Hi y'all I'm Morgan Cunnyngham.

I'm going to skip all the background information as to where my hometown is, what I like to do for fun, or my stance on Starbucks vs. Dunkin' for right now. Since this is my first article, why not just get right to the point on how I began writing for Mizzou Odyssey.

Let's throw it back to two years ago. If you asked me where I would be attending school in the following fall as a freshman I would say, with a beaming smile on my face, the University of Arkansas with a major in Architecture and a minor in Interior Design. I was so set on calling those hogs and getting to experience college where there would be a couple thousand in my graduating class rather than 30. Moving in for recruitment week was crazy. It was hot, so many girls, and I had no clue who my roommate was going to be. Naïve senior Morgan thought it would be cool and exciting to get a random roommate. It was the BEST THING I EVER DID!

My new college roommate ended up becoming my best friend just like all the movies I had watched said would happen. I loved my sorority and big. School work was easy and the classes kept me on my toes. Everything was near perfect including the chocolate milk served in the dining halls but something that good normally always starts to fail. It hit me all at once. U of A wasn’t going to give me in-state tuition anymore, my physics class was becoming more and more of a struggle, and my dog died. I tried to do everything I could to stay there because I loved it and it was my dream school however, nothing was sticking.

So I started applying for schools for next semester. I applied to Mizzou, MSU, and OTC later than expected. Christmas came and gone and I still didn’t know where I would be continuing my education. Finally, days before most colleges were starting back, OTC accepted me. I accepted right away because I loved school, I knew I couldn’t put off a full semester, and classes were about to start for spring semester. OTC was fine and my classes were fun and interesting. I was back home living with my parents and my baby brother which was kinda weird because as this point I had lived on my own for five months. Yet it was also nice because I had mom’s amazing home cooked meals every night and I got to experience my baby brothers junior year of high school. I got to go to his golf tournaments, archery tournaments, and even see him all dressed up for prom and take pictures of him and his date. When I think of the semester of college I did at OTC, it might not have been my dream school but I had some pretty gosh darn good memories associated with my time going there.

So I applied again to Mizzou right before summer started. I didn’t do a very good job keeping up with my email but I was accepted. Whenever I read that email late at night around 9:30 saying that I got accepted to Mizzou I stopped reading it in my head and started reading it out loud to my family who was in the living room. My older sister who also goes to Mizzou and is going to graduate this upcoming spring 2018 semester started crying, squeezing me, and jumping up and down. From then it was a whirl wind of filling out papers and trying to get all of my college stuff together which was sadly sitting right outside my room since I moved back from Fayetteville.

However, weeks into my sophomore year I knew that Mizzou was the place for me even after all the doubt. I have found my passion with Architecture, found CCH, and get to go to college with my sister only five minutes away. Walking by the columns on the way to my 8 am and seeing the sun slowly rise and casting a magical glow is breathtaking. Seeing and feeling the heat of the fire cannon on my first football game was absolutely crazy! I went through all these struggles and obstacles and now I can firmly say that I have found the right college for me. I guess the third time is the charm. Two years ago I would never have thought all of this would happen to me and I would be where I am now. Now I am writing for Mizzou Odyssey and I’m loving every minute of my time here at Mizzou.

xx M