my name is Lauren LaMothe and I am going to be a senior at Purdue
I study psychology and this summer I am working as an intern
at the Indiana Commission for Higher Education
so after I graduate I plan on joining the accelerated nursing program at
either IUPUI or Loyola or even Vanderbilt I'm going
to apply to a bunch of different places and then I'm also applying to the
Orr Fellowship so instead of going on into like the
nursing route I could go into a more management style career
okay so I'm an intern at the Commission - a communications intern
so I do a lot of data entry and I sit in on a lot of meetings so
I'm constantly learning about the Commission
and what they're doing for higher education
I've actually learned a lot about colleges
this summer which is really fascinating the staff is amazing the team - it's
been a really really great learning experience
and it's also in downtown Indy which it's really cool like coming downtown
every single day and working in a big office building
it's my first experience doing that and I've absolutely loved it
so as a college student I'll wake up in the morning
I usually like to make my own eggs for breakfast - I love eggs
and then I will get ready for school and I'll walk to one of my classes
usually I have time in between classes so I'll go to one of the libraries on campus
I'll go there and I'll do homework
and then I'll usually have a couple more classes throughout the day
sometimes I get lunch at the library or I'll go back -
walk back to my house which is right on campus so it's a really easy walk
and then continue to do a couple more classes and throughout the day i'll see friends
study with friends see a lot of people that I know
I love living on campus, so depending on your campus
most campuses everything is really close together so
usually when you walk from class to class you can get there really quickly
it's an easy nice walk especially when the weather is nice out
everybody is on the same page you know there to learn and to meet new people
and to make friends so everybody's very friendly
sometimes I see my professor on the sidewalk and i'll say hi to them
it's just a very happy environment it's a great place to be
as a freshman I lived in a dorm and I lucked out because
I lived on the first floor so I didn't have to climb any stairs
unfortunately my dorm was not - it didn't have any air
so we had to buy these huge box fans but it was also really fun because
my roommate - i met her through a mutual friend and we decided
to room together and we got to decorate the room and color coordinate
and have themes and then there's also this huge common area
in every dorm that a lot of people go to
hang out or do homework or eat food
and I met so many people there that are still my friends today
as a freshman you go to a dining hall and there are several different dining halls
on campus a lot of all of them are different so the menus
will be different every single night they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner
so you can go whenever you want to go
and you just have to swipe your student card it's really easy
there's certain dining halls that have specific foods
that if you you're ever craving it you can just go like
uh when I was a freshman uh Wiley Hall had
the best cookies I've ever had so whenever I wanted a cookie I would go there
but then also on campus there's a lot of
fast food restaurants like Noodles or Five Guys or Taco Bell
or Chipotle so if you're ever craving you know
something that you've had before or something that you miss from home
the college campus usually has that you can go grab it
I would say my favorite thing about college is
the people - there's so many people today that I wouldn't have met if I
hadn't gone to college and they're some of the most extraordinary people
I've ever met that have been through insane hardships that
have come out at the other end as incredible people
both my parents value education but my dad
is very, very interested in higher education
and bettering schools and making it easier for students to go to college
because he firmly believes that education is the
key to everything he's always
supported me in school and he's never put pressure on me he's just
said work as hard as you can and that's that's what will get you where you need to be
I would say the best advice that I have
would be to be open
and so when I say that I mean when you go to college
things are going to be very scary and new and
you're going to be in this new environment meeting all these new people
and you're going to kind of want to stay in your comfort zone and that's normal
because I was the same way but as long as you, you know be yourself
and you're open to new experiences and to meeting new people and trying new
things then I mean it will make the college
experience that much better
love you dad!