45
That is the number of days I have now been a resident of Columbia, South Carolina. A place where the Palmetto is ever present, where Cock is in the vocabulary for those of all ages, humidity makes the air thicker than butter and hotter than hades, where the bow-tie is preferred over the neck tie, and the mercedes are bountiful. Ahh, the University of South Carolina, Gamecock Country. Fields of Garnet and Black farther than the eye can see. From those 45 days, I have come to the conclusion that everyone is equipped with that southern hospitality, without SC being categorized as a truly southern state. Like the truly southern state of Alabama, however, football is the official religion and the color orange is a sin (Clemson orange, that is). Rich with tradition (as are many of the students), USC is ingrained in the minds of all who attend from the crawling years, creating an energy that surrounds the expansive campus. With roughly 30,000 students, Carolina spans across acres of land, an abundance of train tracks, and buildings older than that grandmother of the three women in Sex and the City. It is a place I have quickly come to love and fallen, eerily with ease, into yelling "Go Cocks!"
As a first year in the Masters Program for Higher Education and Student Affairs (more commonly referred to as HESA) my cohort consists of 45 students. With a ratio of exactly 2:1, it is easy to say the women by far outnumber the men in my program. Along with those in their second year, all 80 students are equally as outgoing and passionate about the field they are in. With the caliber of these students, the ingenious and friendliness of the administration and the multitude of opportunities available within the field, it is easy to see why the HESA program is recognized as one of the best in the country.
Working as a Graduate Assistant in the office of Resident Student Learning (concentrating on leadership), taking nine hours of graduate classes, and working with the office of Campus Wellness (and later this semester Judicial Programs) for my Practicum, along with conferences, meetings and come-as-they-arise requirements, it is easy to say I am staying busy. This blog is to keep you up on what's going on in Gamecock Country and what progresses. And seeing as I am trying just to live one day at a time and work with whatever I am handed, check back to see what's occurring, because as they say, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get..."
