A Bear's Life: Student Stories

Student stories from our peer counselors

Archives for March 2023

Personal Growth Tips and Tricks (Spring 2023, Week 10)

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These last few months I’ve been slowly taking everything in around me from my impending graduation to just figuring out what my life goals are. The last few years at Missouri State have been playing over and over in my head and I have been reliving my college career. I can honestly say that I have grown tremendously in all areas of my life since becoming a student at MSU. Personal growth is a big part of growing up and being a college student because you’re moving as an individual with more responsibility. For this blog post, I wanted to give you all some tips and tricks related to personal growth. Personal growth or personal investment can be attested to through any new skills you learned, changes in your attitude, or if you’ve improved your mental health. Personal growth lasts a lifetime and it’s beneficial to your relationships or just making yourself happier.  

Personal Growth Tips and Tricks

Experience new things and places

Personal growth is all about developing yourself in order to have a positive impact on life so why not take chances to experience new things and places. You get a chance to learn more about the world around you and what it has to offer. New things also bring a variety of challenges and learning about different perspectives.

Give this tip a try on campus: MSU is full of opportunities for personal growth! Check out a new organization, go to a campus event that’s new to you, and look for a service trip or activity you can join. 

Take a look at yourself and what you are capable of 

Use opportunities to learn about yourself, what you enjoy, and what you excel at, and look for ways to extend yourself. Avoid comparing yourself to others. You’re only in control of yourself so try to learn more about yourself and who exactly you are.

Here’s how you can practice this tip: you are your biggest motivator so make sure you are giving yourself the time, energy, and attention that you deserve. You can meditate, do some self-care or motivate yourself with positive affirmations in the morning.  

Accept your failures and mistakes  

Life is full of failures and mistakes no matter how small but accepting them and moving on shows how accepting of yourself you are. With this tip, you are allowing yourself to experience your emotions, come back stronger and lead yourself toward success.

Put this into practice at MSU: if you ever fail an exam or an assignment, use that opportunity to assess how you are studying. Check out ways to get support, such as the Bear CLAW or visiting your instructors during office hours. The Center for Academic Success and Transition (CAST) is a great organization that can help students with academic support and provides information about helpful student services; through CAST’s student academic assistance page, you can request to meet with a Success Coach or a Peer Mentor.

Evaluate your life 

You are ultimately taking the time to see where you are in life, and what you hope to accomplish or help identify areas of your life that need improvement. This enables you to identify your weaknesses and work to change them leading to a better version of yourself.

You can utilize this tip like this: take a little time each semester or throughout the year to think about your major and see if it’s still something you want to do, or if there might be a different major out there for you. You can take the opportunity to find any internships or other experiences that can help with your future.  

Takeaways  

I got a chance to experience life away from my family and looking back on where I started there were a lot of changes I went through on my own. I visited new places, accepted my bad decisions, and took time to learn about myself. The thing about college is that you aren’t always ready for the growth that comes with independence. You’re going to grow as a person whether it’s academically or with your self-confidence. I’m hoping that my tips and tricks can help you with your own personal growth or put you in a position to think about it more. Growth is only natural and with college added to the mix it’s inevitable.  

“Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you have power over instead of craving control over what you don’t.” – Steve Maraboli 

~Alexandria  

(Bio: I’m the middle child of seven kids in my immediate family. I’m currently a Senior Business major at Missouri State University.)  

 

How to Prepare for An Advising Appointment (Spring 2023, Week 8)

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Hi again, Bears! I am happy to be back for yet another blog post. I hope you had a great Spring Break!

Now that we’re back to school, we’re past the halfway point in the semester, which means that before long it will be time to register for classes for next semester! Even though it may seem far away, this semester is flying by, and your registration date will be here before you know it. On top of that, if you don’t quite have 75 credit hours under your belt, you are required to receive a release from your advisor in order to be able to register. For today’s post, I’m sharing my best tips for how you can prepare yourself for an appointment with your advisor.  

Contact Your Advisor at Least 2 Weeks Ahead of Your Registration Date 

In order to schedule an appointment with your advisor, it is important to contact them 2 weeks prior to your registration date at the very least. Some advisors are professors, and they have busy schedules that are filled with teaching classes, office hours, and other endeavors. To ensure that you can find time to meet with them, make sure you contact them at least 2 weeks ahead of time. Sometimes, it’s even a good idea to send them a brief email 3 to 4 weeks ahead of your registration date, especially if you know that you will not be flexible in the coming weeks leading up to registration. When you email your advisor, make sure to include your BearPass number, any specific information about your degree program that you think they may need to know, and your general availability for an appointment. Including your BearPass number helps them quickly access your Degree Audit and Advising Notes, and letting them know your general availability up front will save some steps when scheduling the appointment.  

Familiarize Yourself with Your Degree/Major Requirements 

Even if you aren’t actively preparing for an advising appointment, it is beneficial to you to be familiar with any and all requirements that you will need to fulfill in order to graduate with your major and/or degree. However, knowing what courses you still need to take before your advising appointment will save time and make the appointment easier for both you and your advisor. It will also enable you to roughly plan out future semesters and ensure that you’re on the right track towards graduation. You can access all of your course requirements on the Missouri State website or your Degree Audit, but the Missouri State website will show you course descriptions and when certain classes are going to be offered.  

Have a Rough Idea of What Courses You’d Like to Take 

Knowing what courses are going to be offered the following semester ahead of your advising appointment is another way to make your appointment with your advisor easier and faster. Most of the time, course offerings for the following semester become available on Trial Schedule Builder early in the current semester. Be sure to take just a little bit of time before your appointment to see what courses will be available, just so you have plenty of time to change things around if there’s an unexpected change to what you thought was going to be offered. This also gives you plenty of time to ask your advisor any questions about your schedule that you may have. Seeing course options ahead of time can only benefit you, so budget some time before your appointment to review them.  

Takeaways 

I hope that this information proves to be of use for you as you’re preparing for registration! However, if my tips confuse you, you’re feeling overwhelmed about registration, or you have questions, remember that we have some amazing Peer Mentors and Success Coaches here in the CAST office that would love to help you! Like Aubrey, another amazing Peer Mentor, said in a post at the beginning of the semester, we are now offering Open Hours for students that would like to drop by at their own convenience. If you need help, come and see us! Otherwise, good luck with registration, keep working hard, and Go Bears!  

~Hallie 

(Bio: I am a sophomore out-of-state student studying Creative Writing with a minor in Philosophy.) 

How to Guide to Campus Gadgets (Spring 2023, Week 7)

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How to Guide to Campus Gadgets

Hello, Missouri State! Recently as I walked on campus from work to class I passed by several Starship Technologies delivery robots. While they have been on our campus since September, this was the first day I noticed them. What caught my attention is that we have this resource, yet I have no idea how to use it. I asked several classmates and not only did they not know how to use the robots but they also made the comment that they were unsure how to use the Bird scooters. I then made it my mission to figure out both of the gadgets.

Starship Technologies 

The Starship robots deliver from all of our campus offerings of Einstein Bros. Bagels, Panda Express, Subway, and the Market Café 1905 (will be added soon). To order yourself a food or drink of your choice all you need to do is download the Starship Food Delivery app (iOS and Android). The service does work with the student meal plan dining dollars or you can pay through a personal account. Once you have the app downloaded you’ll be asked to “drop a pin” where you want the delivery to be sent. The app provides a map tracking how close your delivery is to making its way to you. Once your delivery arrives you’ll receive a notification through the app. Once you greet the robot you’ll be prompted to unlock and grab your delivery. An alternative use for the resource is the PSU pick-up. If you are headed to the PSU and want to skip the lines you can order on the app and pick up your order at the marked location.

As I learned more about the robots my curiosity grew and I found that they have technology that allows them to navigate obstacles, climb curbs, travel night and day, and they can even deliver in the rain and snow. This addition to our campus is a fun way to stay central to your location without skipping a meal. 

Bird Scooters

Like the robots mentioned above, you can access the scooters through an app. The app is called “Bird” and allows you to use scooters on and near campus. What I found to be the most helpful information when looking into this technology was the importance of not riding on sidewalks but using the bike lane when possible. Helmets and one rider per scooter are also expected regulations. When you finish using your scooter the process is pretty simple: leave the scooter at your stopping point (avoid blocking sidewalks, doorways, driveways, and all other right of ways) and take a picture. The Bird scooters do have a payment fee and the price increases the longer you ride. 

After understanding how these two additions to our campus work, I’m excited to try them. The two of these gadgets alone have made a fun atmosphere on our campus and I get excited now when I see both being used by students and staff.

“Technology is best when it brings people together.” – Matt Mullenweg

~Aubrey

(Bio: My name is Aubrey Hardy, a sophomore studying special needs education. Fun fact: I grew up on a farm.)