Convocation

The freshman convocation was held for the new students of USC Upstate to see what our college has been through to make it to the level it is at today. Many changes have been made and hard sweat shed to ensure that everyday we can further our education. With all the students piled into the auditorium we sat through the lectures and slideshows to help give us a better understanding as to the college we have chosen. I found the convocation somewhat boring but there were different parts that got my attention.

I was honestly surprised that the convocation was taken seriously enough to cancel classes during the time it was held that day. While learning about the founders and history of the school is important to our understanding of how it got here, I feel that being in the usual classes would have helped us much more. The auditorium was hot and tightly packed with people. It was uncomfortable and not my first choice as where to spend an hour of my day. When I first sat down I expected a very long and boring lecture and half expected to fall asleep very soon. I was surprised to see that the speaker was able to crab my attention with several different things.

In the lecture, the parts about sports and statistics taken of the high levels of academics were somewhat interesting to me. Yet what really got my attention was the slideshows about the successful people to come out of USC Upstate. It gave the reminder that there is a chance for everyone here to become successful like they are. Maybe someone here now will invent a product to help with the heart or to further treat cancer. It showed that there were endless possibilities to what we can accomplish if we put forth the effort and hard work.

The convocation was definitely something I would have rather slept through or used the time to do my homework. Especially, since it was during my only break between classes for the day. I am glad that I got a chance to see what future plans there are for us and the school and the successful people that this school has produced. Yet I can honestly say I don’t think I’ll be sad if we never have convocation again.