A Bear's Life: Student Stories

Student stories from our peer counselors

The End of a Long Journey (Spring 2022, Week 5)

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The End of a Long Journey

In September of 2021, I shared with everyone the beginning of my journey to graduate school. I had made the decision to apply to various genetic counseling programs across the country in order to fulfil my goal of becoming a certified genetic counseling student in the future. Since then, I have finished my applications and have recently begun the interview process. Today, I wanted to share my experiences since the last time we talked.

The Same but Different

By the end of October, I had selected seven programs that I wanted to apply to based on location, quality of education, reputation, and program goals. One interesting thing about the genetic counseling application process is that we have to sign up for a national matching service in order to receive an ID number, which goes on all applications. Along with this, genetic counseling programs do not have one collective system for applications. In some cases, students are able to upload one general application and send it to multiple schools, but for me this was not the case. Beginning in November, I had to begin filling out each application individually. Looking back on it, I have to give additional thanks to the people who helped me through the whole process, especially my letters of recommendation! This process took all the way until New Year’s Eve, which marked the day I turned in my final application.

To be honest, doing that many applications can be tough. However, I did come up with some tips that may help you all if you plan on doing this in the future:

  • Keep an ongoing CV/Resume
  • Maintain a list of common information that may show up on multiple applications such as your address, emails, phone numbers for letters of recommendation, and important dates
  • Make sure to keep track of applications due dates, and don’t wait too late to start them
  • Contact the programs if you need help

First Impression Means Everything

As of now, I have since heard back and received some interviews! For some people, interviews can be a scary process. However, I have been trying my best to prepare. Interviews are an extremely important part of the whole application cycle because the programs finally get to put a face to the applications they receive. It gives the faculty a chance to learn more about you and to see if you are a good fit for their program. For those of you who may go through this in the future, here are some tips for the interview and some ways to prepare:

  • Set up mock interviews with MSU faculty and get feedback
  • Look up potential interview questions to think about how you may answer them
  • Be yourself because the programs want to know the real you
  • Ask good questions
  • Be confident in yourself because they wanted you for an interview

See What the Future Holds

Again, I will come back in the future to let you all know how my journey ends. This is a time of my life that I have dreamed about for years, and I can’t believe it is coming near its close. As always, thank you for reading, and I hope this helped some of you for the future!

(Bio: My name is Michael Rexroad, a transfer student from Metropolitan Community College in Kansas City. I am a senior currently studying cell and molecular biology with a minor in chemistry and biomedical sciences.)

Transitioning Back (Spring 2022, Week 3)

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It feels so good to be back in action, not only on campus but also in the Center for Academic Success and Transitions (CAST) office. 

My Online to In-Person Transition 

One of the things that I love about creating blog posts is that I am given the chance to share my life, experiences, and anything that can help other students to succeed. This time around, I wanted to bring the spotlight to myself. Since the beginning of the pandemic, I had been at home with my family and taking online courses. Online classes were a learning experience, but I was able to figure things out and keep not only my grades together but also my priorities. However, keeping all that in mind, I am getting ready to graduate in about a year, so I decided to come back to campus. I was not sure when I would get the chance to return, and I really missed campus along with some particularly important people in it. In this post, I wanted to talk about how I am transitioning to being back on campus, my emotional state of mind, and just some difficulties that I have been faced with recently. 

Campus Life 

This semester I am living in a residence hall, and it has been one of the weirdest things that I have had to do. It has been about two years since I have lived in a residence hall and have had to be sociable with people outside of my family members. Fortunately, enough my family was here to move me in and help me to unpack my things so that I felt a lot more at home. My suitemate is also a nice person and someone whom I can see myself having a good relationship with for a long time, even after my journey at Missouri State ends. I have adapted to my schedule, so I am able to get to my classes on time, get assignments done, and find some time to call home. I can still remember where specific buildings are, how to get around campus faster, and just the small things regarding my student account. 

My Emotional State  

These past few weeks have been hard for me to adapt to, but I expected that to happen, which is why I have been taking everything one day at a time. Things were much easier for me to balance when I was at home because not only was my family there, but everything was going on within one place; my room was my residence hall and classroom all in one. There have been and will be, times when I’m lonely or just want to hear my mom’s voice. However, I talk to my mom every day, and my parents continue to remind me that they are proud of me. My emotional state does fluctuate but that is to be expected given the change from living at home to now being on campus. 

Difficulties  

Rather than a long paragraph, I’m listing some of the difficulties that I have had to face since being on campus for the past few weeks. What’s most important is that I am overcoming the listed difficulties and enjoying my time on campus as I settle back into everything. 

  • Missing being closer to my family members
  • Working face-to-face with people and in-person 
  • Adjusting to having a meal plan, cooking for myself, and not skipping breakfast 
  • Getting up and going to my classes rather than just opening my laptop 

Takeaways for this Week 

Being a student at Missouri State online and in-person are two very different experiences. I don’t think that I would have changed my decision to come back to campus because it will pass by so fast; I will look up and the spring semester will already be over. The pandemic has made things difficult, but I am always working to keep myself safe and keep my mind on my ultimate goal, obtaining my degree. I have so many things that I am going to continue to look forward to and so many things to experience myself, but I am hopeful that my experiences can help you in some way. Be sure to look out for more blog posts from me throughout the semester and from my fellow CAST members.

~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.)

The Importance of General Education (Fall 2021, Week 15)

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What Do You Mean General?

Over the years I have spent time meeting with students and talking about their coursework as part of my job. One common theme I see is some students do not always enjoy the idea of general education requirements for every degree. Usually this is because students are interested in their major area and are not as passionate about additional coursework that falls outside of that area. In light of this subject, today I want to share with you why general education can actually be just as useful as your major coursework. Maybe this post will even make you feel more excited for general education!

Skills That Can Be Adapted Elsewhere

A fact that I think is often overlooked is that each course we take in college teaches us something, regardless of the course. Even if it is not a field related to your major directly, it can go a long way. For example, all majors have some requirement for English. Now, it’s fairly obvious that we need to be able to read and write, but English courses can also give us skills we may need for a job one day. A pre-medical student can benefit from English classes because they may have to become proficient in reading articles in medical journals or reports from other doctors or in writing such journal articles or reports. Even reading or writing prescriptions will benefit from skills learned in an English class. Similarly, a business student may benefit from advanced writing skills when composing professional-level business letters and proposals. And the best part is this value can come from any class! Remember that even if a class falls outside of your comfort zone, it will always benefit you somehow.

Community Engagement

As we all know, one of the pillars of Missouri State’s public affairs mission is community engagement. This revolves around the idea of becoming individuals that use our Missouri State education and the opportunities we are given to find a way to contribute to the community and make a change. What if I told you general education is a great way to become better at this pillar? Part of community engagement is being able to work with others. General education helps with this by making us more diverse in the knowledge we hold, which in turn helps us to work better with others in the community. For example, a student in History may be interested in historical events related to science. Learning about these events, including talking to professionals in the science field, will be easier if that history student has some background knowledge of science. Maybe taking a general education class in science is what sparked the student’s interest in historical science events! General education allows us to become more versatile in the things we know and the people we can work with! In this way, we are then able to engage more in the community and have a bigger impact.

General May Not Be So General

I hope this brief discussion has made you feel a little better about general education, or maybe even helped you realize how great it is that we get to learn so much! For more about our General Education program, Missouri State’s General Education web pages have detailed background and information. Remember that the things we learn are important and can always go a long way in making us better students, but also making us better Bears!

As always, thank you for reading!

(Bio: My name is Michael Rexroad, a transfer student from Metropolitan Community College in Kansas City. I am a senior currently studying cell and molecular biology with a minor in chemistry and biomedical sciences.)

Formed Habits (Fall 2021, Week 13)

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Can you believe it? We are almost done with the fall semester and much closer to the holiday season.

Habits that I’ve formed since starting college

Switching from high school to college was a huge adjustment for me. I had to figure out how to operate in ways that allowed me to succeed and, if I did fail at something, to learn from my mistakes. In this post, I want to share with you habits that I’ve formed since starting college.

Habit: Planning more time to study

College exams are definitely different from high school exams, so I have learned to prepare well in advance especially if it is a subject I struggle with, like math. I’ve recently been using two planners, one to keep track of things for my job and the other for stuff that relates to my courses during the semester. I make sure that I have enough time to get time-consuming assignments done and study within a good length of time, so I won’t need to cram at the last minute. When I do plan time to study, I also plan time for myself. I find that I work better when I spend time on things that I like to do before studying and when taking breaks.

Habit: Organizing and planning any assignments

Losing points and having late work isn’t appealing to me so I focus on maximizing the number of points that I can get for each class that I take. I organize my assignments in my planner so that I know when an assignment is due and the time leading up to those due dates. This helps keep me on track with what I need to do to avoid missing out on any points.

Habit: Studying and completing assignments in a good environment

Before attending Missouri State, it didn’t really matter to me where I studied, but now I’ve found that it’s very important to limit distractions because I absorb the most information when I’m in a quiet environment. Having classes online during the pandemic presented a challenge because I have younger siblings (they love being loud). That experience reinforced for me that a good environment for studying or just getting work done can help you to be more successful in your classes.

Habit: Going to class, even if you don’t feel like it

There may be times when you’re feeling lazy or you just don’t want to go to class. I’ve felt that way myself throughout my college journey and most likely still will. However, if I get to a point where I’m questioning going to class or not, I usually think about what I’ll miss out on or what additional work I’ll have to complete to catch up. You can miss out on important material or the chance to communicate with your professor if you don’t attend class.

Habit: Asking for help

I have been guilty in the past of not asking my instructors for help and thinking that I can do it all on my own. I’ve found, though, that when I do ask for help, I have a better understanding of the course material and struggle less than when I try to get by on my own. Don’t be afraid to communicate, whether through email or face-to-face. In addition to talking to your instructor or professor, you can always seek out upperclassmen, who can be a great source of information on campus, instructors, classes to take, fun hangout spots, etc.

Thoughts for this Week

Being a student at Missouri State has challenged me to adapt and develop good habits that can last me a lifetime. Your habits might not be exactly like mine but I’m hoping that learning about mine will get those wheels turning about your own.

~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.)

Five Things I wish I knew: College Edition (Fall 2021, Week 11)

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Hello all,

It has been a rollercoaster ride to just get to week eleven, but we have finally arrived. This semester has been very different for me, but I’ve been rolling with the punches and challenging myself to face whatever comes up.

Lately, I have been thinking about how much I’ve changed since freshman year. Missouri State was a new playing field for me and it took me some time to figure things out. This week I want to share some of these lessons with you—maybe they will help you out!

Five things I wish I knew about college when I started

  1. A better understanding of the financial aid system

Life at Missouri State came with a lot more responsibility and freedom than I was given in high school and I had to adapt accordingly. Freshman year I had to figure out what holds were, how to make payments on my student account, and where to go on campus when I needed in-person help with my account. I learned to save myself from a lot of stress by keeping up with any documents that I needed. The Office of Student Financial Aid has always been there when I really didn’t know what I was doing financially for school or when I wanted to know what I was paying for on my account.

Lesson learned: Don’t avoid or ignore financial aid.

  1. Your mental, physical and emotional health will be challenged

I expected to be challenged academically when I started at Missouri State, but I found out that living away from home and keeping up with other aspects of life resulted in additional challenges. I was prepared to do laundry, cook for myself and keep everything clean, but balancing all that with my courses during my first two semesters was hard. I realized that I would have to adapt my schedule to accomplish everything. As I worked on a better schedule, I included time for studying, being with my friends and having some alone time. After a few months, I learned what worked for me, so that those different challenges weren’t so overwhelming anymore.

Lesson learned: Find ways that will help you deal with the new challenges you face as a college student. Not all of your challenges will come from academics but may interconnect with other things going on in your life. Missouri State offers some wonderful services to help you out like the Counseling Center (I’ve used them and will continue to do so), so try them out if you ever need help with your mental health.

  1. There is nothing wrong with meeting your advisor

In the beginning, I didn’t enjoy having to meet with my advisor and talk about my future or what I was going to do on my path to graduation. I found it stressful to make decisions that I wasn’t so sure about especially when it was time to register. After realizing I didn’t know everything about my major, including which classes to take in which order, I started to understand how important and useful it was to meet with my advisor. She was there to help me plan out each of my semesters, listen to what I had to say and any concerns that I had. Now, as a senior, I frequently meet up with my advisor. Honestly, I think that I made my advisor’s job a little harder these past few semesters (😆), but she has been a great help to me in any way that she can.

Lesson learned: Don’t be afraid to meet your advisor, even if it’s for something small. They really do help you. Registration for the spring semester has already started, so be sure to contact your advisors soon.

  1. You have to be dedicated and passionate

Before I got to Missouri State, I was still in the process of figuring out what major, and ultimately what career, I would like to have. I met some great people through Missouri State that helped me confirm my choice to declare a business major. Being a business major has been harder than I expected, and I have figured out that I have to be dedicated and passionate to get to where I would like to be. It takes a lot of hard work to reach some academic goals, but I always keep in mind that I’m attending college because my future career is waiting for me.

Lesson learned: If you ever find yourself questioning your career choice or even your major, you should definitely check out the Career Center. I’ve met some really nice people from the Career Center who have helped me figure out what I want to do and what types of classes I should take.

  1. College is a Job

I had never had a job before I came to Missouri State, but I quickly realized that college is as much a job as anything else. I spend hours working on assignments for each of my classes and keeping up with everything I need to get done.

Lesson learned: I’ve recently been using planners, Google Sheets and Excel to plan my daily life and keep everything on track.

Takeaways for the Week

Your perceptions of college from before you attend are definitely going to change as you experience college first-hand. If I had learned the above lessons before starting at MSU, I may have saved myself some of the stress and confusion I experienced in my first semesters.

See you next post! There are lots of topics to come.

~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.)