 I attended Francis Marion University from fall 2013 to spring 2017. FMU was not at the top of my list compared to others like NC State or The Citadel. However, I wanted to major in Health Physics, and FMU was the only school in the state that offered a degree. This was one reason I chose to attend Francis Marion. In addition to that, my uncle graduated from FMU with a Math degree and he has a track record for being very intelligent.  Freshman Year During my first year, I was declared as a Health Physics and Math double major. I was taking two science courses, a math course, and an English course. Before arriving to school, my goal was to be as involved as I possibly could be. I joined the FMU Math Club and was voted as Vice-President. I, also, joined the FMU Student Diplomats, in which I served as the Treasurer, and was elected to be a SGA Senator. At the end of the fall semester, I had a change of heart about my career path and decided to become a Math and Finance double major. Around this same time, I joined the Track and Field team as a sprinter and thrower. To add, I was accepted to be a Math Lab Tutor for the Department of Mathematics. This meant I would be in a classroom setting, and tutor student in self-paced math courses. As you may see this seems like a lot things going on during my first year, and it most definitely was. I would not advise any first-year undergrad student to do as much as I did during my freshman year. However, if you do you will learn how to become an overall well-rounded student much faster  Now, with all this going on, you would think I would spend my summer relaxing or at least vacationing. Sadly, this did not happen, because I decided to take four summer courses. The summer semesters at FMU are great, especially since there are only a fraction of the normal student population on campus. This gave me the chance to learn about the campus layout more in depth and I was able to get a lot of studying done. My first year was a successful one in finding myself as a student. I ended up changing my major three times, since I dropped Finance as my second major at the end of the spring semester. My actions during my first year also resulted in me becoming a very involved student, adding skills and employment to my resume, obtaining nearly fifty credit hours, and much more  Sophomore Year Next, my second year was truly a blur, now that I think about it. During the fall semester, I took the lowest number of courses I could, while working in the Math Lab as much as I could. I, also, was accepted to be a Resident Assistant for FMU’s Housing and Resident Life. With this job, I conducted social programming, arranging activities for my hall of around 40 students. I enforced university and housing regulations to ensure a safe living environment. On top of that, I managed physical and emotional crises, by referring students to appropriate resources. I advise anyone who has good time management and who is willing to learn valuable skills to apply for this job if you attend Francis Marion. This job taught me so much that I feel indebted to the faculty of the Housing and Resident Life.
I started attending conferences during my second year, which helped pave way for my research interest that will be discussed later in this post. I, also, attended multiple math jeopardy contest. These contests where great indicators on how fast I was at solving difficult problems, which essentially helped my problem-solving skills. So, as you can see, my sophomore year was not as overloaded as my freshman year. It was, however, more academically difficult. From what happened that year, I learned valuable things from working as a Resident Assistant, and figuring out how much I can handle without having diminishing quality.  Junior Year My junior year was by far the busiest, in terms of academics. I was juggling the idea of adding Economics as my second major or having it as a minor. I was, also, accepted to be a Tutor in the Center for Academic Success and Advising, in which I tutored subjects like math, economics, business, and much more. On top of that, I began doing research and presenting at conferences. Some of the areas I did research in this year was math history, sports analytics, combinatorics and design theory. You can click here to see a description of them. I ended up presenting at many different conferences either oral or poster, and winning an award for best poster presentation. Luckily, FMU funded some of these trips so I could present my research.
Senior Year My senior year was essentially the highlight of my undergraduate life. I was taking nothing but economic courses, since I decided to complete the double major in Math and Economics. I started to do economic research beginning in the fall semester, which l was able to gain exposure to different areas of economics. My projects were in regulatory economics, industrial organization, and sports economics.
My overall experience at Francis Marion University was great. I feel as if I gained a quality education, and was not spoon fed throughout the years. Yes, FMU is not the most prestige university, nor is it even talked about. This is what sets FMU apart from other schools. At bigger universities, you are one of many, but at FMU you are one of few, relatively speaking. You can actually make a name for yourself at Francis Marion by going out and creating your own opportunities, as I did. If I went to a bigger well-known school I would not have to create those opportunities for me since they will be at my disposal.
So, if you are considering FMU, I say go for it if you want to make a path for yourself.
1 Comment
Mary Book
6/23/2017 11:53:09 pm
What an educational journey you have been on! You will do fantastic in your continued journey. Leave a Reply. |
AuthorHello, as you may know my name is Kendrick Hardison. This blog will be used to share my experiences, teach things I may have learned, advise others, and much more. If you have any questions or if you would like for me to write a post on something you are interested in, click here to get to my contact page. WARNING: Math may show up smaller than normal text on mobile devices.
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