Throughout college, I have learned many skills that I can put to use once I have graduated. Social media has a big a been aspect. In 2010, I created a tumblr blog. My link is pursuitofhapppinessss.tumblr.com and I have over 100,000 followers. I have used this website as a stress reliever where I feel like I can talk to anyone and I can be myself. Through this, I gained thousands of followers.
I also use snapchat, instagram and twitter. Through these forms of social media, I have become a better and smarter writer - I know the content people want to see and read and I have become a stronger content writer throught it.
My final project: kgd248.wixsite.com/finalproject
Passion vs. Career
By Katherine Dowlearn
College is about a person finding what they are interested in and later on what type of job they want to pursue but how many college students really end up doing what they studied in college?
According to the Washington Post, in 2010, only 62 percent of U.S. college graduates had a job that required a college degree. Only 27 percent of college grads had a job that was closely related to their major.
Ellie Anderson, an education major at Texas State, is currently an intern at elementary schools in San Marcos and Austin, Texas.
“I have loved teaching for as long as I can remember and being able to pursue my dream in college and being able to do an internship has definitely reminded me of everything I’ve ever wanted to have,” Anderson said.
Callie Bean, a creative writing major at Texas State, plans on being an editor when she graduates.
“I am currently a writing tutor at the writing center and I love what I do. I have wanted to be an editor and thankfully I have been faced with many opportunities to do what I love doing,” Bean said.
Mandy Drager, graduated in Spring 2014, majored in performance and choreography and currently is working at the San Marcos Library and the Leaning Pear.
“I want to teach professional companies my choreography and dance professionally – eventually I will teach at a collegiate level but right now, I’m just making money to pay bills, “ Drager said.
Though only 27% of college students that have graduated have managed to find a job relating to what they studied in college, most students plan to find a career relating to what they studied.
The struggle of campus parking.
By Katherine Dowlearn
As most college students know, parking on and around any college campus can be very difficult and/or very expensive.
Texas State has 2 pay-to-park parking garages. Charging hourly, the rates range from $3 for 1 hour to $14 for 5-6 hours.
Anna Palumbo, student at Texas State, lives at The Woods apartment complex where there is only one bus that goes to campus from the apartment complex.
“I live in the back of the apartment so walking to the bus stop at the apartment takes around 7-10 minutes,” Palumbo said. “I usually drive to the front if I plan on taking the bus and I have to leave an hour early for class or else you have to wait for the bus to come back 50 minutes later.”
Palumbo said she refuses to drive due to the prices to park.
“When I was driving last year, I was paying almost $30 every week,” Palumbo said.
Carly Joutraw is a student who lives at the Vistas apartment complex, which is the closest apartment to Texas State’s campus.
“I literally chose to live at the Vistas so I wouldn’t have to drive anymore,” Joutraw said. “I used to live at the Village on Telluride, which had a Texas State shuttle but the bus would fill up from my complex and sometimes I would have to wait for the next one.”
Joutraw said when she would drive to campus that she never parked in the garages. She purchased a commuter lot permit which cost $115 but the commuter lots would tend to fill up in the morning making it hard to park in those designated areas.
There are a total of 4 passes that students can purchase, including a Residence Hall (green) which costs $485 for Fall – Summer; Mill Street/Residence Hall (gold), Commuter, and Motorcycle which are $115 each.
If the math is done correctly and a student was parking in a parking garage on campus 5 days a week for, let’s say, 2 hours a day. That would be $30 a week, maybe more. For an entire semester, that is a total of $480, which would be about the same price as a Residence Hall permit.
Camille Farmer, a student who also lives at the Woods, said, “I have never in my life ridden on that bus except when it was going to the square.”
Farmer said that it’s very inconvenient to try and ride a bus that you have to get to an hour early to get to class on time.
“I drive every day and find a 2 hour parking spot along the square,” Farmer said. “I’m glad they have those because I would never think to pay to park to go to the place where I’m already paying thousands of dollars to be in school.”
Parking is an issue on every campus and it is clear that these campuses and cities have a lot of work to do to accommodate their students.