Troy University

For most of my senior year of high school, I had no idea where I was going to end up for college.

I had a whole list of four or five colleges that highly interested me but my heart, and mind, still had not made the final decision. I wanted to travel for the first year after high school; so, I was torn there too.

But towards the end of senior year, it finally clicked: Troy University.

Troy University got its start on February 26, 1887. At the time of its opening, it was called Troy Normal School.

Troy Normal School was mainly just for training and educating up and coming teachers in Alabama. The school was located in downtown Troy before moving to its current location.

The university has undergone four name changes since the original name.

In 1929, it was renamed Troy State Teacher’s College. In 1931, the college gave out its first baccalaureate degree. In 1957, it was renamed to Troy State College and began the master’s degree program. In 1967, it was renamed to Troy State University. And on April 16, 2004, the university underwent its final name change and became Troy University.

The first two buildings built on the current campus location were Bibb Graves and Shackelford Hall. Bibb Graves is named after the governor of Alabama at the time. The campus landscape, at that time, was designed by the famed Olmsted Brothers architectural company from Brookline, Massachusetts.

Today, Troy University has five colleges within it: College of Arts & Sciences, College of Communications and Fine Arts, College of Education, College of Health and Human Services, and The Sorrell College of Business. I personally am in the College of Communications and Fine Arts. And love it.

The Troy campus has 12 residential halls, a dining center, an international arts museum, a bookstore, a park, sports fields, an indoor pool, frat row (and sorority hill right off campus), a chapel, a Confucius Institute, a lake, and around ten buildings where the students have classes. And that is just on the Troy University in the Troy, Alabama location.

The university has three locations in Alabama (Troy, Montgomery, Dothan) and many more throughout the United States and internationally.

The university has had quite a few famous people go through it. In jobs ranging from astronauts to professional football players to professional baseball players. And even a professional wrestler.

These past two years at Troy University have truly been wonderful so far. They have brought me new friends, new opportunities and new perspectives. If anyone reading this is looking for a college to attend, I highly recommend Troy University. Specifically the journalism department.

Pensacola

One of my New Year’s resolution this year is to see and experience more. And before this year, I had never had the chance to travel in a plane.

And for my 20^th birthday in March, I was finally able to accomplish this.

On the plane ride we rode from Lightning Aviation in Foley, Alabama, to Pensacola, Florida, in a 30 minute plane ride.

Pensacola was first settled by the Spanish in 1559 and is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle. Giving the city one of its many nicknames of “America’s First Settlement”.

After the Spanish settled Pensacola, the first Catholic Mass was held in the United States on Pensacola Beach.

Before being settled by the Spanish, a Native American tribe of Muskogean-speaking people known as Pensacola lived in the area. Giving the city its name. The name was finally recorded in 1677.

Throughout the years, the city of Pensacola has been owned by five different groups giving Pensacola the nickname of “The City of Five Flags”. Pensacola has been owned by the Spanish Empire (1559-1719, 1722-1763, 1781-1821), the French Empire (1719-1722), the British Empire (1763-1781), the United States of America (1821-1861, 1865 to present), and the Confederate States of America (1861-1865).

Other nicknames for Pensacola include “P-Cola”, “World’s Whitest Beaches”, “Cradle of Naval Aviation”, “Western Gate to the Sunshine State”, “Emerald Coast”, and the “Red Snapper Capital of the World”.

In Pensacola, there are quite a few attractions. These include The Pensacola Seafood Festival and The Pensacola Crawfish Festival which is held in Downtown Pensacola. This city also holds The Great Gulfcoast Arts Festival in Seville Square which brings in more than 200 artists. In the same park is The Children’s Art Festival which showcases local children’s artwork. It also has the Pensacon which brings in 25,000 people from all over the world.

Others include Vietnam Veterans’ Wall South, Fort Barrancas, Fort Pickens (temporary prison for Geronimo), National Naval Aviation Museum, and the Pensacola Lighthouse.

One of the places we went for my birthday was Seville Quarter club.

Seville Quarter was founded in 1967 by Bob Snow as “Rosie O’Grady’s Warehouse” a beer-and-peanut saloon with Dixieland jazz. The club has seven different themed rooms called Rosie O’Grady’s, Lili Marlene’s, Fast Eddie’s, Apple Annie’s, Palace Oyster Bar, Phineas Phogg’s and End O’ The Alley Bar. It also includes an open-air courtyard with a fountain. A truly neat place.

The trip to Pensacola was truly a fun one. I was able to see the beautiful city from the sky and the streets. And was able to experience a very neat, and pretty bar as well. What made the experience better was the fact I had some of my greatest friends with me.

If you are looking for a historically rich and beautiful city, then I recommend taking a trip to Pensacola, Florida. Preferably by plane.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxVVOnTupws