When I look back...

While a student at Clarion University, there have been many people who will forever leave an imprint in my heart and who have molded me to become the individual that I am, and will become throughout my life.

To my friends and family, I thank you for leading me by example, giving me strong morals, high standards for achievement, along with the will to do anything that I set my mind to. Just the other day, while browsing the gift card section at Giant Eagle, I read a magnet with a quote on it that really made me think. “Every possibility starts off as an impossibility.” As I stood there, I took a minute to realize just how very true that was. Of course, I already knew this, thanks to those who have allowed me to realize it. But it’s my friends, my family, and my few professors that have made a difference in my life that have made me realize just how very true that quote is.

I attended Clarion University for a number of reasons. First and foremost, my parents both teach at the University, which gives me the benefit of free tuition while an undergraduate at Clarion. It also kept me close to home and to my family, both of which I cherish dearly. In addition, I attended Clarion for its strong Communication Sciences and Disorders program, which was my major when I first enrolled at the University. Finally, let’s not fool anyone. I was young and stupid. I had a boyfriend of less than a year who I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with. For the record, we broke up three days into college.

There were times that I hated it at Clarion. I recall stomping into my parents house a handful of times, expressing to them how I wanted to transfer, and how I hated it here. I don’t remember any of the reasons why. Obviously, they were trivial, because when I reflect on my past five (yes, five) years at Clarion University, I can’t imagine my life anywhere else. The friends that I’ve made and the memories that we’ve created will forever be irreplaceable to me. The professors that challenged me… affected me… made me think… will be the very reason that I make it in the very competitive professional world.

One professor in particular, has really made a difference in my life. It’s just unfortunate that he’s not still here to hold my hand and guide me through this next cornerstone of my life post-graduation. His name is Mr. Michael Freeman. After my sophomore year at Clarion, I changed my major to Communication. This decision would set me back a year, and make me graduate with around 150 credits, but it would be one of the best decisions I’d make in college.

During my second semester as a Communication major, I took the course Writing for Media with Mr. Freeman. Mr. Freeman was a younger professor. He was still working on his doctorate, but had this vast amount of knowledge, a rare and incredible desire to teach, and a twist on teaching the field that really caught my attention. After this course, I was bound and determined to take every single Communication class through him. Impossible, I know, but I did manage to take a second class with him a semester or two later.

In addition to being my professor in two classes, Mr. Freeman was also my advisor for a semester. Even after he was no longer to be my technical advisor, due to budgeting problems that the department faced, he still continued to offer valuable advice and guidance throughout my time at Clarion.

It was Mr. Freeman who guided me towards Public Relations, who told me that I should get involved with the television station (in front of the camera, he suggested), and who wasn’t afraid to point out my flirty personality, which I had subconsciously used to get away with things, and to get what I wanted. “You bat your little eyelashes and flash a smile, to make people believe you’re not as smart as you really are, or to get what you want,” he said. The sad thing was, he was right. It wasn’t my intent, but it was what I had been doing since high school.

It was also Mr. Freeman who made me take the steps that would be necessary to prove to people just how smart I really was (so people say), by asserting myself with different things that not all students wouldn’t typically do. I spent a semester as VP of Activities for the Public Relations Student Society of America for the Clarion University chapter. I also applied for (and was accepted with) an internship through Jack Horner Communications, one of the most reputable public relations agencies in this area of the country. Mr. Freeman had a direct effect on the choices that I have made through college, which I’ll forever be grateful to him for.

Mr. Freeman became a true friend, and I honestly feel as though Clarion has lost an irreplaceable asset when they lost him as a professor. I understand that things are not as simple as a student might see it to be, so I can’t be angry with their decision to let him go. However, it’s a shame that other students at Clarion University will never get the opportunity to experience how great of a person and professor he is.

I continue to talk to Mr. Freeman to this day. Not nearly as frequently as I’d like, but I’ll never forget just how responsible he is for me being the individual that I am today. Had it not been for him pushing me to try harder, work better, apply myself more, I can’t possibly begin to imagine where I would be today.