Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Introduction: Hufflepuff, Starbucks barista, Lover of Music and all things Yellow!


Hey y'all! My name is Terrica (pronounced like Erica with a T) and I hail from the great state of Texas, Austin to be exact. This simple fact has caused a lot of people to give me the side eye and ask, "Why didn't you go to UT?" or "What made you come to OU?" The answer to this question is simple, my family has never been a big fan of UT and I wanted to go to college away from home. As soon as I visited the OU campus, I knew that this is where I needed to be.
 
(Me at home taken by my mother)


 

This summer, I did absolutely nothing but go back home and soak up all of the music I could. I know that probably sounds cliché but, I absolutely love music! I spend 98% percent of my time listening to music and doing music related things (the other 2% is eating ha-ha!). I love everything from pop-punk to country music but, I find myself being completely obsessed with bands. My purple headphones are literally glued to my ears 24/7. Music is a huge part of my life and I honestly don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have it! I swear there is nothing better than an impromptu road trip to a concert. Another genre I’m super in love with is musical theatre! My two best friends and I often find ourselves belting out Disney songs and Broadway tunes randomly throughout the day.
 

 
Aside from music, I’m obsessed with binge watching TV shows. There is nothing better than sitting down with my best friends and stuffing our faces with junk food and watching every season of a show over the weekend. I have no idea why we wait until a show is 3 seasons deep before we decide to watch the show instead of watching each episode one at a time on its scheduled  day and time but, there is something strangely satisfying about watching a TV show until your eyes bleed (no literally of course). Along with TV shows, I love movies. My favorite type of movies is comedies (both RomCom and non RomCom). The conversations between my friends and I are often made up of movie quotes and references and song lyrics.

 

Social media! Sadly, social media has taken over my life. Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, and YouTube are my best friends. I love connecting with other people from all over the US and the world. It is amazing how many friendships you can form and how many cool and interesting things you can share with people. No matter how you feel about our generation’s dependency on technology and social media, you have to admit, there are some seriously funny people and videos online. If you need a laugh, just hop on YouTube or Twitter or Tumblr and I guarantee you will find something hilarious.
 
 

 The last thing I want to mention is my involvement in Alpha Phi Omega. Alpha Phi Omega, better known as APO is a co-ed community service fraternity. APO has been a huge part of my college career and I know that if I hadn’t of made the decision to join, my college experience would not have been the same. I met 2 of my best friends through this organization and I have made countless memories with brothers that I will treasure for the rest of my life. Some of the service projects we have done, for example, Soonerthon, changed my life and gave me experiences I will never forget. So, here is my shameless plug; if you are in any way interested in Leadership, Friendship, and Service, please do not hesitate to ask me about APO! It is a great organization to be a part of!
(Alpha Phi Omega- Delta Beta photo taken by Matt Rom)
 

 

 

21 comments:

  1. Your journey to where you decided to go to college reminds me of mine! Being from Memphis, and going to a high of 89 students (50 of which I had known since the 4th grade) I was ready to go somewhere different. Thus the reason I chose OU! I certainly agree with the idea that waiting until you can binge watch a show is the best! There is just something about absorbing all of the tv drama at once that makes it so much more enjoyable as opposed to waiting from week to week.

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  2. Hi Terrica!
    I think it's so cool that you're from Austin. It's no surprise that you love music because Austin is such a great city for that! And I think everyone should get behind belting out Disney songs because it's so much fun. I agree with what you said about social media giving you really unique opportunities to make friendships with people across the globe. I use it all the time to keep up with friends I've made in countries like Italy and France, and I've made plenty of friends whom I haven't actually met, too! It's just plain awesome to be exposed to so many points of view and walks of life.

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  4. Whoops: copy and paste foul-up... here is the comment with Jae's link included! :-)
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    Aha, Terrica, Starbucks connection: Jae, in Indian Epics, is a Starbucks person, and she wrote about that in her Introduction - maybe you know each other!
    Jae: Starbucks barista and trainer. And I felt right at home when I saw that lovely picture of you... because my parents live in Austin, right there downtown in fact, and it is always so much fun to go visit them. I was born in Austin, but we moved away and lived so many other places, but when my dad retired, they moved back to Austin. It sure has changed from when I was little kid there 45 years ago! From the design of this class, you know I enjoy the social media world too... and thanks for sharing about APO: if you have any events to publicize this semester, let me know! I will be so glad to include that in the announcements! From that picture, I can tell you guys are a high-energy bunch!!! Enjoy the semester! :-)

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  5. You sound extremely outgoing, and considering your investment in music, have you ever considered going into musical theater? You just seem like that type of person!

    By the way, what's your major? I don't think you mention it here.

    Yeah, Austin's not for everyone. Very busy place. Norman is still a busy place, but in its college town sort-of-way. I can see why you'd like it here better more than the bigness that Austin has.

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  6. Terrica: I love theatre, too! It's great to hear you're into music. Do you have any favorite artists? Since you have the quote from Bono in your intro, I thought maybe you were a U2 (I'm quite fond of them). And what is your favorite musical theatre production?

    It's always curious when people talk about how visiting OU's campus was the deciding factor in their college search. I grew up only about seventy miles from here, so it was basically a part of my backyard! I'm sure it's different from Austin; the college town feel is quite nice.

    Anyhow, it's great hearing your story and I hope you have a great year!

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  7. Hi there, Terrica. It's nice to meet you. While I'm not from Texas, my husband was born there in Amarillo. I love going to Texas because there are so many fun things to do there like Great Wolf Lodge, Six Flags, Sea World, etc. I love to music too...probably not as much as you, but I do love all types of music from Pop, Some Rap, Rock, eighties stuff, classical and a little bit of country. Lol That's just to name a few! Since I'm a "little bit" older than you, I never really considered joining a fraternity, but your group sounds awesome with all the community projects you are involved in. I love it when people get involved in helping out the world in some way. My husband and I chose to help the world by fostering children. Anyway, have a wonderful time while you're here at OU!!! It's a great college to be a part of and I'm glad I got to be a part of it too.

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  8. The campus here at OU is beautiful. I grew up not far from here so I have been around the campus many times since I was little. I love music too. I listen to just about everything but have found myself listening to country a little more than the rest these days. Hope you are enjoying the school year and good luck with the rest of it!

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  9. Hey Terrica! I also absolutely love music. No matter what it is I'm doing I have to have music playing the background. Binge watching shows is also something I do. I go to watch a couple episodes and then accidentally watch the whole season. APO definitely sounds like a great organization to be a part of. I hope you have a great rest of your semester!

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  10. I love music too, except country. I love the old country and some from the early 90's (when I was in high school), but this new stuff stinks LOL I have also started binge watching episodes too, Netflix is the bane of my existence and my homework time :) APO looks like a fun group too :)

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  11. I can totally relate to your music obsession. I can barely do anything in silence. Even though i usually get more down when I don't have music on, I'm looking at you homework. I'm also kind of a social media junkie. It's the first thing I look at when I wake up, and go to bed. I really like to follow fashion blog accounts on Instagram. It's helps me figure out and influence what I'm going to wear the next day!

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  12. Hey, Terrica! Another Texan!—there sure seem to be a lot of you in this class, haha. Honestly, I feel like a lot of the people from out-of-state chose OU because it was a home away from home, and it’s fantastic that a university can engender that feeling in its students. I also love music, but I am curious as to what your favorite and artists are—though you can’t go wrong with Disney songs in a pinch, haha. (Recently while hiking the Path of the Gods along the Amalfi Coast my friends and I just broke out singing “I’ll make a man out of you,” lol. So I can relate.) Can’t wait to read more of your posts this semester!

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  13. Hi Terrica! Loved learning more about you! I love Austin, I visited the first time last fall for ACL! I love how out of all of your love for music you still love to but a musical tune! I'm a huge romcom girl myself and I'm currently binge watching One Tree Hill. 10 seasons has put me in a deep dark Netflix hole! I'm also a social media addict! I'm glued to my phone 24/7! Hope you have a great rest of your semester!

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  14. I, too, listen to music whenever I can. You can listen to music while you eat, by the way, which will put you at 100% music all the time! Though you can sorta hear yourself chew if you're wearing headphones... It's kind of an odd sound... Speaking of music (and of Austin), I've always wanted to go to ACL, but I haven't had a chance to yet. Soon, though!

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  15. Nice to meet you, Terrica! Austin is such a great city. I have some family there and always enjoyed visiting. I also love binge-watch TV series and comedy (of all sorts) is my favorite movie genre. I've recently been watching Breaking Bad on Netflix and it is so addicting. Netflix is the best invention.

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  16. Hey Terrica! It's nice to meet you! I'm from Texas too... Dallas though. I absolutely love going to Austin, though! It is such a fun city. I am also a big fan of binge watching shows, haha. I do it all of the time. I think its better than watching shows the regular way sometimes because you don't have to wait to know what happens next!

    Hope you have a great semester!

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  17. Hi Terrica, it is nice to meet you. What a unique name, I love it! I enjoyed reading your introduction. You made great points about music, television, and social media. I agree with many of these. Social media has taken over my life as well, but I think it is a great way to connect with others that you do not see every day or that have moved. Good luck on the rest of your semester!

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  18. Hi Terrica! It really is funny how people from Austin automatically get questioned for why they come to OU. I have seen one of my friends have to explain it to people numerous times. Binge watching shows on Netflix is a hobby of mine as well! I have gotten into the habit of not wanting to watch shows unless I know I have a steady amount to watch first. Good luck on the rest of the semester!

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  19. I just met some people from Austin yesterday! I've heard wonderful things about that city. It doesn't match the "Texas" stereotype. Speaking of music and Austin... My boyfriends and I have fallen in love with a folk singer, Shakey Graves. We actually got to go see him perform in Austin in January. It was a dream come true! I'm glad you're enjoying OU. Keep exploring music!

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  20. Hey Terrica!

    I'm a huge fan of binge watching TV shows too. What do you like to watch? I mostly stick to comedies (The Office, Parks and Rec), but I like crime shows too (Criminal Minds, Law and Order SVU). I've tried watching shows live but it's just so much easier to find 7 free hours on a weekend then to consistently have an hour free every Monday. That's also cool you've gotten involved in APO and Soonerthon! I helped with the planning of it this past year and loved it, so it's always cool to hear that another person enjoyed it.

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  21. Hey Terrica. I think it was a great choice to go to OU instead of UT. Even though UT is right downtown Austin (which would be awesome). OU is the place to be. I also thought it was great how you said that music is a big part of your life. This is the same for me as I am always playing some type of music. I think it is interesting that you are involved with APO and Soonerthon. Great job planning that and good luck with school!

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