Continuity amid change
This story was orginally published May 11, 2021.
By Jesse Berlin
The transition from high school to college is a big one. Living away from home. Navigating campus. Making friends.
Roommates Logan Deal and Wendell Shepherd eased the transition by finding new ways to pursue the same interests they had in high school. And with the wealth of involvement opportunities at Mizzou, it wasn’t hard.
Deal played tennis in high school and joined MizzouRec club tennis in the spring semester. It gives him the opportunity, he said, to meet people, stay active and “have your mind on something else besides schoolwork.”
Shepherd was part of his high school TV station, where he helped film and produce broadcasts. He chose to major in journalism and joined MUTV Sports, part of Mizzou’s student-run TV station, MUTV.
Shepherd is an assistant technical director, handling equipment, operating the camera and working in the control room. He also writes articles about Mizzou sports teams for the website.
“As a career field, [journalism] is always very experience-driven,” said Shepherd, adding that MUTV is a way to get involved while having “something to add to my résumé.”
Shepherd also joined The Salt Company, a college ministry, which he learned about through a friend on his floor. Back home, he went to church regularly and had been wanting to find one in Columbia.
The Salt Company holds a bible study once a week, followed by a service the following day, with social events throughout. He’s enjoyed having people, specifically people his age, “to talk about [the Bible] with outside of just my parents or my pastors at home.”
“That’s something I’ve never really done before,” Shepherd said.
Deal has likewise been busy. During the fall semester, he joined a freshman interest group (FIG) for computer science majors. He keeps in touch with members through a study group.
Last November, Deal learned about a hackathon, where computer programmers design a project in a short amount of time, with the Mizzou Computing Association. He teamed up with some of his classmates and other computer science students, communicating with them through GroupMe.
Deal liked learning, collaborating and “[talking] with like-minded people about your code,” since computer science, he says, is largely an individual task.
When restrictions are lifted, Shepherd looks forward to joining MizzouRec club baseball; a ball player in high school, he was going to try out for Mizzou’s NCAA team, but couldn’t because of the pandemic. Deal is looking forward to in-person computer science-related activities.