By Amanda Earp
Copy desk chief
As my first semester as a Baylor Bear is coming to an end, I cannot help but to reflect on the various things I have learned over the past few months.
1. I’ve learned that working toward your master’s is pretty different than your bachelor’s degree. The classes are structured differently and you always have your thesis in the back of your mind. It seems that everything I do for school is related to my thesis topic.
2. Graduating from Sam Houston State University and attending Baylor has made me a prouder Bearkat than when I actually attended SHSU. When Baylor played my alma mater I did not think I would care who won. I considered the game a win-win situation since either my current university or my previous one would walk away with its first W of the season.
As a sea of green and gold surrounded me, however, I found myself disappointed when the Bears murdered the Bearkats, 34-3. Coming to Baylor helped me realize how much SHSU is a part of me. I am now not only proud to be a Baylor Bear, I am proud to say that I was, and always will be, a SHSU Bearkat.
3. I may consider this the most important thing I have learned over the semester. Thanks to a few wonderful people on The Lariat staff, I now know what Pat Neff is, where it is located and what it means when it is lit green.
This may not sound like a big deal to most students, but I did not know where Pat Neff was until the beginning of November. I can also say I know the same things about Fountain Mall.
4. Baylor parking is 10 times better than parking at Sam Houston State University.
I think it is crazy how much people complain about parking here. Baylor has five parking garages; SHSU only has one.
One semester I arrived at Sam Houston’s campus at 8 a.m. when my class was not until 10 a.m. Until you have had to do this for a whole semester, parking is not that bad. Who cares if you have to park on the fourth floor? Four flights of stairs has never hurt anyone.
5. People at Baylor like to give things nicknames. Upon arriving here I have learned numerous names for the local H-E-Bs and apparently everyone hates going to the H-E-B on Speight Avenue at night. Baylor students have also named parking garages and who knows what else.
6. One of the main things I have learned is to be more open to meeting new people. I came to Baylor knowing about five people — one being my cousin. Now, I actually see people I know when I’m on campus.
These things may not seem like a big deal to most, but coming from a completely different university and starting fresh these things have stood out over the semester to me.
I have a year and a half left at Baylor and I cannot wait to see what else I’m going to learn — hopefully I learn more about the location of Baylor’s buildings because I still get lost on this huge campus.
Amanda Earp is a graduate student from Huntsville and the copy desk chief for The Lariat.
