Sophomore Connor

I am a sophomore Health and Exercise Science student from Pennsylvania. Coming to Colorado State was one of the best decisions I've ever made, and I am enjoy every aspect of college, ups and downs.

     My second year at CSU is going awesomely. My roommates make our house very entertaining, and living close to campus gives me the opportunity to utilize the library when I need to. Last year at this time in the semester, I was a little stressed out by all the midterms, still making relationships with people, and trying to do extracurricular activities. Right now, I'm happily working away at my lectured classes, getting the concepts down. I'm living with my three best friends. And I'm busy in the best way possible: hanging out with friends, joining a fraternity, and getting my school-work done.

     Like I said earlier, sometimes finding a quiet place to study in my house is difficult. Because of this, I usually spend an hour or two after my last class to just go to the library and bump out some school-work, while I'm still in the school state-of-mind. The biggest difference I've noticed about living in a house, instead of the residence halls, is the food situation. Needing to set time aside to go grocery shopping with my roommates is a little bit of a hassle. Luckily, my roommate's tastes are similar to my own, so it makes buying groceries and dividing the bill very simple. Other differences I've noticed, is the bed time that I've been exposed to in my new house. In the halls, you only had to worry about when one person went to sleep, and that was your roommate. Now, there are 2 or 3 more roommates that may possibly be staying up later than you and being loud, preventing you from sleeping. Also since I'm a considerate person, when I'm the one staying up late to do homework or watch TV, I try to keep it down.

    Being off-campus also kind of tests some of my relationships with people, because I have to set up lunch dates and things to try to meet up with people I haven't seen in a while. In the dorms, you're exposed to all your friends practically every day. In this way, I feel my sophomore year has sorted out some of my less common friends, but made many other relationships stronger.

     Joining a fraternity this semester was an excellent decision, even though I'm one of few sophomores in my new member class. Taking the time to shape as a CSU student before joining a Greek organization was a great advantage to me. It's easier to relate to everyone.

     On a scale from 1 to 10, I would rank my experience as a sophomore so far to be an 8!  I love CSU, and everything that it has to offer.

Sophomore Courtney

I am a sophomore Sociology and Social Work double major from Michigan. I love Colorado State and my favorite part of Campus is the Oval, especially in the Fall. Along with being involved on campus, I enjoy spending time outdoors and hiking the mountains!


     Happy week seven! We are now 41 days into the fall 2012 semester, and I think I can speak for many other students in saying that we are hitting the crunch time for those dreaded first exams and papers. The seventh week of school marks that moment when my schedule begins to feel routine, but I also have those first exams rudely knocking on my door. However, I am happy to say this is no longer my first rodeo, and I have two semesters under my belt to guide me through the stress. I now have learned to navigate the library and have come to understand that you do not necessarily look like a loner if you are doing homework by yourself in the Lory Student Center. With these useful tools in my belt, I feel comfortable in saying that I am quite content in how my second year as a CSU student is going.
     And so as I set out to write this blog, I began to reflect on my time on campus so far and what sort of changes have occurred for me in the last year since I started at CSU. The main thing that I remember from my life in the fall of 2011 was the fact that my life was in utter disarray. I had come into the CSU community as a biomedical science student with my mind set on becoming a veterinarian. However, right around this time last year I was beginning to realize that science classes were not necessarily up my alley. And so that set me into complete turmoil searching for a new major and a new direction in life. After dabbling in the mathematics department for a semester I decided to switch one more time into my current double major of sociology and social work looking into Law school. Talk about a big switch from hard science. And so this semester I have felt a little bit like a first year student all over again in beginning some entry-level classes for my major. However, I have come to learn that my status on campus is not defined by the level of the classes I am walking into each day, but rather it is measured by the amount of experiences I have had as a college student. Although I know my future goals may change again in the near future, I am now comfortable enough to know that I have time to make up my mind and that Rome wasn’t built in a day. Changing majors is not the end of the world, and I believe it is better to love what you are doing rather than being stuck in something that you are not passionate about.
     This change, however, also demanded for me to train my mind to think in new ways. Rather than simply focusing on logistical pieces of information, such as formulas and equations, my professors have begun to challenge me into self-reflection and critically viewing the way I see the world. Never before have I had to think about the type of person I want to become in the next few years and the type of future I want to have until I was required to do so. This type of mindset has made me appreciate the amount of diversity we are surrounded by on a daily basis and seeing that I fit into this. The fact that I can see this influencing me in my everyday life has led me to believe that it is always useful to step outside of your comfort zone with class choice or veer away from your major in choosing an elective. Just something to keep in mind as we move into picking our spring schedules!
     Well fellow second-years, I will leave you until November! Good luck with your barrage of exams and make sure to utilize whatever it is that helps you relieve stress; the Rec Center is open 7 days a week! You can do it!