Friends and family
Michaela Baker, visual communications major
Posted on: May 2, 2019; Updated on: May 2, 2019
By Megan Sexton, msexton@mailbox.sc.edu, 803-777-1421
Michaela Baker, a visual communications major, comes from a long line of Gamecocks — so many, in fact, that the Irmo, South Carolina, native thought about bucking tradition and going someplace else. Ultimately, though, she stuck with the family and has zero regrets. “I majored in the same thing my brother did,” she says. “Visual communications is the perfect mixture of everything I love.”
Six of my family members came to USC before me. The whole Baker family had gone to USC. In high school I was wondering if I wanted to go somewhere else.
One spring day, my brother was still a student here and I was at a scholastic journalism conference at the Russell House. I went to his apartment in Woodrow and we walked on the Horseshoe. It was just one of those days at USC, those days when you walk around and think, ‘I am so lucky to be here. I can’t see myself anywhere else.’ I still have those days. Oh my gosh, I still love it here.
After that day I said, 'You know what? Let’s make it seven Bakers who have gone to USC.'
I was in Preston my freshman year. My brother lived in Preston. Even my dad lived in Preston way back when. Everyone says you meet your best friends or your bridesmaids those first few days. It really did happen to me. The first night in college everyone was hanging out in our room. I thought, ‘Wow. This is cool.’ My suitemates are still my best friends to this day.
My roommate was a senior my freshman year. At first, I was terrified. I thought she was going to be annoyed by this little freshman. But she was a mentor to me from the get-go. We still talk every day.
The classes that stood out were the classes where you could tell how passionate the professors were about their work and about teaching. A lot of my classes have been this way. It’s easier to learn from someone who is passionate about her work.
I’ll miss always having my friends around. I’m going to miss those relationships because this is where we started. When we come back to Homecoming we will gather outside of Preston and laugh and cry about all of those memories. USC will always have a place in our hearts. For most of us, it changed our lives.
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