Today was the first day of classes for students at Murray State. Taking a look back to this day almost ten years ago to the date, I remember enrolling at Murray State University. A lot has changed there over the last 10 years but I guarantee you a lot of the students share the same level of anxiousness as I did. Murray is only a hop, skip and a jump from my hometown (37 minutes from McCracken to Calloway), but I remember feeling like the commute was a cross-country trip. I didn’t know what was going to come from my first semester there, but I was certain I would enjoy it. A lot of kids go off to schools where the know no one, but I was fortunate to start my semester off with 3 close friends from high school. One of my friends (let’s call her princess, lol )had a sister that already attended Murray and was in her senior year. We had already visited campus on numerous occasions and knew a lot of the students. We already had our foot in the door. I was fortunate to have one of those friends from Paducah (we’ll call her Angel..haha!) as my roommate. Prior to coming to school, we already had the color scheme our room picked out. Purple and lime green. Our favorite colors. We talked over the phone to make sure our comforters matched, and we decided who would bring what. I remember checking in to Hester Hall room 710 and feeling as if I was on top of the world. I was out of my mother’s nest and in my mind, I was GROWN.
My mom and sister helped move me in that day. Of course, my Mom had my boxes packed and in the hallway 5 days before I was set to move in. 
I would like to believe that she had me set and ready to go so early because she’s a super organized person and not because she was ready to kick her last birdie out of the nest. When we checked in and I arrived in my room, Angel was already there. Her mom was helping her set up her side of the room. My mom and sister helped me place my bed along the wall, make it look cool with my purplelicious comforter and cool pillows. Mom made sure that I placed my porcelain collectors doll along my book shelf along with other knickknacks. I know, right? A porcelain doll? WHAT WAS I THINKING? Better yet, WHAT WAS SHE THINKING? That’s the kind of stuff you leave at home in your room there! Not bring to COLLEGE! I got clowned over and over about having that thing on display in my room! That and the Easter Basket she gave me just earlier that year. Yes, I received Easter baskets and Valentine’s Day gifts all the way up until I graduated high school. This may not be normal. I’m positive that it probably isn’t normal, but I was the baby of the family. After I my mom and sister made sure that I was settled, we dried our tears gave each other hugs and they went on the merry way back to Paducah. Why did we cry? Because we’re a family full of sensitive females! The men aren’t so much, but us women! Boy, if you look at us wrong, we’ll cry! And that day wasn’t any different. We did what we do best. Cry and then get over it!
That night, me and Angel hooked up with Princess and we set out on campus! I remember meeting all of the new people and scoping out the fine brothas that Murray had to offer. Man it was some eye candy! All types of sweet indulgences, too. You had the athletes, you had the pretty boys, there were the frat boys, smart boys, tall boys, short boys, charming boys, black boys, white boys, international boys, boys, boys, boys! It was like a smorgasbord of testosterone! Ok, I digress… Anyway, there were people from all walks of life there, and for us Type B personalities this was a playground. There were so many people to meet, and I had the whole semester to get to know them. Our freshman class was full of strong and defined personalities and any time were in each others presence it was guaranteed to be an interesting time. MSU was just small enough for everyone knew each other so we all partied together and for the most part sat in the same vicinity in the dining hall. The African-American population was even smaller. Out of roughly 10,000 students, less than 1,000 were black. The majority of all of the students were from neighboring states (Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, Missouri, etc) so we all had a lot in common.
Back in the day we were limited to what we could do for entertainment, but we always managed to have a good time. I remember the 7th floor slumber party that we had with 4 other girls that lived on our floor. I remember playing “Bloody Mary” with big group of people in my other bff’s dorm. There were countless spades tournaments and water fights. I remember on Halloween 2000 while walking over to a friend’s dorm being bombarded with water balloons. Their aim sucked cause all they hit was the bottom of my pants leg. I didn’t realize it until later that night that one of the culprits was actually my bestest guy friend (let’s call him CPU!!!) along with a few other freshman guys. Funny thing is, he had no intention on telling me that he was one of the ones who did it. I called him later that night and was holding a casual conversation about what happened and he was complaining about his ankle and the fact that he’d sprain it earlier that night. Come to find out he sprained it while aiding in another attack against a poor unsuspecting freshman chick in front of the Curris Center. Guess who took him to the hospital to have it x-rayed? Of course, me. It was all fun and games though and we still laugh about it to this day.
Students at MSU don’t get this experience anymore. There’s more drama, fights and beef amongst students than there ever was when I was a freshman (the very first time). I hear students complain about being bored or how there’s nothing to do in Murray. There’s no parties in Murray anymore, I’m going to UT Martin to party, so forth and so forth. While all of this may be true, fun is in the hands of the beholder. Some of the younger people in college now are so used to having everything handed to them and they don’t know how to create environments for themselves. If you want proof, just look at the freshman parking lot at MSU’s stadium. First of all, it’s packed full of cars. Rows and rows of expensive vehicles at that! When were freshman, we footed it to Wal-Mart. We didn’t have cars! There were maybe 5 people who had wheels out of the entire freshman class. Never once was transportation frustrating or nerve wrecking. Everything we needed was in a short walking distance. There were no cell phones or texting. If you wanted to hang with your friends or go eat dinner together you would dial their 4 digit telephone # from your land line in your room or dorm front desk. You might would even simply walk to their door and knock. There was no Facebook. Blackplanet was our drug of choice. As a matter of fact, hardly no one had computers in their rooms. We wrote our papers and surfed the web at the computer lab. We would instant message each other on the blackplanet pager. Back then, the lack of technology forced us to interact with each other face to face. We didn’t have blogs to express our opinions. We had the lunch table. People didn’t “like” our statuses on facebook to express agreement with our opinions. The VOICED their opinions. The guys didn’t have a PS3 to play Madden 2010 on, they played intramural flag football. Girls didn’t spend insane amounts of money at the hair salon, we found people right on campus who knew how to create the looks that we were look for. We didn’t need XYZ frat or sorority to throw a party so we could dance. We played music in someone’s room and danced in the hallways. Our needs were low, therefore our expenses were low. We didn’t have to work 40 hours a week to make money for gas and cell phone bills. We were free enough to enjoy being young in a new and challenging environment.
While the primary focus of college is all about obtaining an education and getting good grades while doing it, college is also about defining moments. Defining moments lead to self discovery and the inception of creating a blueprint for your future. They key to balancing the two is to know your boundaries and capabilities. You can have the complete college experience, just remember benefits of doing it all in moderation. My first semester at Murray State was by far one of the most eye-opening and enjoyable experiences in my life to date. The people I met, the lessons I learned and the bonds we created set the foundation and helped chisel me into the person I am today. I grew a thicker skin and I realized that anything worth having is worth the struggle to get it. To all of the students out there preparing for the new semester, I wish you the best in academic successes. This semester remember to stop and INTERACT with one another. You never know what experience you may gain just by saying hello.
Just Thoughts…
