Amy Hogan: http://blogs.uoregon.edu/amyhogan/

Hannah Minton: http://blogs.uoregon.edu/hmintongateway3/

Nick Borges-Silva:  http://blogs.uoregon.edu/nborgessportfolio/

For our project, we had to start over on another topic, so we thought choosing “starting over” would be a good choice. We wanted to have a variety of stories, so we found people who started over by transferring, changing majors, moving to another state, etcetera. Although, each person has their own unique starting over experience, they all revolve around the college years of these students. We asked our interviewees why they started over, how they dealt with it, and what the consequences were.

Our video revolved around a student who transferred from San Diego State. She enjoys being active in Eugene, so we focused most of our B-roll on her running, biking, and hiking in and around the city. She also is very interested in the University of Oregon’s business program, so we decided it would be useful to use footage of Lillis. We used the present, past, future sequence to demonstrate her full journey. We tried to keep the emotional aspect prominent by including pictures of her friends she left in San Diego. However, it became difficult to keep it emotional at the end because we were trying to develop her goals of working for Nike and succeeding in the business school.

We didn’t get too complicated with video techniques because none of us own professional equipment.  We decided to center our written story on numerous different subjects instead of focusing on our subject for the video. We did this to offer a variety of perspectives instead of one that was already known.

Our website features a blog roll that includes all of our individual Q&As, main text story, multimedia story, and rationale. We hope that our various stories capture the different journeys of students of starting over in their lives and how they have overcome their transitions.

College is a time when the phrase “starting over” has an abundance of meanings; students start over on group projects, late night dinners, 10-page papers, relationships, etcetera. Transferring to a new school having to assimilate into a new culture and environment is an excellent example of starting over. Transfer students have to face many difficulties socially and emotionally when transitioning to a new school. For Tim Wynn, a transfer student from Orange Coast College, his decision to start over at the University of Oregon was influenced by his desire to be in a more outdoorsy community where he felt like he was more at home. He wanted to choose a place to start over that he might not otherwise get the chance to live, and he thought that the University of Oregon would be a good personality fit for him. He faced many challenges transitioning here in Oregon, most of which were difficulties with finding a new, social group of friends.

“When moving to a new location, you have to learn how to produce your new social group. You have to take risks and go out on a limb to communicate with strangers in order to meet people. When it comes to dating and when it comes to friendships, otherwise you would not be living very well. You have to get used to the new locations and where you need to go for work and school and what places you like best,” said Wynn.

Another big challenge of starting over as a transfer student is getting familiar with your surroundings. For Wynn, it took him a while to get to know the campus and where he needed to go for class and also with the surrounding areas of Eugene. With these challenges also comes growth. Wynn went through times when he was really tested by stepping outside his comfort zones and learned a lot about himself going through those trying times. He said that he believes everyone should experience starting over at least once in their lives because those experiences really help you to get to know who you are deep down when the only person and only skills you have to rely on are your own.

Sophomore, Gabriella Pineiro, has experienced her own means of starting over when she moved from Burbank, California to Eugene, Oregon in the fall of 2012 for college. Burbank is located in Los Angeles County and is one of the entertainment capitals of the country, while Eugene is one of the largest cities in Oregon and is the home of track and field. Pineiro was caught up in the California lifestyle and decided she needed a change of scenery; when applying for college she found the University of Oregon at the top of her list.

“I drove up [to Oregon] with my parents right before my freshman year at the University of Oregon. They helped me move my stuff into my dorm room, stayed for a few extra days, and then left for home. I was left to ‘start over’ in a brand new state where I was a 12-hour car ride away from home,” said Pineiro.

Pineiro has learned to adjust to the rain, snow, and pollen that are common to Eugene. She has adjusted to buying groceries, cooking full meals, doing laundry, cleaning up after roommates, and paying for housing. Pinerio has started a new chapter in her life and plans to live in Oregon for at least the next ten years.

“Moving away from home has made me realize how many opportunities I have, and will continue to have, away from my hometown. It’s taught me that there’s so much more to experience outside the Burbank bubble I had grown so accustomed to. I’ve met some of my best friends while living in Eugene and though I miss home sometimes, Eugene is the place that I feel most comfortable and it allows me to experience the freedom of being on my own. I can’t thank my family enough for giving me the opportunity to explore a new city and a whole new way of life,” said Pineiro.

Jacob Beattie, a junior at the University of Oregon, had to start over in college as well. Academically, Beattie is interested in science, but he spends much of his free time playing music. Beattie primarily focuses on playing guitar—particularly heavy metal—and has been practicing for several years now. Up until his sophomore year, Beattie spent his time playing songs that were fast and difficult. Eventually, he took a step back and realized he was playing music for the wrong reasons; he would play songs based on their technical difficulty without fully appreciating their structure or emotion. This realization became especially prevalent after he started taking classes in the School of Music and Dance.

Instead of starting at a simple level and steadily progressing, Beattie raced ahead and ignored the basics. Unfortunately, focusing on impressive, flashy techniques often results in detriments to the skills he was working to develop.

“You could look beyond my struggle as more than just learning music, but overcoming a bad habit that I had for years. If there is a moral to my story, it’s that if you have a bad habit or you know that what you are doing is holding you back then do something about it,” Beattie said.

Beattie recommends that if other people notice their own bad habits, they should immediately work to change them like he did. Becoming involved with the School of Music and Dance helped Beattie realize what he had to work on in order to bring his skills to a meaningful level. Fortunately for many others, college can bring about these types of realizations in numerous other fields as well.

From this project, we learned how to enjoyably work as a team. We were each able to pull our own weight and create a series of multimedia projects together. We also further developed our multimedia, editing, and interviewing skills.

By Hannah Minton

Lea Adamovic is a sophomore at the University of Oregon and is currently a Pre-Journalism student. She’s originally from Croatia, but now resides with her family in Fremont, California.

Has there been an event, opportunity, or circumstance so far in your life that has lead you to “start over”?

My body started changing after I started high school and there wasn’t much I could do about it. My dance teacher started to have an emotionally draining effect on me because I wasn’t as skinny as the rest of my team. My grades were dropping and I was depressed, I started hating dance, which had always been the one thing I loved doing. One night, something inside of me just changed and I realized I needed to take control of my life if I was going to get to college and out of this situation.

How did this shape your past and how do you think it will shape your future?

This shaped my past because it helped me learn and grow from my hardships. When junior year rolled around, I was motivated and ready to take it on. My grades improved and I finished my junior year with a 4.0, which drastically made a difference on my overall GPA. My turning point helped me make memories that I will keep with me for the rest of my life. And it has shaped my future because I may not have gone to the University of Oregon if my grades had kept the way they were. And without the U of O, I wouldn’t be on the path that I am now and I probably wouldn’t have discovered Public Relations as I did here.

Looking back, would you have changed the way you “started over”?

The only thing I would change would have been to hold on to dance. I didn’t compete my last year because I was more focused on rebelling against my teacher than on what dance can offer me. I didn’t want to spend time around the woman that made me so miserable, but what I should’ve done was to be the best I could be. Thankfully though, I stayed on great terms with the dance studio nonetheless and got to graduate on stage with my class, so it wasn’t the end of the world, but I definitely wish I had competed as well.

By Hannah Minton

Gabriella Pineiro is a sophomore at the University of Oregon. She loves the outdoors, and her hobbies include, hiking, biking, and listening to music.

Has there been an event, opportunity, or circumstance so far in your life that has lead you to “start over”?

Moving from Burbank, California to Eugene, Oregon for college has had the biggest impact on my life in terms of starting over.

Can you explain, in detail, this experience? And what your “starting over” point exactly was?

I drove up with my parents right before my freshman year at the University of Oregon. They helped me move my stuff into my dorm room, stayed for a few extra days, and then left for home. I was left to “start over” in a brand new state where I didn’t know a single person and I was a 12-hour car ride away from home. I had to adjust to the new weather, which changed to constant rain instead of constant sunshine. Also, I had to learn my way around a new school, city, and state. Being by myself definitely was life changing, but I made friends pretty quickly and I realized that Eugene was the perfect place for me.

How did this shape your past and how do you think it will shape your future?

The move definitely pushed me to be a much more independent person and allowed me to grow on my own without the advice and opinion of my parents. Though I still speak to them on a weekly basis, I am living on my own with roommates, having to buy my own food, and paying for my own housing. My home cooked meals changed to quick quesadillas and tap ramen. Moving away from home has made me realize how many opportunities I have and will continue to have away from my hometown. It’s taught me that there’s so much more to experience outside the Burbank bubble I had grown so accustomed to. I’ve met some of my best friends while living in Eugene and though I miss home sometimes, Eugene is the place that I feel most comfortable and it allows me to experience the freedom of being on my own. I can’t thank my family enough for giving me the opportunity to explore a new city and a whole new way of life.

By Nick Borges-Silva

Michael Schmidt is a junior at the University of Oregon. He moved to the United States from Singapore several years ago and is now pursuing a degree in English. Michael also performs stand-up comedy in his spare time.

Has there been a time you had to start over in college?

Definitely. I’ve started over twice. The main switch occurred when I was a business major and decided that it was rather bland. I then had a whole “what do I really want to do” phase, after which I landed on psychology. However, some classes started to piss me off, and I’m not really interested in going to grad school—not at the moment, at least. I think I picked psych because I wanted more emotion involved in what I was learning. But then I realized that any career in psych takes a lot of listening, and I never shut up. With that in mind, I switched to English; I can encounter emotion through stories, which I like, and hopefully ramble on for a living. English will also hopefully improve my writing skills and aid my pursuit of stand-up comedy.

What resulted from you starting over?

I guess you could say I’ve definitely grown as a person since my decision to change. I’ve experienced and studied things that I previously thought had not much of a professional practicality. I’ve opened my mind to different areas of study. I’ve generally become a less cynical person because my view of the future does not seem as depressing. The future still is potentially bleak, but at least I will be pursuing things that interest me.

Would you recommend other people in a similar position start over like you did? Why?

If you don’t like what you’re doing, don’t do it anymore. That should be a simple rule to live by, yet I seem to see plenty of people hate the work they’re involved in. If you’re lucky enough to have an opportunity to go to school for literally anything, find that thing that interests you. I used to think changing my mind would get me off track and ruin my progress, but that’s quite incorrect. If you feel like changing, certainly change. I changed because I knew I would probably lose passion, motivation, and interest if I stayed in the business major.

By Nick Borges-Silva

Jacob Beattie is a junior at the University of Oregon. Academically, he’s interested in science, but Beattie spends a significant amount of his free time playing guitar. He has been playing for several years and is now taking music classes at school to further develop his abilities.

Has there been a time you had to start over in college?

Absolutely—especially during my year as a sophomore, my first year in the University of Oregon School of Music. The first week of class made me realize that the way I had been practicing music—mainly guitar—for years was a very poor and dangerous way to play music. It was poor in that all I was doing was learning songs without understanding the context of what I was actually playing. Even if the songs were a fairly high level of difficulty, I never took into account the shape, the structure, and the emotion of what I was playing.

What was the result from starting over with music?

It took several months before results and improvement could be seen, but when they did I felt like an accomplished musician. Performing music was no longer about playing fast or learning a difficult song. It was about expressing the emotion of the song I was playing, and by adding my own spin on it I could express myself. I was also able to understand the context and structure of what I was playing instead of viewing it as a series of notes. By the end of the year in the music school, the professors and other students all noticed my progress.

Do you want to add anything?

While my story relates mainly to music and my struggle with making a mental connection with it, I feel like one could apply its meaning to many struggles in life. You could look beyond my struggle as more than just learning music, but overcoming a bad habit that I had for years. If there is a moral to my story, it’s that if you have a bad habit or you know that what you are doing is holding you back then do something about it. The way I see it is the longer you wait to deal with it or change, the further down you dig yourself in a hole that you eventually have to climb out of.

By Amy Hogan

Tim Wynn is a junior at the University of Oregon majoring in Business. He previously attended Orange Coast College, but decided to come to Oregon to continue his education in a place that felt more like home to him.

When is a significant time in your life that you had to or decided to start over?

I decided to start over when I moved from Orange country California to Eugene Oregon to attend the U of O. I chose to move up here because I grew up in a very outdoorsy, forestry, pollen-ridden area and I wanted to get back to my roots.

What influenced you, or what was going on in your life, that made you decide it was time for a fresh start?

I moved up here after I got my associated degree in southern California and I knew that I would have 2-3 years to spend somewhere I might not otherwise get a chance to live. So I decided to give Oregon a shot for that time. I thought Oregon would be more of a personality fit.

What were some of the challenges/difficulties you faced when starting over?

When moving to a new location, you have to learn how to produce your new social group. You have to take risks and go out on a limb to communicate with strangers in order to meet people. When it comes to dating and when it comes to friendships, otherwise you would not be living very well. You have to get used to the new locations and where you need to go for work and school and what places you like best.

What did you learn about yourself while going through this transition? Would you say you have became a stronger person because of your experiences with starting over? 

I feel that I have become a stronger person when it comes to opening up and trying new things. When you transition into a new culture, there is a lot of challenging things that you go through that force you to grow as an individual. Those times that you are really tested by being away from your comfort zone, it really tests yourself and you find out a lot about who you are as a person, especially when you leave the comfort zone of your home and your culture and you don’t have the input from your family.

By Amy Hogan

Brandilyn Beutler is a junior at the University of Oregon majoring in Business and Marketing. She recently transferred from San Diego State University and is just completing her first year at Oregon.

When is a significant time in your life that you had to or decided to start over?

The most significant time in my life when I had to start over is when I transferred from San Diego State University to the University of Oregon. Never did I think I was going to want to transfer, but life changes sometimes and it was a risk I was willing to take to follow my dreams.

What influenced you, or what was going on in your life, that made you decide it was time for a fresh start?

I realized after 2 years at SDSU that San Diego was not the right fit for me. I had made my best friends down there, but the school was not a right fit for me. I heard great things about Oregon’s Business school and sports business club, which is what I am interested in, and decided that it would be a smart decision for me to transfer. I hope to one day work for Nike and by moving to Oregon I am one step closer to my dream.

What were some of the challenges/difficulties you faced when starting over?

I did not know anyone when I transferred here. I already had to start over once in San Diego and go through the process of making new friends and finding the right social group, but to have to that all over again was really tough. I did not have the dorm life experience here in Oregon like I did in San Diego and that made it a challenge to meet people. Walking through campus without seeing a single face you recognize can really make you feel like an outsider at your own school.

What did you learn about yourself while going through this transition? Would you say you have become a stronger person because of your experiences with starting over? 

Yes, I think I have become a stronger person. I know the limits I can push myself to and to never give up on myself even when times are really hard. If you want change to happen in your life you have to go out and fight to make those changes.