Meet Joshua
Big Enough to Feed Your Curiosity
I had a really hard time deciding what to study after high school—the humanities, the sciences, and the arts all seemed like excellent candidates. I went with music because it seemed like the most fun, and I went with UT because I knew that, no matter where my interests took me, UT was big enough to feed my curiosity. I ended up sticking with music, but UT’s broad range of opportunities, nevertheless, proved irresistible; I’ve added a minor in Math, written a paper on electronic music with the help of a professor in the College of Communication, enlisted the help of a physicist to help me build a Theremin, and been involved in university-wide student politics with students from all majors and disciplines, each with their own personalities, perspectives, and proficiencies. If you’re looking for a place that can support just about any interest you want to explore, then you’ve found it. Welcome!
A History of Longhorns
Both of my parents, one aunt, one uncle, and my grandmother all earned degrees from UT Austin. Ralph and Ethel Ogden, who donated the statue of the mustangs on 24th and San Jacinto, are relatives on my mother’s side; the Wes Ogden Memorial Scholarship in Geophysics is named for my grandfather.
An Unexpected Music Opportunity
My sophomore year, the teaching assistant in my music history lab session asked if anyone would like to learn how to play the carillon, or bell tower. I was the ONLY student to say yes, and I’ve been playing the bells in the UT tower once a week for the last three years.
A Wealth of Knowledge and Experience
When you pay your tuition at UT, you’re not just paying for your classes, you’re paying for access to a veritable city of peers and professionals in your chosen field. Your professors are a resource to you, even (nay—especially!) outside of the classroom. That’s where you get to talk with them about your interests and ask them questions about their work and career. My professors, perhaps more so than my classes, have been a huge influence in my education and my career—it was through the informal mentorship of a professor that I identified an interest in musicology and gained admission to UT’s graduate program. So many students don’t take advantage of the wealth of knowledge and experiences available to them in their professors—don’t miss out!
Joshua's tips
On making friends
Making friends who share your interests is pretty easy—all you have to do is just do what you want to do, and you’ll probably notice some other people doing the same thing. Don’t be afraid to check out some student organizations that sound cool (there’s a student organization for just about everything around here!)—in fact, it’s probably a good idea to actively seek out organizations that do things you’re interested in. Don’t worry about “fitting in.” UT is so big that, even if you feel out of place with 99% of the people here, the remaining 1% is still about 400 people. There’s a place for you here.
On parking/transportation around campus
One of my favorite things about UT is that you don’t need a car to get the full effect of living in Austin. The bus routes are extensive and free—you can get just about anywhere you want to go at just about any time. And it’s not like you need to go very far, anyway—just about everything you could want, from food to music to bookshops to bike shops, is right around campus. Parking is expensive, but I don’t need it—the bus system and my bike are all I need to get me where I need to go.
On living on or off campus
I lived on campus for three years, and I’ve been off campus for two. Living on campus is extremely convenient—everything you need, be it food, friends, healthcare, or a place to study, is always right there. Also, if you’re the adventurous sort, living on campus means that you’re likely to be exposed to a wide range of students and student organizations doing strange and/or interesting things—I probably learned as much from my first year of walking around campus as I did from some of my classes, and I would definitely recommend that every student try living on campus for a year or two.
Living off campus, however, is not without its perks. I really enjoy being able to get away from it all, to leave school on campus and maintain a separate space at my apartment. When I lived in the dorms, I felt and acted like a resident of UT—now I feel like a resident of Austin.
Music Ties to Every Other Realm of Human Endeavor
Music occupies a strange place in our lives—everybody knows what it is, almost everybody likes it, and almost nobody knows how to talk about it with any sort of consistency or specificity. Furthermore, it has ties to just about every other realm of human endeavor: dance, drama, physics, sociology, history, education, neurology, philosophy, medicine, etc. To me, no other field can be so richly interdisciplinary while being so fun at the same time.
An Incredibly Energetic Group
My favorite university experience by far was the time I spent in the Longhorn Band. The energy of that group is incredible, and no matter how exhausting the rehearsals are, game day is always something to look forward to. I was in the Longhorn Band for the two years that the Longhorns went to the Rose Bowl, which meant that I got to spend two weeks in Pasadena, California, playing music, watching football, and being really excited to be a Longhorn.
Developing Skills Outside of the Classroom
I served for one year as the financial director of the Senate of College Councils, the university-wide student organization charged with unifying the various college councils and representing students in academic affairs. Running the Senate (which is in scope and purpose comparable to a small business or advocacy group) required me to develop all kinds of skills that you can’t learn in a classroom, from managing sizable budgets to running meetings to developing and initiating new programs. My participation in the Senate has made me not only a more capable person, but also a more aware and proactive person—I wouldn’t consider my college experience to be complete with out it.
More about Joshua
Scholarships
- Dedman Merit Scholarship
- National Merit Scholarship
Biggest challenge
It’s been rough trying to figure out how to practice my instrument(s), study, write all my papers, stay physically active, participate in organizations that I care about, and occasionally find time to have a life. Learning to manage this menagerie of challenges has required me to draw on and develop all kinds of personal and academic skills, with the help of my friends, professors, and advisers. It’s still a struggle, but looking back, I can see that I’m an order of magnitude more productive now than when I first arrived at UT.
Favorites
- Study location on campus or off campus: When I study off campus, I’m usually at Flightpath, a coffee shop on Duval. On campus, I haunt the stacks of the Fine Arts Library.
- Place to eat on or near campus: Red River Café—it’s small, strange, and delicious! Also, Pho Thaison on Guadalupe is the place to go for spicy Vietnamese.
- Class: Intro to Cognitive Science has caused me to change the way I think about what it means to be a human with a mind; four semesters of music theory have caused me to change the way I think about what it means to be a human with music.
- Book: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
- Movie: A Beautiful Mind
- Thing about Austin: You can ride your bike ANYWHERE, and EVERYWHERE is gorgeous!
- Pastime / Recreational activity: reading, bike riding, playing/winning Rock Band and Mario Cart
Send Joshua an e-mail at jogdendavis@mail.utexas.edu