Shanna's Beloit Life

2008-11-16T16:05:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe that another weekend is over! Only two more weeks until Thanksgiving, and only three and a half weeks until finals *gulp*. I still have so much to do before the semester is over!

Last week was the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine came to Beloit. This included a presentation on how to apply to an osteopathic medical program and we also got to meet a bunch of admissions representatives from various osteopathic schools and chat with them about the programs. While I find osteopathic medicine to be very interesting and agree with the basic principles of it, I still think I want to get a regular MD, not a DO (the degree for osteopathic medicine). But it was really cool to have the opportunity to explore that path.

Today we had our first snowfall of the year! I know that I will soon be annoyed with the snow, but the first few are always really pretty and nice to me. I can't imagine living somewhere where it doesn't snow at least a few times a year.

This weekend was also opening night of "The Importance of being Ernest" which the theater department here is putting on. Though I did not get a chance to see it this weekend, I hope to see it Next weekend. "The Importance of Being Ernest" has a special place in my heart, as it is the first show I ever saw at APT (a theater company in Spring Green, Wisconsin) when I was seven or eight. I now go to spring green at least once a summer to see a play.

2008-11-09T16:25:00.000-08:00

This weekend was not as eventful as last weekend. I did not go off campus or visit any old SOIs (yes Krista, that was a wonderful visit. Can't wait until you are back on campus!). But having a relaxing weekend was actually quite wonderful. I didn't fully understand how much I liked doing nothing until becoming a college student! Not that there was a lack of activities available, I just NEEDED a break.

Tonight, lots of perspective students are coming in for Beloit's Autumn Visit Days. It seems a bit weird to have something with the word "Autumn" in the title when snow is falling (SNOW!), but this IS Wisconsin. I am looking forward to meeting some of you this evening.

If you didn't come, I suggest visiting the schools you are applying to at some point. I actually only did one or two college visits before I got acceptance letters, but I manged to visit all of my schools eventually. For me, the visits were very important because they allowed me to get a feel for the campus and see if I could picture myself there. Some places I went to were really high up on my list until I visited, and some were lower until I visited.

And to end, a picture from last weekend. It is supposed to be the Chicago skyline, but I took it on the "night" setting of my camera without a tripod, so I shall call it "Chicago on Speed"

2008-11-06T16:01:00.000-08:00

This week has been so busy!

Last weekend I presented at the Undergraduate Research Conference for Biological and Psychological Sciences along with five other Beloit students. We spent all weekend in Chicago with undergraduate scientists from around the country. It was really exciting to see the research everyone did! Some people had been doing their research for years, and others (like myself) were presenting things they had just been doing for the summer. I took a bunch of pictures, and will probably add them later when I get them off of my camera.

This week was also election week! I took Tuesday off to go back to Madison to volenteer for the election. Tuesday night was amazing!

Now that the excitement is over, I not only have to make up the work that I didn't get to do this weekend or Tuesday, but also decide classes for next semester by tomorrow! It looks like I will be taking three science classes (which makes sense, as I am a biochemistry major) and something else....but what?

I am also signed up to take an MCAT prep course in Madison next semester. This means that I will be driving up to Madison with a few other Beloiters twice a week. Thankfully, the Health Professionals Advisory Committee will chip in a few hundred dollars towards the course and, perhaps, some gas money. I have a meeting to discuss that tomorrow.

Hope you all had a good week. Have a great weekend!

2008-10-30T16:04:00.000-07:00

Today we got scheduling materials for next semester. This is always an exciting time of year, because you can almost see winter break and usually, no matter how much you like your classes, you are ready for a change. For some people, it is time to start thinking about what they want/need to take next semester. For others, like myself, it is time to try and find something to fit into a schedule where you already know most of your classes. The sciences are really good about putting up the schedule somewhere in the science building for people to see soon after they submit class lists to the registrars office, so I knew three out of the four classes I would be taking next semester about two months ago. but it is nice to think about what next semester may bring.

I spent this morning printing out a huge poster for the Undergraduate Research Symposium in Biological Sciences this weekend. There are six of us going. Basically, we get to hang out in a hotel for a weekend with other undergraduates who did research over the summer and present our work. I am a little nervous, as with all public speaking things, but also kind of excited. though I think it will be a great experience, I can't pretend I am not sad about missing the Halloween things going on this weekend. Tomorrow evening they have a live action Rocky Horror show put on by students, and many other fun party things planned. It is also Get Out The Vote weekend.

Hope you all have a great weekend/ Halloween

2008-10-26T15:57:00.000-07:00

This weekend was very fun, despite the massive amounts of homework I had to do.

Saturday I took the whole day off went to Madison with the Department of Student Activities to see Avenue Q. The college bought 50 tickets at a discounted price,. For the coast of the discounted ticket, we got a Ticket to Avenue Q and a ride to Madison on the bus they hired, what a deal! It was also nice because we got to Madison around 11:30 and the show did not start until 2, which meant we had a few hours to hang out. I went with one of my friends to have breakfast at Sun Print Cafe off the square, and then became a real madisonian again and sat in Michelangelo's (a cafe on State street) and read The Isthmus and did the crossword. what a great day!

Avenue Q was also great! I saw so many people that I knew there (aside from the 49 other Beloiters). The show was HILARIOUS, as expected. In the beginning, it was weird to see the people with the puppets, but as the show progressed you kind of forgot about the people and focused on the puppets.

This week and next week are going to be crazy. Between school and homework and the election, it is going to a few weeks of little sleep. Luckily, I already voted, so I don't have to worry about actually going to the polls among the slew of other activities I have going on.

Have a great week everyone!

2008-10-23T16:00:00.000-07:00

Phew, feels like I haven't blogged in ages!

Fall break was wonderful! I got to go home and chill out, though I wasn't doing much relaxing. I worked for the Obama campaign in Madison every day; I entered so much data I thought my eyeballs were going to fall out and made so many phone calls I thought my ears were going to fall off.

In addition to that, I hung out with friends, watched a lot of movies/TV, and drunk lots of tea. One night, my friends and I watched "Edward Scissorhands" and "Sweeney Todd"...I never realized how alike those movies are. I also avoiding doing any kind of homework. In retrospect, this was probably not the best idea, but I am all caught up now.

Tuesday, the people running for congress had a debate at the college...again. They also had one when I was a freshman here. I was kind of sad to miss it, but I had to do the aforementioned homework. One of the candidates used to be a professor at Beloit! I am not going to vote for him, but it is cool.

Have a wonderful weekend!

2008-10-05T16:05:00.000-07:00

It has been a pretty hectic week. I missed two days of school for Rosh Hashana and was working like crazy to make it up. The professors are always very understanding about religious holidays that interfere with school, but I still wanted to be on top of things when I got back.

Yesterday was one of my favorite annual events at Beloit. Many of the staff brought their pets to the wall (a meeting place on residential side of campus) and we got to have some fuzz therapy. Nothing quite like taking a break from genetics work to hang out with a group of happy dogs. Last year there was a cat, but it did not make an appearance this year.

Can't wait for fall break! Only one more week and I will be in Madison wolfing down homemade food and volunteering like crazy for the presidential election! I will hopefully have some time to veg out on the couch watching Lord of the Rings (I watch the entire series in its extended edition format almost every break) and cuddling with my cats.

Don't forget to watch the second presidential debate on Tuesday!

2008-09-28T16:12:00.000-07:00

This weekend was really busy. Most of it was spent in the French House training to be a sexual assault recovery advocate. Basically, this means that I spend at least three 12 hour shifts a month on call for SARP (Sexual Assault Recovery Program). Whenever someone is admitted to the hospital for assault, we get called. we have to be there with in 30 minutes and help the person make decisions such as whether they want to report the assault to the police, if they want just a pelvic exam or to complete the entire rape kit, etc. There are programs all over the US like this one, but we will only be working in Rock County, which means we will only be called to go to the hospital in Beloit or the hospital in Janesville. It was a hard 16 hours of training, but I think will be a very rewarding experience.

Besides training for SARP, I had a wonderful weekend. It started with a presidential debate watching party Friday night in the Java Joint. Because it is a major election and this weekend was homecoming, we had over 150 people (current students and alumni) packed into the java joint! All of the political groups on campus were there too. The dems and republicans were signing people up to volunteer, and the non-partisan Beloit College Voter Registration project (of which I am a member) was registering voters. All and all it was a great success, and I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

If you can vote in the US, or are otherwise interested in US politics, don't forget to watch the vice presidential debate this Thursday! Be an informed voter!

2008-09-25T17:50:00.000-07:00

We had a very interesting speaker this week for the "Moral Values Lectures" series. The series basically brings in a lot of off campus speakers on a lot of issues. This week Susan Wood, former FDA insider,who resigned over the delay of a ruling that would make "morning after" pills accessible to the public. Though I could not go to her actual lecture (I had to characterize fruit flies for genetics on that particular night), I did go to a more informal forum with only 7 or so other students. We had a great discussion on the subject of Women's health and other science related decisions that have been based on politics and not science.

In other news, what do you all think about McCain's plans to suspend his campaign until a decision about the financial crisis is reached? This has been/ is going to be a very interesting election cycle.

2008-09-21T16:10:00.000-07:00

So it occurs to me that I have not talked about any of the classes I am taking this semester. I suppose this should be done...

Beloit's credit system is a little unusual. Basically, each class is worth one credit no mater the time requirement. There are a few exceptions; your FYI (freshman seminar class) is worth 1.5 credits and things like music lessons, some dance classes, and a few other classes are worth a little less (like 0.25 or 0.5 credits). A normal course load for a Beloiter is 4 credits (4 classes). This semester I am only taking 3.5 credits because one of my classes is really time consuming. so here is my class list:

Genetics (biology): This is supposed to be the "hardest" class in the biology department. I have found it pretty time consuming, stressful, and frustrating, but I think that its reputation is a little harsh. For me, the learning style is a lot more like my alternative high school, but a little more intense. The professor wants you to learn how to learn on your own, and therefore will not answer questions without making you think. Every time you ask him a question, he asks you five. There is a ton of group work, which is sometimes frustrating just because coordinating three people is harder than just looking after yourself.

Memory and Cognition (Psychology): I am actually really enjoying the content of this class, but find it to be a lot more reading than I expected. It is mostly a lecture style class, which is not necessarily the style I would choose to learn in. It is kind of funny, because one would assume the science classes are more lecture while social science would be more discussion based and group work, but in my experience this has not been the case. We have to do a major paper about a subject we choose and how it pertains to cognitive psychology, and I have already found some really interesting sources.

Creative Writing (English): This is my "take it easy" class. I took it the same semester as genetics because I knew it would force me to relax and sit down and write a bit each day. We are actually doing less writing than I would like, but It has started to pick up in the last week or so. It is such a relaxing class! Fran (the professor) is really laid back, and we have a lot of small group discussions where we go outside for.

Chemistry seminar (Chemistry): this class only meets on Fridays for one hour. we usually have pizza or some other snack/lunch food and discuss "Science" magazine. We have also been having a lot of Beloit Alumni who majored in chemistry or biochemistry come and talk to us about what they do now. It is really comforting to have some one come in and tell you that what they are doing has nothing to do with their major but they would never have fallen into it had it not been for Beloit, or that it has everything to do with their major and they are still loving it.

So those are my classes, they keep me really busy. But then again....that is what I am here for :)

2008-09-18T16:07:00.000-07:00

This year I got to be an OL. Basically, an OL (Orientation Leader) is a returning Beloit student who comes to help out with New Student Days (the week that the new class of freshman/transfer students are here before everyone else gets back). It was tons of fun!

As OLs, we had to get here the Wednesday before new student days for training. When I tried to move back into my room, there was a slight glitch. There a big hole in one wall because they were fixing something, so I had to room with one of my other friends who was also an OL for a few days. Training was interesting. I learned so much about the campus I had never known before, especially about the registration process and other aspects of the administration pertaining to students.

and then the Freshman got here...and they were great.

Each freshman gets to choose a seminar class (called an FYI) before arriving. each seminar class has at least one OL for the week. I worked with Paul Stanley, a physics professor here who just happened to be my FYI professor when I was a freshman. I also got to meet a bunch of first years and hang out with them for the week. We did some ice breakers and other get-to-know-campus activities, some classy things like a poster presentation on Michael Pollens "the Omnivores Dilemma", and some fun stuff, like a canoe trip.

It was a busy week, both physically and mentally taxing. But I will definitely do it again next year!

Hello again

2008-09-14T16:14:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone.

I kept this admissions blog last year, so for those returning readers, hello again. for those of you just starting the college search process, welcome!

so here is a little bit about me:

My name is Shanna and I am a junior biochemistry student here at Beloit. I am originally from Madison WI, so I didn't go too far despite having ambitions to go to college on the east coast. What can I say, I just really liked Beloit. My favorite color is purple and if I could be any animal I would aspire to be a pampered house cat. Hopefully I will be able to show you what it is like being a Beloit College student through this blog, but everyone has a different experience

Most of my summer was spent in Chicago. I received a Schweppe Internship this summer, which meant I got paid to hang out in a lab at Rush Medical University doing HIV research. the Schweppe foundation basically gives a certain amount of money to many schools in the Chicago area so that undergraduates can have experiences doing biomedical research in Chicago. Marrion Fass, a professor here, oversees who gets the Schweppe internships at Beloit. This summer I was one of five Beloiters who got the award.

Research was great! I was helping with a gender study on HIV, so I was basically in the lab every day running the same experiment over and over again to see if antibody activity worked differently in males with HIV as opposed to females with HIV (in short....I could go off on the long explanation, but I bet some of you may be rather bored by the topic). The best part was that I learned how to draw blood! I was only drawing uninfected people, so don't worry, it was all really safe.

I also just loved living in a real city. I know that the L is old and needs a lot of repair work done and things like that, but coming from a city with very little public transportation, I loved the public transit system in Chicago. Every day i took it to and from work, and to many other exciting places. I went to China town a few times and even got a hair cut there, and I went to a bunch of museums and other touristy spots. I also just kind of explored my surroundings and the surroundings near the place I worked.

And now I am back at school...I will have to tell you all about it in my next blog.

Good luck with everything, feel free to contact me with questions and enjoy reading the admissions blogs this year.

Oh yeah, I dont know if you watched SNL this week (it is mostly not funny anymore), but Tina Fay and Amy Poehler did the funniest sketch!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnRUKIMegn8

here is a statue I passed on my way to work every day, I love the quote and hope I can live up to it if I succeed in becoming a doctor:

It says (if you cant see it) "one doesn't ask of one who suffers: what is your country and what is your religion? One merely says, you suffer, this is enough for me, you belong to me and I will help you." - Louis Pasteur

farewell for now

2008-05-01T16:08:00.001-07:00

well, it is my last blog for the school year. I have a final tomorrow and a final on Saturday and then I am free to spend the summer as I chose. I will be visiting a friend at the University of San Diego for two weeks after I break out of here, and then it is off to Chicago to go develop a cure for HIV/AIDS.

I hope you have been semi entertained by my odd ramblings about college, life, and other random stuff. If you are a senior this year, hope to see you next fall! If you are a junior, tune in next year to hear about my crazy summer and my junior year here at Beloit. either way, have a wonderful summer!

Ciao

2008-04-30T16:33:00.000-07:00

This week has been pretty crazy. Everyone has been scurrying to finish papers and lab write ups (in the science department at least) while also trying to study for finals. Around this time I generally go out for coffee at the Pleasant Street Cafe a lot, but this semester my coffee buddy is in China, and I have yet to find someone who is willing to dig their heads out of their books for a few hours and take a break....but i think Krista will be joining me there tomorrow!

Along with all the work I have been doing, i also found time to donate blood. the Rock County blood bank has a blood drive on campus a few times a semester, and it is actually kind of nice to have a break and lie around on a comfy lawn chair-like recliner...while getting your most needed substance pumped from your body :)

Today the admissions office hosted a barbecue for their student employees. it was really fun, we had burgers and brats (of the meat eater and non meat eater varieties) cooked by Bryan, plus every admissions staff member brought a side or dessert. i had way to much food, but it was all so good! we also got these amazing treat bags with all sorts of stuff to help us get through finals week, like soda and candy and more candy and raisins. ahh, the perks of working for admissions.

well, tomorrow is my last night of work before the summer, so I guess I will save my farwell blog until then.

2008-04-27T16:18:00.000-07:00

Last week the boss at my internship at Kerry took me and my coworkers out to La Casa Grande, a Mexican restaurant really close to campus. There were people there who were giving out flowers for "women who work" day, or something along those lines.

When I got back to Kerry it was "take your child to work" day. They had all these stations set up for the kids dealing with food science, and they got to sample a lot. it was kind of cute. I remember when i was younger it was "take your daughter to work" day. I used to go every year to my mothers work at the state department of public instruction and they always had a women in government there, I think one year they even had Tammy Baldwin, but i may not be remembering correctly.

Life on campus has gotten rather strained. finals start on friday, and everyone is feeling the rush of last minute papers and the like. rooms are becoming barer as people start packing up their belongings, and the bags under peoples eyes are growing. two weeks from today i will be in sunny California visiting my friend who goes to UCSD... only two more weeks, only two more weeks, only two more weeks! it will be odd to leave this place, though i know i will be back in the fall...

why I came to beloit and other things of interest

2008-04-23T16:10:00.000-07:00

We got our schedules yesterday. I got all the classes I I wanted, which is good. I really don't like the new schedule right now. It was hard to find classes that would fit in with the few classes I really needed to take, and every class I wanted seemed to meet 11-12 on Wednesdays. also, they end at weird times, like 11:05 instead of a nice even every class from X-X:50. hopefully it will be better than I anticipate and they will take next semester to iron out the kinks.

I have been giving a lot of tours for admitted students recently. It kind of reminds me of when I was trying to choose between every school I had been accepted into. I remember listening to so many people tell me that the reason they decided to go to such and such school was because they got on campus and just knew it was the right place. I was always really skeptical of this, how can you just know? But as corny as it seems, they were right. even as a junior when I really wanted to get out of WI for college, as soon as i got onto Beloit's campus I pretty much knew I would end up here. odd.

I am so sick of matzo. I am trying to keep kosher for passover, a holiday that has pretty strict dietary guidelines for the week, but it is pretty hard. the campus has an excess of matzo, but they don't really cook meals that are kosher for passover or anything, not that I expect them too, it just makes it harder. Though I went off campus for Seders (the traditional meals served at the beginning of passover), there was one on campus. I kinda want to stay some year and go to the campus one, but with home being 50 miles away I really enjoy doing the family thing.

spring day

2008-04-16T16:04:00.000-07:00

You know that feeling when you spend all day in the ocean playing in the waves and then you come home and sit down and still feel like you are being tossed about by waves? i have that feeling right now, but i was not playing in waves (sadly), I was in the wind. today was spring day, a day where we have no class and there is music and other activities in the quad outside of 609 and Wood. it was a beautiful day today (apparently the first nice spring day in 11 years or so). and it was sooo windy! i love the wind!

I spent the entire day tie-dying, rocking out to this really good band, and hanging out on the grass just lounging around. everywhere people were playing football and frisbee, and we even saw some people playing bocce ball, or whatever you call it. it was wicked.

it is hard to imagine that we only have three more weeks of school left. i am very glad of this, but will also miss my friends. next semester many of my friends will be abroad, which is an interesting prospect to consider.

2008-04-13T16:11:00.000-07:00

Well, it is the end of another weekend. Though I do not have a ton of homework tonight, I do wish that the weekend were longer!

Friday night I went to "Dick Talk". this is the male equivalent of the vagina monologues, and this is the second year in its existence. it was pretty interesting, and some of them were very funny. one guy who was giving a monologue about taking a shower and reading the pamphlet for the testicular cancer self test even wore a speedo throughout his monologue....it was very amusing and he got a huge cheer.

Saturday night was the drag show, where we get professional drag queens to come and preform. they looked like real females!

and now we have a ton of high school seniors on campus for Senior Open House. I always think that it is amusing that they have big visit days on Sunday nights. I mean, Sundays are the days that most students want to do all of the homework they have been ignoring/neglecting. this does not mean we are not happy to host prospies...it is just an interesting fact.

i do not want to look for an apartment this summer! i didn't think I would need to be looking for housing until...well, a long time from now. I don't really like it much, have to admit. If anyone knows of any apartments for lease in Chicago, let me know :)

2008-04-09T16:50:00.000-07:00

This weekend was pretty insane. two events that I helped organize happened, so I didnt really get a chance to actually just relax.

Girls and Women in Science was pretty good. We had 25 girls on campus, as well as their teachers and parents. I spent most of Friday giving tours to the girls and then setting up for dinner and their night at the sports center. I then went to dinner with them, and later hung out with their parents and teachers. I got off by 9:00 pm ( i was not staying with them in the sports center, thank god) and hung out with one of my friends here. we went to a Voodoo Barbie performance (part I of II, after this performance they stayed up for a full 24 hours and only hung out with each other, then did a show Saturday night.) we then played monopoly until 3:00 in the morning!!!

Saturday I had to get up at 7:30 am to set up things in the science building. I dont think i have ever been up that early on a sunday, or at least do it very rarely. campus is pretty dead at that time. The rest of the day was crazy, running around Chamberlin putting up signs for labs, making sure everything was running smoothly, and setting things up for later. When the last girl finally left at 4:00 i was pretty excited.

Sunday was international dinner, and since I coordinated the food it was another crazy day. people were coming in and out of commons all day preparing their dishes, and I got to watch as each mouthwatering dish was being set up. i think my favorite dish was this curry made by a girl from Malaysia...it was nice to have some SPICE!!!! there were also some amazing prefomrences. This one guy sang some Turkish songs; he had a good voice and they were so haunting! One of my really good friends (and the person I will be renting an apartment with in Chicago this summer) did a traditional Sri Lankan dance.

My Prozac synthesis is going well (i think), and the finished product should be done after lab on Tuesday....we shall see how it turns out.

now I am going to listen to the song "mad world" for a bit ( i got two versians of it this week...i LOVE this song)

2008-04-03T16:48:00.000-07:00

This week has been crazy....and it is only going to get crazier. GWIS (Girls and Women in Science) is this weekend, and as I am a coordinator in training for it, i am in the thick of things. International dinner is also this Sunday, and I am coordinating all of the food. I am really excited for international dinner, because we have lots of people cooking and it sounds like we are goijng to have some amazing food here. Beloit has a few Mexican restaurants and such, but not any (that I know of) other ethnic foods...like Thai or Indian (my two favorite types of food). I am looking forward to some really spicy curries.

Last night I went to an accepted students reception in Milwaukee. I met some really cool perspective/admitted/definitely coming here students. Afterwards we went to Kopps, which is apparently some cultish burger joint. it was pretty good :) It reminded me a bit of eating in Italy (not the food...definitely not the food) because it didn't have sit down tables, just tall ones to stand and eat at. there was also a very big spoon and cherrie in the middle of the place...

I just got a new book today called "A Billion Lives: an Eyewitness Report from the Frountlines of Humanity". the reason for this purchase was because the author is currently on campus going to classes and giving talks., Jan Egeland (the author) is a former UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and a former UN emergency relief chief. his book is AMAZING. I had 5 minutes between walking back from the bookstore and the start of my next class to start it...and I ended up being about 10 minutes late to my next class.

2008-03-30T16:11:00.000-07:00

I haven't done much this weekend, just eat, sleep, and study...mostly.

Today there was a candidates meet and greet for the upcoming school board/city council in one of the lounges here. The Dems ran it, so it was only the candidates that they were endorsing. I had actually already met many of them, as they have been combing the cafeteria for the past few days. One even made homemade brownies, mmmm....she has my vote (and not just because of the brownies).

Paul Stanley, a physics professor and my FYI advisor, had dinner for both last years FYI (my FYI) and this years FYI tonight. he ordered pizza....including an anchovy one (yuck). it was fun to have a reunion with people and to meet Paul's FYI for this year. I am also probably going to OL for Paul's FYI next year...so look for me :)

2008-03-27T17:37:00.000-07:00

I am not doomed to live out my summer in Beloit working for Kerry ingredients! while i am enjoying my internship there, i am ready to move out of the world of food science. Today i was notified that I have been excepted into one of the summer internship programs i applied to, which means that i will be paid to live in Chicago this summer doing biomedical research!!! i am so excited!

2008-03-26T16:11:00.000-07:00

I love Excel. For one of my classes we have 72 calculations to enter into a computer program for a lab. Two other students and I got together and made a magical spreadsheet where you answer in all of the unknowns and BAM...out pop the 72 calculations. it only took us about an hour to program, but I feel like it will probably save us all about 10 hours in actual calculations (ok...maybe not 10...but a lot.) I love excel.

I have an official job offer for the summer. Kerry Ingredients, the place that I work for my internship through the Duffy class, offered me a paying job for this summer. though I would rather be in a lab at a university doing something slightly more of interest to me, I really am enjoying my time at Kerry. Plus, it is nice to know that I WILL be working this summer. if I do end up at Kerry this summer, I am going to apply for a summer job at the library here on campus so that i can stay in Beloit and not have to commute here every day from Madison.

Things are getting really crazy. with a little more then a month left to the school year, professors are piling it on hard....or should I say my procrastination has made it hard. In organic chemistry we started our final independent synthesis projects. i am synthesizing NMP, a precursor to Prozac. I did all of the things I was supposed to do according the researched lab procedure, but when I distilled out all of the ethanol at the end I had...nada. luckily we have 5 weeks to do the lab and mine really only takes 2, so next week I just get to start again.

evil winter and soy butter

2008-03-23T16:55:00.000-07:00

I am done with the FAFSA!! Now all I need to do is turn in the Beloit financial aid application tomorrow and then I will have reapplied for financial aid on time. Yup.

*$#%! it’s snowing again. Now I love the snow and the cold, don’t get me wrong, but it is March. Tis the time for new buds on trees and new grass and baby squirrels and worms, not time for more snow. Plus I am getting really annoyed with digging my car out every other day.

The cafeteria has soy butter! Now I am not sure if they have always had it, or if I just noticed it, but it is amazing. I am a allergic to nuts, and therefore can not eat peanut butter, and had forgotten what the sweet sweet taste of pb&j was like. But now they have the friendly no-nut substitute, I can have one whenever I like!

journalism is not a div III class

2008-03-20T16:40:00.000-07:00

The week has been flying by. this may have something to do with the fact that I have a huge paper due next week and am dreading writing it this weekend.

EVERYTHING seems to be going on the first week in may. Girls and Women in Science (GWIS), a group I am a coordinator for is hosting their annual conference for 6th grade girls that weekend, and i am planing on running around like a maniac for the event. That same weekend is the international dinner, a dinner hosted by the international club for Beloit students and international host families. there is so much to plan for the event, and as I am on executive bored for that, i will be running around maniacally for that too....phew.

But i did get some good news today. I got this letter in the mail a few weeks ago saying i would not be eligible for junior status next year because I had not completed the division III requierments (to be a junior you need to have completed 2 math/science/ computer science (division I) credits, 2 social science (division II) credits, and 2 humanities (division III) credits). This came as quite a surprise, considering i had taken both and English class and a journalism class my junior year, so I wrote the registrars department saying they had made a mistake. they wrote me back saying there was not mistake, Journalism 'wasn't div III credit.

this seemed really stupid to me, as the journalism department is listed under the English department in the student handbook and all of my advisers had told me it did qualify as English credit (they are all science people...how were they to know?). so I had to write a letter to the registrar explaining my "excuse" for not completing the requirement and asking to be a Junior anyway.

they approved me. I am now going to be an official junior at the end of this year! i do, however, need to take a div III class next semester, which wont be an issue as I was going to take creative writing anyway.

All in all you're just another brick in the wall

2008-03-16T16:08:00.000-07:00

I love Pink Floyd, and I love that song; especially the British school children singing in the background.

This Saturday some of the RAs built a wall/checkpoint on everyone’s way to commons (the cafeteria) for the campus wide project all RAs are required to do. The point was to make people aware of areas with frequent checkpoints and to show a new aspect of life that many people on campus had never experienced. It was odd to have to wait in line and flash my ID in the middle of campus to go to and from my dorm. The people running the checkpoints had a “no fly” list of people they had talked to before this whole thing (I assume) and they hassled them if they tried to get through the checkpoint. I happened to be giving a tour for Junior Visit Day, and we got “VIP” status, meaning we got to budge the line and go through quite easily.

On Friday I got to participate in an Obama music video. I was actually really tired (I had been in Chamberlain until 3:00am the preceding 2 nights) and was on my way back to my room to nap when I saw a huge group of people. I wandered over and the next thing I knew I was signing a release form and being ushered over the steps to participate in the music video. Since I am so short, they stuck me right in front. The reason it was being shot at Beloit was because one of our music professors actually wrote the song….it was pretty interesting.

The weekend went by too fast. I had piles of work I was hoping to get done and didn’t complete. Oh well.

Iit is so odd to be in the admissions office when it is LIGHT out. The snow is melting (finaly), the buds are forming, and I have even seen worms! spring is here.

break and Paul Newman VS. Takeshi Kaneshiro

2008-03-12T16:11:00.000-07:00

well, break is over, unfortunately. I think I needed at least another week. I went to Madison for a few days and hung out (read: was very very lazy), but came back for a little on Monday for my internship, and then returned to stay on Thursday so I could actually get some work done. I love Madison, but i am not very productive when I go there for breaks. I mostly just hung out with friends and watched movies etc. One of my friends got her brown belt in karate and I was there to witness the glorious moment.

One of my other friends really wanted to eat breakfast at Paul Bunyan's (or as I called it, "lumberjack paul's"), a restaurant in the Wisconsin Dells (a tourist trap about an hour from Madison). apparently they have an amazing all you can eat family style breakfast, and instead of putting a basket of rolls on your table they put donuts (I have never eaten there). here's the hitch...he wanted to leave at 7:00 IN THE MORNING. AHHHHHHHHHH. but we made plans to go. I intended to look up whether it would be open or not, since the Dells is mostly water parks and everything kind of shuts down over the winter, but i never got around to it.

so around 7:15 i get woken by my phone, Patrick is calling to see if I am at home because the door is locked. i roll out f bed and get dressed in about 3 mins then let him in. he sees my sleepy eyes and underbrushed hair and allows me to make a pot of coffee before hustling me out the door.

The drive took a little longer then planned because the directions Patrick had procured from mapquest thought it would be amusing to send us in a big circle near the end of the trip. we finally reach Paul Bunyan's and....it doesn't open until the 13th. so we ate at the ihop across the street. the doctor Seuss food looks colorful but disgusting, and i didn't have the courage to try the any of it, though the Sprite drink with jello cubes looked enticing (not).

the rest of break was pretty much homework.

Krista and I are having a little argument. Krista thinks that Paul Newman (pictured left) is one of the prettiest/hottest men in the world. I disagree and can come up with a long list of prettier men...such as Takeshi Kaneshiro (see Krista, I can choose someone not from the UK ),

2008-02-28T16:10:00.000-08:00

I wasn't going to post to night because, well, i posted yesterday and not much has changed. I just thought I would tell all of you how crazy we SOIs are at admissions at night. Last night Krista and I were both studying (well....I was studying for ochem and Krista was transcribing interviews for a class) and suddenly i mentioned that I had the song "final countdown" stuck in my head. For the rest of the evening we would simultaneously break out into "the final countdown"...yup....we're weird.

Anyway, have a good week next week. I will be on spring break...in Madison...doing nothing except sleeping in and watching episodes of the nanny online...and doing homework

2008-02-27T16:09:00.000-08:00

Not much has happened since Sunday, especially because I have been sick and all.

I finally went to the health center on campus yesterday. My insurance doesn't cover me here, so I had to self bill it. It was the first time I ever had to ask how much things were going to cost at the doctor... it really opened my eyes to what people without insurance go through....more so then movies and reading about it can. Granted, my mother is probably going to foot the bill, but still.

I finished turning in all my applications for internships today. It was nerve racking. why do they have a sheet for your to fill out asking you to list all of the classes you have ever taken and the grades when they also request an official transcript? And I realized that I forgot to sign one of the letters right after I had sent them....but they are gone! Done! Finished!

Only two more days till spring break....can we make it?

2008-02-24T16:41:00.000-08:00

I have a very sexy voice right now.... if your idea of a sexy voice is very scratch and kind of sickly sounding. yeah. I am kindda sick. I went home for the weekend which was really nice. my parents put tons of spice in every meal I ate (I think they put an entire can on jalapeño juice onto something at one point). other then that I have pretty much been living off of tea and Halls mentholated cough drops.

only one more week of school until spring break! I really need a break. i am in one of those time warps where you feel like you have insane amounts of things to do and time seems to be going too fast to get it all done in. I feel like yesterday was last Sunday, and cant believe it is an entirely different week tomorrow. well, "come what come may, time and the hour runs through the roughest day"

Ralph Nader announced he will be running again...

The Epic

2008-02-20T16:25:00.000-08:00

you have all probably been hit over the head with the fact that Chelsea and Obama were here on Monday, so I will try not to spend too much time on them.

I wasn't planing on seeing Chelsea Clinton because of my internship, but the boss at the internship told me to go, so I went. She was very articulate,and made me feel a bit better about Hilliary, but didn't really strike any "wow, I want to vote for Clinton" nerve. I met this really interesting guy. He looked a lot like McCain and was kind of glum, so I pegged him as a non-Hillary supporter, maybe a republican, right off the bat. Well, he wasn't a Hillary supporter, but he DEFINITELY wasn't a republican. we had an interesting conversation.

WI congress woman Tammy Baldwin was at the Clinton event. She is a really strong endorser of Clinton's, and also someone I have been campaigning for since I was a little girl. She is also one of our super delegates this year, and said she would not vote with the states decision, but vote for Hillary no matter what. booo Tammy.

Obama was amazing, as always. the entire campus pretty much closed down and went to see it. I even saw the president of the Beloit College Republicans Club there. I got there around 5:30 (yes.... I was one of THOSE crazys). It was very interesting, because there were non-college students there as well as college students. I saw professors and staff members and their familys (including some admissions folk).

Obama was actually on time (first time I have seen him that he has been on time). his speech was great, but not the best speech I have heard from him. it was cool to see friends and people I actually knew in the stands behind him though, and so surreal to have a political rally at BELOIT.

During the entire rally one of my friends (Marissa) not present kept texting me saying she wanted a whopper. This was a bit strange because she is a vegetarian...and it was 10:00 in the evening. Nevertheless, when me and another friend (ama) got out of the rally we picked up Marissa and drove to the closest Burger King. Now, I have never been to a Burger King (my family isn't really fast food type people, going to a McDonald's is always a treat), and I have also never personally driven through a fast food drive through; it was interesting (actually...not really). there was a duck crossing sign.

When we arrived at Burger King the storefront was closed but the drive through was still open. When i got in front of the mic to order, I realized my window had frozen shut. We pulled into a parking spot and spent 20 minutes trying to unfreeze the window to no avail. Just as we were discussing who was going to be the lucky person to walk throught the drive through in 7 degree weather, we realized the back seat drivers side window opened.... so I drove through and had Ama order everything and pick up the food from the back. apparently the guy was unfazed.

and as soon as we finished picking up the food, my window opened.

and the guy had given us 25 ketchup packets (yes, we counted). Marissa suggested that the employees can't close the drive through until the get rid of the ketchup....interesting theory.

Jim Zielinski just came into the office and told Krista and I about the full lunar eclipse tonight. we ran out front to see it. It is pretty cool. It is just starting, and we have intentions of going out again around 9:00 ish when it is supposed to be fully eclipsed. Thanks Jim!

p.s. I just read Jie's blog and realized we had the same photos. I TOOK THEM :) she must have gotten them from facebook... what are the odds that we would choose the exact same Obama photo of all of the ones I have taken?

Warning: Political Content

2008-02-17T16:14:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: I have been trying to remain relatively non political in these blogs, because Beloit promotes students from every political faction and even those not politically involved to come here. The truth of the matter is, however, that I have always been very politically active, and this blog is going to be in that vain. sorry if you disagree with my politics, I am open to discussion :)

The Wisconsin primary is on Tuesday. Wisconsin has same day voter registration and you do not need to register for a party, which means open ballots. Beloit has suddenly become a political town. Both Chelsea Clinton and Barack Obama himself are coming to the college Tomorrow. Chelsea will be coming at 2:00 to Pearson's for an "informal presentation" (whatever that means), and Obama will be holding a rally here at 10:00 in the evening for a rally. Though both of these events are open to the public, I doubt too many non-students will be coming to the Clinton thing because it is at a time where people who work cant show up.

I would love to go to both (though I already know who I am voting for). I wont be able to see Chelsea, unfortunately, because of my internship. I will be volunteering for Obama tomorrow night (i am for Obama only 'cause Edwards dropped out). I have actually seen Obama three times in person before. Me and another guy drove two buses from Beloit to hear him announce he was running last year in Springfield Illinois, and I have seen him twice in Madison. this picture is actually of me shaking his hand!

Interestingly, no republican candidates are coming to Beloit. Actually, I have not heard anything about any of the republicans coming to Wisconsin, which I find odd. if they did come to Beloit, I might see them too, just for the sake of knowing what they stand for etc.

Don't forget to vote on Tuesday (if you live in WI and WA) no matter who you are voting for.

On another note, it was great to meet the Presidential Scholarship candidates this weekend...good luck!

Valentines and Karaoke

2008-02-13T16:25:00.000-08:00

On Monday International club had a pre-Valentines Day thing. We all got together and talked about funny Valentines Day/ breakup stories. They were amusing, I suppose. I did learn about Valentines Day in Japan. Apparently Japan celebrates two Valentines Day type events. The first is for the girls to give chocolate to the guys, and then a month after that they have the equivalent for the guys. Apparently, the guys have to give stuff to the girls who gave them stuff. It was very interesting. I don’t really like Valentines Day. I think it is pretty stupid, actually. Whatever.

Tonight was karaoke night at Commons. It is kind of amusing to see people who think they can sing get up there and sing… interesting….songs. I mean, it would be much more amusing to watch them sing fun songs such as “the bad touch”, “like a virgin”, or something else, but a lot of these people take themselves a little too seriously. There were, however, some highlights of the 30 or so minutes I was there. BSFFA (the Beloit Science Fiction and Fantasy Association) sang Queens “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Someone else sang an interesting song. At first, Krista thought it was emo due to the lyrics (it definitely was not emo), and I spent a lot of time trying to convince her it was actually someone singing about God. Even after the line about “not touching your ecclesiastical skin” she wasn’t convinced…hmmm

For the Duffy class, we have to do a lit review on something pertaining to the community and our work site (I work at an analytical lab at a food science company). We have also been paired with faculty who have expertise in our chosen lit review topic. Because I want to write something about how buildings can be built to promote unity and collaboration, I have been paired with Brock Spencer, a chemistry professor and someone heavily involved in the planing for the new science center. As soon as I walked into his office to discuss my topic wioth him, he started pulling out floor plans of the new building, and telling me all this "insider" information about what it is going to look like, what features it will have, and even which student offices will have the best view. it was really interesting.

The Connection Between Clinton and Human Sacrifice

2008-02-10T16:31:00.000-08:00

Today at brunch, after my friends and I stumbled to Commons in the blistering cold, got our eggs and bagels, and sat down at a table, someone put a flier on our table. HUMAN SACRIFICE was the title, and below the big bold words was a description of a discussion at the interfaith house about what people are willing to sacrifice to accomplish their goals and for the people they love (I think....Iam pretty sure it isnt about my initial though, as in ancient religiouse people ripping out human hearts). As we were passing the flyer around, we noticed another advertisement on the back. “cool,” we though, “clubs are trying to save paper by advertising for two clubs instead of one.” We turned it over, and read an add sponsored by the “Clinton for President” people on campus. Now Hillary Clinton and human sacrifice are forever linked in my mind; not quite the effect anyone was going for, I think.

Another weekend has come and gone. It is amusing. I always save a whole bunch of work for the weekend, only to be really lazy and put it off until Sunday night. One would think that I would have learned by now, but for some reason I always have to tempt fate. Well fate, I win. I always get it done. No thanks to the conveniently placed laptop on my desk, nor the parties happening at TKE, the Alliance house, and the French house. But I did it…this week.

The weather outside is frightful...again

2008-02-06T16:04:00.000-08:00

It is windy, and snowy, and cold. One of my professors disnt even come to school today. one of the only bad things about living on such a small campus (in my opinion) is that the administration NEVER cancels school. However, many professors were not around today, so it was almost an unofficial snow day....almost.

Not that we had many snow days back home in Madison, WI. I think my last snow day was when I was in elementary school. One of my friends came over, and we bundled up into our snow pants and waddled outside. Then my mother gave us bottles of dry powdered paint in big canes with holes drilled into the top, and me and my friend "painted" the snow with bright blues, purples, and pinks. those were the days...

In other news, I got a bid for one of the sororities on campus. I actually find this proposition quite amusing. For those that know me, being a sorority girl has never been one of my top ambitions, in fact, it has never been on my list of ambitions at all. I am far more likely to jeer at sororities then to join them. I did, however, get a bag of goods from them including gel pens (ahhh....took my back to my childhood), sidewalk chalk, stickers, candy, and a pencil with the name of the sorority monogrammed onto it. yeah, that'll come in handy. anyway, needless to say, i will be turning down the invitation.

That is not to say that I don't appreciate sororities. When I was first looking at schools, I wanted a campus with no Greek life. Now that I am here, I realize that the Greek system isn't quite as bad as I thought it was, I am not just saying that because half of my fellow SOIs are involved with it :) They actually have a lot of parties open to the rest of campus, and help fund things like speakers and events.

Ok, time to get some work done. Have a good rest of the week.

and so the weekend comes to an end

2008-02-03T16:51:00.000-08:00

This weekend was amusing. There were a ton of prospies (perspective students) here for a scholarship interview Friday through Saturday. I hosted one prospie, and we entertained ourselves by going to see a visiting magician, and then seeing Voodoo Barbie, the improve group on campus. Magicians aren’t really my thing, I mean, I don’t really believe in them or anything, but this guy was pretty amusing and willing to engage the hecklers in some amusing dialogue. Voodoo Barbie was entertaining as always, though they didn’t do the “oxygen deprivation” game, or whatever they call it. It basically consists of someone dunking their head in water and holding it there while two other troupe members do an improve scene. When the person cant hold their breath anymore, they bang on the side of the water bucket, and one of the people from the skit replaces them in the water. Then the skit starts again with the original person from the water coming in and explaining why they are wet. It is quite amusing. This was replaced by a mousetrap game, where they put a bunch of set mousetraps on the floor and then do a skit blindfolded across the floor. That was amusing too, but I still like the water one better.

Saturday I had to wake up around 7:00 so I could meet the other people on my interview team at 7:45. I like giving interviews not only because I like talking to all of you prospective students, but because often times you are placed on an interview team with people you haven’t really interacted with much before. My interview team consisted of one other student who I had actually met before, the head of residential life, and an anthropology professor. It was an amusing day, and it was great to meet the seven interviewees. Something I think is really great about our presidential scholarship is it is not solely based on academics, but also what you do outside of school and the classroom.

After the interviews and lunch, I went with one of my friends to the Pleasant Street Coffee House. I like their coffee, but I ended up getting some tea instead, along with a very good slice of cherry pie.

And now it is time for me to buckle down and do some studying for multiple tests this week

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

2008-01-30T16:54:00.000-08:00

I look a bit like Elbert Einstein at the moment. My friend braided my hair last night as we were studying (ugh…sounds like some crazy middle school get together), and I just took them out. HAHAHA.

I am a bit depressed that John Edwards dropped out. Oh well, so goes politics.

The weather here has been….sporadic. I think yesterday the high was 45˚F and the low was around -15˚F. It is kind of crazy to wake up in the morning and dress for 45˚ weather and by the time you are done with classes it has dropped 30 some degrees. Although, it was pretty unusual for it to be so warm in late January (just one of the many delightful aspects of the wonderful Wisconsin weather you can look forward to).

Presidential Scholarship weekend is coming up. I remember my Presidential experience. I was a scared little high school senior who had never really interviewed for anything important before. Last year (and for this coming weekend) I got/get to be on the other side as one of the interviewers. Here are a few tips for any Presidential Scholarship hopefuls:
1) Dress professionally but not too dressy. The scholarships are supposed to be informal. We the interviewers try to keep it pretty low key and make you guys feel comfortable.
2) Conversations are good! Instead of treating the interview as a question and answer session, try to treat it like a conversation, it puts everyone at ease.
3) The people doing the interviewers want you to get the money. Two people on the interview team are current students who know how much this money helps in financing your education. They want you to succeed
4) One of the most popular questions asked is “how can you contribute to the campus/ if you could make any club, what would it be?” Be creative and find a club not already on campus.
5) Have fun and be open to the “Beloit experience” when spending time with your hosts

Tonight at dinner I was just a walking disaster. First, I spilled water all over myself. Then, after I had deposited my trash and tray into the proper receptacles, I turned around and knocked into the person behind me, causing their tray to crash onto the floor. As I was walking towards the door, I ran into someone else who dropped their cup on the ground. I then passed someone and didn’t even touch them (I swear!) and they dropped their salad all over the floor. It was like some bad high school movie.

Have a great rest of the week, good luck to those of you who are coming to Beloit for Presidential interviews…. Maybe I will see you here!

the weekend

2008-01-27T16:39:00.000-08:00

My weekend was really busy, but unfortunately not with homework (it should have been though….). My parents are on a trip to the Virgin Islands, and the house sitter had a job interview in Chicago this weekend, so I was enlisted to take care of our cats. This meant driving up to Madison in the thickening snow on Friday evening. Once in Madison, I was supposed to stop at my old theater to meet a friend. Right as I had my hand on the door, I heard someone calling my name. I turned around and it was some family friends walking home from synagogue. They invited me for Shabbat dinner, so I called my friend to tell her I had to skip out on our nights tryst and went with my abductors. It was a lovely meal.

Saturday I slept till 2, watched the democratic and republican debates from last week that I had missed, and trekked back to the theater to meet the friend I was supposed to meet the night before. While there, I wrote this bawdy little poem with the Shakespearian poetry magnets of the fridge:

Yonder see me gracing perilous poisonous love,
Like lady light and saucy drunken ghosts
Beseeching this full codpiece
To slander yonder wanton wench.

I told you it was bawdy…and doesn’t make all that much sense. But hay, a lot of the magnets were missing, had to work with what was there.

Sunday I had breakfast at the original pancake house, and then went out to tea with another one of my friends. We stayed at the coffee shop for about 3 hours. I love coffee shops. Though there is a really good one here in Beloit, somehow I am always too busy to spend any extensive amount of time there chatting with people. On the way out of town I stopped by a natural food store and spent more money then I should have on Izzys and microwavable Indian food. I love Madison.

But now I have so much homework to do for tomorrow. It is not so much that I have a lot of things due, just that I have a lot of things I should read to be prepared. That is something that is way different about college then high school. In high school, I had a lot of little assignments that kept me caught up in class. Here, I pretty much only have big assignments and tests, so it is easy to feel like you have nothing to do when you really have a lot of information you are responsible for learning.

Well, hope everyone had a good weekend. Till next time….

Dropkick classes

2008-01-23T17:58:00.000-08:00

Blog blog blog blog blog. The end.

Just kidding. This week has been pretty hectic, but not unusually so for this semester. On top of all the meetings I have attended including (but not limited to) BelCon, international club, and Girls and Women in Science and the internship I have at a food science lab in town, I have actually had to attend classes as well. I was originally signed up to take six classes this semester, but have already dropped two (though I kind of knew I would before getting back to school). Now I am taking Organic Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Professional Tools for Scientific Careers, and the Duffy class. What is sad is that only one of them (Duffy) is not a chemistry class, but is being held in the science building, making all of my classes this semester in Chamberlin.

The best part about the week so far was getting mail. I got part of my birthday present yesterday from Barnes and Noble; the Juno soundtrack CD and a Dropkick Murphys CD. They are both very different in tone. Juno is calming and fun, while the Dropkick Murphys are a punk rock group with bagpipes. I love them.

Krista is being weird. Time to get back to work.

back to the old grind

2008-01-20T16:35:00.000-08:00

Well, break is over, welcome back everyone. I had a relatively good break, though it was a little too productive. I started studying for the MCATs (only a little tiny bit though), and I also followed a doctor around for a week and a half. On top of that I hung out with my old cronies and we haunted our old haunts (I am imagining my English teacher from high school angrily highlighting my last sentence and writing “CLICHÉ!!!”…oh well).

We went to Perkins many times, as we usually do. Sometimes it was just me and one or two others, and a few nights we had a big group of people there. A few nights before I left we even played Apples to Apples there and the entire wait staff had hands in the game. In addition to Perkins nights, I went skiing, hung out on State Street, and watched a few movies. I think that Juno is absolutely brilliant!

For (part) of my 20th birthday my mum took me to Chicago. We stayed in a nice hotel with a beautiful city view and saw Wicked. It was really good. My mother even said she would like to see it again, which is unusual because she generally doesn’t like musicals too much. When we went to New York and saw Rent, she said it was “ok, but nothing to exciting” (or something along those lines)….BLASHPAMY! Anyway, it was a lovely evening.

And now I am back at school. I am glad to be back in my room and with my friends, but at the same time I need a longer break. I need someone to lock me in a room with some good books and a lot of movies and not let me out for two or so weeks. The homework is already pilling up and my forsaken organic chemistry book is calling my name, welcome back.

Snow and ice and finals, oh my

2007-12-12T17:35:00.000-08:00

Well, tis time for my last post of the year. Classes are done, tonight is the last night of work, and finals start on Friday…*gulp*

A few mildly interesting things have happened to me in the last week since I posted. I went home over the weekend to study/ attend a Chanukah party. Before I could leave, however, I had to dig myself out of the two or so feet of snow surrounding my car….plus the hard packed snow that had plowed me in. I was doing this at an amazingly slow pace when these two burly guys baring shovels emerged from the dorm. They had seen me from a window and thought I needed help. In about ten minutes I was on the road. I love the people at this school!

I had a great weekend. It is nice to get away from Beloit sometime before finals because going home is just so comforting! Plus I got to do the usual at home; late night Perkins runs, conversations ‘till 2am, showing up randomly and surprising people, Ancora coffee…yeah. It was a very relaxing weekend.

After I got back to campus I had the Les Mis soundtrack stuck in my head. One of my friends very helpful removed the CDs from my vehicle, meaning that Les Mis Disk II was the only CD I had to listen to. Though I love such songs as “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” and “A Little Fall of Rain,” hearing them all weekend was a bit much.

We had another snow fall recently followed by freezing rain. Everyone here has been slipping their way to class, and the ice is a trifle annoying, but it is so beautiful. While I was walking to the office tonight, the trees in a certain light looked as if they were made completely of glass. I have seen so many people taking pictures, but I am not sure a picture can do justice to the fairytale-like quality. I love winter.

Well, thanks all for reading my ramblings this semester, look forward to writing more for ya’all when school starts again in January. Have a great nondenominational winter break, and a good holiday season.

Pancakes at Paul's

2007-12-05T17:07:00.000-08:00

Happy Chanukah! I haven’t done much for the holiday, being away from home and all. The Interfaith House along with Am Yisrael had candle lightning last night to celebrate, but unfortunately I couldn’t go due to a meeting I had for the BCVRP. The admissions office has a chanukkiyah next to their Christmas tree, and it has been nice to see it when I come into work.

I kicked off my week on Sunday night by crashing an FYI pancake eating party at Paul Stanley’s (physics prof) house. I was in his FYI last year (and his physics class this year), but the party was supposed to only be for this years FYI. I ran into Johanna, the TA for both my FYI and Paul’s FYI this year, on her way over there, and she invited me along. It was fun to meet more freshmen, and to eat pancakes at 9:30 on a Sunday night in a real house. There was conversation and Wii playing galore. I was big on the conversation, not so big on the Wii…I am not really a video game type person.

The rest of the week has been creeping by. With almost everything due on Friday and two finals to study for, I have been spending more time in the library and the Chamberlin than anywhere else. I did get out to go to a BelCon meeting on Monday. Though I have to go to all BelCon meetings because I am the representative from International club, this one was special. President Burris was there to discuss study abroad. Last year the study abroad program spent a lot of money on study abroad, and apparently the board of trustees told the college they needed to figure something out to deal with the influx in study abroad spending. I am not going to get into it here, because I really don’t understand the situation to its fullest. I am not planning on studying abroad, as much as I would like to, and admit I have not paid as much attention to this issue as I should be doing.

Anyway, it was great to see so many people attending the meeting, not just the BelCon members. There were even posters full on names of alumni, people currently studying abroad, and people who could not attend the meeting who supported the study abroad program. The turnout was great and most of the questions were good ones.

And now to get back to homework…oy vay

A much needed break from homework

2007-11-28T16:24:00.000-08:00

We (we being the entire Beloit student body) got our schedules for next semester on Tuesday. It was amusing to go into the mailroom and hear people reactions, anything from a quiet sigh of relief to someone doing a great Hayden Christensen/Darth Vader “NOOOOOOOOOO!!!! (That was the silliest movie ever!) My schedule was good….too good. I applied for this special class called the “Duffy Partnership in the Community” class, and also applied for another class in case I didn’t get in. The other class is a 300 level English class that I would love to take, but didn’t think I would actually get into because it is taught by a very popular professor and I am not an English major. I got into both of them, and now need to drop the English class because I really don’t feel like taking 6 classes next semester (a regular course load is 4 classes, I am taking a 5^th class that is pass/fail and only meets once a week). I am very sad about this.

I would like to have something amusing to write, but I don’t. I spent most of yesterday in Chamberlin (the science building) studying for an organic chem. test. I actually really like studying in Chamberlin Most of the time you are with many of your classmates, and the students who have already taken whatever class you are studying for often pop their heads in every once in a while asking if you need help or have questions. It is a very productive atmosphere. It also allows you to experience the information you are trying to remember in many different ways. I would be doing a problem on one of the boards, finally understand it, then turn around and teach it to someone who didn’t. This doesn’t mean I aced the test. In fact, it was the hardest test yet, most of the class didn’t even have time to do all of the questions!

And now I must go and dig into the piles of homework awaiting me. Ahhh, end of the semester how I hate thee. But I can’t wait for winter break.

Satanic Pies

2007-11-26T19:21:00.000-08:00

I had a wonderful break. I love Thanksgiving, there is just something about the whole process that is magical. Though cleaning and cooking is not really my thing, doing it with my mother and my friend Jie at 5:00 on a Wednesday evening and knowing I did not have class the next day was nice. As per usual, we got a little quirky in the kitchen and ended up with a Christmas-decorated cherry pie and a satanic apple pie. They turned out pretty well (and by that I mean pretty ugly but very good tasting).

While at home I saw “Across the Universe” with some of my friends. It was amazing! The basic plot was pretty mundane, but add the Beatles music and guest appearances by Eddie Izzard, Bono, and other celebrities, plus the amazingly trippy computer animation stuff…it was amazing.
And now we are back at school. There are only a few weeks till finals, but those weeks are going to last a lifetime. It was the same last year. You get lulled into a false sense of security between fall and thanksgiving break, don’t have too many major things to do, and then BAM! (To be said in one breath) You get back from thanksgiving and it all descend upon you in a black whirlwind of papers, power points, tests, quizzes, tears, caffeine, midnight pizza runs, and lots of work .

Time for me go and finish a lab write up, then study for an organic chemistry test, then do physics homework, then…

The Thanksgiving of the Sledgehammer

2007-11-19T19:21:00.001-08:00

Last weekend was Sophomore Retreat. I took some very nice pictures; unfortunately they have not made it off of my camera. They took us to this resort about half an hour away from Beloit, and we spent Friday afternoon and Saturday morning hanging out with other sophomores, talking about Beloit, and discussing our future plans. It was nice to get away.

I am really excited for Thanksgiving! I think it is sad how the technical holiday is practically celebrating the eventual demise of the Native Americans, but my family is very much into the “thanks” part of the holiday and not so hot on the history. Whatever the case, I love sitting around a huge table with family and friends, eating a big long meal and talking. My family has some pretty amazing holiday stories, which get repeated every year, here is my favorite…

Three years ago we started the thanksgiving preparations as usual. My stepfather (Larry) went off to pick up our free range organic turkey from the Regent Street Market while my mother stayed at home to start on the mashed potatoes and pies. When Larry returned my mother took the turkey out of the box only to discover it was missing some key parts, including one of the wings. Everyone knows you can’t cook a turkey with one wing (actually, I didn’t. apparently you need both wings to prop it up or something), so it was back to Regent Street to try and get a new turkey. After some heated words with the 17 year old guy behind the counter, we got a new and improved turkey.

Upon returning home we left the turkey to chill in the garage, as it wouldn’t fit in our fridge, and continued the usual preparations. Soon, we heard a scratching and shuffling noise coming from the garage. When we opened the door, we saw a huge raccoon tying to steal our turkey! We fended off the raccoon (with the help of my courageous cat), and took the turkey in to prepare it.
After doing whatever one does to prepare a turkey, we tried to stick it in the oven. Apparently the beautiful new roasting pan Larry had purchased earlier that day did not fit in to the oven! At this point it was a little late to just go out and buy a new roasting pan, so Larry took it into the garage. We heard a few bangs, and Larry came back into the house with a smaller (and slightly dented) roasting pan, then went to put away the sledge hammer.

The next day everything looked great…except one of the pies. The pie was actually beautiful, but that was the problem. See, my mother makes wonderful TASTING pies, but they usually look kind of ugly. When a pie looks pretty, we get kind of worried. Luckily, there was more then one pie and the other ones looked really ugly.

Well, that is the best thanksgiving story I got….happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates it, have a good week to all those who don’t!

a very busy Saturday

2007-11-14T16:51:00.000-08:00

Note: ID cards still work after being put threw the dishwasher. Just thought you should know.

I had quite a busy weekend. On Friday I went to see Rob Paravonian, along with about half of Beloit. He is this amazing comedian (and that is saying something….I usually don’t like American comedians). He is most well known for his "Pachelbel Rant" which can be seen here and has been on Comedy Central etc...

After seeing Rob, my friends and I went to the midnight movie. Every year, student activities rents the Beloit movie theater one night and offers buses to see a midnight movie. This year we could choose from The Bee Movie, or Dan in Real Life. Very few people chose to see The Bee Movie, which might have something to do with the fact that the writers couldn’t come up with a better title then “The Bee Movie”….not a promising sign. Like most of the people there, my friends and I saw “Dan in Real Life”. It was an ok movie. I am a pretty big Steve Carell fan, and it was actually a bit serious, which was nice, but the corny lovey-dovey plot was just way to corny and lovey-dovey for me.

On Saturday I drove to Paoli, WI to pick up clay for ceramics club. Paoli is technically about 60 miles from Beloit, but the ceramics club president and I got really lost both on the way there and on the way back, so it actually took about 5 hours! And then when we got back there was the matter of moving 500 ponds of clay out of my car, down a very steep flight of stairs, and through the space the ceramics club leased.

When I got back to campus I had a soccer practice. as mentioned in a previouse blog, I joined an intramural soccer team because one of my really good friends kept bugging me too. I haven’t played soccer since 6th grade. Oy vey. Needless to say, it was an interesting practice. Half the people were wearing jeans, and we were all really out of shape! Did you know that Beloit Intramural sports have a rule that says you need one girl on the field at all times, but has no similar rule about guys? That is interesting, and I think it should be changed.

On the way out of the gym we saw the karate club flipping people off of their backs. I walked by and watched, and then jokingly asked if they could teach me how to do that. They invited me to join them! I didn’t learn how to flip people over, but I did learn how to sweep a guy off of his feet (literally…still working on the “sweep the guy off of his feet” thing”).

My mom just called, she has made some amazing plans for us for winter break. I cant waite!

my facebook addiction and International Symposium day

2007-11-07T18:27:00.000-08:00

I am currently taking a break from writing applications. Yes, I said writing applications, as in applying to programs, as in something I thought (or at least hoped) I would not have to do ever again. That is right, your college application is NOT the last application you write. In fact, it is the first of many. You need to write applications when applying to summer programs, when applying for study abroad, when applying to grad school/ med school, etc. I don’t like it! But such is life.

I have recently become addicted to the “SmarterMind” application on facebook, an application where you can challenge people (including people you don’t know) to games of Mastermind (you know, the one where you have to guess the order of colored dots). I have devoted countless hours to playing this game when I should be doing other things like homework and applications. Oh well.

I am joining an intramural soccer team. HAHAHAHAHAHA. My lovely friend and bio partner hunted me down the other day (and by hunted, I mean turned to me in Organic chemistry) and asked me to join her intramural team, as the roster is due Thursday and she didn’t have enough people. I laughed and said “maybe”, but she is very persistent and today I signed my soul over to her intramural soccer team. We need a team name, any ideas out there?

Today was International Symposium Day. It was great because we got classes off to go here people talk about their study abroad experiences. I sat in on two talks. The first was about women in the Sri Lankan tea industry, and the other was about Bali India and tourism. I learned a lot, and it was interesting to hear about peoples international experiences and projects.

Well….time to get off this blog, off of facebook, and buckle down…in a few minutes. I gotta finish my SmarterMind game first.

Class scheduling for next semester and other rantngs of a bored mind

2007-10-31T17:56:00.000-07:00

This week is advising week. That basically means we have to meet with our advisors to select classes for next semester. It has been an interesting week, trying to coordinate class schedules with what I want and need to take. and just because you sign up for a class doesn’t mean you will get in…there is a whole process which ends with the professors choosing who is in their classes. Right now it looks like I will be requesting to get into Organic Chemistry II, Chem EQ, Professionals Tools for Scientific careers (this is a pass fail class which meets once a week and is only ¼ of a credit), a religious studies class, and something else. I am applying for the Duffy Partnership in the Community class, which is a sociology class that you actually need teacher recommendations for and you have a steady volunteer job in the community and do some sort of research project. If I don’t get into that class, however, there are about 4 other classes I am interested in taking (non of which are science)….I guess we shall see what happens.

I have had a ton of stuff to do this week….and I have been a bit sick. On top of my regular school work I have been rushing around trying to get recommendations for the Duffy class and a summer program I want to do at a hospital in Madison, writing the essays for both applications, trying to get some sleep, and learning a torah portion for a family friends Bat Mitzvah on Saturday. It is so weird to be memorizing/ learning something in a language you don’t really know too well. When I was in middle school and high school, I was in this program that preformed full length Shakespeare plays. I memorized the part of Iago in about a week! In Hebrew…I have spent more then a week and I only know 4 out of 5 sentences….yikes.

To any students who logged on to chat with us last night, we had fun. To any students who have unanswered questions about Beloit, we students are in the chat rooms Sundays-Thursdays from 6:30-9:30 (our time). Have a good rest of the week.

Halloween and Dots

2007-10-29T19:46:00.000-07:00

Since is on Wednesday (a school day), the major Halloween stuff went on last weekend. It was fun to see people in costume Saturday. I think my favorite costume was the pink fuzzy gorilla that ran into me in a stairwell (and I didn’t have my camera with me….oh well), but there were so many funny and creative costumes including a group of box people, a bunch of wood fairies, and a Dumbledore and pairing. I went to one of the many Halloween parties at one of the fraternities, but missed out on a lot of the day time activities (like face painting and pumpkin carving) because I had an organic chemistry test to study for.

But the festivities aren’t over yet. Tomorrow night is the ghost tour, which I went on last year. Basically a group of people take you around to the various “haunted” places on campus. It is very amusing, plus they have food and drink stuffs (last year they had hot apple cider, my favorite fall drink!) There will also be events on Wednesday, and some of my professors encouraged us to dress up…I hope THEY dress up! Yes, I am definitely carrying my camera around this Wednesday.

Today was very busy for me. It was the first day we had tables at DK’s and Commons to register voters, and we registered 40 some odd voters! I also had to attend classes, finish study abroad recommendations for two of my friends, do a bunch of homework, and attend BelCon (the student congress) where I am the representative for International club. Not only were their two fire alarums during the meeting, but Alex, who incidentally also keeps a blog, hit me right between the eyes by some Dots (the gummy candy…but don’t be fooled by their gummy looking appearance, they are HARD)

the return of fall break and emergency drill superheroes

2007-10-25T16:30:00.001-07:00

So as promised, I am going to start today’s blog with some more fall break things…

We took my friend Jie to house on the rock, and it was weird. There are all these amazing sculptures and things, paired with really odd exhibits. This picture is of a mechanical music box thing that actually plays the song “Octopuses Garden” and is huge.

On our way back from the House on the Rock, my mother pulled over at this pumpkin patch and we ended up buying this huge pumpkin!

Now, moving on to more recent events….
Yesterday we had an emergency drill which involved a bunch of state agencies including the bomb squad, homeland security, the police, the hospital, and a bunch of other people. I heard that the Governor was there, but did not see gov’ner Doyle myself.

There was a roped off area so that students could observe the goingons. This club on campus called Theater of Confusion dressed up like superheroes for the day and carried signs, my favorite one was “imaginary crimes call for imaginary heroes!” and also the one that said “Heroes hate doors too! (The SWAT team got to blow up a door).

The drill involved evacuating everyone from Bushnell (a dorm) at 8:00 in the morning. Many people were mad that they didn’t get to sleep in, but I didn’t care. I had to be in class at 8 anyway, though Paul let us out an hour early to see the drill. There were a bunch of fires lit, and some Beloit students had been enlisted to play “the victims”. All in all, it was an interesting experience.

Break

2007-10-22T19:26:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I am back from break feeling relaxed, refreshed, and ready to go….sort of. My friend Jie, also a sophomore here, came home with me (a week is not quite enough time to go back to China), and my mom had lots of fun taking her to House on the Rock (a weird Wisconsin tourist trap consisting of an assortment of odd collections and a house built into a the face of what we Wisconsinites define as a cliff). We also went to this family owned Chinese restaurant and Jie had tons of fun ordering and talking to the owners in Chinese, they even joined us for part of the meal.

We rented a lot of movies and vegged out on the couch for most of the week. My favorite movie we rented was called “Keeping Mum” and stared Rowan Atkinson and Maggie Smith. It was hilarious, and if you like British comedies you should definitely see this one. I don’t want to give away the not so subtle twist, but the basic plot consist of a homicidal crazy woman who just wants to do what is best for the people she loves. It is absolutely insanely good!

I have not had time to take my photos off of my camera (I took 322), so I can not yet accurately depict the huge pumpkin my mother bought at a farm off of the highway, the dorm sized jack-O-Lantern Jie carved at a party my Madison friends threw, or the oddities displayed at House on the Rock. These stories will all have to wait for my next post.

cats and dogs

2007-10-11T16:53:00.000-07:00

I wasn’t intending to write another post before break, but I changed my mind. Today, as my friends and I were walking to commons for lunch, we saw a bunch of dogs by the wall (a general hang-out place on the residential side of campus). Everyone knows that petting a cat or a dog can be really therapeutic and calming, so the college had asked campus staff with pets to bring them as a sort of mid-midterm pick me up. It was great! At first, I was petting a bunch of dogs but really missing my cats (I am more of a cat person), but the Starburst the cat showed up. Mmmmmmm, bliss. It was great to see so many happy people. I even saw my lovely coworker Emily, petting an enchanting chap named Murphy.

Gallstones, The Voter Registration Program, and the mannequin inhabiting the Java Joint

2007-10-10T16:59:00.000-07:00

First off I would like to apologize for the general boringness of my blog recently. It has been a busy and chaotic week, as you can see from all of the notes I had to write on my hand (and that wasn’t even HALF of it)

Yesterday in my organic chem lab we ground up gal stones, collected by my professor from the local hospital, in order to obtain data about their cholesterol content. This picture features one of my friends modeling the “we are doing things with biological materials that we don’t want to incorporate into our systems” look that is so very popular in Chamberlain (the science building).

As you may be able to tell by my bio, I am very active in the political scene on and off campus. This year someone started the “Voter Registration Project.” Basically, this project works in conjunction with the city clerk to get as many voters as possible registered at the college for the presidential election BEFORE the election (though Wisconsin does have same-day registration). About 22 of us got deputized yesterday to officially be able to register voters in the Beloit area. I then got elected to the executive bored of the group. We are going to be planning several voter registration drives in-between now and the 2008 election.

The Java Joint is one of the best things about academic side of campus (says the caffeinated coffeeholic). There are a ton of tables and couches down there, as well as a pinball machine; it is a great space to hang out in. Since my time on campus, they have really improved the products served there. We have many organic teas that taste great, and fair trade coffee that is way better then regular cafeteria coffee (though I have an adequate stock of coffee and Italian espresso in my room). This semester the visiting artist (every semester we have a new one, they teach seminar classes and give lectures and things), put a sewing mannequin at the entrance to the Java Joint along with a bunch of art supplies and asked students to contribute to the community project. Since then, I have fondly watched as more and more has been added to the mannequin.

Well, I am off for a week starting Friday. Have a good week, don’t forget to breath.

Fall break plans and The Round Table

2007-10-08T19:22:00.000-07:00

Only one more week until break…I am so excited. As much as I love Beloit, I really am in need of a trip back home (the full hour drive, how will I ever survive?) And I need to see my Madison friends. And take a walk down State Street. And I need a day where I can sleep in and not feel like I should be doing work of some sort. And a home cooked meal. And a meal at my favorite Indian restaurant where the waiters know me. And a trip to the bank. As you can see, I REALLY need a break.

Things here are….busy, to say the least. I have a ton of work due on Wednesday, but once I am done with that I am practically done for a week! Three of my four classes got canceled on Friday, which means I can leave a bit early then originally anticipated.

I am a published author! Granted it is only in the school newspaper, The Round Table. I wrote an article last semester for my journalism class on mediation, and this semester my professor suggested I submit it to The Round Table. I did, and today when I opened the paper, there it was. I have not read it yet. I feel so weird about it. I spent all this time on crafting my article, researching for it and conducting interviews, and of course writing it. Now it is laid bare for all who choose to read it. It is an interesting feeling.

A new major and Scientology

2007-10-03T16:45:00.001-07:00

I am officially declared….again! I changed my major today. It was only from cellular and molecular biology to biochemistry, so I didn’t have far to go (which reminds me, I need to change my bio information now). If someone had told me two years ago that I would even be thinking of majoring in a science I would have laughed heartily in their faces. How things change. That is one of the good things about going to a liberal arts school though; since you are required to take many different types of classes it is easy to stumble onto something you really enjoy.

Last week I saw one of my professors from last year in the mail room. He gave me his office hours and told me to stop by sometime. I went on Monday and we talked for almost an hour! Since I do not have a class with him this semester, our conversation was mainly just about life. After leaving I felt so relaxed. I love talking to my professors like they are real people, and they have such great insights.

Today in my intro psych class we played this game where you have a stack of 20 cards with famous peoples names on them and you compete against another team in three rounds. In the first round, you try to get your partner to guess the person and you can say whatever you want except the person’s actual name, in the second round you can only use one word and hand gestures, and in the third round you can only use hand gestures. It was really amusing to see people trying to act out people like Jeb Bush, Rosa Parks, and Ian Mckellen. One of our people was Tom cruise, and in the first round I described him as a big Scientologist. That quickly became the identifying word for the next round, but when we got to the acting round the results were…interesting. How do you mime Scientology?

Of bowl burials and edible ears

2007-09-30T20:38:00.001-07:00

I had a very entertaining weekend. It was parents' weekend, and my mother cam to visit bringing with her many much needed items such as Burt's Beeswax Chap Stick and duct tape. It was kind of funny that she came, seeing as I am only an hour away. I tried so hard to go to an east coast school, I wanted out of the Midwest and out of Wisconsin. It isn't actually too bad living close to home though. Whenever I get a little too stressed, I can always take the Van Galder home for the weekend and study in my own room. It can be very relaxing.

After my mother left, my friends and I had a funeral for one of my friend's (Ama's) favorite bowls. Heather (another one of my friends) had borrowed the bowl and dropped it while carrying it to be cleaned.

During the funeral there was a bit of drama. Ama publicly accused Heather of killing the bowl, and things got a bit physical.

After the procession, Ama didn't know which recycle to put it in (we have two, one for paper, and one for everything else). She eventually poured the remnants into the garbage can.

After the funeral, we drove down to Cub’s to buy Starburst to make an ear for Ama's sculpture class (we really didn't need to drive, but it was dark and we were really lazy). When we got back to campus I made Ama parallel park for herself (I usually do it for her). The results were….interesting. While we were walking back to the dorm we walked past a frat house whose members were listening to 90's love songs on the porch and singing along! We finally got back to the dorms and the ear was made. It looked really creepy.

Today wasn't very exciting, I did homework for practically the entire day in one of the study group rooms with a bunch of people from my organic chem and/or physics class. I am done with my homework now *phew* and am going to go relaxin my room by watching Eddie Izzard, drinking a blackberry Izze, and listening to the rain in the background.

2007-09-25T21:51:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to a moon cake party. If you don't know what that is, don't worry…I didn't know what it was either. My friend is in Chinese club, and she invited me. Basically, a moon cake is a Chinese cake type thing eaten during a festival celebrating autumn that I can not pronounce nor spell (though I tried very hard to say it in its proper Chinese, to the amusement of the member of the Chinese club). A moon cake is very dense and filled with really….interesting…things. Some were quite normal, like coconut and pistachio filling, while other were filled with jellified shark fin, shrimp, tuna (I think), and even bacon! I was a little hesitant to try some of the odder (and as I was told, fancier) flavors, but I did. I like trying new things, even if they are a bit odd. I think that to live in this world peaceably every one needs to be a bit more aware of other cultures, and a bit more willing to except and participate in others traditions. Plus…they are fun!

Today, as I was walking to the library, I saw a very Beloitesque scene. The human biology class had drawn things on the sidewalk outside of Pearson's (like DNA and mitochondria), and were playing red rover. As I walked past them I thought was "this is why I go here."

No stick-koala bears were hurt in the making of this lecture

2007-09-19T16:51:00.000-07:00

My physics professor likes to draw problems for us. Unfortunately (for him…the class is quite amused), he is a horrendous drawer (sorry Paul), and can only draw interesting stick figures. Today, in order to illustrate a projectile motion problem, he drew a hunter aiming at a koala bear. I wish I had had my camera with me!

So I guess I should let you all know what classes I am taking, as I may reference them in the future (classes? What? People actually go to classes in college?). Since I am a crazy biology major, I have a crazy course load. I am currently taking organic chemistry, physics, nerve signaling, and intro psychology. Unfortunately, I couldn’t fit a writing class into my schedule. That is alright, I suppose, because the nerve signaling class is actually pretty heavy in the writing department. We are even reading a book by the Dalai Lama!.

This may make me sound utterly insane, but my favorite class is organic chemistry. It just makes sense to me. Unlike physics….but physics has stick-koala bears, so it is all good.

Have a great rest of the week.

Beginnings and Signage

2007-09-16T21:28:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog. Wow, what a creative start. I generally find beginnings to be the most uncomfortable part of things. That being said, I hope you enjoy reading my posts in the coming months. I hope they are interesting, funny, sarcastic, and an accurate representation of my life here on campus. It is important to remember when making your college decision that each student’s experiences at a school are unique, and your “college experience” is what you choose to make of it.

I spent some of my summer in Toronto Canada, and found some amusing signage:

This sign (and the next one) was in a candy shop. the guy standing in front of me bought $850 in candy!!!!!

Seeing as this was a week before school started, this one kind of hit home. Not that I find school grim, I just love summer break.

Thank you for the sign telling us of the protruding sign.

Have a good week!