Tara JagGuide

Since my time being here at South Alabama, I feel like I have grown as a person exponentially. When I came to college in August, I was afraid to reach out and meet new people and was afraid of the unknown. I had no idea how to make new friends and recreate myself in a totally new area. At home I have had the same friend group since middle school, so when my friends are a range of 6 to 18 hours away, I knew it was time for a change. However, I never knew exactly how much of a change I would make. I met my roommate once before coming to college, she is also from Chicago so I felt like I sort of knew someone. She is the first person that I began to open up to at college, because I felt like she could understand exactly what I was going through, without needing to explain everything. College is a hard time for some student in the beginning because of this fear of the unknown. I am so thankful that she is someone that I opened up to, she has changed me in the best way possibles and

If I could go back in time, I would tell myself earlier to reach out of my comfort zone. I have always been in the same town, with the same friends, doing the same things. However, when I came to college, I knew that it was time for a change. When I decided to come to South, all summer I was so nervous and thought I had gotten too ambitious with my college decision, I thought there was no way that I could move across the country from everything that I had known before. I was so wrong! When I stepped foot on campus, I did not know a single person, not even my roommate. My sister had convinced me to go through sorority recruitment, I thought she was crazy when she said I would find my forever friends. It is not like me at all to put myself out there and talk to so many new people for a week straight. Now, as I look back at myself in August, I can not believe that I was ever so nervous to take that leap of faith, and I was I had done it earlier. Coming to college, I have met so many new p

This time of the year is definitely one of the most stressful for students. Everyone is ready for a long break, but with a semester coming to an end brings lots of exams, projects, club meetings and transitions. However with good preparation, the transition at the end of a semester can be so much easier! So here are five tips that I have for preparing for South Alabama at this time of the year! 1. ORIENTATION: I remember being so nervous about coming to South and not knowing a single person, I had no idea what classes I was taking or how to manage college life. When I went to orientation, I realize I was in the right place and I would be fine. Just coming to orientation calmed my nerves and made me so excited for the fall! 2. TAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF: This time of year there is so much pressure on students to get everything done as fast as possible, but sometimes it is important to remember that you can not take care of other things if you are not taking care of yoursel