By: Savanah Gill

“Hi, I’m Savanah Gill! I’m a junior here at MTSU, and I’m a marketing major. Oh yeah… and this is my first week on campus…ever.” —This was my introduction to the 2024-2025 Blue Elite Tour Guide team, my first on-campus job.

My journey to MTSU is different from most. I took the community college route, using the TN Promise Scholarship, and transferred to MTSU in the fall of 2024. I felt like a freshman with the title of junior. I was a nervous wreck, moving an hour and a half away into my first apartment, with people I didn’t know very well, attending a REALLY big school, and not knowing anyone.

I was grateful for the extra two years I got to be home with my family, focusing on school while eating my mom’s home-cooked meals every night and saving a ton of money in the process. But deep down, I knew it was time for this next chapter; everyone felt it.

I was prepared for this next chapter; no matter how many tears of nervousness I shed, I was truly prepared to be on my own (shout-out to my amazing parents).

And back to that opening quote, that’s where my journey began at MTSU, as a campus tour guide, and it’s been the ride of my life ever since. Yes, I was learning about buildings on campus before I was learning about marketing in the business building.

I had found the ultimate life hack for transfer students. In my first few weeks, I learned MTSU’s campus like the back of my hand, met new people and professors, and got another job! This one, I got hired to be a part of the MTSU socials team.

This was the beginning of a quickly moving snowball. With both of my newly obtained on-campus jobs, I had the opportunity to attend many events and make incredible connections and memories.

From there, it was a whirlwind. I was traveling to True Blue Tour stops, working Preview Days (these hold a special place in my heart because attending a Preview Day was how I visited campus for the first time), doing social media for football games, attending Nascar races with MTSU’s Veterans Center, and even getting the opportunity to speak about being a transfer student on Local on 2.

I came into MTSU knowing my clock was ticking. I knew from the beginning I had a limited amount of time here, and I was going to make the most out of it.

So… I said yes… to everything (sometimes that led to my detriment, because there are only so many hours in a day and I am only one Savanah), but I just knew I only had two years, so I had to squeeze everything out of them.

Looking back now, two days before I walk across that stage and get handed my diploma, I have gotten everything I dreamed of and so much more out of my time at MTSU.

Funny thing is, I never dreamed my journey would turn out the way it did. As a junior in high school, I wanted to get away, move to a four-year university, and be further away from my hometown — U.T. Martin, U.T. Chattanooga, and Austin Peay were my top contenders.

The only reason MTSU was never on my radar was that it was “too close to home.” I felt like I had to do what all the kids in the movies did: move far away to start their lives, and MTSU couldn’t possibly give that to me. Being a first-generation student, all I had to compare my life to was the movies I had seen.

Note to reader: life is nothing like the movies… stay close to your mom and save your money.

I started to realize that, senior year, when the idea of moving far away from my family sounded horrible, and that’s when the topic of community college sort of fell into my lap, thanks to Rick Rogers and Cindy Hall at Motlow State Community College.

I applied to Motlow, got accepted, and planned to transfer to MTSU to finish my bachelor’s degree. I changed my whole plan. (scared everyone in the process, too).

God led every step that’s got me to walking across MTSU’s stage. It is by no coincidence that I am sitting here writing this today. It is by no coincidence that I have met incredible people who have changed my life. It is by no coincidence that I was given so many once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.

All because I said “Yes” and allowed myself to do the uncomfortable thing.

I am four years in, and I still don’t know how FAFSA works. (I just hit submit and pray) And Lord, don’t ask me how loans work… that’s a bridge I will cross later, six months after I graduate with my master’s.

But this first-generation, small-town girl did it. I want this to show that you do not have to know how something is going to work out, you don’t even have to know how it works, you just have to be open to trying new things and saying yes. (maybe not as much as I did though… I am still learning the art of saying no.)

And yes, I said masters. I will continue my education here at MTSU by pursuing my master’s in Digital Media in the Fall of 2026. I just felt like 2 years wasn’t enough time, so my time at MTSU isn’t up yet. (You can’t get rid of me that fast)

This leaves me feeling bittersweet about my undergraduate memories, friends, adventures, and my many on-campus jobs, but I am grateful to get to spend a little more time at a place I love with my whole heart.

Thank you, MTSU. You have truly shaped me into someone that little Savanah could only have dreamed of being.

Author Savanah Gill graduated with her bachelor’s degree in marketing on Saturday, May 9. She will begin her master’s degree in digital media at MTSU this fall.