It’s the Res. College Life for ME!
Hey guys, this is my last post! So in this post I want to sum up what living in Residential Colleges has done for me here at UCA. From the picture above you can see that it made way for a lot of friends. From day one I was able to find people with similar interests as me. These people weren’t just my suite mates or roommate, but these people were from all over the building at first.
By the end of the year I was bouncing all over campus going to see different friends, there was not a residence hall that I had not visited by the end of the year. For most freshmen they are lucky to visit one or two residence halls other than their own. For me one of the most important of establishing myself at UCA was being involved from the very start.
For me, I walked into UCA with a music scholarship that I had auditioned for earlier in the spring. One of the requirements for this scholarship was being a member of the BMB (Bears Marching Band), there I pretty much made 200ish instant friends. We all suffered through the heat, the long hours of rehearsal, and waited for the much desired water break.
Though I was involved in band, band did not stop me from trying to get involved even more. I would apply and almost receive a spot in UCA’s IDEAL program, which feeds into SGA positions and other leadership positions throughout UCA. From there I would also get my feet wet with what was going on in TSD (The Short Denney). I would go on the field trip to Memphis and that is what hooked me on becoming a Mentor (mentors are called Advocates now) the following year.
My sophomore year would roll around very fast; August crept up faster than it had ever before. The next thing I knew I was juggling mentor training and marching rehearsals. This would be an interesting year though. I would realize that the tight knit family group that I had formed the year before had moved to Bearidon, while I was still in TSD and one of my other friends would take up an internship.
Here is my friend Chandler (the one that I’m holding) and my friend Corey in the background. My friend Chandler is actually doing this blog too. We missed our friend so we went and visited her. This year would be different for me though. I would be on the planning side of the Memphis trip this year while also taking one of the most challenging class loads that I have taken to date. Fortunately I had people to lean on when I needed them. Whether it was fellow mentors for help on my homework or friends to distress I had the people that I needed to help me out.
This picture is from one of our spring activities, pie your RA and RC. Pictured are Daniel and me putting a pie in my RA Logan’s face. It was fun activities like this that kept the semester moving along.
For me to say residential college life helped me make it through the first two years would be an understatement.
I was in an environment that gave me the confidence that I could succeed, whether it was the friends and connections that I made, the encouraging faculty, or the building staff; there is just something about living in a residential college that is like no other.
I now work for Housing and Living/Learning Communities here at UCA as a Learning Assistant. In this position I work along side with about nine other LAs, we are scattered through out different residential colleges and residence halls.
When we get together we can discuss what is going on in each others building and for me it kept coming back to, the res colleges had better more involved communities than the other residence halls. There is something about living together and having classes together that allows for greater relationships to develop. Some of those relationships will develop traditions too. A tradition that I just followed through with this spring was getting my butt sketched. We have Spring Fling every year at UCA, one of the attractions is Butt Sketches. This is the butt sketch from my sophomore year, but I have one from my freshman, sophomore and junior year. Each year I have had a different group of my friends, but we all commit to getting someone there to do it.
The one last thing I want to say is a little bit of advice. First of all WRITE THE ESSAY TO GET INTO A RESIDENTIAL COLLEGE. Next get up and go to class, school is no longer free, you are paying for it (if you aren’t someone is).
Make sure to always prioritize your studies, if there is a party, get your work done then go! Start saving now, because there will be “necessary” IHOP runs (pictured are my friends Heather and Corey and me taking the picture of course. This was one of our many IHOP runs). Always remember to try your hardest, but have fun along the way. College literally is the best time of your life. It is a time to grow, change, mature, get it together and prove yourself. It is a time of self-reflection and self-dependence. Some of you will leave mom and dad hours away, states away or even continents away, don’t forget to call them they will miss you and you will eventually miss them too. Do not ever be afraid to get involved in a campus ministry! There are several here and they cover wide ranges of believers so don’t be afraid to look for one that fits you.
So, guys this is it! I have had a great time talking to all of my awesome readers. I hope that I get to see you here at UCA this fall or maybe next spring.
Peace Out MP is OUT!
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