{"id":498,"date":"2014-09-15T13:24:22","date_gmt":"2014-09-15T17:24:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comgrad\/?p=498"},"modified":"2014-11-16T10:19:47","modified_gmt":"2014-11-16T15:19:47","slug":"from-a-banana-slug-to-a-boston-terrier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comgrad\/2014\/09\/15\/from-a-banana-slug-to-a-boston-terrier\/","title":{"rendered":"From a banana slug to a Boston terrier"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Gina Kim<\/strong><\/a>
\nMS Journalism ’16<\/a>
\nBU College of Communication<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

“Fall is here, hear the yell, back to school, ring the bell, brand new shoes, walking blues, climb the fence, books and pens, I can tell that we are gonna be friends.”<\/em><\/p>\n

I couldn’t help but think this White Stripes\u2019 song was the perfect soundtrack to play on my iPod for the first day of school, while scrambling and hustling to get onto the Green Line.<\/p>\n

Ah, yes, the anxiously awaited, first week of classes is finally done. After making a cross-country move from California to Boston, feverishly looking up reputation ratings on RateMyProfessor (sorry, it\u2019s been a longtime tradition of mine since freshman year of college soon as I register for courses), worrying about whether or not my books would be delivered on time (thanks, Amazon!) and almost getting killed on the T, I have to say, it\u2019s been quite an eventful week. I\u2019ve definitely learned a lot about Boston in the three short weeks since I\u2019ve arrived.<\/p>\n

For example, I\u2019ve learned there\u2019s no shortage of students in Boston– at least 3\/4 of the city\u2019s population is made up of students. It makes sense\u2026you\u2019ve got your major institutions such as Harvard, MIT, Tufts, Northeastern, Boston College, UMass, Berklee, Emerson and then the smaller colleges that I, (as a Californian), have never heard of. You get the picture\u2026Boston is the Disneyland of all things education.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_9419\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After living in the suburbs my entire life, being in a large city is definitely a paradigm shift, \u00a0but I like it.\u00a0The positives definitely outweigh the negatives. Even my condo isn\u2019t bad, for a building that looks so old on the outside. At least it\u2019s by three different\u00a0T stations, convenience stores, restaurants and bars… ah yes, bars. There\u2019s nothing quite like laying in your bed trying to get some shut eye when the sounds of city traffic and party goers trying to find their way home in a drunken stupor fill the night. It hits the sentimentality button so\u00a0hard that you finally have to reach over to your nightstand and grab your earplugs. Ah, the memories of being 21. It truly is a nostalgic feeling.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve already received quite a few looks and questions from people wondering why on earth would I leave California to endure the desolate winters of Boston.\u00a0<\/span>“Ooh, you\u2019re going to be in for a TREAT this winter,” they\u2019d cackle at me. I know, I know. You don\u2019t need to rub it in. I probably purchased enough North Face\/Patagonia products for people to think I\u2019m moving to the Arctic.<\/p>\n

But hey, extreme weather aside, living in a brand new city across the country in a brand new graduate program in a brand new field where you don\u2019t know a soul is something we all need to experience in our 20s. It\u2019s a chance of a lifetime, especially when you\u2019re still so young and there\u2019s still so much room to grow as an individual.<\/p>\n

Not to mention, the reputation and prestige of Boston University\u2019s COM program definitely helped make my decision to come to this chaotic city much easier.<\/p>\n

And so far, I have not been disappointed.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a year since I\u2019ve been out of school, so it\u2019s been tough transitioning back into the student mindset and schedule. But as we all know, everything takes some time getting used to. I remember a year ago when I got hired at my first office job as a writer for an Orange County-based business magazine, I started to actually long for the days when I was a student. Starting at COM this week reminded me of what I enjoy most about school. It starts with the people you meet in your classes. Meeting people from all over the world with different educational backgrounds has always been my favorite part of beginning a new semester. It is a helpful reminder that as stressed out, worried, or homesick you might get at times, we are all in this together. We\u2019re all worried about the same issues, have the same anxieties and stress over the same things. This helps ease my apprehensions, maybe not all, but just enough.<\/p>\n

During my first week at COM, I was introduced to the courses and professors I know will help re-ignite that spark in my desire to learn. I won\u2019t lie, I have found some of the course materials in my classes a bit daunting. Taking a bunch of classes in a field I have no academic background in, is definitely a challenge, but it isn\u2019t something I can\u2019t and won\u2019t overcome.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_9421\"<\/p>\n

Since I opened this post with a quote, I think it makes sense that I end with a quote from\u00a0this cheaply painted cork-board wall poster thingy that I bought for dirt cheap at Walmart. Although it\u2019s stamped with cheesy clich\u00e9s, I can\u2019t help but notice how the message behind the commercialism is relevant to my life right now:<\/p>\n

“Life is not worth anything unless you find something to live for. Let your heart be your guide. Discover your passion and pursue it. Be true to who you are. Make every moment count.\u00a0<\/span>Your life is now, seize it and MAKE IT AMAZING.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Gina Kim MS Journalism ’16 BU College of Communication “Fall is here, hear the yell, back to school, ring the bell, brand new shoes, walking blues, climb the fence, books and pens, I can tell that we are gonna be friends.” I couldn’t help but think this White Stripes\u2019 song was the perfect soundtrack … Continue reading From a banana slug to a Boston terrier<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3725,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1,36936],"tags":[955,37017,37005,37016,36959,37010,922,37160,6613,3399,856],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comgrad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comgrad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comgrad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comgrad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3725"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comgrad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=498"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comgrad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1065,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comgrad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498\/revisions\/1065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comgrad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comgrad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comgrad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}