Panic!

I woke up this morning feeling pretty good. I figured I would get up, get breakfast, then head to my 9am class and I didn't really have a care in the world. After getting dressed and ready to go I made a mistake. I looked at my syllabus.

It said "Paper Due-100 Points"

Crap. Must be Monday.

The whole class is worth 300 points.

I had a vague feeling that a paper was coming up, but I did not anticipate it that day. I also had a fuzzy recollection that it was postponed, but I wasn't sure. After doing some critical thinking (go to the lab and type furiously until that class or go to class and pray to God that it wasn't due today) I ended up going to class and texting people to find out when it was due.

On to more important business. I need to find a job. I know that the University pays me in scholarship money and stuff, but I want to earn extra cash and save money up. Plus, I feel financially stressed because it is Christmas time and my checking account is deflating too quickly. I applied to work as a tutor in the campus library. I am pretty good at chemistry and the pay seems to be pretty good, so I am going to give that a shot. Here is my work history

Long John Silver's-6 months working the drive thru. Typical first job. It was terrible, but taught me everything I didn't want to do with my life.

Cracker Barrel- 1.5 years of servitude, first as a dishwasher then "promoted" to server. Dishwashing was physically hard but mentally took nothing. I worked late closing shifts after practice and stuff during high school and it was not fun. Serving was more fun, but I did not enjoy the fluctuations in my income. Eating nothing but junk food while on shift caused other fluctuations too, but we won't get into that here.

So one portion asks for special abilities or characteristics that I have. This is a subject I would enjoy spending time on. I would like to put down that I am ruggedly handsome, can do calculus in my head, and run a marathon. I guess the reality is that I have grey hair already (just one or two spots), use my iPhone calculator for everything, and haven't run farther than 7 miles for over 6 months.

Other talents? Hmm...I can wiggle my ears. I can read incredibly quickly. I have the artistic ability of a monkey with a can of spray paint (on second thought I might not be that good). Essentially the reason I am considered a good student is because I can memorize a massive quantity of useless information quickly, use it on a test, and then store it somewhere until the final.

I can also drink massive quantities of sweet tea, but I am not sure if that falls under talents or addictions.

If they let me actually try to help people next semester it should be interesting. For now, I am just excited with the next few weeks and Christmas time! Our dorm is all lit up, and I hope to include a picture in a later post. I am also putting together a list of the Top 10 Christmas carols of all time. It's gonna be pretty terrific, let me tell you.

Until then,

Adios

I'm Back!

After a crazy week full of turkey, family, and fun, I have returned to campus and back to blogging. It's funny, we normally assume that vacations = relaxation and more time. Sometimes this isn't true. These last few days were definitely more busy than my usual days out here in college. It really was a great break, and so to summarize my life lately I have summarized all the interesting things.

1- You know when you see people you haven't seen in a while? Sometimes people change a lot, but sometimes they are the same people you knew and loved back in the day. I went to lunch with about half of my senior class (only possible coming from a small high school) and it was interesting to see everyone after four whole months apart. Some people are engaged, but others are the same. I walked in shortly after everyone got there. After making my grand entrance and saying hello to everyone, I realized my zipper was down. Crap. Everyone must have thought I was the same old guy I always was;)

2- I had a triple Thanksgiving food day. Most people understand that Thanksgiving meals test your endurance and discipline, and I did three of them :) O yes...two meals with GF's family and one meal with my family. Thankfully (especially on Thanksgiving) I survived with several extra pounds to carry around for the next few days.

3- I celebrated 2 years with my GF on Friday. She is so awesome. She made me a book with pictures of us and memories she has. It was easily the best gift I have ever received, and it warms my heart every time I look at it.

4- I was pulled over for making a right hand turn through a light as the light was turning red. Apparently I did not stop at the light before proceeding through the intersection. I also had a hard time finding a spot to pull over, leading the cop to believe I was drunk (definitely not the case). I got off with a "drive safe" from the cop. It got me thinking...of all the times that I really deserved a ticket for speeding and never got one, it seems silly to be pulled over for passing through a light as it turns red, especially on a right hand turn.

5- I am now watching the first Star Wars movie on TV. Remember it? A New Hope? I remember loving this movie as a kid, but it's definitely looking a little bit dated.

I have included this picture to bring back some great memories.

Urban Dorm Life

Today is a great day. I am officially home for Thanksgiving Break and looking forward to spending time with my family and relaxing from school for a while. I did not sleep very much last night or that night before, due largely to a phenomenon called Urban.

I realized that while most of the people I talk to on a day to day basis know what Urban refers to, you, my readers, do not. I will explain.

Urban is ultimate frisbee. We play several times a week.

The difference is that we don't play on an athletic field like normal frisbee. We play right in the middle of campus. We don't play with side boundaries at all. We simply have two hundred yards of hedges, benches, trash cans, sidewalks, a giant statue, a small retaining wall, and clueless bystanders to score a point. I was introduced to this wonderful form of frisbee the second week of classes and became thoroughly addicted.

Anyways, we play ever Sunday night as well as at least one other night per week. We normally begin at about 9pm and play well past midnight. If you know anything about frisbee, you will realize how tiring that will be.

The worst part is that I have continued running these past few days, probably adding ten miles to the pain of 7 hours of frisbee.

Also, I sleep on the top bunk in my room. When the alarm goes off in the morning, I usually jump to the floor gracefully and with ease (read that "fall from my bunk like a sack of potatoes") but when I am sore from whatever athletic thing I was doing the day before, I flop and fall all over the place on my way down.

This leads me to the second half of my post...the hazards of bunking beds. In college, you and your room mate will face the ultimate decision....to bunk or not to bunk?

If you choose to bunk, you will be able to walk around your dorm room, and if you are lucky you will be able to stretch you arms out and not touch either a wall or some piece of furniture. Sadly, someone will also have to sleep on the top bunk (that would be me).

If you choose not to bunk, there is no space in your room for anything besides furniture. The people across the hall didn't bunk their beds, and their room is literally packed with furniture. One guy has to climb over a dresser to get to his bed. The other unfortunate aspect of unbunking is that you will most likely be sleeping very close to your room mate, which is also very awkward at night. EDIT: I was informed some people don't mind that. That's not how I roll, but whatever.

So what is the ideal solution? Actually, some people on my floor came up with the perfect solution: send your room mate to China! Here's how it works.

Four people (A, B, C, and D) all share a suite with A and B rooming together next to C and D. C and D make plans to go study abroad in China next semester. The Residence Hall Association says that since they will both be gone they will have to lock up their room and take all their stuff out. The four guys sit down together and work out a plan.

C and D fake a fight (which would never happen, they are the nicest people in the world) and say that they can't room together anymore. A and B also fake a fight (actually very likely) and say the same thing. RHA, in its infinite wisdom and power, decided that the perfect solution was to switch so that A roomed with C, and B roomed with D.

Now when C and D go to China, A and B each have their own room. Genius.

Sadly, my room mate doesn't speak Chinese and isn't planning on studying abroad, so I need to think of something else.

I'm open to suggestions :)

Adios

Emergency Procedures

I gained a whole new respect for my economics professor today.

Here's the story. First of all, it is the Monday before Thanksgiving Break officially starts, so attendance is a little bit sparse in class. We go to our 9am lecture class expecting a quiz over the reading we have had lately. Our professor walks in two minutes late with about six dozen Krispy Kreme donuts.

That alone is enough to gain much respect from me. Donuts and I have a long and happy relationship.

Anyways we take the quiz and we all get donuts. We proceed to split into groups to do a discussion thing on the reading assignment. Next thing I know, this girl over on the other side of the room is basically falling out of her chair and shaking violently. Her friend grabbed her and said something like "Wake up!" and the girl that was shaking, lets call her J because I don't know her name but it might start with a J, starts acting all embarrassed and turns red.

Professor says, "Maybe you should go out to the hallway" very calmly.

J goes out into the hallway with Professor, and the rest of us stare awkwardly at each other in silence. When things like that happen, discussion isn't encouraged typically.

Prof comes back in and asks me and another guy to come out into the hallway. She is laying on the floor of the hallway basically having a seizure. Prof explains very calmly that she needs to be moved to the Economics office down the hall, and that me and this other guy need to do it (I secretly think he asked because we are both such strapping young men ;)

This other random guy and I pick her up (she weighed nothing) and carry her to the office. As we head into the office the receptionist is somehow calling 911, the campus medical staff, and some guy with a defibrillator to come upstairs (not sure how she managed that).

Finally J becomes coherent again, and Prof starts asking her questions real fast. Could you be pregnant? Are you diabetic? When was the last time you drank a glass of water? Etc etc...like he was totally used to having students collapse in class.

Me and the other guy are now standing around awkwardly looking for something to do.

After about ten minutes we go back to the classroom and Prof says that class is done for the day. I grabbed another donut and left.

I don't actually know what happened to her, but she had plenty of medical attention when I left. I think that was the most interesting economics class I will ever have!

Adios

Merry Christmas?

Today I did a good deed. Today I stood outside of Walgreen's for a while and rang a bell for the Salvation Army. It was really good, actually. I was impressed, because I would say that a majority of people that passed by put at least something into the little container thing. When they did, I would say thanks and "Merry Christmas!".

I felt kind of like a hypocrite. It doesn't feel like Christmas yet. We haven't even had Thanksgiving, much less are we celebrating Christmas. On top of that, it's sunny outside. Christmas has definitely not arrived yet, but I was still saying Merry Christmas to everyone that I met. Wow.

One lady went in (without putting anything in the can) and she was wearing a Denver Broncos sweatshirt. It is important for you to know that I am an avid San Diego Chargers fan, and the Chargers and Broncos are currently tied for first place, and finally that they are playing each other this Sunday in Denver. On her way out I said "Merry Christmas....go Chargers!!" in my cheeriest bell ringer voice. She did not shoot me a happy look. She's scared.

I don't have all that much homework left to take care of before I leave for Thanksgiving. The real issue is finding the motivation to actually get it done. I have to read the first six chapters of a pretty boring book in my economics class, which hasn't gotten even close to being finished yet.

I also have a slew of online quizzes to take, but I haven't done them either. In fact, I think I am going to journey out to the mall to purchase something for my girlfriend. Braving Saturday afternoon traffic by the mall...this is very unusual for me.

The Induction Function

Hey ya'll! My GF is currently at an induction ceremony to initiate the new members of her sorority, so guess what that means? First, I write up a new blog post (starting to become addicted to doing this whole blogging thing). Second, I also am alone in my dorm room on Friday night until she's done. Lame! Thankfully, I have managed to get a reasonable amount of stuff done and am sitting down to blog.

The only thing that I still might do is play some more epic Super Smash Bros. When I say "epic", what I really mean is that "I win every single time". It's great! Don't mess with me and Yoshi, folks.

So what am I doing blogging? Well, one reason that I started blogging was because I wanted to develop a consistent writing style. Writing is good to help me focus my thoughts and stuff like that. Supposedly it makes me more articulate, but as I sit here trying to figure out exactly what to type I'm starting to think that was a lie.

You all should probably know a little bit more about me. I am a freshman Cell Molecular Biology major here at Midwestern U. Someday I hope to go to medical school and become a doctor. I'm pretty Type A when it comes to grades and stuff like that. What that sentence really means is that I'm OCD about academics ;) I never got a B in high school, but this first semester of college is starting to look a little bit iffy for actually getting a 4.0

Other things that will be important to know...hmm. I have a fantastically beautiful and amazing girlfriend. I refer to her as GF here so that everything stays anonymous and stuff.

I run quite a bit. Sometimes I run more, sometimes less, but it keeps me in pretty good shape. I ran cross country and track in high school and won some state championships with a sweet team. I run with my GF now just to stay in shape. I was pretty fast in the day, but I'm not anymore...I admit it. I'm slow and fat.

Oh yes, I also make money by going to college. I duped Midwestern U here into thinking I was a genius, so they went and gave me a full ride scholarship! Then to top it off, since I got some good ACT scores and stuff, my state and the federal government sent me money to go to college. They obviously didn't get the memo that I had a full ride, because they money they send me goes straight to the bank :)

Finally, I am hopelessly addicted to Chic fil a. Every time I go (several times a week) I get a chicken sandwich, sweet tea, and some waffle fries. O ya!! Everyone at the store in Hometown knows me, even the managers.

That's all for today.

Adios

Friday!

The weekend is officially here, folks. My Latin exam probably went well, and it is time for the weekend to begin. There is just one important thing holding me back...laundry. I have no clothes to wear.

Maybe its because of all the rain we had last week. Perhaps its because I kept putting it off longer and longer and it caught up with me.

Whatever the reason, as soon as this laundry gets done I can start doing more exciting things. For example, I get to go running with GF in a little bit. This will be my first run in over a week.

I overheard the BEST conversation late last night. I was walking back to my dorm room, and the sorority girls were all out (Thursday night is party night) and all dressed up. I was behind this pack of girls, but also on a different sidewalk such that they could not see me or even know I was there (I'm such a creeper!). They were talking about different guys from another frat on campus and just doing the whole sorority girl thing, dressed to impress, cell phones and purses out, high heels and lots of makeup. I have attempted to reproduce some of the conversation here for you.

Girl 1: "So what did you think about last week?"

Girl 2: "It was fun, I liked ___ a lot, I hope he's there this week"

Girl 3. "OMGI DID TOO!!!

Girl 2: "Really? Well.....I saw him first!"

Girl 4: (Opens her mouth to say something and lets out an earth shattering belch)

EPIC BURPING WIN. This wasn't some little oops burp. It sounded like she chugged a can of Dr. Pepper then bounced on a pogo stick holding her breath, then let this sucker rip. I felt ashamed that I have yet to bring forth something that noble from my bowels...I no longer feel like a man.

It was so loud that Girl 1 actually screamed. You think I exaggerate...but this sucker echoed off the buildings. I have a newfound respect for whatever sorority they were from.

I am also puzzled and jealous. This is the last weekend before Thanksgiving Break, and people are leaving campus in droves. We have class Monday and Tuesday of next week, but it appears that people will be skipping those days and turning into a full week of turkey. I am not that fortunate, despite being homesick, because I have class stuff going on both of those days.

Of course, they could be going home for the weekend, then coming back for two days, then driving back home for break. That's sorta dumb. I wouldn't even do that, and I only live an hour or so from Hometown!

Looks like my clothes are about done...

Adios

New Moon, Weird Night

In five minutes my girlfriend will get to see the new Twilight movie at the midnight showing. I was not invited. Not that I actually would have gone if I had been invited, but I was not invited at all. Here is the way I expected this conversation to go down.

GF: "Hey do you want to come and see New Moon with me and six girls on Thursday night?

ME: Umm...no thanks. I have a test the next day and early class and bla bla bla....

GF: Please?? You won't be the only guy there....I promise!

ME: No you go and have fun. Seriously.

GF: No, I really want you to come with me.

ME: It's not really a big deal.

GF: Are you sure, it will be super fun!

ME: Yes I'm sure...go have fun. I have other things to do anyway ;)

Here is the way it actually happened

GF: Hey I am going to go see New Moon at midnight next week!!! I am so excited!!!!

ME: Uhhh....

See how articulate I am? Of course she was stunned by how well spoken I tend to be and promptly said "I even have a ticket already!"

Under normal circumstances GF likes to think things out and talk about them before actually doing them. I was so proud of her for just doing this!!!

My position on Twilight. Don't hate on me or call me ignorant or anything here. I saw the first movie, it was aight. I read all the books. Yes I did. Every page. I am also still a man. The books had just enough suspenseful action type parts to keep me interested in between all the relationship issues sections.

Vampire love relationship problems? Zzzzz...

Vampires and werewolves possibly locked in mortal combat with a harmless girl randomly thrown in: Yes please!

Speaking of relationship issues, Edward does have some serious anger issues. I think I know why. He's a vampire, so he never sleeps. Duh. Just think...after every day you go home and have aaaalllllll night to brood over everything that happened that day. If I did that, I would be pretty moody/angry/drinking something caffeinated to stay awake. No wonder Edward gets grouchy.

I hope my GF enjoys New Moon. I am sure I will get to see the actual movie sometime. I am sure I won't hate it (provided we watch it at a reasonable hour). This blogger is not a vampire. This blogger actually sleeps every now and then, and this blogger has a Latin exam tomorrow.

I was just informed by my GF that I need to be on a "team". Since when did Twilight become a team competition?? Apparently the different teams root for either Jacob or Edward. Sorry team Jacob, I read the ending. Team Edward fans get all the hot romantic bedroom action they want in the last book after Bella marries Edward (O wait, don't read that because it's a spoiler). Since I always enjoy winning, looks like its Edward for me.

Adios

My First Real Post

Wonderful...

I sat down to write my first post and already have writer's block. How great. This bodes well, friends.

I will start by explaining the meaning of the name. One day I woke and I was in college. BAM!! Here I am!! Basically I plan to blog my thoughts on a "typical" college experience for everyone in the Wonderful World Wide Web to read if they care. I was inspired in reading blogs of medical students to get a feeling for what Med School life is like. Hopefully I can do the same for high school students or anyone else that cares. Like my mom. I bet she gets on here when she finds out about this. Hi Mom!

I am a freshman at what we will call Midwestern State University. That's basically what it is. There are about 20k undergrads at a large university in the midwest. And me :) I live on campus here at MSU about an hour away from Hometown, Midwest and family. I enjoy living close for quick drives, lots of food, laundry, and other help type things.

First question...does being a freshman suck? I remember asking myself that very same question so many times getting ready to launch into college this summer, and I think I finally paused long enough to answer it.

ANSWER: Nope. Not at all. There are some isolated incidents of suckiness, but those can be dealt with pretty quickly.

I have included a rating scale for different things in college life. Higher is better.

-10= Five exams in one day. It happened already

-8= It rains for a week. I hate it. Puddles appear on campus. Clean clothes disappear.

-6= Dorm loses hot water/any water. Lots of stinky people in class.

-5.5= Cafeteria loses water. Odd food and paper utensils in the dining hall

-3.666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666667

= Neighbors blaring music through thin walls at odd hours of the morning. Call the RA.

-.8= Almost getting run over by a campus shuttle while riding my bike.

(this is almost a daily occurrence)

1=Free newspapers all over campus.

2=Class cancelled. Always a wonderful surprise. Has only happened to me once because I am cursed with terrible luck.

3.5= All the spare time I need to water my read, run, relax, and water my Chia pet

6.0= Playing Ultimate Frisbee many times a week.

8.0= Sleeping. There is an odd sleeping fad in college. I will address this in a later blog, but when this is worked to your advantage you can really cash in.

10.0= College is not high school. :) 'nuff said.

As a freshman I have faced many hard nights sitting in my dorm room. Some nights I felt really really lonely. On the contrary, a lot of time is spent doing things I enjoy, relaxing, enjoying my new freedoms, and having a blast. In that way, I guess it is a lot like life. There is some good, some bad, and we have to learn to enjoy the good and deal with the bad. I couldn't tell you how many times I hear someone say that these will be the "best days of my life". These are some pretty fun times out at Midwest U, but I also have a sneaking suspicion that things get better than this even ;)

I am going to wrap up this blog post since one of my roomates just walked in...which reminds me that I had better make a blog post about my roomies or your life will simply not be complete.

Adios

O Wait...I'm Blogging?

Hey folks,

Lately I have spent some time reading around this wonderful thing called the internet and looking at other blogs. I realized blogging is something I may enjoy quite a bit, and so I intend to start this blog. If anyone is actually out there reading this, you might want to be patient and bear with my terrible writing, lack of artistic ability, and dry sense of humor. Seriously. I am posting this now because I am not sure what to do and I need to see what words look like on the blog after I type them into this nifty little text box :)