Introduction to New Blogger, Kathleen!

by Kathleen B., Panther Blogger

Hello!  I'm Kathleen, but most of my friends here at Ferrum call me Kat.  I'm originally from the Lake Anna, Virginia area.  Some of my biggest loves and dreams all have to do with writing. I've been in love with the pen and paper since I was a young girl. It is my dream to take my love and talent of writing and use it to influence those around me to rise above expectations and make the world a better place.

You're probably wondering how I found Ferrum College.  I actually heard about it from a family friend whose daughter graduated from Ferrum.  I journeyed three hours with my parents to tour the school and absolutely fell in love.  I love the mountains, so the scenery was a huge attraction for me.  But more importantly, the faculty was amazing. They worked with me and countless other transfer students to help us get settled in.

Ferrum has become home to me.  It is a smaller college, so everyone on campus is tight-knit and like a family to me.  The atmosphere here is light and happy. Among my favorite things about Ferrum are the professors and teachers.  I've become close with more than one professor on campus. They're all so kind and treat their students like their own children.  They can be hard on us at times but only because they want to see us do our best.  I've made amazing connections because of my professors here at Ferrum.  Because of this, I've been able to get internships for journalism.

Some of the many things that I am involved in are theater, campus ministry, the improv club, recreation club, and Theta Gamma Omega.  I will be acting as Pilar in this year's musical Legally Blonde.  As it is my first time being involved with a theater production, I'm very excited to show off my singing and acting talents.  I am also the Co-Director of our Campus Ministry's Praise Team.  I love working with the vocalists within Campus Ministry!  The Improv Club is all about improvisational acting. We do performances in the Panther's Den and in the theater regularly throughout the semester.  The Recreation Club is an amazing outdoors club!  We do hikes, rock climbing, canoeing, kayaking, and many other activities as a group.  Theta Gamma Omega (OGO) is one of Ferrum's local sororities, and I am excited to be pledging them this semester!

I have many fond memories of Ferrum.  Perhaps my most vivid and beloved is of the Homecoming concert that Ferrum put on for the students last semester.  My friends and I had been anticipating it all day.  My best friend and I spent the night swing dancing and laughing.  I can still recall her laughter ringing out with mine. We often talk about that night and how amazing it was.

Ferrum College is truly a wonderful place.  I wouldn't be the person I am today without the professors and friends I have had the honor to meet here.

Hello from a New Panther Blogger!

by Delana S., Panther Blogger

Hi!  My name is Delana, and I am from Virginia Beach.  I am currently a first semester Junior, but this is my sophomore year at Ferrum College.  I am double-majoring in International Studies and Spanish. I also minor in History, Journalism, and am obtaining my Global Perspectives Certificate.  I am involved with multiple clubs and organizations here on campus, and it may seem like a lot, but I do have free time every day to hang out with my friends. I am a very optimistic individual who loves traveling and going with the flow of the day. When it comes to goals...I have a lot of them, but they do change daily based off of the direction that I see my life going in.

When I was first looking at different colleges, I decided that I wanted to attend Ohio State, George Mason, or Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).  I had never heard of Ferrum College before, but that changed when they called me and talked to me about the school. By this time, I had started to receive some of my letters from the three schools and didn't want to apply to Ferrum, but I decided I would see how I felt after I visited the campus.  To my surprise, I fell in love.  I love the fact that the campus is small because I really get to meet new people and what makes it funny is the fact that I still meet new people every day!  I love how beautiful the sunsets are in the fall, how the leaves change color, and the festivals that take place. To me, Ferrum is another home, which makes me love being here even more each day.

Another big reason why I love this school is the fact that I have the opportunity to do everything that I want to do and all my teachers know who each of their students are and how they think.  I know for a fact that everything that I am doing now would not be easy to do at a bigger school, so why not make the most of what I have here?  I would recommend this school to anyone because Ferrum is a close-knit community and you all feel like a family no matter who you are talking to. Plus, everyone looks out for each other and will help you out when you need it the most.

I would have to say that coming here was one of the best decisions that I made regarding my future because with everything that I am doing at Ferrum, my chances of getting an internship in a field of my study are very high. Plus, my professors, as well as other staff members that I know, are helping me as well. I do not know what the future holds for me, but I am ready for it all.

¡Hola! ¡Bienvenidos!

BY VANESSA, A PANTHER BLOGGER

There are a variety of majors and minors at Ferrum College. When I first came to Ferrum, I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to major in. I looked into several majors, but Spanish was the one that captured my interest the most. Many would ask: “Your major is Spanish? But you’re Hispanic? Isn’t that cheating?!” but that is definitely not the case. There is so much more to Spanish then just being able to speak the language. It comes with knowledge in literature, art, geography, grammar and SO MUCH MORE.

All my classes consisted of topics such as Latin American Literature, Latin American Culture, Spanish (Spain) Culture, Spanish (Spain) Literature and Professional Spanish. It wasn’t until the fall semester of my junior year that I knew I wanted to pursue Spanish as my major and really learn about different cultures, traditions and grammar in my second language, Castilian, or what most like to call it, Spanish.

Dr. Patricia Suppes

During this time, Ferrum had appointed Dr. Patricia Suppes as the new Assistant Professor of Spanish. Dr. Suppes, or “Profe” as her students usually like to call her, has been my professor for the past 2 years. She has challenged me in ways I never thought possible when it came to my second language. Another great thing about my major is that I was able to study abroad. This past summer, I was able to study in Alicante, Spain for a month; it was an experience I’ll be able to remember for the rest of my life.

When it came to my minors, I had an idea of what I wanted to pursue. Like I mentioned in my last blog entry, Journalism was a definite choice after taking my practicum classes, and it was something I was really interested in doing. When I was able to take some neat English classes with some AMAZING English professors (you all know who you are), I then decided to also minor in English because I really enjoyed literature, writing, the different classes, and the English program itself.

Majoring in Spanish and minoring in Journalism and English has given me a great experience at Ferrum!

My friends & I with a mariachi band in Roanoke, VA