How I learned to stop worrying and love UVU

Believe it or not, I started attending UVU a little over a year ago.

I had attended Southern Utah University in Cedar City, Utah from 2006-2010 but due to unfortunate circumstances, I had to move home and transfer to UVU.

My first few weeks here were rough. In a word, I hated it. The campus had no character to it. I felt like I was attending college at a minimum-security prison. I was constantly running into people I knew in high school but had long since forgotten their names. I didn’t know anyone, I wasn’t involved in anything and I was bored out of my mind.

In a lot of ways, transferring to a new university was a lot like starting college for the first time. It was like I traveled back four years and I was once again a lonely and somewhat frightened freshman. I was unhappy in my circumstances and honestly believed I would never like it here.

However, I’m big enough to admit that I was wrong. It took me a year but UVU has really grown on me. I’d even go as far as to say I like it here. I attribute my converted fondness for UVU to three things: Professors, Involvement and Engaged Learning.

When I first started here, I really missed my professors from SUU. I knew them and they knew me. We had built a rapport that made classes not only more enjoyable but also easier. When I came here, I had to build those relationships from scratch.

Luckily for me, UVU has some of the best professors this state has to offer. I have yet to encounter one who isn’t highly qualified in their field or who doesn’t care deeply about their students. Some of these professors include Dr. Mark Crane, Dr. Brian Whaley, Dr. Jans Wager and Professor Robbin Anthony. All four of these professors not only taught in an engaging and enthralling manner, they also helped me feel “at home” here on campus. I owe a lot to them and I am forever grateful.

Another key aspect, I believe, to enjoying college is involvement. At SUU, I was incredibly involved in campus life. I was a member of the sorority Alpha Phi, which kept me plenty busy with various activities. When I came here, I had no social life and felt no connection to the campus. This has since changed with my involvement with the Review. I started as just a writer. Now, a year later, I am editor of the Life Section. I have made some great friends through the Review and have met some amazing people. I also joined an improv club called “What’s So Funny?” that meets every Tuesday. The other members of the club have become really good friends of mine. I look forward to every Tuesday where I can relax and laugh with my friends.

The last feature that turned me to UVU was the university’s motto of Engaged Learning. To UVU, it’s more than just a buzzword that can be thrown around at board meetings. UVU is constantly looking for ways to get its students out of the classroom and into real life experiences. In the spring of 2011, I took a class on documentary films. As a class, we were able to travel up to Salt Lake City and view documentary films that were apart of the Sundance Film Festival. We watched a total of 10 films. The cost for viewing these films would’ve amounted to $150 per person. These tickets were paid for by a grant from the university. That’s just one example of how much this university cares about educating its students.

College can be a bit rough. At times, you may even hate it. But UVU is a great place to attend if you get involved, take advantage of the various Engaged Learning opportunities and try to connect with your professors. I know you’ll learn to love it here just as I did.