OPINION: Students shouldn’t take advantages of Belmont, Nashville for granted

Whenever I tell people that I go to Belmont, their reaction is one of curiosity.

I have no musical talent to speak of, I’m not interested in music business and I’ve never even touched an audio board.

Why would a guy with plans of being a journalist decide to go to a school which focused on majors that would never apply to him?

The first time I heard of Belmont was in a postcard near the end of my junior year of high school. At the time, I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go for college, so I just added it to the list I was compiling.

Later that year, I made my first visit to Belmont’s campus, and it instantly shot to the top of my list. I don’t know what it was, but something about the atmosphere of campus drew me in.

Belmont was the first and only college I visited where I felt like I truly belonged. From that day forward, Belmont was my primary focus in applying for colleges.

Four years later, I am still confident I made the right decision. My time at Belmont has been an eventful one, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

I saw Horrell Hall, the Wedgewood Academic Center and the Johnson Center all spring up out of the ground and become major focal points of campus. I have learned from professors who have pushed me to my limits while improving me as a student. I’ve met some great people who I consider dear friends who I will not soon forget.

I’ve also had some bad times at Belmont. Tornado alarms at 4 a.m., issues with ResNet which seem to follow me wherever I live and ice storms that shut down all of Nashville except for Belmont were all times I didn’t enjoy.

However, I wouldn’t have had it any other way, and the good at Belmont has far outweighed the bad. Unfortunately, there are many students at Belmont who would not say the same.

I have noticed lots of negativity around campus when it comes to certain issues. Complaints relating to parking, housing and class sizes are what I seem to hear the most from my fellow students.

My advice to those students is to not dwell on the negative because it just leads to more unhappiness. Instead, focus on the positives in your life.

Focus on the people around you who are there to support you. Focus on the ability to gain an education at a well-known institution. Focus on getting to live in a thriving city like Nashville.

These are all things which not everyone has the opportunity to achieve, and I feel like they are sometimes taken for granted.

I think sometimes part of the problem in our world is we put too much focus on negativity, and that is why I always focus on being positive in any situation.

By focusing on what is going right in our lives, we can more fully enjoy the lives and the choices we are given.

#opinion #SamCowan #WeeklyColumn