Truth is

As an aspiring journalist, shouldn’t I be absolutely thrilled with an assignment like this? Truth is, I’m not quite sure i’ve ever been thrilled with the idea of any writing project. So, then, why am I in the field of journalism? With this thought, I pose a great question for myself. 

How could anyone possibly know which direction they want to go with their lives at a time of such transition? Most of my friends went into college knowing what they want to do. My close group of friends include a future speech pathologist, teacher, and nurse. So I wonder: are these girls confident in their decisions, or are they only confidently heading in that direction, fooling the confused and tentative minds into thinking we are behind schedule?  For a girl who can’t stand when her bedroom walls are the same color for too long, deciding on a major that would determine her future is a scary thing. The only thing I truly know about myself is that I love playing soccer… oh, and I love the beach. 

I came into the University of Rhode Island with the idea of becoming a Landscape Architect, a field that would be a compromising balance of my both my creativity and interest in science. Before I even entered school as a freshman, I had changed my mind. I decided that, ‘Maggie MacDonald, Marine Biologist’ had a better ring to it. Marine Biology wasn’t at all what I expected, because Marine Biology had a counterpart named Chemistry, and I have a mind that just isn’t wired for Chemistry. Onward to journalism, and I’m still as confused as the aspiring landscape architect was. Currently, I’m harvesting the idea of becoming an “Underwater Photographer, who is also a journalist.” I’ll keep you posted how long that idea sticks. 

As I wait patiently for some spark of inspiration or direction, I’ll write on. Sitting here, though, I can’t help but feel a bit jealous of those who knew they were going to become a dentist’s assistant, speech pathologist, or personal trainer from age seven.

Autobiography

The writer of this blog is just another college student left dazed and confused, trying to put herself on the right track towards the right future, whatever that’s supposed to mean.

My name is Maggie MacDonald, a sophomore at the University of Rhode Island. Anyone who knows me well enough knows that about 87% of my time is time spent smiling or laughing. Admittedly, I am having a hard time trying to think up enough interesting information about myself to fill up an autobiography. Sure, I COULD go on about how I am the youngest child of three, how I love my family, where I went to high school, blah blah blah. That wouldn’t really tell the readers all that much about who I am. The fact is, I’m not even sure if I know who I am yet. I know a few things, though. 


I know that I love soccer. I have been playing soccer since I was nine years old, running with a tattered ball in my backyard around rocks disguised as cones. Soccer has taken me so many places in this world. Thanks to soccer I have been all around America. One summer, I even went to play in England. The last place soccer has taken me is to the University of Rhode Island. I play as a defender for the women’s soccer team here in Rhody.


I also know that I am my happiest when I am near the ocean. I love everything about the ocean from the way it smells to the way it’s salt leaves my hair curly after a long day at the beach. Maybe it is just the spring fever talking, but I am finding that the more New England winters I endure, the less I want to be enduring a New England winter at all. The way I see it, a one way ticket to Hawaii, California, or Australia is just about as good as any one way ticket to cloud nine. The first paycheck I get this summer will fund my first surfboard.

I am a journalist major. I landed on journalism because I always find myself asking “why”. I have so many questions, and along with those questions I have the urge that a journalist needs to find those answers. The problem with this is, I am not exactly sure where I want to go with journalism, which leads me to my blog. Prior to college, I lived in a small rural town in Massachusetts, where everything seemed to be so simple. After being what felt like thrown into the college world, reality, along with the vertigo sunk in. I need to find a job. I need to start planning my future.

My blog is intended for students like me who are going through the same crazy thought processes that I go through nearly every day. I hope to  find a way to combine practicing my blogging and writing skills with my daily rants and thoughts.