By Ella Cobb

It has taken me weeks to muster up the courage to sit down to write this story. Of course, I knew it would be difficult to do, as my time at MTSU has meant more to me than I can easily put into words. I didn’t think it would be this hard, though. 

If you have met me or gotten to know me in the last three years or so, you may be shocked to hear about what I was like when I started my first semester at MTSU in the fall of 2021. 

When I started college, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, and felt like I had no direction. I knew I wanted to get a college degree. That was about it for my plan, though. As a big planner, it was a very difficult time for me. 

It made me anxious and unsure of myself. If I could talk to my 18-year-old self now, I would tell her to stop rushing through life and to stop expecting to already know everything. You have to learn as you go. That is just part of it, and there is a lot of beauty in the “becoming.” 

I walked through my freshman and sophomore years in a bit of a haze. I was struggling to make friends in college, and I had never had that problem before. Everyone seemed to already know their place at MTSU. I had my friends from high school, and I am so grateful for that. I just wanted more. 

I wanted at least somewhat of the college experience you hear people talk about. I commuted around 45 minutes the entire time I was in college, which added another layer of difficulty. 

Once I picked my major at the end of my freshman year and started taking marketing classes, my confidence grew. I really started to feel surer of myself. 

During the fall of 2023, I applied to be a Student Orientation Assistant, and that opened an entirely new chapter for me. 

I met so many people that semester and summer. I made new friends and fell more and more in love with MTSU. I applied to be a Blue Elite Tour Guide. I spent the next year and a half sharing my love for MTSU with students and parents through tours. 

At this point, I had done one internship in social media marketing in Nashville the fall before, but I knew I needed more experience. I reached out to a fellow student I followed on Instagram, who I knew worked for the MTSU student socials team. I just wanted advice and to pick her brain about all things marketing and social media. 

She told me there was an opening on the team, and that is what led me to writing this story right now. 

I started working for the student socials team in August of 2024 and have not slowed down since. I made great friends and connections. I was able to work the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival twice, the Grand Ole Opry four times, three Nashville Sounds games, a Nashville Predators game, and so much more. I wrote 17 stories for MTSU’s Office of News and Media Relations. I filmed over 20 Hidden Gems videos, covered countless events, and so much more. 

Through this role, I feel even more in love with storytelling, writing, and content creation. I found a part of myself that I did not even know was there. The support system in this role gave the team and me room to use our creativity and express ourselves through our work. That I will always be grateful for. 

I knew long before I was close to graduating that I wanted to pursue a master’s degree following graduation. When DeAnn Hays told me I could continue working for the student social media team during graduate school, I was jumping for joy. I had never loved a job like I love this one.

I started working as a Graduate Assistant in an academic department within the Jones College of Business. I also loved this role so much. 

Since I did not make the most of my first few years of college, I made sure to say yes to everything during my last two years at MTSU. Even though there were times I was so stressed and sleep-deprived, I do not regret it all. 

I built incredible relationships with fellow students, administrators, faculty, and other professionals. 

At MTSU, I found myself. I found my passion. And most of all, I found my people. (This is where I am starting to tear up).

If I could give anyone starting out or even in the middle of college some advice, I would say: please push yourself. I want you to walk into a room where you feel out of place. Put yourself in uncomfortable positions. Growth does not come from being comfortable all the time. Growth comes from challenges. 

Push yourself to meet new people. Listen to them. You can learn so much from others. It is so important to surround yourself with people who come from different backgrounds and upbringings. 

I thought there was no way I could top high school when I graduated. There was no way I could ever feel a feeling as special as graduating with all of my friends. 

But I was wrong. There is a feeling that tops that, and I am experiencing that feeling right now. 

It is hard to let go of a place and community that you don’t really want to leave. However, with graduation comes a natural end to this chapter. 

I know this is not the end for me. It is only the beginning. The beginning of a happy life in a career that I love and am truly passionate about. 

The gratitude I have for my time at MTSU is more than I can describe. I know that I am so lucky to have been afforded this experience, and I will never take that for granted. 

It was never really the place that was special to me. It is the people, the community. 

At the end of the day, MTSU will always be the people’s campus. And to me, my campus. 

I’ll leave you with 5 pieces of advice that I wish someone had told me sooner (or if they did, I should have listened sooner). 

1. Every day that you wake up, push yourself a little more. Do things that make you uncomfortable. The best growth comes from discomfort. 
2. Apply for the on-campus job or join a student organization. Find a way to connect with your community on campus. 
3. Get to know your professors and administration. Some of my favorite opportunities or lessons came from the connections I made with MTSU faculty and staff. 
4. Say yes as much as possible (within reason, of course). There are very few times I have regretted saying yes, but I regret saying no almost every time. 
5. Chase your passions. Don’t listen to any negative opinions or anything like that. Find what you love and go for it full force. 

While I have dreaded this moment since I started graduate school, I am excited and hopeful for my future. If I loved MTSU this much, there are other experiences that I will have that I will have a lot of love for, too. 

MTSU, I don’t like to think of this as a goodbye. Who knows, I may see you again one day!

As A.A. Milne once said in his book Winnie-the-Pooh, “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

Writer Ella Cobb was part of MTSU’s Student Voice team. She completed her MBA in Strategic Marketing Analytics and earned her undergrad in Marketing at MTSU. She graduated in August.