James Loy  

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast by the hosts and guests may or may not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Miami University.

Student

I'm a senior. I'm about to graduate, and I've done a lot of cool things in college.

Student 

I never thought that I was going to be an intramural curler. I never thought that I was going to be the student body president.

Student

These four years have been the biggest amount of growth I've seen in my entire life.

Student

It's not just about the academics, but like what kind of person you turn into, which is super cool.

Michaela  

This summer on Major Insight, we're revisiting some of the most powerful moments from the past year, featuring stories of growth, challenge, and discovery from students who are learning as they go, from facing uncertainty to finding confidence, these insights from real conversations with students show what it truly means to navigate college. Because while no two college journeys look the same, the experiences that shape us are often far more connected than we realize. So we hope you enjoy this special summer series called Advice for My First Year Self. That's some alliteration. Special summer series.

Olivia Patel  

Hi, I'm Olivia Patel. I'm a senior here at Miami University, studying journalism and political science with a minor in classical studies. First and foremost, I would consider myself the editor in chief of the Miami Student. 

Michaela  

Woo!

Olivia Patel  

Outside of that, I'm a general member of Kappa Kappa Gamma. I've in the past been in the ski and snowboard club. I have done stuff for MUFD and Up Magazine. Yeah!

Michaela  

wow! 

Olivia Patel  

That's me.

Michaela  

Yeah, you're incredibly involved. I love that. That's so cool. What would you tell your freshman yourself? What is something you wish you knew coming to Miami? And just honestly, it could be a tip, a piece of advice.

Olivia Patel  

I would tell her, slow down, wait. Good things are coming. It's so so hard to enter a new environment and just instantly see the finish line. I got to Miami. I had no idea what my direction was. All I knew was I liked my majors. I liked the people I was hanging out with, but I was like, are these my my are these my bridesmaids? Are these my forever friend? 

Michaela  

The Cliche, 

Olivia Patel  

yeah. Like it's that panic of like, well, I heard everything so great, like whatever.

Michaela  

The best four years of your life, 

Olivia Patel  

exactly. 

Olivia Patel  

An`d I was like, 

Michaela  

so much pressure. 

Olivia Patel  

When I first got to school, I was like, I don't feel like this is gonna be that way. And it's so funny how wrong I was because it just turned out to be such an amazing, different like path that I took that I could have never predicted, especially with being editor in chief of the student, especially with my two study abroad study way experiences, interning at Fox this summer. Like it was just, I would never in a million years have been able to see that from where I was freshman year, and I think that's honestly what's really special about going to college is like you think you're so certain about life. You think you're so certain about who you are and and the people you want to be with and the career you want to pursue, and college pretty much turns that up on its rear end, and that to me is the best part about going to college and taking a jump. So, for any of the listeners that are considering taking a safe route when going to college, I would 100% encourage you not to, especially because settling now earlier in your life is going to create like a pattern of settling, and I couldn't be more thankful that I've taken the jumps that I have. Because seriously, sitting in this chair, I feel like I can do anything in the world. 

Michaela  

Oh my gosh! 

Olivia Patel  

And I, I like that sounds so cliche, 

Michaela  

no so doesn't. 

Olivia Patel  

But I just have never felt more confident in like the person I am and like the things I can do, and that's because of the decisions I made throughout college. Yeah,

Michaela  

I love the fact that you can join anything, or you can be anything, or join a club and kind of just like reinvent yourself almost when you get to school. And people should remember that that like you can do anything you want if as long as like you are determined enough to do it and like oh yeah testament to that.

Olivia Patel  

I feel like I've told so many people this especially in the last few months when they're like you're so lucky you got to internet Fox you're so like you're so it's so insane and I'm like but when I came to college, me and anyone else, we were the exact same. Right. I had the same playing field. My resume was a blank sheet. I had nothing, nothing going. There's no. It's not like I know all these people, or like I'm like a nepo baby of like whatever. 

Michaela  

The CEO of Fox

Olivia Patel  

Like I cannot like cannot emphasize this enough. Everyone comes to college with a clean slate, and it's important to realize that if you want to work at Fox News, if you want to get that job in the White House or or do something cool, go to med school, go to dent school, like whatever, you have to put in the work and you have to want it because you are no different than the people around it. I am not special. Like I didn't like. I didn't magically get this. 

Michaela  

Not the luck of the draw. 

Olivia Patel  

No, there was. There's. I personally don't believe in luck. Like I feel like you've got to do what you want to get to the places you want to be. And I know so many of my friends who have gotten cool internships or like cool jobs that they've already gotten return offers for. It's like you look at them and you're like, that makes sense because you worked so hard for that and you want you wanted it. Yeah, it's not like anyone handed it to you. 

Michaela  

You reap the benefits of how much you had. Yeah,

Olivia Patel  

if you start that passion for whatever early, and you trip and fall 1000 times and find yourself to the finish line one way or another, like you will be set. You like you are already miles ahead of every single other person who gets to college, and it's kind of like these next four years are going to be a breeze. Yeah, I don't really want to. That don't try.

Michaela  

That don't put themselves out there. Yeah,

Olivia Patel  

I mean, even this podcast, like this, is just such a great way to get involved and do something cool. Like, yeah, it's so like it's so awesome. Like, it's so fun to be on here and like see the cool things you've done and like talk about like other students that have been on this podcast before because it's like it's not a rarity of like one or two people. Like I have met so many cool people at Miami that have just done such amazing things, and I'm like I'm so proud of you. Like I love that.

Edward Johnson  

My name is Edward Nathaniel Johnson. I am a fourth-year social studies education major with a minor in music and culture from Cincinnati, Ohio.

Michaela  

Love it. So, what do you think has been maybe your biggest challenge here? Something you've had to overcome in all of these experiences you've had at school?

Edward Johnson  

The challenge. There's always a new one.

Edward Johnson  

and that's a challenge in itself. Being able to ebb and flow with the ebb and flows of college is something that I have to always make amendments to because there's always a new challenge. Like I'll be like, "Well, I'm hungry and the dining hall hours are terrible at wherever I'm at. It's like they're always open when I'm not hungry.

Michaela  

Retweet 

Edward Johnson  

Right? 

Michaela  

Yeah,

Edward Johnson  

and then it'll be like, "Well, I thought these people who are my friends are no longer my friends, and what do I do in solitude? Or like, how do I find new friends? Or like a way to like preserve your happiness, you know? It's like because happiness is a constantly changing thing. You can't like there's no faucet you can turn on that'll just pour out happiness, right?

Michaela  

Yeah, I wish.

Edward Johnson  

Right, that's what I'm saying. So you have to make your own happiness, and that's one challenge that I've had. I'm generally happy. It's just like finding new ways to find that happiness.

Michaela  

What would you say to your freshman yourself now, being a senior, looking back a fourth year, and saying like, "This is kind of what I wish he knew going into college.

Edward Johnson  

I wouldn't tell myself anything. I would not give myself any warning. 

Michaela  

Really?

Edward Johnson  

I would do this all over again. This has been one heck of an experience because learning how to mess up and how to recover is such a vital part of the college experience because you are going to screw up so bad all the time, and that's okay because it's not about like how hard you fall; it's about how you get up, right? So that's what I would tell myself that brace for impact. Yeah, and being close to your professors is important in college as well. If I don't say anything else during this podcast, I want to like hone that in. You have to build relationships with them because I've been in many office hours where I'm like, "Hey, I'm having a tough time because the trials and tribulations of being a college student, and then the professors understand. They're like, "Hey, Eddie, I can work with you.

Michaela  

I guess kind of what is one piece of advice you have for college students? Obviously, you have a lot of experiences and you're really involved. And I guess what has that taught you? And what do you want other people to learn from that?

Edward Johnson  

That you don't live in a silo. You don't live in a vacuum. Spatial awareness is key when you're at college because everybody is doing something at the same time, and you have to learn how to do it too, right? So, being a part of your community in order to have a village, you have to be a villager.

Michaela  

Yes! I just saw that on TikTok. It was like we've lost that feeling of, you know, you don't want to drive someone to the airport. Well, then no one's going to drive you to the airport. Niche kind of example there, but it's so true.

Edward Johnson  

Yeah, you have to make space for other people in order for you to be able to foster connections with them.

Katie  

Hi. Well, my name is Katie Caliotis. I am going into my senior year studying media and communications. I have a minor in digital marketing, and I have a minor in emerging technology and business and design.

Michaela  

Have you had any challenges with that, or just challenges in general at college?

Katie  

Yeah, I think in terms of like challenges outside of my major, I really struggled with trying to find people. It was hard to sit in like a dorm with however many, maybe 100 people, and say that I felt alone at the end of freshman year, but I really did, and I felt like I didn't have anybody that was going to be like those lifelong connections. You know, people say that you're going to leave college with your best friends for the rest of your life, and I got to the end of freshman year. I was like, "Oh no, I don't have that. Like, I don't have that thing that everybody said I was going to have. What am I supposed to do? Like, am I supposed to be here? Should I transfer? Like, just that spiral of what people say college is going to be, and it not being that after a whole year was really hard. So

Michaela  

yeah,

Katie  

that's kind of when I switched sophomore year into okay, just try anything and everything that you didn't try freshman year that you were really thinking about. So that was my dance team, that was the sorority, and that was all those things that I now have done so. Much with, and I could never see myself without. So it's, I kind of had to have that same realization of like it's okay that you don't have your perfect people yet. You've been here for nine months. It's gonna be okay. There's maybe 20,000 people on this campus. You're gonna be okay. You're gonna find those people. You just haven't found them in nine months, and that's fine.

Michaela  

Well, it's hard to let go of your old self, like just in general. I feel like because life refreshes, but also it's hard to let go of the expectations that college holds. Like you said, like you're thinking I'm gonna find my people freshman year, first day. There's so many things that you're like, okay. And I, I did like I was the knocker on the door, and I went down the line, and I was like, hey, do you want to be our friend, like me and my roommate? And so, it's very hard because you have, you know, what people are telling you, what you're seeing in the media and movies and whatever. And college is supposed to be this great thing, but for a lot of people, it takes a minute. Like, it's it's a lot of acclimation. It's a lot of knowing who your people are and finding them. You know, not everyone's best friends live next door to them in their freshman year dorm, like that's not like normal. Like that is just something you kind of have to figure out. So I think that's a very real challenge to have. Is not even by the end of freshman year, you're not going to know everything. There's still so much time and so many people to meet and so many clubs to join. So yeah, I definitely think that is something that you have to adjust to.

Katie  

Yeah, it's definitely. I had to get out of that mindset of like that I can't do anything after freshman year. That I can't start anything new, and I kind of had to be like, no, you're allowed to start things as a sophomore. Like you're here for four years to figure out what you want to do, to figure out those people that you want to be around, find the things that you want to be doing for the rest of your life, or figure out what you don't want to do anymore, and having those people in my life that I can look at and be like, okay,

Michaela  

yeah,

Katie  

life's not going to end if this is normal. Yeah, like it's okay and it's totally normal, as much as it doesn't look like it on the outside in the movies and in all of the things that you're told going into college. And I think it's just something that I would have liked to hear as a freshman was like, the whole four years are for trying something new, and it's okay if it takes you until your senior year. That was kind of my biggest thing. I wish somebody would have told me that, so I wasn't like curled up in my dorm freaking out.

Michaela  

And pro tip, no one knows what they're doing. Literally, no one knows what they're doing. I thought everyone always had it figured out. Yeah, it's like, oh well, she's doing this. I still do this. Like comparison kills. You're if you're on LinkedIn and you're like, oh my god, she got this internship. Like I'm the worst. I'm not doing anything right. She has it all figured out. No, nobody has it all figured out, especially at this age. That's what I wish someone would have told me too. Like try new things all four years. I feel like no one even talks about that. That's a great piece of advice. Like every year, or even every month, or every day is just like a new start. Like you can join something anytime that you want to. You can be a part of something just senior year.

A'Dymond  

My name is a Diamond Sammons. I'm an electrical engineering major with minors in humanitarian engineering and English studies.

Michaela  

So, if you could give advice to your freshman year self, what would it be? Or just any prospective student in general?

A'Dymond  

To my freshman year self, and also for listeners, it's gonna be okay.

Michaela  

Yeah,

A'Dymond  

whatever you're afraid about, it's gonna be fine. And then also don't think that you have to have everything figured out, which we just talked about. It's okay to kind of be like, oh, like I want to do this, and then you see it being more beneficial than another thing. Then take that step. Wow, I'm Loki preaching to myself because I was just complaining about something earlier. OMG, that's advice. Really listen to yourself. 

Michaela  

Take my own advice. Right, 

A'Dymond  

right, for sure. Okay, carrying on. Just making sure, like, if there's something that you're kind of like teetering against, like, oh, I want to do this one thing, I want to do another thing. If the other one is going to make you more beneficial, do it.

Michaela  

That's good advice, though, because I feel like sometimes you really have to weigh your options, and it's not always what you saw for yourself. But you have to follow that, like whatever is most beneficial to your life right now, or what's an addition, or what you see benefiting your future is really like what you have to pursue, even if it's not what you thought it would be.

A'Dymond  

Absolutely.

Marcus Cheung  

Yes. So my name is Marcus Cheung. I am a senior here at Miami. I'm a music performance major for cello performance. I'm an arts management entrepreneurship major, and I have a minor in accountancy.

Michaela  

What I guess is kind of some advice that you would give your freshman yourself, or maybe anyone who's looking into college-not even a music major, but maybe a music major. Just maybe, what do you wish you knew when you came here?

Marcus Cheung  

Yeah, I'll start first with the advice. I think that's some of the first advice to find a major and to find something that you're passionate about that you want to do. I think that's first and foremost going on to like. If you want to do some, if you're going to do something, work, you know, whatever job you're going to work, you're going to be there five to six times a week, eight to 10 hours a day, better enjoy it. Yeah, for how many years? But in addition, I think the other thing is also the biggest advice I could give somebody is to take advantage of opportunities, hands down. 

Michaela  

Retweet 

Marcus Cheung  

because if we're gonna go to college and if you're gonna have to spend 1000s of dollars, 10s of 1000s-I don't know-everyone's situations, of course, is different. But if you're gonna spend that kind of money, the college student can either get a bunch of C's, you know, not apply themselves at all. I'm not saying like you can't party, but it's like you know. There's a balance. There's a balance, of course. Yeah, and you're welcome to do that. But then, why did you spend that kind of money if you're not actually going to do anything with it? And like, I know a lot of people will say, like, oh yeah, like they major in something and then they don't they do something completely different. But part of college is like it's not just a major though. It's it's this actual skills that you learn. Like for example, from my situation, like the skills I've learned from being able to be as organized as I have been. Like using like using a Google Calendar. Like even that, I didn't use that in high school. 

Michaela  

No, God no

Marcus Cheung  

I kept it all in my head, and then I was like, 

Michaela  

I swear I had something today. 

Marcus Cheung  

Yeah, exactly.

Marcus Cheung  

Oh, I did have an assignment? 

Michaela  

Yeah, 

Marcus Cheung  

like you're fascinating, and then, but then in college you're like you you have to learn those kind of skills, and but then in the real life that's exact same. It's going to be a form of that. It may not be exactly the same, but that skill that you're learning, you're going to apply that. Oh yeah, you're going to apply every time you're in college and you meet so many new people. You're going to have to apply that at some point, like the ability to talk to different people, how to be comfortable in an uncomfortable environment, I think college definitely teaches you a lot of those kind of skills. And also, there was just a lot of really amazing career opportunities if you're looking for them and if you actually 

Michaela  

seek them out, 

Marcus Cheung  

seek them out, and you should take advantage of them. I think one of the first opportunities where I was like, "Wow, this is incredible, was I was taking a music business class. 

Michaela  

Ooh, that's another cool class. 

Marcus Cheung  

Yeah, music business. 

Michaela  

I want to take your course load markets. This is sounding cool. 

Marcus Cheung  

Yes, I was taking a music business class. We had to do a midterm project, and the idea was supposed to be a creative endeavor as long as you could relate it back to some aspect of the music business, whether that was the touring side of it, from the royalty side-I mean, you name it. There's so many aspects of the of the music business department, and we decided to make an arrangement of a pop song. So we did "Locked Out of Heaven" by Bruno Mars. 

Michaela  

I love that song. 

Marcus Cheung  

Yeah, so that was a very fun, actually, creative endeavor to do, but have you ever heard of the Netflix TV show Bridgerton? 

Michaela  

Yeah,I love that show.

Marcus Cheung  

Do you happen to know the Vitamin String Quartet a lot? 

Michaela  

They so they do they do all the songs, right? Because it's a bunch of pop music. 

Marcus Cheung  

Yep, that gets in a string quartet 

Michaela  

Yes, so it's beautiful.

Marcus Cheung  

They were actually coming to Miami around this time, and we were very fortunate enough. We got to actually have a master class with them, and they actually got to perform our arrangement live and give us like feedback. I got to like talk with them individually, and yeah, it was that was one of the first times going back to opportunities. I remember we saw that an opportunity was there that they're going to be here at this time. We reached out saying, "Hey, we have this arrangement we've been working on. This is right up their you know their avenue. We're arranging a pop song. What do they do? All they play is pop songs for for a string quartet. So we're like, hey, could you play our piece and what tell us what do you think? And yeah, I have I have that recording somewhere. 

Michaela  

Yeah, 

Marcus Cheung  

um, yeah, it's definitely one of those first like moments where I felt like a proper kid in a candy store. Yeah, this is insane. I am like I'm freaking out when like they're playing. Like I'm like a little giddy kid freaking out. Well,

Michaela  

and good for you for reaching out. It really that's all it takes. The worst people can say is no. Like yeah,

Marcus Cheung  

I remember like I was, I was pretty nervous. Like, given that piece, I was like trying to like make some edits to it, and being like, "Oh, like you know, it's a big deal. Like they they're big time musicians. They've performed in a lot of the orchestras in LA, so they've done especially a lot of movie music and like TV show music. So some of those musicians were in like Spider Man, No Way Home. 

Michaela  

Oh my god! 

Marcus Cheung  

They were in the soundtracks for Mandalorian.

Michaela  

Wow! I feel like a common theme on this podcast is like reaching your fullest potential at college, making sure you're taking advantage of all the opportunities, and I really feel like you've done that and are the epitome of that. So, thank you for coming on Major Insight, Marcus.

Marcus Cheung  

Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. 

Michaela  

I know you're awesome. 

Thank you for listening to this special summer edition of Major Insight, featuring some of the most meaningful insights from this past year, we'll be back this fall with all new stories to help you find your place and purpose on campus. Until then, many more episodes are available wherever podcasts are found.