My life, so far, at Temple
Hey everyone! So
sorry that I don’t write in this thing anymore. I am just so loaded with homework all the time that when I
finish, all I want is to go to bed. I’m
not really gonna go into everything that’s happened and all the great people
I’ve met. You’ll simply have to get
used to the new names (I’ll put in minor parenthetical explanations).
Yesterday, Michelle (one of my best friends here), got hit by a car! That’s right, a white SUV…I hate those things! Fuckin’ thing probably had RIMS too. It hit her from behind, ON CAMPUS, and was a hit and run! Hit and run…can you believe that?! Anyway, I got the call from her roommate Emily, and I was basically expressionless. How do you react to something like that? However, before any of you get worried, Michelle is fine. Well, “fine.” Fine if you consider the fact that even though she didn’t have to stay overnight at the hospital, she is in a hell of a lot of pain (back, legs, etc.). However, we all must realize that things like this could have been much worse, and as odd as it sounds, we must be thankful that that’s ALL that happened. Love you Michelle.
For those of you who don’t know, I am now a staff writer for The Temple News (the Temple newspaper…clever title, huh?). The way it works is the section editors send assignments through email to everyone and whoever is interested in the article can reply and say they want it. For days, nothing has been appropriate for me. Finally, last Friday, I read the one that was right up my alley. I emailed my editor and got it! Guess who’s gonna be $15 richer next week! That’s right…Temple News PAYS!
The assignment is about tax on student food purchases. If you buy a meal at the Student Center and pay with cash, they charge 7% tax. If you pay for the meal with Diamond Dollars (the debit money here for students), however, there is no tax. My assignment is to talk to whoever is in charge of that policy. I think it’s quite interesting and it’s really exciting.
So today I began my sleuth work (God, I hate that word). I went to the Student Center (really nervous, just because this is my first assignment), and asked to speak to the manager. The employee probably thought I wanted to complain. She came out and we sat down. She was pretty nice. I told her why I was there and she immediately told me she was not the person to talk to. Deflated. She referred me to this guy who is the director of Dining Services Marketing. I went back to my dorm and called him. This distressed me from the start because I hate doing interviews by phone. In fact, I’ve never done one before, because I always try to avoid that method (on the phone, that is. I love interviewing). Immediately when I told him why I was calling, he sounded so nervous and defensive to me. Throughout the entire conversation, I felt as if he thought I was trying to get him fired or uncover some terrible conspiracy. Get real, dude! Anyway, he told me that he wasn’t really the right person to talk to, “[he’s] not a tax accountant.” Haven’t I heard this before? He said I should talk to Business Services. Regardless, he still gave me some answers.
One thing I’ve realized in the past few weeks, what with my Journ. classes and these shenanigans today, is that people really don’t like journalists. Why? Aren’t I nice?
So after I talked to that weakling, I went over to the Student Center (which I refuse to call “the SAC”) to get some quotes from students on how they feel about the policy. Is it fair, etc. First, I went up to these two girls with my dorky recorder (I don’t care if it’s dorky…I love that thing!). I felt really bad, because I’m like this annoying journalist who is gonna interrupt their lunch. The look on their eyes reminded me as if we were back in middle school and I walking up to their lunch table to ask one of them out. I introduced myself (and SO wished I was Amanda…because no one can say no to her) and asked them their opinions. They were good. Then I moved to a table with these two guys. They were equally nice…and even more chill than the girls. I left the Student Center then; four was enough for one day. Honestly, it’s NOT EASY to go up to strangers and ask to record them!
At 3.30pm, I had a newspaper feature meeting at the newsroom. The meeting was ok. Afterward, however, I saw the News Editor, Barbara (whom I’ve been corresponding with about the tax article, because it’s in her section). We talked for about ten minutes. It was great. We really hit it off and we had a great discussion about the research I had already done and about interviewing people in general. She’s really cool. Too bad she’s FUCKING RESIGNING at the end of the month!
I just realized, what do you all care about the mass details I gave you about my article? Sorry if I bored you…it’s just that I find it fascinating.
Let’s see, what do you want to know? Well, life here is good. Honestly. Yes, there are times that I’m down…but that’s mostly because of huge amounts of work, and other times just because I’m missing home. However, I’m not kidding, thank God for my friends here because I COULD NOT survive without them. My roommate, James, is UBER-COOL and I have an awesome time with him. Our friend Michelle is my other best friend here. James, Michelle, and I do everything together, and I really hope that doesn’t change. There are a lot of other great people here too. Just to name a few, there’s Liz (who I tease to no end), Rachel (our “tough girl” from Brooklyn), Kelly (so sweet she’ll give you a cavity), and Chris “The Gun Show” (who can rock an Irish accent and always keep us laughing). There’s some other great people too, Meg (one of the most unique styles of humor) and Kat (our expressionless, but cherished friend from PLHS).
My dorm is awesome. I love it. It’s very homey and comfortable. I’ll try and put a picture of it on here this weekend. Perhaps Amanda can guide me through it.
Let’s see, we do a lot of fun things down here. We go to the Temple movies often. Admission is $1, how awesome is that? They’re showing Spiderman 2 this weekend, I kid you not, I am going to see it at LEAST five times! We’re always hanging out at Michelle’s dorm, only because she has the biggest TV out of all of us. We have super movie fests all the time. Holy crap, do I stay out late on weekends! It’s kinda fun…just because at home I could never do that. This Saturday night, James and I got home at 5am! And just so all of you know, my moral standards are exactly the way they were when I left. In you FACE to all you non-believers! We’ve gone to U Penn twice. Last Friday we went ice skating there…how random is that?!
Ok, that’s about it for now. All I can say is that my friends from home have given me such incredible support. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart; you keep me going. Especially the undying support from Amanda, Clare, and Ana. Thanks.
Ok, I hope this suffices. I will really try to keep this thing updated. Please, if you really wanna talk to me, don’t hesitate to email!
Take care.
Yesterday, Michelle (one of my best friends here), got hit by a car! That’s right, a white SUV…I hate those things! Fuckin’ thing probably had RIMS too. It hit her from behind, ON CAMPUS, and was a hit and run! Hit and run…can you believe that?! Anyway, I got the call from her roommate Emily, and I was basically expressionless. How do you react to something like that? However, before any of you get worried, Michelle is fine. Well, “fine.” Fine if you consider the fact that even though she didn’t have to stay overnight at the hospital, she is in a hell of a lot of pain (back, legs, etc.). However, we all must realize that things like this could have been much worse, and as odd as it sounds, we must be thankful that that’s ALL that happened. Love you Michelle.
For those of you who don’t know, I am now a staff writer for The Temple News (the Temple newspaper…clever title, huh?). The way it works is the section editors send assignments through email to everyone and whoever is interested in the article can reply and say they want it. For days, nothing has been appropriate for me. Finally, last Friday, I read the one that was right up my alley. I emailed my editor and got it! Guess who’s gonna be $15 richer next week! That’s right…Temple News PAYS!
The assignment is about tax on student food purchases. If you buy a meal at the Student Center and pay with cash, they charge 7% tax. If you pay for the meal with Diamond Dollars (the debit money here for students), however, there is no tax. My assignment is to talk to whoever is in charge of that policy. I think it’s quite interesting and it’s really exciting.
So today I began my sleuth work (God, I hate that word). I went to the Student Center (really nervous, just because this is my first assignment), and asked to speak to the manager. The employee probably thought I wanted to complain. She came out and we sat down. She was pretty nice. I told her why I was there and she immediately told me she was not the person to talk to. Deflated. She referred me to this guy who is the director of Dining Services Marketing. I went back to my dorm and called him. This distressed me from the start because I hate doing interviews by phone. In fact, I’ve never done one before, because I always try to avoid that method (on the phone, that is. I love interviewing). Immediately when I told him why I was calling, he sounded so nervous and defensive to me. Throughout the entire conversation, I felt as if he thought I was trying to get him fired or uncover some terrible conspiracy. Get real, dude! Anyway, he told me that he wasn’t really the right person to talk to, “[he’s] not a tax accountant.” Haven’t I heard this before? He said I should talk to Business Services. Regardless, he still gave me some answers.
One thing I’ve realized in the past few weeks, what with my Journ. classes and these shenanigans today, is that people really don’t like journalists. Why? Aren’t I nice?
So after I talked to that weakling, I went over to the Student Center (which I refuse to call “the SAC”) to get some quotes from students on how they feel about the policy. Is it fair, etc. First, I went up to these two girls with my dorky recorder (I don’t care if it’s dorky…I love that thing!). I felt really bad, because I’m like this annoying journalist who is gonna interrupt their lunch. The look on their eyes reminded me as if we were back in middle school and I walking up to their lunch table to ask one of them out. I introduced myself (and SO wished I was Amanda…because no one can say no to her) and asked them their opinions. They were good. Then I moved to a table with these two guys. They were equally nice…and even more chill than the girls. I left the Student Center then; four was enough for one day. Honestly, it’s NOT EASY to go up to strangers and ask to record them!
At 3.30pm, I had a newspaper feature meeting at the newsroom. The meeting was ok. Afterward, however, I saw the News Editor, Barbara (whom I’ve been corresponding with about the tax article, because it’s in her section). We talked for about ten minutes. It was great. We really hit it off and we had a great discussion about the research I had already done and about interviewing people in general. She’s really cool. Too bad she’s FUCKING RESIGNING at the end of the month!
I just realized, what do you all care about the mass details I gave you about my article? Sorry if I bored you…it’s just that I find it fascinating.
Let’s see, what do you want to know? Well, life here is good. Honestly. Yes, there are times that I’m down…but that’s mostly because of huge amounts of work, and other times just because I’m missing home. However, I’m not kidding, thank God for my friends here because I COULD NOT survive without them. My roommate, James, is UBER-COOL and I have an awesome time with him. Our friend Michelle is my other best friend here. James, Michelle, and I do everything together, and I really hope that doesn’t change. There are a lot of other great people here too. Just to name a few, there’s Liz (who I tease to no end), Rachel (our “tough girl” from Brooklyn), Kelly (so sweet she’ll give you a cavity), and Chris “The Gun Show” (who can rock an Irish accent and always keep us laughing). There’s some other great people too, Meg (one of the most unique styles of humor) and Kat (our expressionless, but cherished friend from PLHS).
My dorm is awesome. I love it. It’s very homey and comfortable. I’ll try and put a picture of it on here this weekend. Perhaps Amanda can guide me through it.
Let’s see, we do a lot of fun things down here. We go to the Temple movies often. Admission is $1, how awesome is that? They’re showing Spiderman 2 this weekend, I kid you not, I am going to see it at LEAST five times! We’re always hanging out at Michelle’s dorm, only because she has the biggest TV out of all of us. We have super movie fests all the time. Holy crap, do I stay out late on weekends! It’s kinda fun…just because at home I could never do that. This Saturday night, James and I got home at 5am! And just so all of you know, my moral standards are exactly the way they were when I left. In you FACE to all you non-believers! We’ve gone to U Penn twice. Last Friday we went ice skating there…how random is that?!
Ok, that’s about it for now. All I can say is that my friends from home have given me such incredible support. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart; you keep me going. Especially the undying support from Amanda, Clare, and Ana. Thanks.
Ok, I hope this suffices. I will really try to keep this thing updated. Please, if you really wanna talk to me, don’t hesitate to email!
Take care.