Submission#6: Kristina Welch | My USF St. Petersburg: "Our little island"

Kristina Welch

USF St. Petersburg

Senior, Journalism

22, Florida and Oklahoma

My USF is: “A community. And my friends and I are a family. They always make fun of me for saying that, but it’s true.”

Kristina’s video may make you wonder, between the kayaking and the courtyard and the coffee and the beer, why anyone at USF St. Pete would ever leave campus (or get any studying done). A CL intern, Kristina wasn’t content with just a video; she also wrote the following essay about USF.

I began my college journey four years ago at New College of Florida in Sarasota. It only took a year there to realize it wasn’t the right fit for me.

When I moved back home to St. Petersburg, I thought my best option was USF Tampa. I didn’t even realize they had a St. Pete campus until I looked at the school’s website. Since I didn’t want to relocate to Tampa, and I sure as hell didn’t want to commute there, I decided to give USF St. Pete a try. And I’m really glad I did.

The thing about USF St. Pete is that while it’s a small campus, we have all the benefits of a big one. We have dorms (I don’t live there), a student newspaper (dominated by my journalism friends) and even a Starbucks (thank God). We get the same free tickets to Bulls sports games that the Tampa kids do. We are a separate body connected to the heart of USF.

My life has changed drastically since attending USF St. Pete. I went from hating college in every way to really enjoying every aspect of it — aside from the pesky homework part, of course. I love our journalism program, and while I’m not downplaying what USF Tampa and other schools have to offer, I have no doubt that the St. Pete campus is where I was meant to be. Because of the small class sizes, my professors have really gotten to know me. The downside of this is that they can call me on my bullshit, which they do, but the greater benefit is that they’ve been instrumental in developing me as a journalist on a personal level. Because they know me as Kristina and not just another student, they understand my future goals and work with me on making those dreams come true. They’re not just my instructors anymore — they’re my allies.

This article appears in Oct 15-21, 2009.