Wherefore Art Thou Romeo

I was lucky enough this afternoon to be able to see my third drama production here at Transy, my second since becoming an actual student. They performed, as you can probably guess by the title of this entry, the Shakespearean classic, "Romeo and Juliet." Between the thine's, thy's, and thou's, I was pleasantly surprised at how very alive the actors were able to make the story, especially given that it was all performed on a barren stage. Also very interesting, the production was student directed, and I must say quite well at that. I'm not typically a Shakespeare fan; and although I don't think that changed, I at least enjoyed the show more than I thought I would and found a little tiny piece of new respect for the most celebrated writer of the English language.

"Romeo and Juliet" actually continues the rather theatrical weekend I've had. Saturday night I had a chance to see Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" performed at the Lexington Opera House. It was an excellent professional production of the ballet, and I'm quite glad I was able to attend. Also at the Opera House, I will be going to see Spamalot during the beginning of the next semester, about which I am even more excited. In general, I really love taking advantage of the Opera House, given that it's only maybe a half mile or mile away from Transy.

Outside from the enjoyment of the arts, I should probably be stressing over the week to come, but I'm actually not all that perturbed by finals, at least not yet. Unlike most people, I don't have a final in my philosophy class or in my foundations of the liberal arts class; therefore I only have one for calculus 2 and physics. They are on Thursday and Friday respectively, so come Wednesday I'm sure I won't feel nearly as at ease as I do right now. However, fortunately my semester has gone relatively well in both of these classes, and the score I need to achieve in order to get an A is perfectly reasonable in both.

I'm actually rather enjoying the pre-finals period of time. Most of the true work of the semester is over, and while serious studying is definitely taking place, I find that I have at least a little more free time than I have grown accustomed to over the course of the semester. I've been making use of this time mainly to hang out with friends and enjoy people's company in a way I would have liked to have been able to do all year long. Between movies, rock band 3, and playing in the snow, I'm rather enjoying this right now.

Christmas!?! Oh...Finals

Time has absolutely flown by here during these last few weeks here at Transy. One thing that I've decided from my freshman year is that Thanksgiving break is a total tease. You get two days off and then realize you have 3 papers, 2 tests, and 2 finals all in the next three weeks before Christmas. With that said, I've finally completed (and hopefully done well with) all of these assignments except for my finals, which will take place this next week in Calculus 2 and Physics. So, aside from everything else, I can finally bunker down and study for the big tests.

The weather has changed rather abruptly to one of brutal cold; and I must say that before my day to day routine involved walking outside to go to class and eat meals, I never quite realized how much I absolutely despise winter. The only semi-redeeming quality about it is that the campus has been blanketed in a lustrous cover of snow for some days now. On Sunday I actually participated in a Quidditch match for charity (trying to collect books for the nearby Carnegie Center) where we played on a pitch of snow. I was fortunate enough to be able to serve in the capacity of snitch for the match, which I must say is one of my favorite things ever. Regardless, the best part of the experience was probably the lot of us frostbitten Harry Potter nerds hiking over to Third Street Stuff, a nearby coffee shop, to thaw over some stimulating conversation.

My other recent experience with the cold came while working on my fraternity's pledge class service project. One of the more admirable and philanthropic of pledge class activities, my fraternity requires that we all complete a service project together to build comradery and aid the community. My group chose to work together with the Catholic Action Center to help them prepare for their annual Christmas event. We worked out of a Lexington Warehouse, sorting, boxing, and packing donated Christmas presents to be given out to families not fortunate enough to be able to afford gifts for their children. Despite the numb fingers and runny nose from the unheated warehouse, the experience was definitely rewarding enough to be worth it.

In general, I'm finding that it's nice to know that I really have made friends, I really do have places to go hang out, people really do care about me, and I really can be quite involved. Basically, it's nice to know that more or less all of my social fears from high school are largely unfounded. My pledge brothers, the quidditch team, and all of my other friends have done a better job that I could have ever anticipated making me feel at home here at Transy. Now I just need to focus and get through the rest of this semester; happy and glad to be here doing so.

New York City!!!

I would have written about this last weekend, but unfortunately, I was gone the entire time. On the bright side, the place I was away at was New York City. The only thing that was better than being in New York was being in New York for the sake of intercollegiate quidditch. Yes, that's right, I personally took part in the 2010 Quidditch World Cup. Two days, forty-something colleges, and a lot of Harry Potter nerds make for one swinging good time!

Transy didn't come out entirely competitively, which isn't surprising considering that schools the size of Texas A&M and Purdue were present. With that said, we had a fantastic time having fun and representing our school. Time magazine, MTV, CBS, and an overall surprising amount of press were present for the gathering in the park just off the Hudson; even if certain desperate pleas for an appearance by Stephen Colbert were ultimately in vain. In fact, it is entirely possible that Transylvania Quidditch got more press for the school than any other sport has in quite some time, strange as that seems. Personally speaking, I greatly enjoyed getting a chance to seek against some amazing snitches who have been doing this for years. The quality isn't great, but this link should take you to a youtube video of one of our matches. If you see someone with a gold headband getting thrown to the ground by people dressed in yellow, that's probably me!
-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXCLDmc6Wu8&feature=player_embedded

So what's been going on at Transy other than Quidditch? More prominently, we are definitely into the dead heat of the academic calender. The coming week is blissfully short for a Thanksgiving break; during which time I'm sure everyone, myself included, will be sleeping and recuperating as much as possible. I can't quite relax yet though, I have an exam in calculus 2 on Wednesday that may prove rather challenging. Consequentially, the rest of my evening will be spent working a couple of problem sets over power series; exciting, I know.

One of the other things, beside sleep, that I look forward to during the break is a chance to meet up with old friends. I have friends from GSP returning back to the commonwealth from Boston to Michigan, not to mention my high school friends. I guess I didn't realize it until I left all of them for college, but I actually do miss these guys and girls, a lot. Not to say that I'm lonely or don't like it at Transy, just that it's a rather abrupt shock of moving away from all of the friends you've grown so close to all at once. I actually think I may be planning to meet up with them for a rock band 3 jam session, about which I will openly admit, as a music/gaming nerd, I am quite excited.

One thing I've been looking at getting done before too late is starting to look at options for my summer. My ideal job would be either a REU (research experience for undergraduates) or a position as an office staffer or a residence adviser at the Governor's Scholars Program about which I have such fond memories. REU's are a great experience for students interested in graduate studies to get their hands dirty and find out what it really means to do meaningful research in a discipline. Many programs are located throughout the country and pay not only room and board, but a stipend as well. Unfortunately, I question whether I have enough educational and laboratory experience to be competitive for these programs as just a freshman, but I'm glad to know that such a cool experience exists for me as I move through school. I am super hopeful about the possibility of at least working in the office for GSP however. Until such a time as I can apply however, possibly over break, I must remain in question about my summer plans.

And now, I believe it is time for calculus. Problem set, here I come!

Scheduling!!!!!

I'm still a little astounded at what time of the year it is. At just over 2 months, so much has happened here at Transy, and yet it feels like so little time has passed. More disconcerting, we are past midterms, and it is officially registration week for winter and may terms. Not that I'm dying from the stress or anything, but choosing how exactly to structure my schedule is proving to be a more involved decision than I might have thought. It's a liberating freedom to be able to do more or less whatever I like, but it's also a little frightening.

I don't know how much information to this point I've provided so far, but I'm a math and science sort of kid. Granted, I like writing, I like reading, I like philosophy, I like music, etc; but ultimately my study of choice is in physics, chemistry, and calculus. Granted, the ability for these to coexist is part of the reason why I chose to attend a liberal arts college. But at the same time, I'm having trouble balancing my schedule, mainly because I'm afraid of falling behind in my math and science. It wouldn't be so bad if I knew which science I wanted to study, but unfortunately, trying to keep up with all of them is proving a daunting task.

So here's what I'm looking at so far: Physics 2, General Chemistry 2, Calculus 3, and Fundamentals of Liberal Arts 2. The general sentiment from people whose opinions I've asked is that while miserable, the schedule is probably doable, if not as varied as one might prefer. The problem is that I don't exactly know what I want my major to be, math, physics, chem, or biochemistry. As a result, I don't want to get behind on any of these subjects. Something tells me that I really do need to decide before sophomore year though, lest I wind up taking organic chemistry, classical mechanics, and differential equations all at the same time. If only I knew how to decide!

And then, of course, there's May term. Those not familiar with Transylvania's academic calendar may be somewhat confused by the term. Essentially, we are divided into two semesters and one short session called May Term. The semesters are just like one would expect from any other given university, while May Term is a little more special, consisting of a month where students only take one class, but take it every day, usually in a little more of an applied or special sort of topic. I have to register for this soon as well as winter term, and as of now I have a few options. A class on the psychology of marriage is being taught, which I'm interested in, although I'm not sure that I would be able to sign up for it, a senior psychology major friend of mine informed me that it usually fills up quickly. Alternately, an interdisciplinary studies class called, "creative disruptions" is being taught that absolutely intrigues me. The premise of the class seems to be to investigate the social construct of the world in which we live, and in our own way, disturb it. Not only for amusement, but out of pure curiosity, I have an interest in this class.

Ultimately however, despite my minor hysteria trying to decipher the correct delineation the next four years of my life which then in turn determine my career, I recognize that I'm probably a little more concerned with this than I need to be. Life will go on, and I'm sure that I'll do just fine with whatever schedule I end up with. Plus, there's always more than enough going on around campus to distract me from serious introspective concerns, at least for a little while.

It's Halloween!

I'll preface this by making an assertion which I have no intention of supporting in anything resembling a comprehensive fashion as I would be expected to in any FLA assignment. Halloween is definitely the best holiday ever. Just a few hours ago I walked into downtown to witness the annual "thriller parade." Essentially, a horde of choreographed people in zombie costumes parade down main street dancing to thriller. It just doesn't get any better than fake blood and guts grooving to classic pop music. Not that the Halloween spirit is a purely off-campus sort of a thing. Students were allowed and advocated to wear costumes to class on Friday; and while not overwhelmingly taken advantage of, I do appreciate the levity of the idea, as well as of those who participated. Also, some of the costumes I've seen around this weekend have been truly well done, like a Beethoven costume I saw someone dressed up in on their way to a sorority "Boo Ball."

More than just ghouls and goblins, I've certainly had an interesting weekend. Friday I had my second Calculus exam, which went went well, and after that, I was relieved to look forward to a great prospective weekend. I only have a final copy for a paper (already mostly finished) due Monday, and I told myself how much I would enjoy the experience of what I was about to embark on. Some readers may be familiar with the political satirists Stephen Colbert and John Stewart. The more stalwart fans among you may recall that these two hosted a "rally to restore sanity," and a, "march to keep fear alive" this Saturday, in Washington D.C. As insane as it sounds, I was planning on being in attendance.

Two fraternity pledge brother and I loaded up the car to head out Friday after our last classes. Everything was going great, we felt good and enthused, until about thirty minutes north of Charleston West Virginia. Here I would like to pause and do something I generally try to avoid: give advice. Never, ever, ever, stop paying attention on West Virginia roads, even interstates, not that the interstates really feel as such. Sparing any of the details, the car (I was not driving) wrecked and was inoperable as far as a continued drive to DC. Thankfully, no one was injured in the accident, but still, sometimes things just don't pan out like planned.

The important part of this, I suppose, is to note that if I had to be in a car accident, I don't think I could pick two better companions. We ended up spending the night in West Virginia and returning to Transy the next day; and I wouldn't ask to be stuck in the middle of nowhere in West Virginia with anyone else. Which is cool, cool to note how big of a deal friends are, and how amazing and supportive peers really can be, especially in this stage of initial independence in life. Also, at least I got to come back to Lexington to see the Thriller Parade, very important that.

To end on a lighter note, my fraternity pledge class recently went through the process by which we receive "big brothers." Basically mentors, big brothers act to teach and support pledges and later members by showing them what it means to succeed in the fraternity, socially, academically, etc. Also, beyond the functional aspect, they are generally people with whom one has a special connection, and are overwhelmingly, by some strange phenomenon, amazing people. I am proud of and happy with my big brother; and am even more excited to continue to get to know him as well as all of the other fraternity brothers.

So, to summarize, Halloween is awesome, don't wreck in West Virginia, if you DO wreck in West Virginia, try to take something meaningful out of it, and big brothers are cool. If you can pull a cohesive theme and message out of all of that, then you are a more effective analyst than I am, congratulations. But these are some of the things affecting me now in this Halloween season; and whether the good or the bad, I'm loving it.

A Weekend in...Purdue?

So, I'll try to keep this blog pretty short and sweet without extrapolating too much on random sentimental notions I have about my weekend. But first things first, here's what happened. The traveling Quidditch team here at Transylvania, which I am of course an enthusiastic part of, had its first tournament today. Saturday afternoon the team carpooled the 4.5 hours to Purdue university in Indiana, spent the night, and Sunday was the tourney itself. So, one could argue that my weekend was interesting. One could argue that it was nerdy and not cool. Most of all though, I would argue that it was a lot of fun.

I drove one of the vehicles, my little 1999 Toyota Corolla (great car, highly recommended) with a full load of five people. Which was cozy to say the least. But it was actually a great enough group of people, and an enjoyable enough ride, that even when extra room opened up in other cars, we stayed together. I feel as if I'm not supposed to admit to this in a public forum as a male, but we definitely spent at least an hour jamming out to Disney music; which I'm not ashamed to say. Also, the conversation, serious and, well, not so serious, couldn't have been beaten. Even just by the time we arrived at Purdue, I was extremely happy that I could honestly call my teammates friends as well.

And then it was morning. Play commenced for us at 10:30AM and continued all day. We played a total of seven matches, losing 5 of them (although twice to the same team, once in round robin and once in playoff games) and winning two. I chased as usual, and did a surprising amount of seeking as well, which despite the inherent frustration, I believe I actually enjoyed. We did catch the snitch 4 of the 7 games, unfortunately it's only weighted 30 points in "muggle quidditch" instead of the 150 from Harry Potter. Overall Transylvania played in such a way that we can fair be proud of our games, even most of the losses. We were never slated to win, being a school of 1,100 going up against schools of over 20,000 like Purdue, West Mich, Illinois State, etc. And although I bled in three different places, ended up taking 3 ibuprofen, and am currently exhausted beyond belief, I had a really good time. Which is what it's all about.

With any luck I will be able to get pictures from people and figure out how to add them to this blog within the next few days, at which point I hope the full comic and yet strangely intense visuals can bring some entertainment to someone, or at least to myself. As for now, I have homework to finish, and a bed which looks more compelling that it has ever looked before!

Transy Meets Fall

Ah yes, it's that time of year when the leaves begin changing to a glorious plethora of colors, the air feels fresh and crisp, and plaid shirts once again come into stylistic play. Of course, it's also that time of year when tests are hitting one after another, papers seem to fly toward due dates at lightspeed, and there are a thousand events to go to every single day. But hey, we all have to appreciate the natural fall lest the academic fall get the best of us.

In all seriousness though, I'm quite excited about all of the activities going on, those that I have and have not been able to participate in both. My weekend started Saturday by meeting up with a few of my friends at UK around midnight on Friday. Fun tip, Christian Student Fellowship at UK has free pancakes for anyone and everyone every Friday night at midnight; it's great stuff. After staying and catching up for far too long, I slept four or so hours before leaving for Nicholasville to participate in the "Delta Dash." One of the sororities on campus, Delta Delta Delta, hosts a 5k run/walk as a philanthropic event to raise money for St. Jude Children Research Hospital. I'm not exactly a runner, so while I did run instead of walk, my 26:20 time was nothing to be extremely proud of, although my small contribution toward the great cause definitely was. Overall the Deltas raised over $4,000 in charity, which is absolutely awesome, not to mention indicative of some of the very good things that can come about not just from the greek community, but from any collection of concerned students.

In addition to a great event to start the day off, I ended it with fall festival, an off campus party to celebrate the new pledges to my fraternity. After a great time there, I've come back to a sleepy and homework filled Sunday; something which I'm quickly learning is quite the norm in college. I am excited though about the coming week. From an Indian cultural experience at the international house, a volleyball tournament, and a talk from a Princeton professor, to the Kenan lecture about cosmopolitanism, this week is full of events that I'm excited to attend, and anxious about fitting into my schedule.

As far as developments on campus I'm not directly affiliated with, The Bakkai rehearsals seem to be getting along splendidly from all that I've heard. For anyone not familiar, The Bakkai is originally a Greek Tragedy that has been modernized and adapted to a musical format for the purpose of a performance at Transylvania. I will postpone giving any more information until I have a chance to see it myself, but even from such a brief description one can appreciate the interest there. Also, the improvisation group on campus recently completed auditions for new members and will be rehearsing for their first performance in late October, some laughs that I'm sure many people will be grateful for with midterms fast approaching.

So that's October, just as I remember it from the good old days that consist of all of a year ago. Busy, beautiful, and more busy. But in a certain way, in a certain sense, the aesthetics of staying busy in an individually significant way seem to have as much merit as those of nature. The combination of the two...well, let's just say I'm a big fan of October!

Reflections on a Month

So, we have all officially been attending the university affectionately known as Transy for a full month now. The weather has gone from the sweltering 90's to the brisk 50's, classes have transitioned from reading syllabi to exams and formal papers, and we lonely freshman have gone from awkwardly wandering around a campus of strangers to being able to greet at least 10 people on the way to every class. So what's happened? What do I remember? What sticks out to me?

The people stick out to me. My new freshmen friends Justin, Tony, Christian, Nick, Chris, Kayarash, Daniel, etc, etc, are some of the coolest guys I've had the pleasure to get to know in my 18 years of existence. I actually just went this evening to the airport to pick one of them up, a guy I can scarcely believe I only met a month ago. Comradery is just so much easier to build up with a group of guys that I'm with and around on a day to day basis. This is also true of the upperclassmen. It means something different than my high school friends, to have guys that I not only go to school with, but eat with, hang out with, go off campus with, and so much more. Needless to say, my facebook friend list has grown exponentially in the past 30 days!

Random ventures stick out to me. Whether it's to Tolly Ho (A nearby restaurant at UK) at 2:00 in the morning, to the Kentucky River to go diving and swimming, or UK's Christian Student Fellowship on Friday night at midnight for free pancakes, I find that I'm regularly exposed to so many more opportunities now that I'm not living at home. I'll make a confession here and admit that I like video games; indeed, one could call me a gamer. At least, one could before. I literally have only played a video game twice while I've been at Transy, once of which was in a LAN party setting with a fraternity and hardly even counts. That's not to say that I've stopped liking video games, I've just had so many better options that I can't seem to find time for it. To be certain studying takes up a lot of time, but shenanigans with the aforementioned amazing people make up for it in a way that keeps me not only sane, but in many ways truly content, if at times exhausted.

Quiditch sticks out to me. I've already made a post about this wonderful eccentric little sport, so I won't elaborate too much, but I must say that I love it. This Wednesday I try out for the traveling team, wish me luck!

Classes stick out to me. You probably don't believe me; but they really do. I have actually learned things. I've actually done things. My classes and my out of class work in them actually feel constructive! Hopefully this is an attractive thing about Transylvania, I know that in my position, this was something specific I was looking for in a college. To throw some specifics out there, I can now integrate by parts, trig substitution, and partial fractions because of Calculus 2, I can manipulate vectors in more ways than one would ever want to because of Physics, and I've written two essays defending justice and analyzing the democratization of intimacy in my Philosophy and Fundamentals of Liberal Arts classes respectively. Objectively, while this sounds kind of lame, I'm glad that if I'm going to go through the ordeal that is college, I can at least be proud of what I learn and proud of what I do. I'm glad that I respect this institution as a way to learn, to do, and to think, as well as a place to live.

Greek Life sticks out to me. It's a fact of life here at Transy that it pervades campus in a way that adds flare and spice to the routine of things. Whether or not it is a good thing is a subject for an editorial, or at least a different post, but it is certainly something I can appreciate about the character of campus. Whether it's a candlelight, a party, a philanthropy, or the 5k I'm running for one of the sororities next Saturday, the Greek system has certainly reared it's face powerfully in my first month here.

So these are all just a few things; to fully delineate my beginnings here would keep me an additional three hours writing about a bunch of details that are probably insignificant anyway. But hopefully, these observations and anecdotes show what sticks out to me most, college, and what it means to be there.

Harry Potter Comes Alive?

Hopefully this post won't frighten away anyone with mental images of crazy kids running around tackling each other on brooms. However, if I portray the sport accurately, that may be just the mental image that results. Quiditch, first imagined in the infamous Harry Potter series, is no longer purely a figment of the imagination. In fact, it's rapidly spreading to enjoy somewhat of a national sensation as a strange and pleasantly quirky game. Transylvania does indeed have a team, and I am very excited to say that I am a part of it.

The game operates as closely as practical to the imagined version of it in the Harry Potter novels. One rather obvious difference is that we, of course, don't fly. Instead, the broom must be held with one hand between the legs as the player runs up and down the pitch. "Bludgers" are represented by dodge balls thrown at players to force them to reset at their own goalposts before coming back into play. The snitch is represented by a person, usually a cross country or track runner, who attaches a small ball to his back and flees from the two seekers, one for each team, trying to retrieve it. However, in this version of the game, catching the snitch is only worth 30 points instead of the overwhelming 150 portrayed in the fantasy.

So, enough about the rules, what's it like to play? It seems like I'm falling into the role of an offensive chaser, or the position that manages the "quaffle" and tries to throw it through the opposing teams' goal posts. In some ways, it's like basketball. In other ways, it's just completely ridiculous, in an eccentric and much loved way. Surprisingly enough however, the stop and go running is actually somewhat physically taxing for a sport which isn't typically associated with competent athletes. Not to mention the physicality of the sport which allows for full contact excepting tackles from behind or use of both hands; can you say rough and tumble nerd play? Aside from the occasional frustrating bludger knocking me out of play, I absolutely love it.

Quiditch isn't just about hanging out and having a good time on campus either. We at Transylvania actually have a traveling team which plays a few other colleges in the region over the fall semester. I hope to be a part of this team, partly because it's fun, partly because it's good exercise, and partly because it's awesome to be involved in a sport where no one is truly proficient through practice from childhood. So, I hope the idea isn't too exclusively eccentric, and I hope to see you at the pitch!

What's The Rush?

1. Transy is a Greek involved campus.
2. Wipe clean your preconceptions of what that means.
3. Now let's start this post.

Rush, or the recruitment process by which the Transylvania Greek community acquires new members, has officially begun for both women and men. As a male, I will be communicating a wonderfully comprehensive insider look at male recruitment, as well as an amusingly confounded outsider look at female recruitment. Plus, there are a few things that I've noticed about Greek life in general here that I'd like to mention.

First and foremost, I am glad, overjoyed, ecstatic, and tremendously thankful that fraternities and sororities here are NOT cults and they do NOT haze. I know, that sounds like a joke. What else is a fraternity or sorority after all? Seriously though, there's just something different about it. I was suspicious coming in, but now I think I understand, at least in part. I'll back up my claim with a little evidence. A couple nights ago, I went to a local late night restaurant with a sophomore friend of mine who is a member of a fraternity here on campus. While we were there, a "pledge" or not-yet-activated member of the same fraternity from a different school came and started talking to my friend in some sort of an attempt to win favor for his activation. It was all I could do not to laugh. The rush process that I have experienced is hardly a period of trying to appease upperclassmen. In fact, in many ways, it's the opposite. Last night one of the fraternities grilled pork cutlets for the freshmen guys, good pork cutlets, it was amazing. I haven't been asked to do anything ridiculous and degrading to "prove" myself; mostly I've just been hanging out and getting to know people. I suppose there's a reason why Transylvania fraternities consistently receive top marks from their respective national organizations.

Of course, that's not to say that fraternities and sororities are all good or perfectly suited for everyone. In fact, I still don't know whether I will end up pledging. I know plenty of independents who still have friends among pretty much all of the fraternities, and regardless of whether I join or not, I'm sure I will continue all of the myriad acquaintances I've made these first couple of weeks here. Also, about the negative actions that sometimes loom over the good reputation of fraternities, I know that the new President Williams is looking to address some of the relevant concerns in his progressive agenda. So who knows, maybe Greek life, which is already in a pretty good spot, will get even better.

So now for a little information on what exactly recruitment has been like for me so far. It doesn't end until next weekend; on Sunday we will receive bids from whatever fraternities extend the opportunity for us to join. Before that (for men) will be "smokers," invite only parties to solidify whom the fraternity wants to offer bids to. Already, I've gone through coke parties and off campus events. The former involves little else but informal meetings in all of the fraternity chapter rooms to get to know the guys in each. The off campus events involve different things, but most include food, (quite a step up from cafeteria food) conversation, and various games of Frisbee, corn hole, football, etc. I've enjoyed all of the above so far, especially getting to know some upperclassmen since it can sometimes be a little difficult to get to know older people outside of Clay hall. I've also enjoyed watching female rush. I'm sure other bloggers will mention what it has been like for them, but from the outside, it's an intense project. I was writing a letter to a pen-pal of mine last night on the steps of the administration building when a gaggle of girls came by for a meeting at 9:30 at night. In fact, I rather feel like a feminist conspiracy is going on all around me, preparing to take over campus. In a way, I can see the appeal of such a more intimate and formal process. It adds a lot more emphasis to the selection and social networking that at heart is the purpose of rush. Seriously though...if they start wearing uniforms, I will flee.

Now however, I'm going to return to the only real negative aspect of rush: the homework I haven't done. Still, I'm glad that I'm doing it. I'm glad that there is a Greek system here; and that it is one I can respect at some level. Now if only they had gyros...

Impressions of Orientation

So, I now live on a college campus. In fact, superior evidence of the fact flashes itself defiantly in the face of any would-be debaters in the form of the preoccupation that has both prevented me from posting until Wednesday of my first academic week, and which forced me to write my post at midnight. I have garnered the intelligence rather quickly that here at least, night is as much a part of the day as morning is a part of the night.

I arrived at Transylvania University Friday morning around 10:00AM, to be greeted by a host of burly and not so burly men ready and willing to carry my compilation of random functional and not so functional items out of my crammed corolla and into my second floor dorm room in clay hall (pictures to come soon!). I must admit, that first day felt a little unreal; almost as if I was moving into an extremely furnished hotel room or preparing for a summer program. It has taken all the time up until now, and in some senses I perhaps still haven't fully felt the gravity of the fact that I LIVE here now.

A question that I had going in, and that I think a lot of students everywhere have, is what this really means. How does living on a campus work? Will I like it? Will it be fun, difficult, demanding, stressful, exciting, or some haphazard compilation of all of the above? Ultimately, I don't think I can answer that question, since all experiences will be different and have a different impact for all people. I can however, share what my experiences have been; and I will do my best in this blog to demonstrate and communicate with this purpose in mind.

So how did orientation go? The entire purpose of the orientation program is to make first year students feel comfortable with 1-The location, and 2-The people. To be completely honest, the first goal isn't a daunting challenge because of where I am. This is Transylvania, we pride ourselves on a small scale. As a result, I recognized the bulk of campus, from the cafeteria to the library, the grill to the dorm, all in a matter of a day or two. Also as a result of its small scale, Transylvania strives to breed a sort of intimacy which allows an expedited, if at times forceful, path towards meeting people. Orientation Olympics, black light party, University 1111 meetings, hall meeting, and even things as simple as meals are all aimed, in some or another, to allow first years to get to know one another before upperclassmen move in and the pressure of studies kick in. I can honestly say that I've met essentially every member of the class of 2014, and while I readily admit I have yet to learn the names of a fraction of that, I still feel comfortable in knowing that I've already made friends with whom I can watch TV at night, go to a restaurant for dinner, or ask for help with homework. More to come on homework, and my first impressions of classes, later.

Overall, orientation wasn't any sort of overwhelming life-changing experience. It was a simple process, with a simple goal in mind of becoming familiar, which is comforting in a way that perhaps some people don't really think of until their bed at night is tens or hundreds of miles away from mom's and dad's. There was never any moment of epiphany where I cried out in glee as Handel struck up the Hallelujah Chorus in the background, rather, upon reflection, I note that in a very striking and remarkable way, I've grown capable of calling this 12x12 concrete slab surrounded by fellow students in 12x12 slabs home. Of course, free pizza was involved in the process, so there's a chance that I'm biased, but still, it's something I take comfort in. Ultimately I'm learning that it's not just about classes, that learning to live is an important part of college as well; and so far, I'm enjoying living here quite well.