University of Missouri

The past year has been an absolute whirlwind, but it’s been such a happy blur.

Living in the Alpha Chi Omega house has been an integral part of this year. When am I ever going to get the opportunity to live in a house with 72 other girls or 4 other roommates? These girls have become some of the best friends I’ve ever had, and I can’t believe I’ve only known them for two years. I love the random conversations about everything and nothing at all more than the big events. Obviously giant functions are fun, but I’ve never laughed harder than I have on the countless nights we stayed up way too late watching movies and talking instead of studying. I would not have grown as much as I have this year without these girls pushing me beyond my limits and encouraging me to better myself. I am a better person today than I was when I moved in nine months ago.

This was also the first time I got a real taste of what it’ll mean to be a broadcast major. I worked at KOMU last year and did some video shooting and editing, but being about to see a project from start to finish is an amazing opportunity. I know I can conduct interviews and figure out how it’ll all work into a 1:30 package as a sophomore…and that’s insane. I know I sometimes take the “Mizzou method” for granted thinking that everyone gets these opportunities, but realizing how much more I know now than seniors I interned with last summer knew, I am so thankful. While it maybe overwhelming sometimes, I am so lucky to Mizzou journalism student.

When I heard we were getting 5-10 inches of snow, I think I looked something like this.

Living most of my life in a place where snow is a rarity, it’s always been magical to me. The two times it snowed in New Orleans (it was only a couple of inches, but we were still excited) everything shut down and everyone was excited. The most recent snow storm was my sophomore year of high school. We had a ten minute passing period, and the entire school ran outside to play, take pictures and enjoy the snow. Most of it was melted by lunch, but we still made snowballs, snowmen and snow angels. Even though no one knew how to handle the snow, schools and businesses remained open because, let’s get real, how many people actually thought it was going to snow?

My snow days last week were the first since pre-school when I lived in Connecticut, and they were fantastic. My first day was filled with walks through Greek Town, sledding in trash bags, and making snow angels on Sankowski Field. We played around for about an hour, and I was absolutely exhausted by the end of it. After a hot shower, the rest of the day was spent in sweatpants with hot chocolate while watching movies and doing homework. I think I could get used to snow days.