Why I love Bergeron

St. Mikes has some great buildings on its campus, but hands down my favorite is Bergeron, the media studies building. That is where I have a majority of my classes and spend most of my time. Inside, there are two computer labs, a regular classroom, plus all of the professors offices right there! You get out of the lab, walk two feet, and then there is your professors office if you have any questions. To check out what the building looks like, here is a link to Nate's blog where he breaks down Bergeron.  It's so easy to talk to professors after class about projects or to borrow a lens from them if you need one. They're right there to help you out, and I think that really built a strong community for the MJD department.
Along with having access to the labs, we also get to use all the programs on the computers, like photoshop, bridge, illustrator, indesign, and audition. It's so helpful since you don't need to pay for the programs that you're going to need on a day to day basis. Plus, the building is close to all of the housing on campus, so when you need to do a lot of work late at night, you have to worry about walking far in the snow.
My Photojournalism class even gave us Canon cameras (with a bunch of lenses that you can check out in the library) to use. Here are some of the projects that we have been working on throughout the semester.

From our "People without People" assignment,

"A Day in the Life" following a fellow student in the class to capture a typical day

Above is a multimedia where we put together still pictures, natural sound, and interviews to make a video. This will also be how I make my final project about the costume crafts lab at St. Mikes. 

As you can see, there is so much that we get to do in our MJD classes, they give us so much equipment to use, professors right next to our work spaces to use as a resource, and a building that is so close to everything. I can't imagine what it would be like to not have such a great building and community in the department.

What I've learned from my 2+ years in college

There are a lot of things that you realize about yourself and the people around you when you enter into college, wherever you may go. You come to know yourself better, you change, you grow, and you become the person that, hopefully, you've always wanted to be. As I come to an end with my 5th semester at St. Mikes, prepare to go abroad, and think about how next year will be my last here, I contemplate the many different things that I have learned, both in and outside of the classroom, and I thought I would share.

• You will find some of your best friends in college, but that doesn't mean you find them right away. My first year, I lived on a great floor and met some amazing people, some of the nicest at St. Mikes, arguably. But as you enter into your second and even third year, you live in different places with different people, take new classes and just know more about the school and the people in it. My sophomore year, I met my two best friends, Callie and Lily, in our Media Revolutions class because we would always grab tea after class together. That class is also how I met my boyfriend, Paul. I actually first met Callie when I came to visit St. Mikes. We, along with our moms, sat down with a student here for lunch and both ended up coming. It's crazy to think we met then, not sure if we would ever see each other again, and now here we are, junior year, and I consider her one of the coolest people ever.
• No matter how much you may want to escape it, your home is your home. I was so excited to get out of California and explore something new, but I never thought about how much I would stand out at first. Being from California isn't the most common thing in Vermont, so a lot of people were curious as to why I was here. And still today, I get this question on my weekly tours, understandably so. I've come to realize how much I really do love my hometown, even though I wanted to escape it, it is also the one place that I know inside and out. There is something comforting about knowing so much about a place. So even if you think you'll never want to go back to your hometown, you'll realize that you have family, friends, and familiarity there.
• Professors can be friends, mentors, and connections. Your professors are here because they actually really care. I didn't realize this at first. I'm typically a very shy student, I don't like to speak up much because I'm nervous I'll say the wrong thing or something stupid. But professors value discussion and participation, as I've noticed. And as you take more and more classes in your major, you will most likely repeat teachers. For me, this made me feel at ease because I knew the teacher and felt more comfortable about speaking up in class. I have found, after a few years, talking with them about advice for your assignments or jobs can open a whole new world. They have so much experience, if you show them you are open to listen and learn, they want to help guide you to your goal. So talk to them during their office hours, learn from them, and who knows, you may end up going to their house for dinner (as many classes do!).
• You can do everything, but you also have to stay sane. I wanted to do it all, and starting off, I could. But with every year, I added more and more, so by the time I came into school this year, I was overwhelmed and bound to break at any moment. The things I loved to do caused me more stress than they did pleasure. That was the point that I realized I had to take a step back and think about what was most important and step down from what was too much. And know that it is ok to say you are too busy, it happens, and that is life. But know you may have the opportunity to pick it up later. The door isn't shut, it's left cracked open.
• Your Myers-Briggs type will change. What I mean by that is your changes could actually be tracked. One thing I wish I did was take a test at the beginning of every semester or year. You can see how you've changed throughout your time in college. I took one my first year and had a very high extrovert score, but it has slowly gone down over the semesters. I think I had a fear of being left out so I always wanted to be around people. Now that I have a solid group of friends, I'm not so afraid that I'll be left out.  
• You'll miss your parents/become more understanding of them. At the end of high school, I was so excited to be independent. But over my time away, I leaned how much I have in common with my mom and dad and how much I love spending time with them and value our daily routine. Whenever I'm overwhelmed with the fact that I have to start to be an adult, my mom is my go to person for counseling and telling me who to call. Sometimes, I just miss my parents because I love them so much! It was hard realizing I was missing events back home, like awards ceremonies or band performances of my little brother, but you get used to it and find another way to communicate. So keep up with the communication, your parents love to hear from you and you'll love it too.

Those are some of the main points that I'm reflecting on now, as I sit with Lily and Callie listening to music. Lily is typing a paper and Callie has a huge drawing sprawled across the table that she is working on for her class. This is exactly where I want to be, in a place I love, with amazing people.