I’m Rebekah—Get to Know Me
This is my first blog post, ever … and to tell you the truth, I’m a bit nervous about it!
Well, what is there to say about me? I’m going into my junior year already, which is pretty shocking — wow, does the time fly by? To all of you prospective students, if you are reading, please treasure every single moment of your college career and don’t let a single moment slip by, because I’m already halfway through and I can’t believe it. It’s scary and exciting at the same time.
When I started here at Florida Institute of Technology, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do. I was torn in half — completely in half — between wanting to be a writer and wanting to be a scientist. I know, they’re completely opposite ends of the spectrum. It was a huge dilemma my freshman year, as if my life was going to end if I didn’t choose the right major, and so I chose, “General Studies, B.S.”
Don’t ever do that.
After about a half of a semester in, I went to Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and took a personality and career assessment to limit down what I wanted. This is similar to what they make you do in high school, but a lot more hard core. This helped me be able to cross out things I knew I didn’t want to do, and it helped me to understand myself a little bit better. To anyone who really just doesn’t have a clue, I would seriously consider doing this. It’s a free service to the students, and it helps.
So, I avoided choosing a life full of misery for myself and switched to Communication, B.S., and I’m now very delighted with what I’ve chosen — I know I’m in the right field of study. Because guys, I’ve found my passion.
After nailing down my major, I decided I needed to join a club. The only thing I knew I was sure about in life was writing and editing and I liked reading massive amounts of books, so I decided to attend a Florida Tech Crimson meeting, because it seemed right. I knew immediately that I was in the right place.
The people are weird, the meetings are weird and the adviser is weird. The food, provided by the Rat, is delicious. It’s my cup of tea: a bunch of dorks and geeks and basically amazing people crowded around a table joking about the latest bunch of shenanigans going on around campus. I love it so much that I just became the Editor-in-Chief a few weeks ago, and I hope I can do the title a justice.
The Crimson has become a huge part of my life, because as I wrote more stories, I developed writing skill and something inside myself as well. I came out of my shell. I’m not as shy as I once was. How many students can say that they have had a conversation with President Catanese? I’ve interviewed police, deans, department heads, professors, students — you name it. I’ve written an investigative piece and have had to be firm at least a few times now. I now have the confidence to walk up to anyone and talk to them, and two years ago, I couldn’t say that. I owe that to the Crimson, and that’s what joining an organization does for you — it makes you push yourself and expand your limits.
Something about that is really inspiring, to be able to really get something grand out of your organization. Not just attend meetings, not just get funding to go do something kind of cool, but to really change something about yourself and to do something meaningful with your life.
I even got to go to New Orleans — for free — to a journalism conference and meet other student journalists last year! This year, the conference is in Philadelphia, and I plan on going again. I’m sure I’ll blog about it, so stay tuned in November for that.
New Orleans
During the conference, David (former blogger and Sports Editor), and Hershlay (former Editor-in-Chief) and I met tons of new people. There were people at booths looking for internships, possible job applicants, and people interested in applying for graduate school.
We attended workshops and I filled an entire legal notepad with notes about writing, editing, how to manage a team, blogging, coming up with headlines — I mean, the list goes on. It was hands-down the best experience of my college career.
I had never been to a big city before. I couldn’t believe that people didn’t stop and wait at the crosswalk. Cars didn’t even wait for pedestrians, and pedestrians acted like they owned the road. But by day two, we were practically New Orleans locals, walking without waiting for the signs like everyone else. Bourbon Street was so much fun. I’m not a partier and I don’t like to go out, but it was fun to see the all the crazy drunk people walking around, and the police on the horses. There were street performers everywhere, and I got a few really good videos. Voodoo is a big thing in New Orleans; it’s a way for them to draw in money from tourists.
So, now I’m just continuing my college career as Editor-in-Chief of the Crimson, and working three jobs (working a lot). I have a pretty rad boyfriend, my own apartment, a Bengal cat named Reba CatEntire, an internship at Space Coast Business Marketing and some other cool stuff I can’t think about right now. But I think I’ve written enough for one post. Stay tuned for more!
