Life Of a D3 Athlete - Jessie Agee

  As the semester comes to a close, I’ve been reflecting a lot on the social media class I took this spring. When I first signed up, I thought it would be mostly about posting on Instagram and maybe learning some marketing buzzwords. I had no idea how deep we’d actually go and how much it would change the way I think about what we see online every day. One of the biggest takeaways from the class was realizing how strategic social media really is. Behind every post, there’s planning, scheduling, audience analysis, and usually a purpose, whether that’s to promote, inform, or entertain. We learned about algorithms, analytics, branding, and even crisis management. It made me look at platforms like TikTok and Twitter (X) completely differently. What once seemed random or casual is often the result of calculated choices made by people who know exactly what they’re doing. The most eye opening part of the class, though, was running a blog site. I thought it would be simple to write a few p...

  There’s something bittersweet about walking across campus during the last week of the semester. The once busy Mac is quieter, dorm rooms start to empty, and everyone’s eyes are on the finish line, summer. This week, I started packing up my room, and it really hit me that another year is down. I always forget how much stuff I collect during the school year. Clothes I barely wore, random notebooks, way too many shoes. The process of packing has turned into a weird sort of reflection. I find little reminders of memories scattered everywhere, a wristband from a concert we went to in September, notes from group projects, posters on my wall that I’ll carefully take down and save. It’s a mess, but it’s my mess, and it tells the story of the year. Saying goodbye to people has been harder than I expected. I’m not great at goodbyes. Even though we always promise to FaceTime or meet up, it’s still tough knowing that we won’t bump into each other in the dining hall, at least not for a few m...

  After a long and intense few weeks of spring football, there’s nothing better than a slow, peaceful Sunday to unwind and that’s exactly what I got. With the grind of practices, meetings, and workouts finally hitting pause for the weekend, I took full advantage of the downtime. Instead of heading out or trying to be productive, I decided to keep things simple just me, my girlfriend, and a classic Disney movie in the comfort of my dorm. We didn’t have any big plans for the day, which honestly felt perfect. We ordered some takeout, changed into sweats, and pulled up The Princess and the Frog. It had been a while since either of us had seen it, but as soon as the opening music started, we were hooked all over again. The animation, the music, the characters everything felt like a breath of fresh air. It was a great reminder of how wholesome and meaningful Disney movies can be, even as an adult. There’s something incredibly comforting about just being still with someone you care about,...