Joy Broderick, a freshman at Andrews University, is a graphic design major with a love for the arts. She was drawn to her major because of her passion for designing art and advertisements online. Joy is excited that she can express her art through digital media. “I like designing online and being able to just design and manipulate objects on the computer,” she shares. “I feel like that really puts my love for art and my love for technology together.”
So far, Joy has been enjoying her drawing and photography classes the best. She loves her drawing class because she likes expressing her creativity through her drawings. “I feel like even though sometimes you don't feel like drawing or feel like drawing a specific thing, it's so creative, and I do see myself getting better over time at drawing.” She loves her photography class because taking photos is a huge part of her life, and she liked taking photography classes in high school. “Cutting a certain photo or mounting a certain photo or just taking that perfect shot, it's part of my personality, and it just gets me into the mindset and the space of a photographer.”
Throughout her first semester, Joy has made many memories. She has enjoyed all the vespers and activities that have occurred all over campus, and she is thankful for the community of friends she has made over the past few weeks. “[My friends] help me to stay organized and give me good advice,” she says, “When I'm having trouble, they always know how to make me laugh and smile, and I will sometimes literally be on the floor just laughing, but then there's also times we're actually serious and I just love the community.” Some of Joy’s favorite events this semester have been the AU Almost Anything Goes and vespers at the Pioneer Memorial Church (PMC). She loves the games, the music, and the amazing atmosphere to hang out with friends.
In her free time, Joy listens to music and has dinner with her friends. After a long day of schoolwork, Joy enjoys turning on some tunes and zoning out, even if only for a moment. She also loves getting outside and getting some fresh air, whether that be by just walking around campus or taking a trip to the farm to see the animals.
One challenge Joy has faced as she has been navigating her college life is time management. At times, it has been a struggle for her to find the motivation to make time for her assignments. She has also found it difficult at times to be able to align her schedule with her friends’ so that they can have time to meet up. “There are so many things that I want to do but so little time… I wish I could just have time for everything,” she says. Joy has worked to overcome this challenge by carving out time in her day to take breaks from homework and find time to hang out with friends.
Another challenge Joy has dealt with has been strengthening her communication skills. There have been times when Joy has felt that her communication cues were awkward and unclear to those around her. Joy has worked to overcome this challenge by understanding that communication can be hard at times, and that it’s ok to make mistakes because nobody’s perfect. Joy shares, “For me, it was a big struggle for me to get over, but I had a lot of prayer and faith and knew that God is always there to guide my words.”
As Andrews University heads into the second half of the semester, Joy is most looking forward to all the exciting fall and winter events that are coming up. She is also excited to plan out her classes for the spring semester as well as form new friendships around campus. Joy states, “It's just going to be even more fun to meet new people as well as experiment more and like my field and my department, so I guess expanding my experience in college for next semester is something I’m excited about.”
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.