Digital Media Project Rough Cut

My mother came to the United States when she was in senior in high school. She came here from Brazil for a foreign exchange program. Life in the United States is much different than Brazil. As my mother was growing up, she needed to attend a private elementary and high school because the public school system is not good. My mother never attended college, so she has always pushed me to do the opposite, to go to college and get a degree. Below, is an article that describes the poor public school system in Brazil.

http://csis.org/blog/brazil’s-education-system-falls-behind

I knew I was always going to go to college, but choosing which one was one of the hardest decisions I had to make. My top two schools were St. Thomas and the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Both schools were so different. I loved the small school feel that St. Thomas offered me, but the University of Minnesota offers so many programs that would help me grow as a person and become successful in the future. I chose the U of M for one large reason, the price. St. Thomas is so expensive, and I could not justify the price. My family was very supportive throughout this process and helped me decide which school was right for me. The link below shows some of the advantages and disadvantages of each college setting. I think this link is important because it puts into perspective the things that I thought about when choosing which college to go to.

Once I decided which college I wanted to go to, I thought that I had relieved most of my stress. But, when the time came to pick my housing assignment, all of my stress came back. I knew that I wanted to live in dorm, but I was well aware that things would be much different. Living in a dorm is definitely much different than living at my house, but now I have learned to accommodate most of the stress that comes along with it. Having to deal with a smaller area, public bathroom, and a random roommate was quite hard in the beginning, but I have finally made peace with it. I actually enjoy living in the dorm and think that it is quite fun, but in the beginning I knew it was going to be hard. Throughout the summer before my freshman year at the U, I researched many tips and tricks to living in a dorm, including how to store lots of items in a small room, what kind of snacks to bring, etc. The article below illustrated some of the problems that I encountered and how I came to fix them.

http://blog.chegg.com/2015/06/22/survival-tips-for-life-in-a-college-dorm/

The workload in college is definitely a lot different than in high school. I have lots of homework everyday, and the tests are very demanding. It is sometimes hard to balance out my social and academic life, but it is something that you must learn how to do early on. I am still learning how to manage my time and increase my well being, but I am getting better as time goes on. Freshman year is a learning process and it is something that I must adapt to.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I think for my final copy, I must add more pictures and voice overs throughout my entire post. I am also thinking of adding sections that are designated for certain problems I have encountered and articles that correspond to them. I am thinking of adding a section for problems that I have encountered with homework and tests, financial issues, time management, and social life.