Hi Everyone! Welcome to my blog, my name’s Kristine Juarez and I’m a sophomore here at Augie. I haven’t declared a major yet and I like to tell people I have no idea what I want to major in or do with my life (which is somewhat true). But I really just like seeing people’s reactions when I tell them these things because they usually freak out on me. Apparently some people think that because I was a good student in high school I should have my career and future planned? Uh, no thanks. haha.
The truth is, though, I DO know what I want to do with my life…I want to help people. I am most likely going to major in Sociology and Speech Communication and minor in Women and Gender Studies. What am I going to do with that? No clue but I’ll figure it out…..eventually. As long as I can help make a difference in the lives of people, I am sure I’ll be happy.
I don’t like to tell people things unless I’m absolutely sure about my decision (as you can see from above). So when it was March of my Senior year of high school and I hadn’t picked a college, well, let’s just say people freaked out A LOT. My college search was an interesting process. I had ABSOLUTELY no idea where I wanted to go to college, all I knew is that I wanted to go to a good school that was far enough from home but close enough to go back when necessary. I ended up applying to about ten schools, all small and within four hours away from my home.
Augustana was among those ten schools I applied to, thanks to a great history teacher I had my junior year. Mr. Brad Johnson graduated from Augustana College and when I came to him for advise about colleges he told me of this school. After doing a little research and seeing the gorgeous campus, it became a contender. And the fact that Mr. Johnson graduated from Augustana put no doubt in my mind that Augie was a good school. I pretty much knew I wanted to go to Augustana after that.
One very important piece of advice I would like to share with you is my personal view on choosing colleges (feel free to disagree because I’m sure many will). My little sister is a senior now and I tell her this all the time, school is what you make of it. Personally, I do not think there was a college that was ever “right” for me. I’m still trying to figure out who I am, so how could any college possibly be “right” for me or “where I belong”? That’s why my personal philosophy is that school is what you make of it. I think that it’s up to you to get the best out of your education wherever you decide to go. You can control if you have a good experience or bad one (for the most part). So get involved, make friends, find yourself. If you do this any college can be “right” for you.
Posted on January 16th, 2009 by Kristine
Filed under: Kristine Juarez
Kristine, It is awfully nice of you to credit me and I do believe that Augie can be an incredible experience. I always figured that you would pick some kind of career that involved helping others. You have consistently demonstrated the great characteristics of a caring, thoughtful person who has a positive impact on everyone that you interact with. You certainly make all of Bremen proud as well as Augie alums! The legacy that you are creating impacts not only our small community, but soon the world as well. Hope to see you @ break, Coach J