10 Amazing Things About My College (That Don't Have to do with the Amenities)

Let me first say, that I absolutely love my alma mater. I proudly sport my High Point University sticker on my car, and defend it to those think of us High Point students as nothing more than rich brats. But there is one thing that I have to say, has been bothering me lately. We see countless articles about why HPU is wonderful, and it is, but the 'wonder of it all' seems to be strictly focused on our pools, ice cream truck and countless other residential perks. I think it's about time that someone told the world why they are a proud HPU student because of all the other great things about our school, not just the lifestyle. 

1. Extraordinary Education

With more than 5 different schools of study, at least 10 different academic buildings, 46 majors, 46 minors, and 206 full time faculty members, I believe it's safe to say that for our size, we take academics very seriously. In addition to just the academic buildings, we also have four different library locations staffed by librarians who help answer all of our questions. It doesn't matter whether we are just starting our projects, or we're 12 and a half cups of coffee in and haven't slept in three days. The library has even made an online chat available through the website so that if we've barricaded ourselves in a study room, we can ask them questions on how to site journal articles in APA style for the millionth time. 

2. Inspiring Environment

It always sounds funny and awe-inspiring when Nido says it, but it's actually completely true. You literately cannot go to this school if you do not encounter an inspirational quote at least three times a day. They are on the ground, on the benches, on the TV's, on the walls, and on social media. It's impossible. I dare you to try not to be inspired at least once a day at this school. Bonus points if you're uninspired during freshman or senior seminar with Nido. 

3. Caring People

This. This reason enough could have millions of blog posts on it. The amount of caring people I have encountered at this University astounds me. From my professors, to Student Life, to the ladies at the Farmer's Market and the Bakery, to the Security Guards who actually try to get to know the students, and for that matter, the students who make an effort to get to know you. The girls in your sorority, the guys in your fraternity, the members of your intramural team, or study group, the people who start new organizations, the people who lead service trips and other community service events. These people care. And their amazing at it. I can honestly say, some of these relationships will last a lifetime.

4. Study Abroad

We have over 40 different study abroad programs. For those of who you missed High Point's big "transformation" that began in 2005, at that time we only had 5. Which means we've added over 35 new programs. And the wonderful thing about the people in the study abroad office is, if there isn't a program where you want to go, they'll find another university that you can go with. Or if you want to completely make your own, like I did, they'll help you. Even if you don't go through High Point at all to go abroad, they still want to know your travel itinerary so that they can keep an eye on you from afar. They care that much. 

5. Undergraduate Research

This was something that I always thought was for the science majors. When I was approached by a professor who suggested a project that I had done had the potential to be published and presented, I knew nothing about the Undergraduate Research department. Luckily, we have a great one. Dr. Altman works hard to get HPU as represented as she can at research conferences. We even sent five students to the National Conference on Undergraduate Research at the University of Kentucky this past April. That was huge for a school of High Point's size. If it's something you're interested in, go talk to Dr. Altman and you can make it happen.

6. Service Learning

While many people shudder when they realize they have actually signed up for a service learning course, they normally end the semester with great things to say. Service learning courses allow you to take what you're learning in the classroom, and apply it. There are classes that started a writing center for local elementary school children, and not only did it help the kids immensely, it also taught a lot to the college kids who ran it. This is just one of the many ways that High Point University gives back to the community.

7. Community Service

While service learning courses are just that, a course, there are many community service opportunities beyond the classroom. We have the Civitan Club that focuses on helping people with developmental disabilities with another concentration on helping homeless people in our area. Habitat for Humanity works on local jobs that Habitat is doing in the area. The Volunteer Center is in place strictly to provide students who want to give back to the community a way to do so. There are endless numbers of these clubs, ones that are strictly community service based, ones that affiliate with a certain major and more.

8. 15:1 Student to Faculty Ratio

Being an alumni has shown me what I consider to be one of the most important relationships in college, the one between student and professor. I absolutely love seeing my classmates keep in touch with influential professors after we have graduated. My relationship with my mentor means everything to me. I owe a lot of my accomplishments and career decisions to her, and I don't know where I would be without her. To find that person in a pivotal moment of my undergraduate career made all the difference for me, and it has for so many other students. These relationships are built in our classrooms. 

9. Top-Notch Equipment

Just as in our residential life, in our educational experiences, we want for nothing. We have a room with a stock ticker in it for goodness sake. In that room there are also computer systems that I'm sure make the business and marketing students drool. The design students have access to a 3D printer and a laser cutter in Norton. The communications students have a news room and a game design room complete with a suit that supposedly helps with character movements. In the education building there is a whole room designed to look like a classroom equipped with the top of the line LEGO technology with a fully stocked children's library downstairs. At Oak Hollow Mall, we have a bio-mechanics laboratory full of state of the art equipment to study human movement and how to prevent injury and develop new ways of treating injuries. And the best part is, if we don't have it, all you need to do is ask. 

10. Pride

High Point LOVES its students. Every summer, students working at internships across the globe grace the pages of our website. High Point even recently began the Class of 2014 profiles, highlighting students who have been successful after leaving High Point and how HPU got us to where we are. They want to showcase us for the world to see because they are so proud of the students they create. 

You can come to High Point University for the ice cream truck if you'd like, but I prefer to look back on my time at HPU with these things in mind. I not only enjoyed many afternoons by the pool and then went home to my awesome dorm room, I also learned an incredible amount in and out of the classroom from some pretty fantastic people. I'm grateful for my time at HPU, and it's all because of the support and the people I encountered.     

 

Apartment Shopping

If you're like me, getting an apartment right out of college sounds really fun at first, and quickly becomes very sad when you see the price tags. Starting all over owning absolutely nothing is absolutely terrifying. Over the past few weeks I've been gathering furniture, bedding, bathroom things, and all of that fun stuff. I have to say, I was feeling pretty good about it. Until I realized that basic necessities cost a lot of money. Here are my tips and tid bits  about shopping for your first apartment if you are like me and have no money and no belongings.

Furniture
Craigslist, craigslist, craigslist. This has easily saved me more money than I ever could have imagined. Since I was buying different furniture from different sellers, I decided the easiest way to make it all somewhat match was to make sure it was all the same color. Being my preppy self, I decided on white. The other predicament was that I have a little car. It's teeny tiny. So there was no possible way I could transport any furniture. This lead me to using the craigslist in my home town where my parents could (thankfully) pick up the furniture using the large car we have at home. My first furniture purchase was my desk!

Secondly, I was lucky enough to develop a working relationship with a seller on craigslist. I emailed her about a dresser she had listed, but unfortunately, she had already sold it. However, she told me she regularly refinished furniture for people personally and offered to do a piece for me. I told her what I was looking for, and boy did she deliver! On Sunday I will be getting a BEAUTIFUL eight drawer, tall dresser with TONS of storage space (which I'm completely obsessed with).

Walmart is also a good place to look for certain things. I found a cheap night stand from Walmart that I really liked. I was striking out with craigslist and decided to look there. The nice thing with Walmart is their "site to store" feature which basically allows you to ship whatever you want from their website for free.

And of course, reach out to friends and neighbors. Chances are, someone is getting new furniture, or a new tv, or new dishes and would like to get rid of the ones they have. And, depending on your relationship with those people, you might even get these things at the very low cost of free, which is always in budget. And if it's not free, they're likely to charge you less than they would if they tried to sell it online. From doing this, I have been lucky enough to get a couch, chair, dishes, and serving plates from neighbors and family friends!

Bedding
First of all, look early, and look often. I knew that I wanted a new "grown-up" feeling room. Which meant changing the colors from bright pink and purple (yes, pink is my absolute favorite color) to a more neutral color. I settled on a gray comforter with pink and navy accents. I couldn't completely leave the pink in me behind. Sites like Overstock are going to be your best friend if you're looking early enough. You can normally find really good deals with cheap shipping. This is where I got my duvet set.

Sheets and things are something I recommend buying in increments. Buying it all at once was not a fun experience and I don't wish that kind of punch in the wallet on anyone. Thirty dollars here and there is not a lot, but adding it all at once is a very large price tag and one that I could not pay without a lot of financial trauma. I had the "oh shit. Being a grown-up is expensive" moment, and it wasn't fun. I do think Target has some of the best deals. The Room Essentials brand is basically all you will need, and is much cheaper than the other brands they carry. The same goes for things like shower curtains, curtains, and all of those other essentials that you really don't want to pay a lot of money for. Buy them over time, and not all at once. You will be doing yourself and your wallet a favor.

And of course. The Bed. If you're like me, and you have to buy your own bed, you know just how terrifying it is. Justifying spending that much money on any one thing is extremely hard. My best advice is to shop around. I went to two different places, and while the beds were basically the same, the buying experience definitely was not. The first place I went was an outlet. They offered heavily discounted products, but at the added expense of a lot of pressure to buy, something I was not expecting in my very first outing to the mattress store. I ended up going with a slightly more expensive (but still cheap) deal from Mattress Firm simply because I didn't feel pressured, and I felt a lot more comfortable with the service I was getting.

When they say you need to lay down on the beds to see what you like, they're not kidding. It feels crazy awkward and uncomfortable (and embarrassing if you decide wear a dress the day you decide to go mattress shopping.. which I totally did), but it helps a lot, and will ultimately help you make a huge decision.


And last but certainly not least, breath. I had to remind myself of this many times today after all the shopping I did. Everything will work out, and you will find exactly what you're looking for if you have the patience to shop around!

17 Days, 11 Hours, 41 Minutes

Graduation. A word that my roommates tell me is a four letter word that cannot be spoken in our room. A concept that has felt so far off that I've barely given it thought. A reality check. A word spoken in sadness, fear, regret, longing, excitement, and disappointment. My four years in college are coming to a close. I was brutally reminded of that fact as I sat in my classroom at the end of the day and read the email that told me, "Congratulations, come get your cap and gown. We're kicking you out." Only to be followed with a wonderful event on planning my financial future that taught me, "being an education major has taught you nothing about how to plan your life financially other than that you have to marry rich." Combine these two facts and it's easy to say that yesterday was a sobering day full of fear, resentment, and pure disappointment. So obviously I fixed the sobering part by having a glass of wine and looking at my life.

I am a college senior who will be walking across that stage in 17 days, 11 hours and 34 minutes with a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education with a Minor in Music with a Voice Concentration. I will be graduating with "All University Honors," with a lot of colorful chords and stoles draped around my neck. I'm a terrible speller who will be teaching sixth grade in less than four months (they are totally going to call me out), and will be kicked out of my warm university bed to my new apartment with little to no knowledge of how the real world really works. I mean what is a 401k anyway? And taxes, retirement, insurance? Who exactly thought of the genius idea to have so many requirements in one major that there was no room for personal finance?

On the other hand, there are the positives. I get an apartment! With my own furniture, big girl bed and my very own house keys. I get to decorate it as I wish, as long as I learn how to pay all the bills so that the water and heat stay on of course (not sure my roommate would be too happy if that happened). I also will get to have my own classroom. Sixth grade language arts is right up my alley as my Master's concentration is in Literacy. I get to design and decorate my classroom in a way that both my students and I will love. Armed with my sorority girl crafting skills, my apartment and my classroom will be stylish, and polished (I hope).

This next year is going to be my freshman year in life where I will learn new skills including, but not limited to:

• budgeting
• paying bills
• being completely in charge of a classroom
• how to handle a graduate school course load
• interior decorating (with the help of my interior design major sister)
• connecting with middle school students.

Armed with diet coke, Pinterest, my parents, friends and my roommate, I will get through this next year. I know I'll discover amazing tricks and treasures inside the classroom and in the post-grad life. I'm as nervous as can be, but maybe with this blog, I can help someone else who is as crazy as I am to take this much on! Hopefully in 17 days, 11 hours, and 20 minutes I'll be more prepared than I am now. Too bad this graduation timer doesn't slow down...