My Barrett Journey

(My freshman B-Town group...we were so tiny! :) )

Welcome back, Barrett Downtown students! We’ve all survived the first month of an early semester, so it’s all smooth sailing from here.

I’m Caroline Porter, a senior in the combined Bachelor/Master’s program in the Cronkite School and Barrett. It’s hard to believe that in December, I’ll finally be walking across that stage and receiving my diploma and what some of us downtown like to call our “Barrett bling.”

As I start my final two semesters at ASU, I find it interesting to reflect on what brought me to Barrett, and the Downtown campus in particular. During my senior year in high school, I learned about Barrett from my high school adviser, who said it would give me the “Ivy league education” that girls at my high school wanted (I went to Xavier, for any Phoenix locals...talk about competition!!). While my friends ran around in a frenzy applying to as many schools as possible, I focused my energies on putting together an amazing application for Barrett--I had my favorite teachers write my letters of recommendation, had my essay edited at least twice, and reviewed every part of the application over and over until I finally gave in and submitted it!

I initially thought of applying to as many schools as humanly possible, but when I heard about Barrett and looked at all it could offer me, I set my sights on the amazing combination of Barrett, ASU, and Cronkite. Not only did Barrett offer me the BA/MMC program, but in ASU Downtown and Cronkite, I was getting brand new, state of the art buildings and even getting the chance to live in a dorm room that no one else had been in before me!

(Showing my school spirit during Homecoming 2009)

I realize I was luckier than most of my friends in that I knew what I wanted to major in right away, but I initially had no idea where I wanted to go. I worried that staying Phoenix would mean being stuck living at home and missing out on opportunities for travel and experiencing a new place. Little did I know that living in Downtown Phoenix would provide more opportunities than I ever expected for culture, travel, arts, sports, and exploration of a new place. Barrett Downtown continues to grow in conjunction with Downtown Phoenix and we’ve gone from about 15 students in “B-Town,” our residential college, during my freshman year to about 80 students in “B-Town” this year and nearly 300 total Barrett Downtown students. We’ve moved from a small office to a larger suite with room for our adviser, student meetings, and the Human Event professors. More than that, we’ve expanded our community to include Barrett students at all campuses, some of the most vulnerable and needy in the downtown area, and a new group of freshmen and transfer students every year.

(Dustin Volz, Caroline Austerman, and me...we host a lot of fun events at Barrett Downtown, including a Black and White-themed Mocktail Mixer!)

I feel so lucky to have been a part of this wonderful, welcoming, ever-expanding community at Barrett Downtown. As Lead Honors Devil, I’m looking forward to welcoming yet another group of incoming freshmen this fall, and to making our new ASU/Barrett and transfer students feel welcome this spring. I hope everyone has a successful semester and a great 2012!

Senior Year Beings

I can finally say that I only have but a year of schooling remaining—it’s a scary but exhilarating thought. My name is Stacey and I am a Senior 1 nursing student; I am excited to share my adventures at ASU with you all.

The semester is well underway. It is my third year as a Community Assistant (CA) on the ASU Tempe campus, and I am currently responsible for a floor of forty rowdy freshman. I absolutely love being their CA because they bring so much life to ASU with their high energy and desire to be involved on-campus.

In order to prepare for the arrival of my freshmen on January 3^rd, I was up late several nights in a row decorating the hall, trying my best to make it feel like home. One of my responsibilities as a CA is to make floor decorations and name tags for all their doors. The hard work that I put into making the floor look its best paid off as they began to arrive and I got to see them for the first time in a few weeks. Don’t tell them this, but I definitely missed them over break—our floor was way too quiet. We call ourselves the ‘Penthouse’ because we are on the highest floor in our complex (seventh!) and the view from our floor over the ASU campus is breath-taking.

Just as I got my residents settled in, my first class began bright and early at 7:30 am on Thursday January 5th. Because my classes are at the Downtown campus and I live on the Tempe campus, I have to allow a little extra time for the commute. My freshman and sophomore year I used to take the light rail (which is like a train) to class, but I finally have my own car and am able to just drive myself.

This semester I will be studying maternity, childbirth, and pediatrics (children). Our first day of class was a lab day in which we got hands on experience. I learned about how to take care of a pregnant woman before and after she gives birth. I also was taught how to do an initial fetal assessment, in other words, how to make sure that a newborn baby is healthy.

One of the interesting topics we discussed was breastfeeding. This picture is one of my classmate, Brandon. Our professor demonstrated how to hold a baby for optimal breastfeeding! When she asked him how it felt he said “it just feels right.” Our class was laughing hysterically as we watched Brandon demonstrate effective breastfeeding.

In nursing school, you have to practice everything on one another. Including putting on briefs!

This is a picture of my classmate giving me a subcutaneous injection in lab.

This is a picture of myself & some classmates practicing putting on PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) in one of our classes. Nursing school is full of these fun moments—it makes all the hard work pay-off.

Welcome Back to Barrett

Hello fellow Barrett peers. I hope you all enjoyed your break and are ready for a wonderful new semester. Being part of a year round program leaves little room for a break, so needless to say, this Christmas break was a much needed vacation for me. But now I am back and ready to jump head first into this semester. It will definitely be a full schedule once again.

To start, my name is Emily and I am currently a senior 1 in the accelerated upper-division nursing program. I am also the secretary for the College Council of Nursing Students and a class representative for the Student Nurses Association. And of course, I am a Barrett senior getting ready to begin my thesis.

My first day back was just as if I had never left. The morning was filled with orientation, new faculty of records, rules, tuberculosis tests, and class syllabi. After a complete inundation of new information, it was off to Phoenix Children’s Hospital to become familiar with the facility. I am more than overjoyed for this semester to being because it is my dream setting. I plan on attending medical school after I graduate and I plan on becoming a neonatologist. PCH is my dream hospital. I will get the opportunity to rotate through not only the main care floors but also the emergency room and PICU. I am looking forward to this learning experience and hope to gain every ounce of knowledge and experience I can.

Being a Barrett senior also means one thing… the thesis! I am getting ready to begin that journey as well. I am setting all the appointments and trying to formulate a few ideas. I’ll keep you updated on the progress.

Overall, I am so excited to be not only a senior, but a Barrett senior and I cannot wait to see what the semester brings. Barrett has so much to offer, so we will just have to see where my Barrett journey leads.

Reunited with Arizona

As an out of state student, my return to Arizona after the brief Winter Break was bitter sweet. I was both looking forward to and anxious about the coming semester.

My name is Angie and I'm a sophomore student living in the Barrett Residential community downtown. I am pursuing my Bachelor's and Master's concurrently in Journalism.

I moved back a day early for training at the Arizona Republic, my first day back in the dorms was quiet. Within the next two days my friends trickled back and I was reunited with them, my extracurricular activities, and school. Today marked the first day of the Spring 2012 semester and it was a day I was excited and scared for.

I officially started my internship with the Arizona Republic and I was worried I would mess up. I'm working out of Scottsdale and am unfamiliar with the area. After an hour commute in heavy traffic, I arrived and my fears disappeared. After eight hours of working on stories, I looked forward to coming back to my home in downtown Phoenix.

My classes don't start until Monday, but I'm ready to concur the semester. I have everything I need here in the heart of Phoenix from the support of Barrett Downtown and my friends living right next door! We have welcome back events Barrett planned to help us relax and catch up in the next few weeks.

Even though I miss home, I've made another home here in Phoenix thanks to the help of fellow Barrett students, faculty, and staff. Moving back is never difficult because of them!

Newly Designed Barrett Blog

Welcome to the NEW Barrett Downtown Blog!

Starting this spring semester our blog will be a place to follow three of our very own Barrett Downtown students from different disciplines as they grow and discover throughout their collegiate experience. We will also have several guest bloggers join in to provide personal accounts of some of the happenings here on the Downtown Phoenix Campus and in Barrett, The Honors College.

We look forward to showing you a glimpse into the world of Barrett Downtown and hope that you will follow us through the excitement that lies ahead!