Feb
25
Can you believe that we are almost to March? Spring Break is only three weeks away. If you’re anything like me, then I’m sure you are super ready for a vacation or a trip home to get away for a while. Don’t get me wrong, I love OU; but we all need a break sometime!
With that being said, spring is literally right around the corner. It seems that every email I get is giving me an application for a leadership position or an award application to fill out. For me, it has been overwhelming with so much homework already and trying to produce solid scholarship or applications essays at the same time. Not that I am a master at applications or anything, but I have filled out my fair share of them this past year, so I have a few tips that others have shared with me and that I’ve discovered on my own:
- Be creative! Whoever is reviewing your application is also looking at dozens—maybe even hundreds—more. You want to show the reader that you are unique and irreplaceable, that you are perfect for the position or award.
- Be yourself! For some reason students think that they need to control who they are when they are writing an application. But within reason, you should be yourself. Yes, you need to keep it professional. But if you are a Whovian or a Potterhead and you can make that pertinent to the question you’re responding to, then go for it! This will make you seem real and not like some robot who is filling out these applications just because they have to.
- Be proactive. Give yourself plenty of time to get everything just right. Try not to wait until the day of a deadline to write an essay or fill out the application; that leaves too much room for little mistakes to happen.
- Be diligent. Before you turn in the application, my biggest piece of advice is to have someone you trust look over everything. Have a new set of eyes look for any grammar or spelling errors, but most importantly, let them make sure your response is fluid. If something is worded awkwardly or there are structural issues with your essay, hopefully it will show up here. Don’t take offense to any corrections that someone may make, if they are looking over this for you then they obviously want to help you win! Also make sure you didn’t write wrong address or something similar; that could be embarrassing!
These are basically the checklist I use anytime I fill out an application. I hope this is useful for you with so many things coming out to apply for in the next couple of weeks!
Just a tad bit of random advice for those of you in the Greek world… If your chapter has taken in Spring New Members, you should introduce yourself and get to know them! Being a new member right now myself, I know how nice it is for someone to simply introduce themselves! Get to know the new members in your chapter; you might find another great friend.
College is supposed to be lots of fun so make sure you aren’t stressing yourself out too much!
Boomer Sooner,
Taylor Freeman, Events Committee
Feb
22
College is where you become the person you always wanted to be, but how do you get there, you might ask? We redefine ourselves with our majors. Majors outline the person and career we will potentially have in the matter of 4 years. OU has a great program each spring to help every student, from every spectrum of life to see what major fits him or her. The Majors Minors fair, which happened this past week, was amazing. Talking to advisers passionate about their individual colleges and specialties made it apparent what college is all about: sparking our intellectual fire.
Even as a meek freshman, I have already changed my major three (THREE) times (history, public administration and finally public relations), but going to the fair I felt 100 times better about PR. Now it’s your turn! I found it helpful to major in something you’re passionate about. Love volunteerism? Maybe look at human resources. Do you love talking to yourself in the mirror? Then, broadcast journalism sounds like it could be right down your alley. I chose Public Relations because I love communicating an idea to people, and maybe I’ve watched too many episodes of Scandal, but I want to be a fixer. Now my fellow freshmen, the next step in this great life is to find some way to get an internship. Good thing OU has a great career services department for freshmen to take advantage of! From mock interviews, to career fairs each semesters, what more could an overachieving freshman want?
Now you’re thinking to yourself, who is actually writing this article? Is it some creep? Never fear my fellow freshmen, I am Maddie Wilson a freshmen at OU from Houston, TX (h-town proud for life). I am in your shoes too. College is scary, but getting these opportunities that OU offers helps tons! All you need to do is wake up in the morning remembering you earned your spot here at OU, now prove it; get that 4.0, go to the huff at least once! Try something different, put yourself out there. Believe me, I’m awkward, and my voice gets inhumanely high when I talk in public, but all you have to do is try.
These four years well go by in a blink, it honestly feels like yesterday I drove down Lindsey hyperventilating and wondering who I would eat lunch with. We are almost done with our freshmen year, we can do this because we are the Class of 2017, and nothing can stop us. Do you feel pumped? Maybe play some inspirational music while reading this (to add a more dramatic effect). Honestly, we have the potential to be an amazing class so let’s start showing everyone, let’s raise the most money for Soonerthon (you can join the Class of 2017 team), and let’s go to sporting events and cheer on our fellow sooners. We define what our college experiences are, so lets make it epic. BOOMER!
Maddie Wilson
Class of 2017 Public Relations Committee
Feb
11
5th week of school, isn’t this semester just flying by? For me I know it is. It feels like I just moved back to Norman for the semester only last week!
So what’s been going on? A LOT! In the last few weeks we have had many Class of 2017 and OU events. On February 8th OU Basketball hosted a class pride night during their game. There were tons of free t-shirts, class swag and food! We watched the Sooners beat the Bears 88-72 and Class of 2017 had one of the biggest attendances!
Now as we go into the next few weeks we have many things coming up. Something on going is the OU Cares Survey. The Graduation Office designed ‘17 an AWESOME Sooner magic shirt and all you have to do to get one is take a quick survey online on the Class of 2017 webpage! Easy right? Now if you are at OU and still unsure of what to study, you should definitely check out the Majors and Minors Fair, going on February 12th! There will be lots of people to talk to about all the programs offered here at OU. But one of the most exciting things happening here at OU this semester is SOONERTHON! And guess what, the class of 2017 has a team! You can sign up by going to the Soonerthon webpage and choosing Class of 2017 from the teams list. So as you see there are tons of activities for you to participate in this semester and I hope you take full advantage of them!
Now, if you’re like me you have probably started to see quite an increase in the difficulty of your classes. Sometimes it seems like my teachers plan for everything in the semester to be due in the same week! So what’s the best way to not get stressed? I don’t have the perfect answer, but I have some tips!
- Get plenty of rest. Yeah, yeah you probably hear this a lot, but I’m serious! Your brain needs rest to do well so don’t push it or you’ll end up feeling brain dead!
- Relax! How ever feels best for you, weather that’s taking an hour study break to watch some Netflix, or taking a quick nap, do it often so you can recharge when you go back to studying.(But make sure you actually go back to studying!)
- Exercise, you will feel great, look great, and I know for me I get some of my best work done when I have that adrenaline boost after working out. Stress is totally avoidable if you know how to manage your time.
Avoiding stress can be simple, but how do I make sure I’m doing my best in class, and getting good grades?
- Study often, sounds simple I know but really it is one of the most important things you can do to make good grades. Take time every night to review what you learned in class that day, and daily make lists of things you don’t understand and questions you have. The more you study, the better you will do.
- Be organized. There is nothing worse than struggling to find your homework you did last night because your binder (or room) is a mess. Make sure you clean out your binder (or room) weekly of papers you don’t need and trash, you will thank yourself when looking for important things.
- Use your resources. The University of Oklahoma has so many options for when you’re struggling in a class. For example: Action Tutoring! Located mainly in Wagner Hall there are tons of tutors and people willing to help you in those classes you find a little difficult. You can also take advantage of professor office hours! Professors are almost always willing to help students that don’t understand or are struggling in their class. Academic success is completely attainable!
This semester is flying by and I hope that all of you participate in campus events, make good grades, and love OU and the Class of 2017 even more than you already do!
Peace, Love, and Boomer Sooner
-Sarah Segner
Class of 2017, PR Council
Feb
6
Yo, my name is Molly Carroll and as you may have guessed, I am a member of the Class of 2017 Council. Introvert. You may have heard of this word before or you may even belong to this subgroup of humans, but I consider myself the poster child for this term. If there was a professional introvert league, I would be the number one draft pick. In other words, I am a person who does not thrive on sharing personal information, but I really will try my hardest.
I am from Johnson County, Kansas, the place where I went to school, church, met my best friends, became an adult, found myself, and so on whatever. But it really is the greatest place to call home. “So why did you choose OU,” you may ask. Well, great question! My first love in life was art, and is still my passion. Singing, drawing, music- I love them all- but most of all, I love to dance. Now going back to the introvert thing, I never really ‘vent’ or tell people how I am feeling, but I don’t need to because I express myself through performing. Sounds super cheesy, I know, but its true. This is best described in the Hopi Indian saying, “To dance is to hear our hearts speak.” Now that is some deep stuff man, and it is so accurate.
Now, I do dance just for the sake of dance, but mostly for the thrill of the competition. Competitive dancers are hard core, and I’m not just saying that because I am one. It’s like a full time job consisting of conditioning, trying to stretch your body to the most unnatural lengths, stylizing, practicing for hours on end, plus having school and whatever you are involved in outside of dance. Forget a social life. But anyway, competition is what drives me, and that is why I looked at OU. I looked at OU Pom because there was a group of incredible athletes with the same competitive drive I had, and they were really hard core… not to mention the amazing traditions and athletics! So yes, from all of this blabber about me being a shy person and dancing around and being hard core, we come to my life in the present- OU Pom.
Buckle up because you are about to have a front row seat to the life of an OU Pom girl. Exciting right? Very. Coming in clueless and optimistic, I expected the time commitments to be serious and draining, but there was no way to prepare myself for the difficulty of those first few weeks (or months) of my college experience. Here starts my first week of school, and the word stress couldn’t be any less of an understatement. Going from 8-11 a.m. practice every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to these classes in which I had no idea what was going on, or where I was, or who any of these strangers were was beyond stressful. On top of that I actually had to do homework and study and sleep? No way that was going to happen! I think the highlight of my first week of school was a nap in which I had a really weird dream. That was the highlight.
Little did I know, all of that stress would pay off. Sooner (boomer) than I expected, it was the week of our first football game. Forget school, all I cared about that week was practicing the routines over and over in my dorm room and “what time is my spray tan?!” Although I thought I was prepared, nothing could have prepared me for the moment I stepped out on that field for the first time. I began to feel like I was a part of something very very big, and I was overwhelmed with many emotions, mostly joy. The moment that I saw Bob Stoops standing ten feet from me it took all of my strength not to cry my false eyelashes off. Like what? How amazing is this university? Just thinking about stepping back out onto that field next fall gives me chills. But, in that moment, all of the hard work is worth it. All of that competition and drive that gets you through the week all pays off on Saturday when the first note of Crazy Train plays and pregame begins. Here at OU we are all a part of something way bigger than ourselves. We are a family. A family with strong tradition and overwhelming pride, and that is why I chose OU, and that is why I opened up my introverted self to the World Wide Web… so that I could spread the joy that comes with being a part of the University of Oklahoma.
Feb
3
Spring semester. Wow. It is still hard to believe how far I have come since I applied to OU. Three weeks in and it seems that I never took a break to begin with. I wish that I had all the answers and met all the expectations for the months to come. Unfortunately I do not. Yet a recurring theme surfaced in recent days that point to this semester being one of growth. Without the holidays and football games there is more time to evaluate what I am doing and searching for. The next semester is our chance as freshman to embark on new adventures and make strides in all aspects of life. It offers limitless opportunities at the very university built upon “oh, the possibilities!”
Over the past weekend, I attended a program put on by the Lead and Volunteer Office called Leader Summit. Throughout the day we listened to speakers, created boxes reflecting our own stories, and just spent time with fellow students and faculty. The Summit aimed to focus our abilities and passions by then translating them into aspirations for our leadership in the upcoming semester. The exercises and speakers relayed the importance of our positions as students. Now is the time for us to seek success not an abstract image of it in the future. Now is the time for us to look at the world with a sense of child-like wonder. Now is the time for us to figure out how we “play”. What lights me up and fuels me differs from the thing that you love to do. Instead of trying to change or correct that, I celebrate it because in doing so it allows each of us to rely on one another and build up a community. There is always a place for those that stand out and are courageous enough.
It turns out that the best remedy to the stress and challenges of the new semester was filling up Lloyd Noble stadium. Friends and I waited outside in the cold for two hours before tip off to secure our seats. Oddly enough the time waste proved crucial to my mental and social health. Being submerged in Sooner spirit reminded me of why I came to OU. The community and tradition of OU really can’t be measured. Banners made and voices ready to cheer the night away. I sat next to a complete stranger and after two halves left the game with a new friend. I reveled in the fact that our college years offer thousands of ways to connect to others. With that in mind I felt the lack of productivity for a few hours reaped much more than anticipated.
Growth is inescapable when esteemed faculty members, research studies, and students of all majors and ages surround us. Advancement on all fronts from social life to academics is daunting; honestly it is probably not for the lazy. Yet we are not meant to settle for mediocrity. Seize all of your strengths and experiences and utilize them to further your development hand–in-hand with friends. I am terrible about asking for help and guidance. Yet how stupid would it be for me to be in the midst of great minds or just people further along in life and not ask for opinions and secrets of their success. The philosophy of the semester boils down to ‘why not’. Why not study harder? Why not talk to the person next to you in class? Why not raise your expectations? Regardless of failure just the journey of attempting will be filled with more friends, stories and success than ever intended.
Taking into account the past several days, I hope to build an even stronger community on campus especially within the Class of 2017. The mission of this council is to connect and unite the class though tradition. I know that OU is the perfect place to let such dreams grow and develop. Focusing on these ideas and bringing them into reality is sobering for how I will face the next few months. My hope is that all of my class learns the balance of social and academic realms on their own terms and with their own unique flair.
Keep growing!
Hayley Struck
Class of 2017 PR Director
