“All My Life I Wanna Be A Bearcat”

This phrase is heard from a packed stadium Saturday afternoons in the Fall, randomly yelled across the lawn by the bell tower on warm Fall and Spring days, and used in many posts on Facebook including my own, but when I transferred to Northwest I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be a Bearcat ever.

When I was preparing to graduate from Southeastern Community College in May 2010, I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go to school next. One of my friends that was graduating at the time told me that she was going to Northwest and that I should apply there so that we could go together, after checking out the school’s website I liked the idea of getting a laptop and my textbooks on a rental fee. After spending almost $1000 dollars each semester at community college it seemed like a good idea, but just in case I wasn’t accepted I applied at Western Illinois University also.

I was accepted into both universities and thought I was for sure going to WIU, it was only an hour away from home where as Northwest was almost 4 hours. WIU however didn’t send any paper forms for me to fill out and wouldn’t reply to my emails while Northwest replied quickly to my questions, as well as sending me paper documents that made enrolling in the university easy and time-saving.

So I came to Northwest, my friend that was coming here decided that she didn’t want to go away to go to college, so I was going to be all alone. The next fall I moved into Franken Hall and began my junior year, with my roommate Beth. She was a sweet girl who loved talking to everyone and that kind of rubbed off on me; I was always a shy person. So I began talking to people and becoming involved in things around campus.

I have met many people I will never forget while at Northwest including two of my best friends; Beth, my roommate(left) and Vicky (right).

I joined Business Women of Missouri my first semester here and learned a lot of valuable information to help with my professional career. I went to a couple football games, volleyball games, and basketball games. I grew close to a lot of my friends who I still value today, including Beth.

In the Spring semester I was lucky enough to be activated into Sigma Society, a service organization on campus, which helped me become more active in volunteering. I am still very active in everything I chose to do at Northwest, from classes to organizations to just random activities my friends and I decide to participate in.

I haven’t regretted the day I chose to come to Northwest and when I graduate in May I am going to look back on my time here and be proud that for the rest of my life I will be a Bearcat.