College: I learned more about me than my major.

For some of you, you just started your last First day of School. For some of you, you started your First Day of College. And then there's those weirdos who have already been in school for a month, but were in the same boat. Regardless of where you are in your college career, you're doing it. GO YOU!

I love seeing the anticipatory posts of the new college babies. I love seeing the reflections of this year's seniors. It's a really incredible time of life.

There is so much to learn in college. DUH. It's why you're there; to get an education that will further your life aspirations and career goals. But what many people don't really talk about is how much you learn about yourself! I discovered myself in college. I'm not talking some crazy existential journey that miraculously opened my eyes, but I mean that I was able to develop parts of my personality that hadn't fully come around in the first 18 years of my life. I learned what I was capable of (like in last week's blog about the group that changed me in college! ), what I could survive, and what brought me a ton of joy!
So you might be asking, what did I learn MOST about myself from college?
1) I had to put myself out there.
College is hard. In high school, I was definitely an extrovert. When I got to college, I was out of my element and I was shy for the first time in my life. You go off to an area that is not familiar, and (I'm making an assumption here) you PROBABLY don't know everyone. You're probably going to have to talk to strangers, and not in a "Do you want a free piece of candy from my big white van?" kind of way.... however they do give out a lot of free candy on college campuses... But in all seriousness, you're not going to enjoy yourself if you sit in the back of the class, avoid eye contact with humans and don't make any friends. Take a step. Put yourself out there. Sure, not everyone is going to be your best friend, but every once in a while, you'll be able to share your mutual fear of your Rhetoric Professor and BAM! You have something in common. New besties.

2) Learn your limits. All of the limits.
When I say all of your limits, I do mean all of them. Learn about your sexuality. Learn about your alcohol tolerance. Learn how much stress you can handle. By learning your limits, I mean testing them. Push them. I'm not saying compromise your values or do things that you know will make you uncomfortable, but I learned my limits by seeing what was comfortable and what was not.

3) Trying to fit in with people you don't like is STUPID.
This was a mistake I made my freshman year, and other short bursts of time throughout the rest of college. If you don't like how someone is acting or treating others, you don't have to put up with it. The beauty of college is that there is a diverse population and there's probably SOMEONE out there with similar interests. Be patient and start looking!

4) It's a good thing to change in college, just don't change to impress others.
This was one thing that I saw from a bunch of my peers. They were pressured into doing things and they made the choice to change but not necessarily for the right reasons. I changed a LOT in college., but I never did the things that would change who I am morally. I didn't hook up with a guy because my friends wanted to hook up with his friends. I didn't smoke weed because the people around me were smoking weed. It goes back to your limits and also back to finding people with similar interests. Develop yourself but don't try to fit yourself into someone elses standards.

5) You will lose high school friends.
Not intentionally. And not all of them. Given the fact that you are not forced to be in the same class as 25-ish students every day, you will lose contact. They'll go off to different coasts, make new friends and new lives. That's okay. But the friends you keep in contact with will always be there for you. They'll be your rocks that you call and it seems like 5 minutes have passed instead of 5 weeks. You'll be in their weddings. You'll scream and cry for joy when they announce they are pregnant. They have a huge part of your life and they always will.

6) Sometimes you have to do things by yourself.
This was a new concept to me. I am a people person and sometimes independence scares me. College was very good for me in this scenario, especially since my parents moved 2,500 miles away. It kind of relates to the "Put yourself out there" point. There were times I needed to study by myself, or run errands alone, or even go to functions without a wingman. It was such a growing experience and truly forced me to find an independent confidence that I had never had.

7) You'll cry.
Because, sometimes, life is mean. But...

8) You'll laugh even more.
You're going to make incredible friends, go on ridiculous adventures, and see some hilarious things. Some of the things that happened to me during my college experience would have made for a phenomenal comedy/drama on a hit TV network. Some of the stuff was so far fetched that I could do nothing but laugh it off. Some of the laughs were alcohol induced. Some were from a delirious lack of sleep. Some, a mixture of both. Some laughs were a coping method when I was so stressed that it was the only thing keeping me from crying. Some of those laughs were to keep my friends from crying. But those laughs are some of the best memories I have from college and they will be forever with me.

Like I said, college was one of the best times of my life. I miss it daily, but I also reap the benefits of my college experience on the regular. I talk to my college besties every day. Literally, every day. I am so thankful for the person that college made me. I learned so much and wouldn't trade it for the world. Embrace this phase of life, whether you're just starting or if it's winding down. These memories will be with you forever.

Looking at the group that changed my life.

Have you ever had something happen to you that changed your life for the better?

I've had a few of these moments. Sometimes you realize in the moment that they're happening and sometimes it takes a little flashback to remind you of how much you were affected. I've had a few seasons in my life that definitely changed my overall course, and one particular organization had a large life-altering presence.

On Friday, I was asked to return back to my old stomping grounds, the Memorial Union at Oregon State University, to participate in an alumni Q&A session for the incoming coordinators of the Memorial Union Program Council (MUPC). I was so excited to go back to Corvallis and share my love for MUPC with anyone who would listen.

Anyone who has spoken to me for more than a half hour has probably heard me talk about MUPC, so for those of you who are scratching your heads and wondering what in the world it is, I will try and convey the awesome in one sentence.

MUPC is a student event planning group on campus to put on a huge variety of events and activities throughout the year.

That sentence (or any sentence that doesn't include firworks and pyrotechnics) does not do the organization justice. It sounds like just another student organization. How did that change my life? Well, let me tell you. Through MUPC, I was able to gain more knowlege than any other time/place in my life. I learned interpersonal skills, I learned the professional building blocks, I learned conflict resolution, and most importantly, I learned about my own personal potential.

The interpersonal skills were something I had already thought I displayed. I'm my mother's daughter. I talk to strangers at the grocery store. I am fairly confident when meeting new people, but MUPC and student leadership encouraged me to develop my skills further. We did trainings like StrengthsQuest to determine our leadership styles, which helped us learn what types of people we work with more effectively and how we can better our communication with those who may not be like-minded communicators. It also encouraged me to work with different organizations who have different motives and end goals than my own organization. We worked with diversity development in order to reach a greater target audience.

Along with the interpersonal focus, I was also encouraged to develop my professional skilss. We worked with tools such as timelines, GoogleDocs, Microsoft Office, riders, contracts, and so many other things. We were taught how to conduct meetings, how to market our own events and how to professionally handle difficult clients.

We learned that, on a campus of nearly 30,000 students and faculty members, not everyone will LOVE your events. We learned that you're always going to have that ONE customer who whines. We learned how to work with committee members that you'd rather drop kick across the football field. We also learned how to adapt. Sometimes your comedians show up ten minutes AFTER the commedy show is scheduled to start and that you have to get up on stage in front of 1,200 people in order to stall while they get ready to preform.

Most of all, MUPC taught me that I am capable. How often are 18-22 year olds in charge of an event with a $70,000 budget? How often are students in charge of over $100,000 worth of merchandise? How often are college 'kids' responsible for keeping 6,000 students safe at a free concert? Well, at least once a year for all of those with MUPC. The organization taught me that I am capable of putting 6 months of hard work into a single 40-hour weekend and creating memories for hundreds of students and their families.

Honestly, it was a little difficult going from so much responsibility to the "real world" where people my age aren't always held to the same work standards that we were held to in the Student Leadership world. It was hard since I had accomplished some big stuff in college and then I went back to the lowliest positions in the workforce. But let me tell you, once I was able to prove myself and to prove my abilities, I realized that MUPC had set me up for success. Looking back and talking with the new coordinators helped me realize how much growth I had seen in myself throughout the two years as a college event coordinator.

MUPC had changed my life. It had given me the people skills, the work ethic, and the confidence I had needed to prove myself to my superiors in my after-college life. It also gave me some of the best friends I could have asked for. I spent many days crying over tests, work frustrations and boy problems with my co-coordinators. We binged on coffee as the event date came up closer and closer. We shared event horrro stories. We shared event successes. We met each others families. We met each others' significant others. We lived one of the best times of our lives together and now share a bond that will always remind us of some of our best and strongest memories.

Going back this weekend came at the perfect time. I needed to "go home" and MUPC was a great place to visit. It reminded me of all the things I survived while sitting on those couches at the MU. I tried conveying my love for the organization to the incoming coordinators but they'll learn soon enough. They'll live it. It opened my eyes to how different of a person I would have been had I not joined the Programming council.

I loved looking back on the organization that changed my life.