Column: The semester recap for Pacer Times' section editors
Erica Bennett, Arts and Entertainment Editor
College started and faster than I anticipated. It was as if one minute I was starting my senior year in high school, and then I blinked and the next thing I knew, I was moving into my freshman dorm.
This year has been crazy with getting used to being two and a half hours away from home, living on my own for a long period of time and coexisting with roommates that I’d never met before.
Through this semester, I have made many friends and made just as many memories. College has been a lot of fun and I’ve been able to enjoy many different experiences that USCA has offered.
I’ve learned a lot from my freshman year.
Like how to take better notes. I have always been good at paraphrasing notes and shortening them, but taking notes in class is still a pain.
Writing for the Pacer Times has helped me with writing papers for classes faster as well as finding better sources.
College has also taught me the value of planning everything out. In high school, I would write things in my planner, but in college I’ve learned that it’s easiest to write absolutely everything down in my planner and on a checklist.
This has been a great year, even with the virus causing schools to go remote for the remainder of the semester and I’m beyond excited to be back on campus next fall and to start my sophomore year.
Noelle Kriegel, News Editor
This semester I had planned to take it as easy as possible.
I am currently not a full-time student, as I only am taking a total of nine credit hours. I also am working one less job than last semester, bringing me down to only two. So, I expected this year to be as pain-free as possible.
But as with all things, luck is not in favor of the college student, and I found myself immersed in assignments, taking on more responsibilities in both of my jobs and eventually the added stress of the pandemic.
The stress of the pandemic has influenced my perspective quite a lot. I found that I actually enjoyed reading my course material with a clear mind, instead of desperately trying to cram as much information as possible before class. I also found that I did not enjoy the switch to online.
I did virtual public school for high school, a format that fit my learning style well. I found that without external stimuli like chattering or the coffee machines of Starbucks next door running, I was incredibly lonely and felt overwhelmed by silence, which I didn’t think was possible.
I spent my non-academic hours desperately trying to emulate the feeling of being active and surrounded by familiarity, but I found that it was difficult to do in my home. Nothing can recreate the feeling you have when you are connected to people outside of your family, nothing can compare to the chest-aching familiarity of the sounds of a comforting environment.
What I gained from this semester was invaluable, personally and professionally.
I learned a lot of responsibility for my future job as Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper, from running meetings to taking over copy editing. I also learned personal responsibility, the art of self care, fulfilling your needs when you don’t have the help of your friends to contribute to your happiness.
David Frantz, Opinions Editor
A shortened spring semester turned quarantine without end is all but done.
One of my resolutions in January was to get more involved with my fellow students at USC Aiken outside of class, so I agreed to be a photographer and reporter for the Pacer Times.
It was a bit of a shock at first, in a lot of ways, our small staff is a cornucopia of diversity and disability. In my own infinite oddness, I believe, somehow, I fit in.
My photography work was time consuming, but it was very much fun and enjoyable, trying to capture school events, news photography with a still camera, portraits too, sometimes with nothing more than a phone, and that too was liberating.
I find writing each and every article a challenge. Becoming an editor is helping me become better writer and more attentive to details. I wish I could install a chip in my head with the AP stylebook, but that is not yet possible.
Throughout my life, I’ve always learned the most by doing so I hope to keep on doing and doing as much as possible.
Go Pacers, whinny-whinny-whinny-neigh-neigh-neigh!
