Katie's Five

After searching high and low for a Gillett resident worthy of the KEM blog, I providentially discovered Katie Stegeman, a freshman living on the second floor. By now you all know the drill—here are the five things you ought to know if you want to get to know Katie.

 

1. Roots

Although Katie’s hometown, Loose Creek, is only 45 minutes from Columbia, Mizzou’s size was a big change for her.  Katie recalls Loose Creek as a “pretty small town, maybe 350 people max.”  Her graduating class at Fatima High School was only 83 students. Although unintimidated by Mizzou’s 30,000 undergraduates, Katie does miss a few things about small town school dynamics, like “getting to know teachers on a personal basis.” She recalls the how it was a much easier to explain to a teacher a missed class, or to get support from them with personal issues.  

 

2. Mizzou Super Fan

About nine years ago, Katie stood beneath the columns on Mizzou’s quad, watching her sister’s graduation. She says that was the moment she knew she was destined for the University of Missouri. “It has always been my dream to come here.”

 

3. So Far

Already a fan of the University, Katie has found a lot to love in the first month or so of school. Her favorite part has been meeting new people and those from, “different backgrounds.” Some aspects, though, have been different than what she expected. “I knew there was going to be a lot of people, but there’s a LOT of people.” Katie said. She has also found she has more free time than expected. Formerly worried about walking everywhere she adds, “Once you get used to it, it’s pretty nice.”

 

4. School

Katie is a business major, hoping to graduate with an emphasis in finance. She hopes to work as a financial advisor, financial planner, a stockbroker, or a bank employee.

 

5. Future Plans

After graduation, Katie hopes to become a successful financial advisor, hopefully with her own company. Making plenty of money is a concern for most recent grads, and Katie’s no different. The most important thing for her, however, is setting her own schedule. She adds with a laugh, “I’m probably going to have to be the boss”

*Mary

Mizzou Top Five

Hey there fellow G-5ers! By now we’re confident you all know a lot about the perks and privileges that come with enrollment at MU. It was tough, but we have narrowed our favorite things about Mizzou to a Top Five:

 

1.     1.Free and New T-Shirts

It’s one of the classic perks of going off to school: free t-shirts. Whether you chose to rush or not, you have probably found yourself bombarded with free tees. This could be annoying, except these shirts are actually cute (or super sick and manly, whichever term you prefer). Shirts for Greek Life, Blood Drives, True Tiger, and many more organizations don’t only show support for charities and school events, they’re the perfect thing to throw on and head to class in.

 

2.     2.Football

Having your school’s football team play on national television regularly would be exciting on its own. Having your team play on national television and actually play well? That’s a whole different rush. We’re not saying that if our Tigers weren’t ranked as high or didn’t play as well, we’d abandon our posts as loyal fans, but having your team discussed on ESPN and hearing rumors swirling about your quarterback winning the Heisman definitely kicks the excitement up a notch.

 

3.     3.Dining

Talking to our friends at friends across the country, we were stunned to discover that many schools, and not just smaller ones, had extremely limited dining options—one or two cafeterias and possibly a to-go place. Gillett alone has two dining options right in the Rollins lobby, with Hitt Street Market, Plaza 900, and Eva J’s right across the street. No one at Mizzou should ever have to “settle” for whatever they can get their hands on—you can eat whatever you want pretty much whenever you want!

 

4.     4.School Spirit

Walking through Mizzou’s campus, black and gold apparel can be seen everywhere. Key word here being apparel—students are not limited to just a simple t-shirt or hoodie. The campus bookstore resembles a Barnes & Nobles or high-end department store. Brands like Nike, Underarmour, and Champion provide fun contemporary designs on fitted t-shirts, jackets, athletic shorts, sweat pants, coats, tote bags, polos, and hats.  If you can’t find spirit wear here that you like, you’re unlikely to find it anywhere.

 

5.     5.Gillett

When most people hear we live in Gillett, they become mildly uncomfortable, responding with “OH.” or even the rarer, “That sucks.” We, however, are quick to dismiss this stereotype—the idea that just because our beloved Res. Hall is, ahem, older, that it cannot be a fun place to live. Gillett is clean (thanks to our great custodial staff!), in an awesome central location (class in Conservation Hall…no big deal.), and has two dining halls. It saves our parents money, has a super-relaxed atmosphere, and a lot of character. Will it be nicer when remodeled? Sure. As classic and fun as it is now? That remains to be seen.

 

Coming next time—what we’re not so crazy about here in Columbia…

KEM

Centennial Top Five

The three of us made our way over to the Centennial Celebration this past week to check out the festivities and to get a few interviews squeezed in along the way. The alumni were more than happy to offer their opinions and just generally express their Tiger pride! In this article we have pinpointed five major ideas that we thought were the most important things that came out of these interviews…

1. Graduates of all ages are more than happy to come back! 
Although everyone interviewed graduated during various times and had different experiences, all were more than willing to return for the Centennial Celebration this past week. Journalism majors from the classes of 1951, 1971, and 2003 all had similar positive experiences and words of wisdom for budding journalists at Mizzou.

2. Mizzou’s J-School has consistently been ahead of all other Universities across the nation. 
According to Jenny Hoff, a 2003 graduate, her journalism degree from MU was beneficial while starting her career because she “didn’t have to go in with a blank slate.”  She recognized that her education at Mizzou left her clearly better prepared for a job in comparison to her peers who graduated elsewhere. While they were struggling to learn the ropes, she knew how to do everything that was asked of her without any on-site training.

Similarly, Nan Bauroth, a gradute from 1971, said that she came to Mizzou all the way from California because she “knew it was the best J-School” and she has never regretted her choice to attend MU.

3. A degree from the J-School will open countless doors in your future.

A consistent theme discussed by interviewees has been that a degree from the University of Missouri opens endless doors, no matter which sequence one chooses or what they decide to do with it.  Nan Bauroth graduated as a broadcast journalist but never ended up in the newsroom or behind a camera. Instead, she worked on Wall Street and as an independent journalist.  However, just because her emphasis area was broadcast didn’t mean that her degree was useless.  She said that her University of Missouri diploma even helped her to get her job on Wall Street. “People respect a degree from MU and know how prepared the graduates are,” she said enthusiastically. 

Jenny Hoff (a broadcasting major who now works at NBC) and Patrick Terpstra (a 2003 graduate with a broadcast degree, now working for ABC) both confirmed Nan Bauroth’s statements.  Despite the fact that the two have jobs relatively far from Mizzou on the east coast, they confirmed that their diplomas most definitely secured their jobs, proving that respect for a degree from the University of Missouri reaches all across the nation.

4. The Missouri School of Journalism is ahead of the curve.

Throughout the years, the journalism school at Mizzou has adapted to the changing times.  When Nan Bauroth graduated in 1971, she said that broadcast journalism was a revolutionary program that didn’t get much respect. She and her fellow broadcast journalism students had to “fight prejudice” against those still stuck in the paper and ink phase, but now the broadcast school is just as well-established as the rest.  Nan feels that the Convergence Journalism sequence is the in the same situation now as Broadcast was in the early seventies.  She said she is “glad to know that the J-school is not fighting the digital revolution.”  So, no matter if one examines the School of Journalism now or looks back thirty years ago, the University of Missouri has consistently proven to be ahead of the curve in terms of their educational standards.

In addition to this, Jenny Hoff stated that even in the few years since she graduated, the University of Missouri has made countless valuable changes to its campus and equipment.  She admired the abundance of new technology and resources at hand for all MU students, and said that the country and the rest of the world can certainly expect great things from Missouri graduates in the years to come.

5. Appreciate the time you have here, and take advantages of all the resources at hand! 

Patrick Terpstra expressed his extreme thankfulness not only for the School of Journalism itself, but also for all of the out-of-the-classroom experience that helped him along the way.  He worked for the Maneater until his graduation in 2003 and said that it gave him the opportunity to experiment with his reporting skills before applying them to a real-world job.  He is now happily an ABC general assignment reporter in Virginia and says that he owes much of his success to MU itself.

Moral of the story, you’re lucky to be here at MU! 
Until later, 
Kara, Mary, and Erin

Erin

Hi, My name is Erin Horn. I’m 19 years old and I’m from Overland Park, Kansas. Being from Kansas, its always been hard being a Missouri fan in a land of Jayhawks, but I’m so happy to finally be here at Mizzou! Currently, I’m a Pre-journalism major, and hope to one day work for a type of magazine or advertising agency, possible taking pictures! (I haven’t decided yet, but I have time!) During in high school I was involved in such activities as Student Council, National Honors Society, cross country, track, soccer and tennis and my two favorite Yearbook and Broadcast staff. I know that’s vague and just so you can get to know me a little better Here are 5 other things about me you probably didn’t care about but can know anyways! :

5 Things About Erin!     

Ice Cream- I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE ice cream! If I could I would eat it for breakfast lunch and dinner! Basically I consider ice cream, my main nutritional intake of  dairy for the day! In addition Mizzou has helped aid my addiction..I am definitely enjoying (and probably abusing my access to) the soft serve ice cream machines in the dining halls!

Harry Potter -I’m proud to admit that I am a Harry Potter Nerd.  I have read all the books multiple times!!! And actually I highly recommend listening to them on tape!  Jim Dale (the voice of the books on tape) = AMAZING! As you can see I went all out with my friends for the movie and book premieres last year! P.S. I was enraged when I found out the 6^th movie wasn’t coming out until this summer! GRRRRR

                                                                           

Photos Photoshop and music -So technically that is three things, but they all go together in one way or another. I like to take photos. My dad has always been the crazy dad on the sidelines of every sporting event with his huge camera set up on a tripod snapping millions of photos. In addition he has so many awesome photos he has taken on various vacations and just in his spare time. We have a gallery in our basement and people often think they are professionally done which is sweet! To say the least his passion for photography rubbed off on me . Throughout high school I took photos for my school’s yearbook and went on random photo expeditions with my dad. I went all out last summer and asked for a Canon Rebel Xti camera (FYI: that’s  really nice one!) for my birthday but  paid for a majority of it. I loved that camera but sadly we were only together for a year because this summer it got STOLEN out of my car L I cried. HARD. That may sound pathetic but its true. I loved that camera so much!!! So now I just snap photos with my small digital hand held camera (which is a piece!) while I save up for another one. But anyway moving on…back when I had my wonderful camera, one thing I enjoyed taking picture of my boyfriend’s band (guitarist Taylor Boyd pictured above) and playing with a lot of the photos on photoshop. (Its so addicting!!! I can spend hours on end playing with Photoshop!) They liked the pics so much that they even let me design the cover of their Demo CD they recorded this summer! If you want to listen to some of their stuff and look at some other pictures I’ve taken their website is www.myspace.com/fairwayholiday

Running (and other sports)- I have always been somewhat of a tomboy and enjoyed playing all different types of sports. I have diagnoised myself with Sports A.D.D. because I can never do the same sport for to long. The way it works is I always find a sport I like, work hard to get good at it, and then after a while I get bored and want to try something new. Through out my life I have played and been competitive in tennis, soccer, gymnastics, softball, track and field, swimming and cross country. Cross country was definitely my favorite high school sport. Currently I am just enjoying running and going to the amazing Rec here at Mizzou. I actually joined the Mizzou Running Club (thanks to Mary, my fellow blog buddy, introducing me to it!) and am racing in a 5k run on Saturday J Wish me luck! But even if I pass out I still get a free t-shirt!

Humor and Pop Culture- Much like most all people on the face of the planet. I love to laugh! I love watching funny movies and tv shows such as (my favorite of all time) Arrested Development and the Office and listening to Stand up comedians such as Jim Gaffigan and Demetri Martin. In addition random YouTube videos are the best! Currently my favorites are the songs done by Bo Burnham such as “I’m Bo Yo” (you should check him out!) O I also love those shows on VH1 such as I Love the 90’s and Best Week Ever! My ultimate dream job is to be a commentator on one of those shows.

 

Alright, thats all for now! Thanks for reading all about ME! :)

 ~ Erin

Kara

Hey everyone,

Thanks for checkin' out our blog...my name is Kara Rose Henderson (I'm the one on the left in the picture...that's my best friend Kayla on the right). I'm from the exciting town of Naperville, Illinois. Okay it's not that exciting, but it's a little more than half an hour outside of Chicago, which has made for some good times.  Anyway, I'm 18 years old and I know I want to be a journalist, but thats about as far as I can see into my future at the moment. Right now, I've narrowed it down to photojournalism, convergence, and maybe even magazine.  It doesn't matter that much at this point because I'll probably change my mind a few more times down the road.  Hey, I'm only a freshman so I have plenty of time.

Seeing as I can't give you a definitive answer as to  exactly what I want to do with my life, I figured I would tell you a few fun facts about myself...5 to be exact! (If you haven't caught on to the whole "5" concept, you will soon.)  I'll try to tell you some things about me that you WON'T have heard in those countless getting-to-know-you exercises we did at the beginning of this year.

1. I love music. I know everyone says that, but if you ask anyone who knows me remotely well, they will tell you that it's one of the biggest parts of my life.  I love going to almost any kind of concert or show, and I really don't function too well unless I have music playing at all times.  So, if you ever want to hear some good music that you've never heard before, I'm your girl!  The whole music theme kind of leads me into talking about the fact that my ideal job would be to work for a music magazine.  I think it would be an amazing job, so maybe that will work out for me later on!

2.  Diet Dr. Pepper is my addiction. Pointless fact, I know, but I can't go through the day without it so I figured it deserved a spot on my top 5. Luckily my parents are stocking up on it when they come to visit because I go through it like water!

3. I've basically been a writer since the day I was born.  I can't do math or science to save my life, but I can basically write endlessly. The margins of my class notes are covered with words, I have about 20 notebooks in my closet completely filled with writing, and I could sit in my room for hours just writing and never get bored.  PLUS I'm a huge poetry nerd, so I spend a lot of my time reading poetry books as well. Don't make  fun of me. :)

4. I love to cook! It's probably one of the things I miss most about being at home.  I'm a huge loser and I watch the Food Network religiously. I love cooking or baking practically everything, but Italian food is definitely my favorite (maybe it's because I'm Italian?).  It's a random hobby, but my friends and family definitely don't complain.

5. I'm generally not a very athletically coordinated person, but I guess swimming is an exception!  My dad was  a swim coach back in the day, so he taught me to swim and put me on a team as fast as he could.  I did it all the way through my senior year--club, high school, and summer teams-- so it was a year-round sport for me. For some unfortunate reason I was good at the 500 free (which is 20 laps for all of you non-swimmers out there), so that made for a very tiring swimming career to say the least.  Anyway, I decided not to do it here at Mizzou though, I couldn't handle any more of the crazy practice schedules every single day.  I didn't want to go through my freshman year being a complete zombie. But I DO love going to the Rec. pool, so if anyone needs a swimming partner, I'm definitely up for it!

Well, there's my top five things that you should know about me....hopefully you all will get to know me better, but for right now that's all you're going to get! Much love,

Kara

Mary

Hey Exploring Journalism G friends! The following is a brief summary of the Top Five topics you should know about me...

1. Basic Info

My name is Mary Alice Peterson and I am from Peoria, Illinois. Peoria is a city of about 300,000 people and is located about five hours north. I went to Dunlap High School (graduating class of about 210), located in a small town about five minutes outside Peoria. I am a Leo and enjoy Chocolate Banana Vivannos and long walks on the beach (Okay, not really. Long walks on the beach make my legs hurt.).

2. Goals

My goals for the FIG include learning more about my major-which as of now is probably Magazine Journalism, although Convergence is tempting-and getting to know the members of Exploring Journalism G (i.e. you all) better. So stop by my room (503) to say hey or hang out or watch crime tv. Or just Facebook me!

3. Hobbies

I wouldn’t say that I have a lot of hobbies, but running is definitely part of my life I couldn’t do without. I’ve been running cross country and track since seventh grade, and it has been the only sport I have ever done with any degree of success (probably partially as a result of being born without coordination). Running is time I take to just relax and release my stress (and burn calories!). at MU I run with the running club. Some other hobbies are shopping, eating (seriously), and just hanging out with my friends.

4. Favorites

I think it’s important to know what people like so you can get them fabulous presents, which is why I am posting this topic. In all seriousness, however, here are some random favorite things of mine: soy coffee drinks, crime tv (just ask my roommate Kara, the K in KEM…it’s a little embarrassing), running, Cherry Coke Zero, fall, music (my iTunes is TOTALLY random. I believe you can creep on it on the shared music on your iTunes, but some favorites are Secondhand Serenade, Breaking Benjamin, Eminem, Lil Wayne, Jewel, and Augustana.), North Face jackets, Cosmopolitan, and animal print.

5. Reasons I Chose Mizzou

There are tons of reasons that anyone from anywhere would want to attend our fabulous university. I, however, chose it foremost for the j-school, before I had even visited. When I did visit, though, I realized we had a really nice campus (the Rec actually made up my mind for good) with a lot of construction and new projects happening all the time. I also got the sense that there was a lot of school spirit here, something that I loved about Dunlap High School. Everywhere I looked, students were wearing black and gold or Greek life t-shirts. And every student I talked to was Mizzou’s biggest champion, including my cousin who’s a junior here. I can definitely say that now I brag about Mizzou too, and couldn’t be happier with my choice.

 *Mary

 

 

  

Hello World

Hello world! 

   We are Kara Mary and Erin and we are the lovely ladies bringing you the High Five KEM Blog! We are all freshmen at Mizzou who live on the 5th floor of Gillett and in the Exploring Journalism FIG with the one and only Chris Spurlock! Through our blog you will follow us through our freshman year here at Mizzou and if you haven't caught on to the theme yet, we will be ranking various topics in our lives in groups of 5! (hints the name High Five!..clever we know.) Hope you enjoy the blog!

   Peace Out, Kara, Erin and Mary aka K.E.M