Admissions Counselor
jay@ou.edu
Belmont University
M.A. In English with an emphasis in post-secondary pedagogy.
After a grueling high-stakes audition process I was one of four acts selected to participate in the 2015 Country Music Showcase at my Alma Mater.
I realized from day one that OU was a community that was accepting, inclusive, and always willing to help out in any way they can. Even coming from an outside university, I never felt like an outsider at OU.
OU has a great academic and athletic reputation; being a native Okie, I already gravitated toward that, naturally. Taking the campus tour and hearing the personal anecdotes from staff and students alike really solidified the previously theoretical kinship I felt with the University of Oklahoma. I knew this place was for me.
A heightened sense of the particular kind of person I aspire to become, along with a vague but persistent urge to translate that self-concept into tangible, actionable steps in the real world.
The Western History Collection at OU—a bit of a clandestine gem within the university—functions not just as an exemplary locale for rigorous research and scholarly inquiry, but also moonlights as a sort of microcosmic museum, replete with artifacts and documents that encapsulate some of the university’s most cherished and storied historical narratives. It’s one of those understated yet profoundly significant repositories where one can stumble upon the sort of historical minutiae that could make a historian’s heart flutter, a place where the past, in its often bewildering complexity, is meticulously curated and preserved with an almost obsessive devotion.
Though I’m generally not one to buy into superstitions, I must admit a certain fascination with the lore surrounding the Clock Tower outside Bizzell Memorial Library. The prevailing legend, with its quaintly academic charm, posits that any student who dares to walk directly beneath the Clock Tower will somehow find their path to graduation stretching beyond the conventional four-year span. To avoid any potential chronological snafus, just walk around it.
Put in the effort, dive headfirst into campus life, and strive, with whatever mindfulness you can muster, to really inhabit each moment. These college years—surprisingly fleeting despite their seeming permanence—tend to slip through your fingers faster than you'd think. Cultivating an appreciation for the journey, rather than just fixating on the ultimate destination, will, in the grand scheme of things, yield dividends that extend far beyond the immediate horizon.
