Try @ TXST

Giselle Kowalski (00:05):
Hi guys, my name is Giselle and I'm the digital marketing strategist here at Texas State. You're listening to Try at Texas State, and today we're doing things a little differently. Graduation is upon us. So I decided to interview our interns here at the Division of Marketing and Communications. About four of them are graduating, and I wanted to check in with them before they leave us to start this new chapter of their lives. So we hope you enjoy this conversation with our various interns. I'm gonna start. Mm-Hmm. . Okay. So first can you tell me your name, your major, and when you're graduating?

Zoe Fein (00:41):
My name is Zoe Fein.

Caleb Harris (00:43):
All right. So I'm Caleb Harris.

Chelseia Blair (00:44):
I'm Chelseia Blair.

Brittany Lopez (00:46):
My name is Brittany Lopez. I am majoring in public relations with a minor in business administration.

Zoe Fein (00:51):
I am an electronic media major with a minor in psych.

Chelseia Blair (00:54):
My major is electronic media with a concentration in sports media.

Caleb Harris (00:58):
My major is public relations and I'm be graduated in August of 2023.

Giselle Kowalski (01:04):
These interns have been with us for about a year. We've gotten to know them, their stories, and their personalities throughout the semesters. They come from all over Texas, each of them with a different background and journey to Texas State. Did you transfer to Texas State or are you a true like freshman all the way up until senior?

Caleb Harris (01:24):
So out of high school I initially went to Sam Houston State University, and I was there for a semester. And then I went back to my hometown in Baytown, Texas, and I went to community college, and then I came to Texas State.

Brittany Lopez (01:35):
So, I actually transferred to Texas State in 2020. So I went to ACC my first year and lived in Austin. And then I came over to Texas State. So I'm a transfer student.

Zoe Fein (01:46):
I'm an OG girly. Yeah, I lived in Chautauqua. I went to Bobcat Day. Wow. I did the whole nine yards.

Giselle Kowalski (01:52):
Wow. You really, you had the full Bobcat experience. Exactly.

Chelseia Blair (01:56):
So yeah, I've been here for four years.

Giselle Kowalski (01:59):
So what year was your first year at Texas State?

Chelseia Blair (02:01):
I started fall of 2019. I guess I've only been living here for like seven semesters. But yeah, I've been here the whole time, so it's gonna be really weird to like leave somewhere I've been living for a long time. Yeah.

Giselle Kowalski (02:13):
You're closing out that chapter. I know. So can you describe how you feel knowing that you're pretty much done with college?

Zoe Fein (02:19):
I guess a lot of mixed emotions. I feel like on my walk over here I was like, I feel like I'm supposed to be more excited, but I feel like I just like, it's all catching up to me now. I'm like, oh my gosh, after graduation I'm gonna have to get a job and then get my own apartment, and I'm gonna have to do all of these things. The what's next has kind of been plaguing me. But just for me, like personally, I always have a plan of what's next. You know, you get outta elementary school, it's middle school, so on so forth. You get outta college it's like what's next? And unless you have something lined up, you're like, "I dunno."

Zoe Fein (02:46):
Yeah, whatever decides to come to me. I guess.

Caleb Harris (02:49):
It's kind of weird because like my entire life all I've really been was a student. That's all I really know. So it's just like now it's like oh I have to really be an adult now for real, for real, like working 40 hour weeks and stuff like that. So I wouldn't say I'm nervous about it. I'm just like curious to see how it's going to like the difference. Like how big of a difference it's gonna be.

Giselle Kowalski (03:09):
What would your freshman self not believe about what you are now?

Brittany Lopez (03:14):
I made friends that I never thought I would have freshman-year-me. Like, and I met some of the best people here, I think like lifelong friends.

Chelseia Blair (03:20):
Freshman year when I moved in my first semester, I honestly was very like unsure about where life was going. Honestly, I had considered transferring freshman year and it was because I didn't even have a plan. I, one day I called my mom and I was like, “I want to transfer.” She's like, "Okay, where?" I had no idea, obviously I had no idea where I wanted to transfer. I was like, I don't know, just not here. And she's like, "You've only been there for three months. You don't even know if you even like it or not. Like you're just wanting to move because it's not what you thought it was gonna be immediately." And I thought, because I had this idea in my head like, oh, you're gonna make all these friends immediately and it's gonna be like this whole thing. And of course that's not how it is. Like it's not a realistic like accurate description of what actually happens in college. Like it all happens over time, and I wish that I could go back and tell myself to like be more patient.

Caleb Harris (04:17):
Freshman me, honestly, I didn't know if I was gonna get through college back then cause I really did not like school like at all. Like I really didn't like, I was really considered just like not doing and go do like do real estate or something like instead of going to college. But I guess freshman me now, I would just be like surprised at cause I changed my major three times along the way as well. So I used to be in journalism, then I went to do marketing, and I'm on PR so I'd probably be surprised that I'm doing PR cause freshman me probably didn't even know what PR was.

Giselle Kowalski (04:46):
What has this college experience been for you? What has it been like for you?

Brittany Lopez (04:51):
I don't know. I'm always like, I wonder how college would've been if I, if COVID didn't happen. Also cause that completely changed the way I think we learned and cause like I'm so used, a lot of people are used to like taking online classes like Zoom and stuff. So that was a big change cause when I started at ACC it was all in person. All my classes were in person, but it was a community college, so it wasn't like a normal like, you know, university. I really liked my college experience. I think coming to Texas State was probably the best choice for me, but I just also loved the city.

Giselle Kowalski (05:22):
What has been your favorite memory here so far at Texas State?

Chelseia Blair (05:26):
So one of my roommates freshman year, her name is Paige. I love her so much, now we're still close. She just doesn't live in San Marcos anymore. But I remember specifically we had like been hanging out one time and this was like, I think this was junior year, and one night we were just kind of talking, kind of just talking about our freshman year experience. Just how that went for us and everything because she was like my rock when I was a freshman. Like we were both going through a lot of similar things and she was someone that I met that completely understood everything. So we had been like talking about everything in this one night we decided we were gonna go to Sewell. very random, but we had literally sat at Sewell probably for, this is embarrassing , but we probably sat at Sewell for like three to four hours.
(06:16):
Literally just sitting, talking in the middle of the night just talking about our life. We just talked about everything in life and about freshman year and how all those like problems that we had freshman year, how minuscule they were. Mm-Hmm and how, you know, two years later, fast forward, they were just not important. Mm-Hmm . And it made me realize in that moment when I had that conversation with her, how like I feel like sometimes in life things happen and we get so fixated on it and we get so like, oh my gosh, what am I gonna do about this? Like how do I fix this? Like what do I do? And I think sometimes people want to be the one to fix everything. They wanna be the one to alter what you know life has for you. And I think that in that moment I kind of realized like it was a good feeling because you know when you're, something has been bothering you for so long or you've been dealing with something for so long and then a year passes and you look back at it and you're like, I was worried for nothing.
(07:14):
Or I was just, you know, upset. It was, it was a lot like I was upset for a valid reason but like looking back like this has not affected my life like I thought it was. And I think that's one of the best feelings, like looking back and being like, this is something I got through. Because sometimes, you know, we go through hard things. Everybody has their own struggles, everybody has their own problems. But like, I think in that moment we were talking about it, it just made me realize how like how life just really evolves and how much better my life had gotten at that point. And it was just a moment for me.

Giselle Kowalski (07:49):
The way you described it sounded like it was out of a coming of age movie. You guys just go to Sewell and you’re sitting underneath the stars talking about, reminiscing about your freshman year. . That's so cute.

Chelseia Blair (08:00):
We were hanging with our legs like in the water, just...

Giselle Kowalski (08:02):
Aw.

Chelseia Blair (08:03):
Yeah, it was cute. Honestly it was, it was just late night Sewell talks. It was a good moment for me. They hit, they do, I'm gonna miss Sewell and I'm gonna miss the river a lot. Honestly.

Giselle Kowalski (08:12):
Yeah, no, well it's, it's never going anywhere.

Chelseia Blair (08:14):
It's there.

Giselle Kowalski (08:15):
You just have to come back.

Chelseia Blair (08:15):
Yeah, exactly.

Giselle Kowalski (08:20):
What part of commencement are you most excited about?

Caleb Harris (08:23):
I'm excited about jumping into the river. I don't know if that's officially a part of it, but I think, I think I'm excited about that cause when you come to Texas State, like that's all you hear about. Like, oh, when you graduate are you gonna jump into the river and just like finally get an opportunity to do that and really be like, yeah, I'm done here.

Brittany Lopez (08:37):
Jumping in the river. Like that's like the most exciting thing. And I think it's so cool how that's our tradition here cause other universities have different traditions, but who else can say they jump in a river? That is like the coolest thing ever.

Chelseia Blair (08:50):
I'm excited to like just get my diploma and I think I'm excited for the ceremony honestly. Like, I think that'll be like a really like pivotal moment in my life when I'm there and I'm sitting on the floor and I, you know, look up and I see my family and I see my friends. Like, I'm excited for that moment for me because I think that is when everything kind of sets in.

Giselle Kowalski (09:11):
Looking back on all that you've done and all that you've accomplished, what are some last words that you want to leave your fellow Bobcats that are following in your lead?

Zoe Fein (09:20):
Just slow down, and you're gonna be fine. Honestly, if you're anxiety ridden much like me and you struggle with thinking about like what's coming next and how am I gonna react to it, you're gonna react how you're gonna react, and you're gonna be totally fine, and maybe it's not gonna be the best thing in the moment, but looking back, you're gonna grow, and you're gonna evolve, and it's gonna become easier and easier.

Chelseia Blair (09:41):
Putting yourself out there and putting yourself into these experiences that you can really only get, being in San Marcos is the best way to utilize your time here because it flies by super quick. You literally blink your eyes and you're about to graduate like me . And I think that like the best thing I ever did for myself was fully involving myself here and giving myself the opportunity to meet those people because without, you know, joining stuff, without going to stuff, there's so many people in my life that I have right now that I would've never, ever met. And you know, I think that just really like allowing myself to like make this my home, like has been the best thing that I've been able to do for myself because you really kind of decide what experience you have when you go to college.
(10:30):
It is a lot in your hands. You decide, you know, what you do, where you go to class, when, when you wanna do, you have so much freedom here, and the best thing is to like utilize that and really, really strive to make it a good experience for yourself because there's so much mm-hmm. , there's so many organizations, there's so much to do in the city at the school. There's so much surrounding, like you can have a really, really memorable experience here if you like. Really, you have to put the, you have to put the first step forward and like put in all that effort to like really have a successful experience.

Zoe Fein (11:08):
Stop Giselle. Congratulations. Thank you so much.

Chelseia Blair (11:11):
Oh my God.

Giselle Kowalski (11:13):
Awesome. Well thanks Caleb, and congratulations on a soon-to-be graduate.

Caleb Harris (11:17):
Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

Giselle Kowalski (11:19):
Great job, Zoe. Thank you.
(11:21):
Love you.

Chelseia Blair (11:22):
Love you. Bye bye.

Giselle Kowalski (11:27):
Thank you to all four of our graduates, Zoe, Caleb, Brittany, and Chelseia for sitting down and talking to me. We know how hard you've worked to get to this point, and we're so excited to see where your journey takes you. We hope you enjoyed this episode of Try at Texas State. Make sure to tune in next time to learn more about something else you can try on campus at Texas State. And also remember to follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @TXST. This podcast is a production of the Division of Marketing and Communications at Texas State University. Podcasts appearing on the Texas State University Network represent the views of the hosts and guests not of Texas State University. Again, I'm your host, Giselle Kowalski, and I'll see you guys next time. Bye y'all.