(no subject)
super glued my glasses, damn right. the repair i would say is minimally visible and now i have some time before i need to go to lenscrafters... and i got to sleep in until like 11 without having to take the bus anywhere.
seeing as i only have one more thing to do tonight, i thought i would take the time to elaborate on school a little bit more... more so than last night in the library, when i did have things to do.
so, orientation was really amazing. i am greatly appreciative that cmu puts as much time and effort into their orientation as they do, because it really lowers everyone's guards and is just good plain fun. we do the whole ice breaker deal etc. etc. but there's events all week, so many that you sort of have to pick and choose which you want to go to. there was also a comedian from comedy central one night, an illusionist who has been on leno and conan (and who was FUCKING RIDICULOUS), trips into the pittsburgh area like canoeing, kayaking, and rock climbing, and a bunch of other stuff that felt more like summer camp than college. (and i apologize if this is all more commonplace than maybe i make it sound, but i was really impressed). we had dorm wars, i learned sooo many cheers and heckles, but alas we lost and failed to establish an unprecedented threepeat. oh well. and the whole week is basically parties at frats with free booze (the frats also exceed my expectations) but i only really went out one night because i was fighting an illness from jetlag/germany/etc.
and then classes started. monday and wednesday i start at 930, friday 1030, and tuesday and thursday at 130. the scheduling is not bad, in fact i really like it, but the work is what gets you. this second-year archie guy was telling us that you know you've had a good year if you don't break down in tears either in front of your professors or your peers. yikes. it hasn't been hard yet though, but we're ready to be fucked tomorrow in light of the three day weekend coming up. and i was talking with my parents about classes during our last dinner together in pittsburgh and how its college so they dont care if you come or not, its your money/education, your decisions, etc. nope. if you have three absences you fail a class and even if they're excused they still can count. if you fall asleep in class it counts as an absence thus contributing to your risk of failing. 'sick' means hospitalized and family emergency means death. and they check on both. INSANE. i think they're trying to weed out the weaklings, and i am terrified.
nonetheless, the studio space is reeeaaallly nice and in this beautiful building and everyone seems cool so far. when they introduced us to our studio groups they said "this is your new family" so i imagine i'll learn all about my classmates, which is really cool. there's a few kids from singapore, this massive kid joe from taiwan who is really funny, a kid from egypt, a girl from greece, and actually a girl from new hampshire, which is weird. i think we'll make a pretty sweet family, especially when we're all there til 4am or whatever ungodly hours in this apparent year from hell.
in lighter news, i joined the band so i get to wear a kilt and all the associated irish garb during marching season. its a really dorky but incredibly fun organization so i'm looking forward to it. we dont really march like in high school though, i think we stand in formation when we play. at all other times, basically we heckle the other team and have a history of getting in trouble for it, especially the cheers... i also talked to a guy about joining an organization that meets with innercity youth, which i thought would be a really great experience since merrimack doesnt necessarily offer much in the way of disadvantaged city youth. i'm also joining the crew team, another decision i look forward to. i was considering the swim team but talked to a guy on it who said it's been getting really big, sort of out of control, so the coach is making cuts and sort of being a douche and its an absolute time commitment. i think i'll do my best to swim leisurely and join crew instead. to advertise events/organization/etc around campus people write on all the sidewalks and stairs and everything with chalk and all the crew team ads say "LOOK BETTER NAKED!! JOIN CREW" haha, maybe i'll look better naked too.
errr, in other news, i don't really know. so much has happened here and i have this urge to share it with people because all the people here obviously know everything i have to talk about... because they live here too haha. so, i dont know. maybe all of this is pretty normal at most colleges but, even so, i'm glad to be excited because that means i must like it all.
i still have some reading/writing so i should end all of this business... goodnight.
"my heart is in the work" (cmu motto!)
seeing as i only have one more thing to do tonight, i thought i would take the time to elaborate on school a little bit more... more so than last night in the library, when i did have things to do.
so, orientation was really amazing. i am greatly appreciative that cmu puts as much time and effort into their orientation as they do, because it really lowers everyone's guards and is just good plain fun. we do the whole ice breaker deal etc. etc. but there's events all week, so many that you sort of have to pick and choose which you want to go to. there was also a comedian from comedy central one night, an illusionist who has been on leno and conan (and who was FUCKING RIDICULOUS), trips into the pittsburgh area like canoeing, kayaking, and rock climbing, and a bunch of other stuff that felt more like summer camp than college. (and i apologize if this is all more commonplace than maybe i make it sound, but i was really impressed). we had dorm wars, i learned sooo many cheers and heckles, but alas we lost and failed to establish an unprecedented threepeat. oh well. and the whole week is basically parties at frats with free booze (the frats also exceed my expectations) but i only really went out one night because i was fighting an illness from jetlag/germany/etc.
and then classes started. monday and wednesday i start at 930, friday 1030, and tuesday and thursday at 130. the scheduling is not bad, in fact i really like it, but the work is what gets you. this second-year archie guy was telling us that you know you've had a good year if you don't break down in tears either in front of your professors or your peers. yikes. it hasn't been hard yet though, but we're ready to be fucked tomorrow in light of the three day weekend coming up. and i was talking with my parents about classes during our last dinner together in pittsburgh and how its college so they dont care if you come or not, its your money/education, your decisions, etc. nope. if you have three absences you fail a class and even if they're excused they still can count. if you fall asleep in class it counts as an absence thus contributing to your risk of failing. 'sick' means hospitalized and family emergency means death. and they check on both. INSANE. i think they're trying to weed out the weaklings, and i am terrified.
nonetheless, the studio space is reeeaaallly nice and in this beautiful building and everyone seems cool so far. when they introduced us to our studio groups they said "this is your new family" so i imagine i'll learn all about my classmates, which is really cool. there's a few kids from singapore, this massive kid joe from taiwan who is really funny, a kid from egypt, a girl from greece, and actually a girl from new hampshire, which is weird. i think we'll make a pretty sweet family, especially when we're all there til 4am or whatever ungodly hours in this apparent year from hell.
in lighter news, i joined the band so i get to wear a kilt and all the associated irish garb during marching season. its a really dorky but incredibly fun organization so i'm looking forward to it. we dont really march like in high school though, i think we stand in formation when we play. at all other times, basically we heckle the other team and have a history of getting in trouble for it, especially the cheers... i also talked to a guy about joining an organization that meets with innercity youth, which i thought would be a really great experience since merrimack doesnt necessarily offer much in the way of disadvantaged city youth. i'm also joining the crew team, another decision i look forward to. i was considering the swim team but talked to a guy on it who said it's been getting really big, sort of out of control, so the coach is making cuts and sort of being a douche and its an absolute time commitment. i think i'll do my best to swim leisurely and join crew instead. to advertise events/organization/etc around campus people write on all the sidewalks and stairs and everything with chalk and all the crew team ads say "LOOK BETTER NAKED!! JOIN CREW" haha, maybe i'll look better naked too.
errr, in other news, i don't really know. so much has happened here and i have this urge to share it with people because all the people here obviously know everything i have to talk about... because they live here too haha. so, i dont know. maybe all of this is pretty normal at most colleges but, even so, i'm glad to be excited because that means i must like it all.
i still have some reading/writing so i should end all of this business... goodnight.
"my heart is in the work" (cmu motto!)