{"id":632,"date":"2024-04-26T18:49:32","date_gmt":"2024-04-26T18:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/?p=632"},"modified":"2024-04-26T18:49:32","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T18:49:32","slug":"getting-comfortable-with-adversity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/2024\/04\/26\/getting-comfortable-with-adversity\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting comfortable with adversity"},"content":{"rendered":"
As a college student, that famed walk across the stage to accept a hard-earned diploma while family and friends cheer is a rite of passage.<\/p>\n

\"Semoni<\/p>\n

But so is the very beginning of that journey, when an incoming freshman makes the big entrance to college life \u2014 packing up the car and stepping into the freedoms that campus offers.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an incoming freshman at Marshall, I did not move onto campus until the Spring of 2021,\u201d said Semoni Weaver, a senior multimedia major from Richmond, Va.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why this graduating class is a little different.<\/p>\n

\n\t “My entire first semester was completed at home in Virginia due to the uncertainties of COVID.” <\/span>\n\n\t\t\t- Semoni Weaver<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

\u201cMy entire first semester was completed at home in Virginia due to the uncertainties of COVID.\u201d<\/p>\n

What should have been an exciting time turned tumultuous, with a global pandemic upending any plans made for the spring, summer and fall of 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the biggest frustration for me and probably a lot of other students my age was that we were not getting a traditional college experience as freshmen,\u201d said Weaver. \u201cMost, if not all, of our classes were online and the overall value of a \u2018campus life\u2019 experience had drastically decreased.\u201d<\/p>\n

After all, there is often more to learn on campus than what is offered in a classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t scared to come to college in the height of the pandemic,\u201d said Weaver. \u201cI was more focused and worried about adapting to the lifestyle of college and navigating that new level of independence on my own for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t “I was more focused and worried about adapting to the lifestyle of college and navigating that new level of independence on my own for the first time.” <\/span>\n\n\t\t\t- Semoni Weaver<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

Making the most of her college career, Semoni joined the Student Government Association as a freshman senate apprentice and continued working with SGA throughout her time on campus. She received numerous awards and scholarships and received the honor of becoming a presidential ambassador and social media ambassador for the university. Even in her downtime, she was working as a resident advisor in Freshman South dorm. In 2023, she was awarded the title \u201cRA of the Year\u201d by Housing and Residence Life.<\/p>\n

\"Semoni<\/p>\n

But her most memorable Marshall moment came on the gridiron during the Homecoming game in 2023, when she was crowned by her peers as Miss Marshall.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe entire journey of preparing my platform, designing info graphics and videos and meeting the most phenomenal people along the way was an indescribable experience,\u201d said Weaver. \u201cI will cherish it for as long as I live.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t “I learned to be comfortable with being uncomfortable and that nothing is guaranteed.” <\/span>\n\n\t\t\t- Semoni Weaver<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

After graduation, Semoni plans to move to Washington, D.C. to study public relations and corporate communications at Georgetown University. Life lessons learned at Marshall and through the difficult dynamic of the pandemic will stick with her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the adversity I faced throughout college, not even just from freshman year, will 100% be something that I carry with me the rest of my life,\u201d said Weaver. \u201cI learned to be comfortable with being uncomfortable and that nothing is guaranteed.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a college student, that famed walk across the stage to accept a hard-earned diploma while family and friends cheer is a rite of passage. But so is the very beginning of that journey, when an incoming freshman makes the big entrance to college life \u2014 packing up the car and stepping into the freedoms […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":198,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-moments"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/198"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":645,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632\/revisions\/645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}