College Class of 2009 Mindset

Beloit College has been putting out a list of College Mindsets for each incoming freshman class since 2002. Since I (and many friends) are college freshman this year, I thought it would be fun to share the Beloit College's Mindset List® for the Class of 2009. Oddly enough, almost all of these are true... at least for me. Many of them I just never thought about before. Most of the ones that are not true, I have just flat out never heard of or are sports related (read: I have just flat out never heard of). The one's I found particularly interesting were 6, 7, 16, 39, 46, and 63.

College Beginnings

Well, today I did it. Today marks the first day that I did not do a homework assignment for college. Wow, that only took six days. I was a little better in high school about this. I didn't purposefully not do it. My last English class was Friday at 2:30 and was the last class of the day out of four. I only had an hour or two to relax between classes that day (and it was decently hot out that day) and I was so tired that I kept drifting off during class and think I may have full-blown fallen asleep at one point. The last two days in English have been frustrating. Him asking us questions and then saying, "Well, you could see it that way... but this is how it really is." I hate teachers that "teach" like that so I have been not paying attention a lot. Today, he said hand in your three to four paragraph papers and I had nothin. Oh well, we write 8,000+ words in the class and this was only about 300 and wasn't a major assignment (well, it wasn't on the syllabus, another reason I missed it because I actually pay attention to that). Oh well, so begins the college life I guess.

Singin' in the Rain

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f9/Katrina_3day.gif

Looks like West Lafayette is dangerously close to getting some of Hurricane Katrina Tuesday Night/Wednesday morning. Looks like I should figure out how to use CityBus.

Found a Song

If you remember my post last month, Can't Find a Song, well, I finally found it. Never heard of the band but found the song. Anybody else love that feeling too? It's like a high.

Random

Is it just me, or does <3 not resemble a heart in the slightest bit?

It's Only 10:45!

Today, I woke up, got dressed, climbed fifty flights of stairs, ran a mile, and then burned 36 calories (which I know is only like 1/100th of a pound, but it's more than I usually burn). AND... it's only 10:45AM.

My First Class

Today I got up at 6am, took a shower, watched some cartoons, ate a poptart, and then went to my first college class. I had Math 153 at 7:30 this morning. The walk was suprisingly nice. It's beautiful out at 7am. The walk was very peaceful, except for the bus I almost walked out in front of. I need to start paying attention to those.

Math 153 was just like any other math class I suppose. We went over some rules and stuff and then went through our first lesson. I take exams in the huge Elliot Hall of Music with about 2,500 other students. That will be a little different. We got the syllabus and our first homework assignment and then class ended. Fifty minute classes are so eassy to deal with because of block scheduling.

It was only 8:20 when I got out so I decided to not go back to my dorm quite yet. Loeb Fountain is right by the building I was in so I went and sat by the fountain and did my homework. I also tried to call my mom but she wasn't home. That was so cool, to be sitting outside by a huge fountain doing homework. I just loved it. At about 8:45 it started to finally get warm... then hot. I left at ten till and got back at my room at 9:05. One class, two phone calls, about 15 math problems, and 15 blocks of walking in 2 hours and 5 minutes. Is this really college?!

Great TV News

Great news! At home, Desperate Housewives is on at the same time as Family Guy and American Dad. I hate choosing because I like all of those shows. Down here in West Lafayette, the schedule goes: 8pm Simpsons, 8:30pm Family Guy, 9pm Family Guy, 9:30 American Dad, 10pm Desperate Housewives. College is great!

Classes Start Tomorrow

Well, my first college class is tomorrow. At 7:30am. What a wake-up call. It's kind of on the other side of campus too but it's not too bad. Anyway, it's my math class and is right by the Memorial Fountain (for those of you who know where or what that is). Hopefully I'll wake up!

Boiler Gold Rush Officially Over

Boiler Gold Rush was very cool and was a lot of fun this week. Today, everybody else starts to move on campus. I'm guessing it is going to be insane. I think we're going to do something to get away from all the madness. So far, there hasn't been too much noise or people around, but it is only 10:00 in the morning and I did get up only 20 minutes ago.

We met three nice people last night. Mike and I had our door open and they came by. One was a BGR team leader girl that actually roomed with our team leader and the other two guys said they had our RA last year. They gave us some tips. She told us about the hole in the fence, which is apparently a huge shortcut. She also said don't date freshman girls, unless you want girls that are easy. Her advice was to wait until sophomore year to get a girlfriend. I think she was a little tipsy.

A lot of people are coming down today. Amanda Keene, Everett?, Anita, Brandon and possibly some other people are coming down. We're meeting the first three at the McDonalds by us at 6:00. I'm so excited to see all of them. I've missed them so much and it will be great to see them all before they start school.

First Fountain Run

Tonight, Mike and I did a 12:30am fountain run through the Engineering Fountain. It was amazing (and cold). I have some pictures (edit: that Melanie took for me) so when I get the camera developed I'll put them on here.

First Crazy Drunk Person

Today, when coming home from Meijer Mania we met this drunk person on the stairs. He dropped his cell phone and couldn't snap it back on because he was drunk. Mike fixed it and then the drunk guy called us miracle workers. He then proceded to invite us to the "mad frat party" but we decided to decline. I love college!

In With the New

Well, last night was my first night of sleeping in college. It took forever to fall asleep but I think that was because it was so exciting. Last night, Mike and I got all of our stuff moved in and I think we're all set on that front. We were just hanging out and a few people came into our dorm (that's what happens when you leave your door open) to say hi and introduce themselves. That was cool. We met our neighbors across the hall. One is Mike and the other name starts with a D. Then Kate Howe called and she came over to our room for a while. We got bored in our room so we went down to the Tarkington Common room thing (mainly because it has a/c). After a while there, at about midnight, we walked Kate back to her dorm. Then, Mike and I decided to explore campus a little bit. We went to the bell tower and then to the fountain. Almost ran through but didn't. Then we were just kind of randomly walking and eventually ended up by our dorm. We went inside and went to bed around 1.

This morning we slept until like 11:30. Well, Mike's alarm went off at 9 and we were both already up but for some reason both of us went back to sleep. When his alarm went off, he jumped out of bed to get it. Since there isn't much room to jump on our bed, he totally hit his head on the ceiling. He's fine but it was pretty funny. Then we just kind of hung out. The showers I may never get used to. It's just weird. Anyway, we're waiting for a bunch of people to move down today and rumor has it we are doing something with them. College is going to be amazing.

Weird Things I Have to Get Used To:
-Locking my door everything I leave the room
-Being able to do anything I Want
-Showers and Bathrooms
-Not Having A/C (though, right now, it's quite comfortable)
-Random People Walking in my Room (which I do like though)
-Not Having my Car
-Not Having the People from Back Home

Done!

Who is done working? I think that's me!

Our Annual Family Trip to Shipshewana

Tonight, I am getting ready for our annual trip to Shipshewana, Indiana. This is the heart of Amish country in Indiana and I look forward to this all year. The four of us in my family have always gone with my dad's parents, so six of us total, since I was probably about 6 years old. We used to take my grandparent's motorhome, which was awesome. Maggie and I would be done between 12:30 and 1:00 and would go sit in the A/C'd motorhome and watch TV until the parents and grandparents were done. Well, my grandpa's knees have been replaced and driving the motorhome that far is starting to be very stressful for him. We took the mini-van for the first time last year and it wasn't all that bad.

The biggest thing we do down in ShipShe is the huge Flea Market. It is enormous (that picture shows half of it, maybe). Now, if you know me, you know that flea markets rank right up there with garage sales and Wal-Mart (yes, I used to like them but I have realized the error of my ways). Shipshewana is different though. There is a lot of junk, but also a lot of good stuff. Last year, I got a car charger for my cell phone for $10 ($40 at the t-mobile store) that worked perfectly until my cell phone stopped working. Maggie, myself, and my mom book through the aisles and stop only at the good booths, which there are suprisingly a lot of. Now that we don't have the motorhome to wait in, my parents and grandma stop shopping earlier and we have begun a new thing, going to Downtown Shipshewana.

Downtown is so cool. It's the old-country feel but not old-country-about-to-fall-apart. We find someplace to eat and then walk around, for about an hour, going to a lot of the shops. It is so much fun just to see all the buildings and landsaping. There is nothing like it around here.

It's so relaxing and that's one of the reasons I think I look forward to it every year. Eerybody is there just to enjoy the sun and taking their time and not rushing (although they could leave some of the aisle open for those of us who relax at a faster pace than they do). It really clears the mind of everything that is going on, especially with all the changes that are about to happen with going to college and moving away. It is going to be the perfect timing and I am looking forward to it so much!