MENTOR MEETING!!!

I learned a lot from Tatum during our lunch.  We have talked on other occasions besides today and I kind of get the feeling that my freshman experience is a little similar to hers. I think that the transition has been really rough and I just find myself missing things that I am familiar with a lot more than I thought I would. Also, I went into school very confident with my major, but now I find myself questioning what I even want to do. Tatum and I talked a lot about how she felt like this too. She went into her freshman year as an animal science major hoping to be a vet. However, as she took more classes pertaining to her major, she began to wonder if it was what she really wanted to do (especially after taking Chem). When I asked her about places she liked to study, she mentioned the Morrill C-Store which I found funny because I study there ALL THE TIME.

I have found it really hard to balance involvement with school this semester and Tatum told me that that was completely normal and that her first semester she was only really involved with ENR. I found this to be reassuring because I thought that I wasn’t doing enough even being in two clubs outside of ENR. She also told me that getting involved helped her realize that she didn’t want to do what she had planned on doing. I am really relieved to go to a school that has so many clubs to get involved with, so I can find more things that I am interested in.

When we talked about ENR scholars, Tatum really suggested that I should get as involved as possible and take advantage of the opportunities it offers. She also told me that a lot of the second years didn’t realize they would miss living together as much as they do now, and I find that interesting because I feel like a lot of us have already talked about next year getting sad thinking about not being with each other every second of the day. (#MorrilRoundTwo?) She also said to utilize Esther and Amanda as resources because they are very understanding and also have a lot of connections that are very helpful.

Tatum is really set on going to grad school, which I cannot really relate to as of now because it doesn’t sound very appealing to me. I understand why people love grad school, but I just haven’t looked into it a lot yet. She wants to be a clinical psychologist for adolescents because she says she understands that teenagers go through a lot of hard times and their voices aren’t always heard, and on top of that, teens are fun to talk to.

When I asked her for tips, she told me that it’s okay to not be okay sometimes and to remember the reason that I am here. I think it’s hard to get lost in the “college experience” misconception because I always feel like I should be having the time of my life. It was refreshing to hear that I don’t have to have it all together right now.

Artifacts

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