In the past, winter was one of my favorite seasons. I loved to play in the snow, have snowball fights, and go sledding. After all of that was done, I would go back in the house and warm back up.  Then when it came time for school…..I would have a warm ride to school. That was the life! Now in College….”Winter Doesn’t Seem So Great!” First of all, there is no more curb-side service. You have to walk in the cold wind, slick sidewalks, and sometimes snow. When you finally get to class….you have to give yourself a minute to adjust because your brain is frozen along with the rest of your body. Then you are uncomfortable because you have on all of these extra layers for warmth in a hot classroom. Winter sucks! There is a upside to winters in college……Snow Days! My very first winter in college, I experienced my first snow day ever in life. All the years that I attended a Chicago Public school in the harsh winters of the windy city, we have never had a snow day. Then I experience one in College, that was odd. Since I have been in college, I have grown to hate the winter season. Cold weather and walking to class….don’t mix!

It is crazy how busy a student can get. Multitasking is an important skill that most college students learn. I  have been using that skill a lot lately. To start, I am a full time student taking a full course-load. I go to my classes, do homework for those classes, and put some study hours in for those classes. If going to school full time isn’t enough, lets add on the two jobs that I have. I work for the University and State Farm. Working takes a lot of my time too. Sometimes I am Left feeling super tired! But that’s not it….I do more! I am the president of a registered student organization, Interdenominational Youth Choir. I am a devoted and dedicated member. I give my organization a big chunk of my time. Also, because college is suppose to be a great experience, I work in socializing time. I am always either at a friends house for a get together, or they are at my house for one. So you may ask, where is the me time? The answer to that question would be there is no me time. I miss getting 8 hours of sleep. The most sleep I get is about 4 hours. As soon as I get a break from school, I am going sleep like a bear in hibernation!

Oh man! This has been a crazy week so far! To start I had a homework assignment that was due in one of my classes and I didn’t even know about it. I thought, “well, we just had a test, so there shouldn’t be any homework for a while.”  I couldn’t have been more wrong. I walked in that class and my professer said, “ok, everybody turn in your assignments.” I said to my self, ASSIGNMENT!!!! What was I gonna do? I have been doing good so far with having everything I needed for class. This was an easy 10 points that I was gonna miss out on. Luckly, the teacher noticed that a large percentage of students didn’t hand in an assignment and gave us an extra day to do it. She then stressed the importance of checking your syllabus. I then took out my syllabus  and BAM…there it was! Due Today! I felt so stupid. 

Then Today….Ohhhhhhhhh today! So, I missed a class on Tuesday because I was sick with a cold. When I went to the class today, I found out we had a test. A test that I didn’t study for at all. All the time that I was at home and in the bed, I could have been studying. I could have did something as simple as looking on the class’ website and seeing what happened the day I missed or what else is instore for the rest of the week. But I didn’t! Luckly mostly everything that was on the test I knew or kind of remembered.

I hope the lessons I have learned the hard way be a reminder to you to always check your syllabus. It is so easy to fall behind, but so hard to catchup, Check your syllabus DAILY!

Coming from a school on the south side of Chicago, Chicago HS for Agricultural Sciences, I never felt like a minority. African American students were always the majority. My teachers, staff members, and even some of the ladies in the cafeteria were African American. I was always surrounded by a group of students that look like me. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that the school was all black, because it was diverse. But it was comforting to see a large group of students of your race.

Making the transition to Illinois State University was life changing. I went from having a little over half of the students in my class being black in HS to being the only student of color in the class in college. At first this was a big culture shock. I was like, “Oh Wow, out of 60 students in this class, I am the only minority in the room.” I was afraid to partner up in groups because I didn’t know if the students would except me. You never know what background students come from in their hometown. They possible could have never seen a person of color or has racist beliefs. Thinking those kinds of thoughts as a minority student hindered me. But then I got use to the idea and fact that i will be the only student of color in the class room, and in my major. I considered it to be an accomplishment to even making it to college. I considered it to be a learning experience learning about other races. I considered it to be an opportunity to bond with people that don’t look like me. Because lets face it, a study group is a study group, no matter race the students within it are.

I am so grateful that ISU has so many organizations and programs for students of color such as the Diversity Advocacy Office, MASAI, Unity (an organization within every residence hall), Black Student Union, etc. They really help minority students break out of their personal shell and comfort zone, and embrace the diversity at ISU while still celebrating your individual culture or race.

My name is Jamal Jordan and I am from Chicago, IL. I graduated from the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences in 2006. I am currently an Earth Space Science Education major with a minor in Agriculture. I chose Illinois State University because of the distance between Chicago and ISU. It is not far away or not too close….it is just the right distance. I believe that a student should get involved while on campus. I am the current President of the Interdenominational Youth Choir which is a registered student organization that has been around for 39 years.

I am the past President of Watterson Unity which is a programming board in Watterson towers that promotes unity and celebrates diversity. I believe that students should also have a balance between having fun and being in the books. Your main agenda here in college is to graduate, so have fun and make this a great experience, but stay focused with classes.