College - Challenges and Changes
Early Tuesday morning, I said goodbye to my very first home away from home. I unexpectedly felt sad about leaving apartment 3926 and College Station, Texas. My freshman year at A&M certainly didn't go as planned. However, those unexpected twists, both good and bad, now define who I am.
I want to be real with y'all. It was tough. Nothing went according to the perfect plan I had in my head. I was challenged and my life changed in ways I did not expect. So, before I dive into my summer and blogging, I want tell y'all about the last 10ish months of my life and hopefully you'll be able to relate to me and what I write.
So, I broke up all those crazy happenings into three parts. I'm calling them, "Major Meltdown", "I blog now?", and "Studying, what's that?"... Enjoy!
Major Meltdown: Only three days into freshman year, I had a life crisis. I came to the realization that I hate economics. As an Agricultural Economics major, that was kind of a big problem. Like a meltdown worthy problem... I was 1,300 miles from home without any sense of direction. I contemplated Animal Science for a while. I cried for hours one day because I thought maybe I wanted to be an Ag Teacher, but really, I didn't have a damn clue. Shortly after starting my blog and driving all over Texas just to take pictures of cattle alongside the road, I realized Agricultural Communications and Journalism was exactly where I needed to be.
I blog now?: My blogging journey is single-handedly the most defining part of the past eight months of my life. I started with a horrible funky flower template on blogger. Looking back, it's one of those "what was I thinking?" moments, but for me it wasn't about the template, at all. I poured my heart into a tribute to my best friend in "When your best friend goes to the army". Two weeks into blogging, I couldn't believe 800 people wanted to read my work. So, I worked my butt off from there. Often, blogging when I definitely should've been studying. "Peta2 is Wrong: FFA is Not Lame" is a prime example of that. I set aside the music book at 10:30 on a Monday night and wrote with fury. After 15,000 views, who cares what I got on my Music Appreciation exam? Also that week, Wander With Grace was born! Blogging kept me sane to say the least. Plus, some pretty cool things happened like when Ranch House Designs shared my blog, "There's No Such Thing as Luck in Showing Livestock". God works in mysterious ways and he knew I needed a little direction. Starting my blog was the first step down the right path.
Studying, what's that?: This is somewhat of a serious question. High school was a breeze, so the college workload hit me like a freight train. I may have even googled "how to study". I struggled. Economics was terrible and Music Appreciation was certainly not a GPA booster. But I learned how to be dedicated to studying. I realized the disgusting amount of time I spent scrolling through social media, so I deleted it for almost ten days. I knew what it would take to make the grades I wanted and I made it happen. Well for the most part. Unfortunately, accepting the fact that B's are acceptable was also not the easiest thing. Especially when I missed a 4.0 by one point. One stinking point. One. But Texas A&M is hard y'all.
My freshman year was tough, but it was great. I made some great friends, explored all over Texas, and had the time of my life at the best university in the world.
If you cared enough to read the whole way through, great! Thank you. I'm looking forward to an unforgettable summer. I plan to travel a lot, explore often, take thousands of pictures, and write some great stuff. If there's anything you want to hear about or if you have any suggestions, I'd surely appreciate it.
Thanks y'all & Gig 'Em
