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Making-A-ComeUP :: part 1


I remember it like yesterday...It was June, the summer of 2000 and New Orleans was sticky and hot - just the way I like it. My friends and I had finally made our way back to the only co-ed dorm on Xavier University's campus, and we were ready to shower after a day of exploring the city's French Market, taking pictures in the Quarters (and of course we snuck to Bourbon St.).


We were a part of Xavier's Super Scholar EXCEL program, well known for preparing high school students for their upcoming college career in a 4-week intensive academic environment complete with no-nonsense college professors, 10-page papers, off-campus limitations, and a curfew. If the Dean of the program knew that we'd been off of Xavier's holy grounds (the school was founded by a saint), we'd be expelled. Though I'd earned a scholarship to go, my 17-year old brain was convinced that since mom didn't have to pay for it, she wouldn't be that mad if I got kicked out.......Right. So it was important that we hurry inside, without bumping into our group leaders, and wash up to get ready for the major fair that night.

Every academic program would be present at the fair and would spend time talking to each of us about our interests and what we wanted to major in. I already knew! I was great with children (had even formed my own BabySitters Club), and my junior year in high school I'd looked most forward to taking Psychology, because I found it fascinating to learn the "why" behind people's actions. So put the two together and voila! A career in Child Pyschology! Or so I thought. But the moment I walked into the fair, I became completely mesmerized by this beautiful poster...it had a lot of cool designs and different colors...red, green, yellow...and in huge font at the top it read: "What can I do with a Mass Comm degree?" And very similar to this, it listed every career you could pursue after majoring in Communications. I was in awe!

I remember standing there, not talking to anyone, for about 15 minutes as I read each job title and imagined myself in that position. I could be a reporter, or an actress, or a speaker, or a writer, or this, or that...I couldn't believe that there was an organized program to study all the things that I just naturally loved to do! And all this time, (coming from a family of doctors, and educators - not to mention both of my parents are attorneys), I thought I had to do something similar. I thought that I too, had to major in Poli Sci, go to law school and then become a lawyer; or major in biology for pre-pharm or pre-med or study psychology and ultimately become a PHD with my own practice.

But THIS....this was what I truly wanted - and it was called Mass Communications. My heart was thumping! I wanted the next year to fly by because now I couldn't wait to start college and find out more about this Mass Communications thing....
TO BE CONTINUED
*ps. I have some hilarious pictures from this summer program!! Y'all would get kick out of seeing what I looked like at 17. I'll have to post them if I get a chance to scan them.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow. today i am leaving for that same program; and i was already stoked. Now, I am itching to get behind the wheel of my mom's car and race down the highway to my future. This has made me even more anxious.-j.b

Nola.Divine said...

J.B. - How did the program go?? I would love to hear about your experience! Email me: nola.divine@gmail.com :)