Brooke's First Month at SMSU!

Hey guys! My name is Brooke Sorensen, and I am a freshman at SMSU! I am originally from Minneota, Minnesota, which is about 15 miles west of Marshall. I am majoring in Communication Arts and Literature/Secondary Education. I have been at SMSU for about a month now, and I am loving it! Even though I have only been here for a short amount of time, I already feel confident that I made the right decision coming here. I am not going to lie; I was pretty nervous coming into college. But, I quickly realized that there was nothing to be nervous about.

I was very nervous about finding my way around campus, but my first weekend at SMSU made that fade quickly. I moved in on a Thursday and spent the weekend doing various activities to get accustomed to campus. There were also numerous opportunities to go on tours of the academic buildings to help me find my way around. By the time that classes started on Monday, I felt as though I was already used to the campus. Although I did get turned around at times the first couple weeks, that faded, and I now feel that I know campus well. I am also getting to know campus even better now that I am working in the Office of Admission.

Another one of my worries coming to SMSU was making friends. I came from a small town where everybody knows everybody. I had had the same friends for all of elementary school, junior high, and high school. I was very nervous about leaving them, but Gold Rush Days also changed that. There were so many activities that I could take part in that had no choice but to meet tons of new people. By the end of the weekend, I had already made lots of new friends. I have also met a lot of new people through various activities after Gold Rush Days. I found after the first week that making new friends was not something that I needed to be worried about because there are so many new people that you will meet through activities and classes, you will make lots of new friends.

My last worry, which was probably my biggest concern, was my classes and time management skills. I was very nervous about my classes when I first came in. I was unsure of what to expect in a college classroom, but I soon realized that this was not something that I needed to worry about. While the classes that I am taking are structured differently as we only meet two or three times a week, I found that I, personally, liked this better. I am taking fifteen credits this semester. I also have two jobs that add up to 20 hours a week. I was nervous that this would be too overwhelming for me and that I would struggle managing my time. While it has been an adjustment, I feel like I have adjusted to it well. I did have to stop procrastinating the way that I did in high school, but I guess that it probably a good thing!

My first month at SMSU surpassed my expectations, and I have enjoyed it a lot! I came into college being very nervous about finding my way around, making friends, and managing my time and classes. After my first month, this nervousness no longer exists. Even after my first weekend at SMSU, I found that I did not need to worry! Although I have only been here for a month, I am already confident that I made the right choice coming to SMSU. I feel at home here, and I could not ask for much more than that. I love it here, and I love being a part of the Mustang Family!

Go Mustangs!

Brooke Sorensen

Welcome Back Mustangs!

I hope that everyone is having a great week! Getting back into the swing of things is always a struggle but power through it and take every day as it comes. Make sure that you are talking to the references on campus if you have questions or concerns about anything. Remember that anyone with an “Ask Me” button can help you out with any questions you may have. 

I also hope that everyone was involved in the activities from Gold Rush Days. GRD is definitely my favorite weekend of the year! Some of my favorite events we had this year were the Johnny Holm band, Mud Volleyball and Sex Signals. I would say that I made some of my best friends during my first week on campus my freshmen year and I hope you all feel the same.

Have a great semester everyone! Study hard but also make time for some fun! :) 

Hannah Kuno
Junior, Psychology Major   

A Look Back - Lucas' SMSU Journey

Hey Everyone! 

I’m back for a second round of the SMSU blog! The opportunity to do this has given me the ability to sit back and look at my journey through SMSU and where it will take me. I am just a few short months away from walking across the stage at graduation and shaking the President’s hand with my degree in the other hand. As many have probably said before me and others will continue to say long after I’ve left, enjoy your time in college because it flies by.

Freshman year I arrived on campus wide eyed and scared if I made the right life choice. I was quick to find out it was. From walking into Sweetland Hall to my RA’s smile from ear to ear and the excitement in her voice that this was going to be the best time of your life, to later meeting my roommate where we had enough in common to keep things interesting but different enough to balance each other. Little did I know these among others would be lifelong relationships in the making.

Through the middle years of college it was all about finding what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. This was something I spend sleepless nights thinking about, but over time you find your strengths and passions in life. So if you think you’re the only one in that boat, look around there are other rowing right along with you. Don’t give up! Keep pushing forward and it will find you. Personally, I switched a few times before finally settling into Sports Management, which keeps opening doors that I would have never thought would have been possible.

Senior year was here before long and then I blinked and it’s half way over. At the start I made an effort to live every experience that I haven’t yet to this point. Meet as many people as I could and make those memories where 20 years down the line we’ll look back and say “Remember that one time?” The real world is right around the corner, am I nervous? Who wouldn’t be? Life is about to really start and I’m about to put to work everything I have learned since I started Kindergarten. I can honestly say that it’s an excited nervousness, because it’s a new fresh chapter in my life.

Coming to Southwest was one of the most difficult disc ions I had made in my life to that point. Over time I could slowly see it was the right choice. Through the course of my four years here I really found out who I was and what I was capable of. I found out that you don’t have to do it all by yourself because at the end of the day we are all a family.  I learned what it’s like to be a part of tradition that is invested in its students and the future. Most importantly, I learned what it means to be a Mustang.

Once a Mustang, Always a Mustang!

Lucas