Nice to meet you

Iwould not get along with my freshman-year self.

I had one friend group with only a few close friends, none of whom truly knew me. I went to events and tried to go downtown but still felt like an impostor and as if I was trying too hard in a city that was supposed to be my own.

Now, after four years and an entire college degree, I know the hidden alleyways downtown, how not to get stopped by the train, where the best lunch spot is on campus and how to balance a college budget at the bars on South San Francisco Street.

Freshman year Emily would be shocked speechless if she was told what life is like now. I have an amazing group of friends and even better, I have multiple groups of friends. I have a boyfriend. I’m accomplishing all the academic and extracurricular activities I could only dream of freshman year. I’ve been to Phoenix. I’ve visited the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. On weekends, I go on solo hikes. On occasion, I may visit a friend’s house for the consumption of 21+ beverages which would have floored freshman year me.

I’ve received the Gold Axe Award, been Editorin-Chief of the school newspaper, hosted a conference of 300 students from out of state, I’ve worked three jobs at once, finished four capstone projects, added a merged major and studied abroad.

I have learned how to balance having a personal life with friends, school and a job. This was something I never imagined was possible four years ago. Freshman year, getting an iced caramel latte and doing work at the Union Starbucks, was a treat. During senior year, two shots of espresso every morning and then another source of caffeine in the afternoon is a routine. Truthfully, my caffeine intake is something I actually do regret, but come on, IT IS SO GOOD!

Even during my junior year, I sat on my couch in an empty house wishing I was home with my parents and sister so I would have someone to talk to about whatever movie or TV show I was watching. Now, my friends and I stay up until 3 a.m. binging cringy series made by Wattpad Studios, or my boyfriend and I fall asleep watching our favorite YouTube channels. I’m happy now. I don’t feel an empty sense of longing for something more. The hole in my heart and stomach has disappeared. I feel at home.

I walk into the Media Innovation Center within the School of Communication (SOC) and a weight is lifted off my shoulders since I’m surrounded by my friends who I know will love and support me through anything. Friends who will know something is wrong without me saying a word. A community that will hype up my greatest accomplishments and encourage me to always go outside my comfort zone. A family who will cry with me when I’m overwhelmed. A support system that makes me laugh uncontrollably at 10 p.m. on a Friday.

That is what I am going to remember about my college years. Not the panic attacks or stress acquired from a 10-page paper, but the people who made me smile.

When I first started at NAU I was under the impression that I would graduate with an Honors degree in journalism with an emphasis in photojournalism and a minor in photojournalism. My very first Honors adviser said not to add my major just yet since I wouldn’t be taking any classes until my sophomore year at the earliest. When I went to add my photojournalism minor at the end of my freshman year, it wasn’t offered at NAU anymore. At that point, the Honors College had gone through two advisers since the start of the year.

College can be a difficult transition for new students, Sing said, which makes it an exciting and anxiety-ridden time.

While the support squad is not licensed counselors, Sing said the mentors are there to listen and support other students in a friendly capacity. The mentor’s job is not to solve the student’s problems but to support them and hear what they are going through.

“We discuss different things that are happening in their lives, any changes that have happened, anything that is heavy on their minds or hearts recently, really anything in life that they feel comfortable sharing,” Sing said. She said she loved that the program works to make college a welcoming experience for all individuals. Sing said she appreciates seeing others meet new people and building connections through their differences in the program.

“I’m part of something real and impactful on campus,” Sing said. “I like knowing that I’m making a difference, even if it’s just for one person.”

Flasz said they struggle to increase the number of participants they serve. Since the program was established a few years ago, many students do not know about MHSS resources. Flasz said MHSS posts on Instagram and visits events or classrooms, but it is looking to grow into greater coverage.

The growth of MHSS comes from the students involved and their willingness to put in work, Flasz said. This semester, the program hired more than 50 mentors who provide oneon-one and community support.

“It’s a beautiful moment when a mentor can report on the growth and progress they have seen in their mentees or community event participants and know that they have played a role in making that happen,” Flasz said.

Within MHSS, there is a collaborative effort to produce new ideas for events and services to talk about mental health, Flasz said. Flasz said her goal for MHSS is to excel in providing student-based support that helps create an environment where students feel welcome to grow.

I settled for a minor in photography and enrolled in PHO101, it wasn’t until I was over halfway done with that class that I was told PHO101 wasn’t a class on my progression plan. After that, I picked up the correct classes and my first, definitely not my last, adviser in the SOC left NAU.

At the beginning of my sophomore year, I took a chance and changed my major from journalism to journalism and political science merged; a choice I wholeheartedly regret now. I had to make this choice by only speaking to my friends and family since there is a lack of consistent advisers in the SOC.

I ended up having to take more classes than I ever imagined and my freshman-year goal of doubledipping in as many classes as possible was completely out the window.

Advisers in the SOC and the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) know little about how to assist students and know even less about the merged major they recommend to every journalism student, which ends up creating an insanely difficult academic progression plan students must navigate by themselves.

Despite all these trials and tribulations I experienced, I sit here (in complete delusion) writing this story with every ounce of faith that I could have added another major or minor with no problems.

Unfortunately, a student can only take so many 21+ credit semesters before burning out and another major surely would have pushed me over the edge. That is what makes being a young adult so sweet, choosing to ignore the heartache and struggles, in order to live a great life.