yet I am still a grad uate student. One characteristic I do have in common with every other Jonathan Dunagin is a graduate student in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications student who decides to pursue an advanced degree is that I was at a point in my life where the decision was right for me. I'm only 22, and I came straight from pursuing my undergraduate degree to pursuing my graduate degree, but I am not alone. There are many other graduate stu dents at this university who made the same decision I did, and we are now receiving a first-rate education from the University of South Carolina. But this decision wasn't easy. Many people claim that the hardest decision of your life is choosing which college to attend after graduating from high school. However, for me the hardest decision occurred after I graduated from college and decided I wanted to con tinue my education. Choosing the right undergraduate college for me was easy. Because 1 couldn't afford out-of-state tuition there were only two alternatives in my mind, the Uni versity of South Carolina and Clemson University. Because my parents and some family members had attended it, and because 1 had been a fan of the uni versity my entire life, the only choice that made sense for me was Clemson University. After all, USC was home to Clemson's archenemy, the fighting gamecock, so the decision was easy to make. However, Clemson didn't have a College of Jour nalism and Mass Communications so it also didn’t offer my original choice of journalism as a major. Nev ertheless, I still decided that Clemson made sense to me so I changed my major and attended the universi ty. But after four years of college, 1 still didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I enjoyed college, but I knew in the back of my mind that by making the decision to attend Clemson I had sacrificed my first choice for a major. And over the years, 1 had become disenchanted with majoring in secondary education English, and I knew that there was something else out there that I’d enjoy more. So even before I had received my degree, I knew the profession wasn't right for me and I started ex ploring other options. I needed something more to stimulate my interests, and all of my searches point ed to only one alternative: The University of South Carolina. even uiuugn i nave eveiy leoMjn in me wunu iu despise the gamecocks, 1 can honestly say choosing to come here was probably one of the best decisions in my life. These are big words coming from my mouth. 1 couldn't imagine a school where the teachers are more eager to assist their students and where the learn ing takes place at such a exceptional level. As is the case in most graduate programs, there is a lot of one on-one interaction with the professors and students. These teachers constantly impress me with their will ingness to assist us. Furthermore, USC offers graduate students a wide spectrum of classes to enroll in and programs to study, with countless majors to choose from. This includes my program, which is one of the nation's only accredited integrated communications programs. In fact, I take niiiny classes that aren't even required just So I can take advantage of the numerous learning opportunities pre sented by USC. In addition, USC offers graduate students plenty of opportunities for employment by means of assist antships that help reduce the cost of attending the uni versity. In fact, so much is covered that the education practically pays for itself. combine all ol this with a university surrounded by dozens of entertainment means (including music halls, parks and fine restaurants) set in it the middle of South Carolina's capital, mid you have the University of South Carolina. But moreover, you have a univer sity that you should be proud to attend. Now, I may never be able to support USC's ath letics because of my strong ties with the tigers, but I am definitely confident in my decision to further my education here. Adjustment to USC easy for student Coming to the Uni versity of South Girolina as a transfer student can be a little scary. Phil Watson is a sophomore in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications You might worry about fitting in, ad justing to the campus and succeeding ii your classes. I did wlien 1 transferred liere Transfer students are different Iron freshmen in several ways. If you’re transferring, you’re alread; adjusted to college-level classes. You knov the ropes of college life. Many tnuisfer have moved away from home already Unlike freshmen, who have to dea with all these changes at once, tnuisfer only have to get used to the specifics o USC, and learning the ropes at USC is n’t too hard. Transfers often experience complica tions with credit for classes they took a their previous colleges. There’s really no way of avoiding lliesi hassles when transferring course credit Just try to remember that you’ll onlygi through it once, and after your first se mester here, you’ll never have to deal witl it again. Once all the inevitable hassles ar; over, you’ll be able to look forward ti your academic career at Carolina. Many tnuisfer students have a hard er time adjusting to life at Carolina thru freshmen. When ireshmen come here, they re all new and don’t know anyone, and the) tend to live in freshman dorms where die) are surrounded by people in the same sit uation. This makes it easier for them tc meet people. Transfer students often live in upper classman dorms when tliey come to USC and they might have a harder time meet ing people for that reason. USC tries to make the transition eas ier and more enjoyable by offering tnuis fer student floors in selected residence halls across campus. This housing option gives transfers tlx opportunity to live on a floor with othei transfer students, which can make meet ing people easier. These floors are i great support line for transfer students a1 USC. Once you are settled in here and be come involved in the Carolina comrnu nity, you’ll be glad you transferred. Al ■the hassles you will go through will be well worth it. Transferring to Grrolina war not the easiest thing for me, but I’m glar I did it.