Sophomore Year, the Grind Begins
It has been a good three months since I have written my last post. I have been extremely busy this summer spanning from issues such as my new job and summer classes. I am back and I plan to stay for as long as I can. I fully understand that my inactiveness on Journal Today is no laughing matter, but I hope you are still out there to read my posts as such loyal and avid readers. With that being said, I give you my latest post for Journal Today!
This summer has been probably one of the longest, busiest summer’s I have had. This summer was unlike the Summit Scout Reserve in West Virginia. No, this summer involved me searching for beats and writing up and producing articles for my summer class J2150 which began two weeks after finals week. This class involved learning how to take photos properly, how to record audio files in the style of NPR stations, how to record and produce video segments similar to ones you see on the news. All these assignments I thought were a lot of fun because not only did I have a say in what I wanted to write, I got to know a lot of people who were willing to help me along the way. Some of the assignments I covered were, the flooding of the Missouri River and its impact on local bike trails, taking photos of artists displaying their work at an annual art festival, reporting on an upcoming concert that involved the soundtrack for both Harry Potter and Star Wars films. The only issue I had with this assignment was the type of phone everyone was using. Let me explain. The University of Missouri is a certified Apple campus. This means that the University fixes and sells Apple products, but they also sell Dell laptops with Microsoft software. In the class that I was taking this summer, almost everyone had an iPhone as their mobile device. I was maybe one of three people who had an Android phone. This meant I had to figure out how to use some apps on Android that were not compatible with IOS apps. After my 5 week course though, I had the confidence of my skills and the apps on my phone. In the end, I got and A- in my class.
When my summer class was still in session I moved into my new dormitory on campus. The new dorm is a double room and for all of the summer I was its only occupant. I found so enjoyable to be out of my previous dormitory which MU students call Hatch Nasty. It really was nasty, and I did not appreciate the quality of the rooms or the bathrooms. I will just leave it at that. Let your imagination do the rest.
With my summer class and move-in underway, I finally got the job I had always wanted since I moved to Columbia Freshman year. I was accepted to become a sales representative at Alpine Shop. For those who do not know what Alpine Shop is, think of it as a smaller version of your local REI Co-Op store. There are three locations of Alpine Shop and they are located in Kirkwood, Chesterfield, and the store where I currently work in Columbia. The owners of the Alpine Shop do own another store in Manhattan, Kansas but it goes under another name. At the Alpine Shop I am tasked to sell outdoor equipment to customers who are planning out their next hiking trip or vacation. With my knowledge as an Eagle Scout, this job has been the perfect fit for me. More than half of the employees who work with me have some background in either scouting or the outdoors. Once in a while our store will host informational events and teach people how to properly use their gear. Of these events that I have attended was the Paddle Day event at Stephen’s Lake Park. This park is considered by most Columbian’s as the city park. In the middle of the park is a giant lake in which residents can swim, fish, and paddle their boats. Our Paddle Day event took place in mid-July which was the perfect time for people to cool off. My job was to just paddle around the lake in a kayak and make sure that none of the people paddling fell out of their boats. This proved to be one of the best days I had at my job to date.
During the times in which I was not in class and not working, I spent a good amount of my free time biking on the city’s bike trails. Of the major bike trails that I went on was the MKT trail. The MKT stands for Missouri Kansas Texas trail. This trail was once a remnant of the MKT railroad that once passes through the outskirts of the city. When the railroad shut down, the city was not sure what to do with it for many years until someone suggested that it would be turned into a bike trail that residents could use. The trail spans from Providence Road all the way to the Katy Trail. I usually biked all the way to the Katy Trail when I had the chance, but sometimes the humidity of the Missouri weather tired me easily. I have been down the Katy Trail once and I thought it was pretty cool. The trail spans from Saint Louis all the way across the state to Kansas City, making it one of the longest bike trails in the United States. The trail also follows along the path of the Missouri River, so bikers can find places to wade into the water nearby. When I went on the Katy, it was getting close to lunch time. I was starting to get very hungry when I came across this little shack on the side of the trail that welcomed bikers. Apparently, this shack was a restaurant called Katfish Katie’s and all they served there were various types of catfish lunch specials. I had the Po’ Boy which I thought was very good carb load up for the bike ride back to Columbia.
Towards the end of the summer, I finally got to take a break from working in town by spending a nice week with my folks in North Carolina. I have relatives who live in Chapel Hill where the University of North Carolina is located, so we went to go visit them. My Uncle Ken, Aunt Pavla, and my two cousins, Katerina and Jan live in a beautiful two story house surrounded by forest. On the day after we had arrived, the Brynda’s gave us a personal tour of the oldest public university in the United States, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. UNC is most known for their top tier basketball program and giving Michael Jordan his start. Academically, the university is known mostly for nursing and even though they do have a school of journalism, it does not even compare to the University of Missouri’s program. After our tour of Chapel Hill, me and folks decided to get away and spend a nice day at the beach. It took one day to get to Chapel Hill, but since the drive was so long, we spent our evening at a hotel at Kitty Hawk. Kitty Hawk was a beautiful piece of beach property. Just to get there, we had to cross two long bridges, one of which made us cross through Roanoke Island, home to the first and only failed colonization attempt made by the British. I had been looking forward to seeing the beach for while and was a bit excited to be someone who has swam in the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans. On the beach, many people were sunbathing while others spent their time running through the waves that rose far above their heads. I went to go swimming the morning of our departure and I was not disappointed. I had forgotten the taste of saltwater, but a good amount in my mouth made me feel exasperated. After a couple more tries, I became very comfortable with the water. I’m not sure what time it was in the morning, it was probably around 8 in the morning when I saw a dorsal fin come out of the water. I suddenly felt a chill come through my blood since I thought I had seen a shark, but then I saw another dorsal fin, and another, and another. It then began to dawn on me that I was looking at a pod of dolphins coming up from the water to get a fresh breath of air. It was a very intimate moment. When we got back from the beach, we took my cousins Katerina and Jan to a Durham Bulls minor league baseball game. The next day we decided to go toward the mountains on the east side of the state. Our first day of travelling ended up at a town called Hickory which was located on the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We spent the rest of the first night watching a minor league baseball game for the Hickory Llamas. One fun fact about Hickory; the town’s economy is revolved around the production and selling of furniture. I thought that was a fun little tip to know. On our second day, we headed up the mountains and ended up riding up and down the Blue Ridge Parkway. This beaten gravel path of 405 miles is known as America’s favorite drive and I absolutely agree to that claim. Driving through the forest on the mountains was quite enjoyable and taking time to make a few stops along the way can be rewarding. Our main goal for the day was to reach Mount Mitchell which is the highest mountain east of the Mississippi River. On our way to get there we passed Grandfather Mountain and a bunch of beautiful waterfalls. It was around 4:30 in the afternoon when we finally got to Mount Mitchell. From the summit we could see North Carolina, West Virginia, and Virginia. The drive back to the Brynda’s took another 4 hours, thus ending my vacation.
Ultimately, this leads us all to today. My first week of the new semester has started and I feel like my course work will be a bit strenuous, but not too bad. I am currently taking a mathematics class at the local community college to get my math credit hours out of the way so I can have an easier time with my classes here at Mizzou. Sadly though, my classes are on Tuesday and Thursday nights which are the two nights I usually spend doing clubs and activities. Besides my math course, here is the list of my classes for this fall semester. Journalism 2100, theatre production (this class involves me building sets for the theatre students who are performing.), Science of Textiles Online Course, and Introduction to Anthropology. I am also happy to announce that I have officially moved up from my previous position at the University newspaper from pop culture reporting to full on university news reporting. I look forward to see you all around winter break. If you do get an urgency to talk to me, feel free to come down to Columbia and pay me a visit.
Until Next Time!