When I first started taking courses at Minot State through Dakota College at Bottineau, the first course I took was a English course. It was the first time I've taken courses at my own will and I was always looking for ways to challenge myself. I found it hard to adjust to not only the class, but also the environment. Outside a few connections that I've had from before, I was feeling very alone with everything being a Bottineau student on a different campus. This is where things would get interesting, because of my determination to find success in what little I had.
After working hard to get out of Minot North Dakota, by wanting to have more an adventure. I moved a hundred miles south to Bismarck and with that also transferring schools to BSC. The biggest reason for my preference to go here, was to try hard to to seem like to much of an outsider. In my mind it got interesting right away as my imagination for everything was rocking. Fast forward two semesters after finding which program of my preference that ended up being a one that my courses that I had already taking would go into. That program would be Speech Communication, which I was not surprised by.
The reason I was not surprised was that I knew that a communication program would be my chosen program, given that I thought I could make anything of it. I'd soon start to discover why. Three semesters into my time there after going through trial and error. I would start taking courses I know I'd feel good about and be able to gain something from. These courses would not only be fun like it was taking Spanish class, but also discover how to format different stuff I'd create in different software like Google Docs.
I didn't really start doing or taking anything communication related until the next semester and for me this is when it started to get more exciting. This is when I'd start getting involved in clubs on campus like Mystic Media. My first semester with the communication didn't start off as exciting as imagined, until I took a semester off from the communication stuff to fulfill some other classes I needed. Then Covid-19 came, which interestingly enough came when I was in my Into to Biology class, ''close to the time of Spring Break." This along with my other courses would than all be online for the rest of the semester, with an extended Spring Break on top of that.
Covid-19 would carry over into the following semester with a interesting twist, despite having to mask up! As I got back into the swing with rather more communication classes that I enjoyed, it felt like I was being missed from my communication program environment all around. Because of this, I would then feel like I would have more opportunity, especially through advocating for myself. I was enjoying every second of it, from being a unique part of the Mystic Media organization team doing some layout, to going to fun events on campus to take pictures and working them in Photoshop.
The feelings and the all around vibe of it, was very relieving, knowing where I could of been if not for me going out of my way to make things interesting for myself. Strange thing with the Speech Communication degree I was in, it was mostly make whatever you can with it kind of degree. It wasn't by much the same thing my peers in Mystic Media club was taking, which was mostly Mass Communication. The classes I either had the option to take or had to take in general crossed paths with the opportunities that comes with being with Mass Communication. Another interesting thing apart of it, is the Speech Communication program was in the English department vs the mass media department.
Sadly the following semester would not only be the last one, due to taking all the courses I could that would transfer. But it would end with a out of the ordinary bang, that got me wanting to experience more environments like that. Towards the end of the school year, we would all organize an event called Fallapalooza, which there would be free food, games, and live music. After that I would continue my adventure and education by transferring to North Dakota State. First year here, was taking classes online filling any requirement I could from Bismarck, with my apartment lease not being up until that December.
I would then move east to Fargo, where it started off a bit challenge with starting in the spring vs the fall, as it was hard to integrate into the NDSU way of things. I had to finish off any required classes I had to get into my newly Strategic Communication program and there was constant below temperatures and blizzard weather pretty much until the start of May. Not only did I successfully work my way through it, but to celebrate it with a warm summer in a somewhat different area, but also a trip to Alaska to see a connection that moved there from California. At the start of the first year in the program, I'd start joining things Public Relations club, and Bison Ambassadors to start the process in getting myself out there. On top of that I'd also start some of my Communication classes in the program, while also enjoying the first time being in an actual program as well.