i'm the silent partner
It's been almost a month since I updated, and to be quite honest, I've barely had time to catch my breath, let alone sit downa and write out a lovely post for all of you lovely interweb folk about what's been happening. Hopefully, that's going to change starting now-ish. Hopefully. I make no promises, except that this post is going to be ridiculously long. Maybe. I have a tendency to say that at the beginning and end up talking way less than I thought.
Starting classes! I didn't actually get a proper chance to talk about my classes specifically yet, so here goes nothing!
Next up, recruitment. It started after the second week of school, and it was probably the most rewarding experience I've had so far. I chose to help with recruitment from the Panhellenic side and disaffiliate from my sorority. I spent all of recruitment weekend with a bunch of wonderful girls and potential new members who I'm still keeping in contact with. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I can't even begin to put that experience into words. I think the best part about recruitment, though, was being able to run back to my sisters after reveal on Sunday. I wept. I am completely unashamed to admit that fact. I didn't realize how much I missed all of my sisters until I came back and had to walk past them but couldn't see them. But it's nice being back. It's so nice to be back.
On top of everything else, I've been continuing my preparations to study abroad. Just today I had a big pre-departure orientation where we got this big packet of information about what we need to do before we leave and what information we still need to send them. It's insane! I have to apply for a visa, and send in more forms and pictures and I'm about ready to beat my head against a wall. It'll be worth it, of course. I'm really excited. Woo!
The one thing I'm really excited about though, for this semester, is the number of people is coming to visit me. Both of my parents are coming to visit in October. What I'm most excited about, though, is the fact that one of my friends might be coming to visit me! None of my friends have ever come to visit me at school before, and I can't wait to have her come out so I can show her around.
Basically, exciting semester, school stress aside. I'll hopefully keep you all update more regularly now, too!
Starting classes! I didn't actually get a proper chance to talk about my classes specifically yet, so here goes nothing!
- My first class is unfortunately a M/W 8:30 AM class. However, Principles of Advertising is an awesome class. My professor is an absolutely awesome guy. He had us make a thirty second spot on the second day of class which is floating somewhere around YouTube, not that any of you will get a link. As far as I'm concerned, he's the most well-connected professor I've had thus far. He regularly uses Twitter and got us all on there within the first two weeks. I just really enjoy his class and the fact that he genuinely enjoys teaching it and interacting with us. It's like a giant techy advertising party.
- My next class is also a M/W class, but it's a PE class called "Self Defense for Women". I feel like this class takes the wrong approach sometimes, talking about the theory behind being attacked or approached by an unwanted person. We've gone over a few different defense positions and ways of retaliating, which is helpful. But the professors also have us run away screaming "fire, fire, fire" which, to me, seems absolutely ridiculous. They say it's to attract attention because people don't respond to "help", but seriously? Shouting "fire"? I don't know if I like this class, yet. I hope it gets better.
- My last class of the M/W block is Book Design. It's a pretty fun class. I've had the professor before for Book Arts, which mostly focused on craftsmanship of books (and has been what the design class has been about so far). It's been a pretty good class, I'm enjoying myself and I'm excited for what this class can bring. For our first big project, we get to design book covers.
- First up for my T/Th block is Theory and Practice of Journalism. I like the class, it's really interesting. We're in the process of writing our first article right now. The professor can be a bit of a hardass sometimes with how things are done--he's very set in his views--and he likes to have us read the NYT every single day, which I wouldn't mind except for the fact that I have a ton of other reading to do and I just don't have time for reading 10-13 articles per day. I have a colossal break between this class and my next one though, which is really nice.
- Then I have History of Graphic Design. This class has been giving me a fair bit of stress. We read a chapter of this giant textbook every single week, have to answer roughly 10-12 slightly repetitive, multi-part questions per week, and then design a bookmark reflecting that week's art period. The professor says it gets easier, but I'm not feeling it right now.
- My last class of that day is Advertising Design. This class is a bit more challenging than I thought it would be, but I think it's just getting into the mindset of an advertiser and trying to create taglines and such. I'm not used to being a writer, I'm used to being an artist, and I think that once I get into the swing of things, it'll get easier. Hopefully.
Next up, recruitment. It started after the second week of school, and it was probably the most rewarding experience I've had so far. I chose to help with recruitment from the Panhellenic side and disaffiliate from my sorority. I spent all of recruitment weekend with a bunch of wonderful girls and potential new members who I'm still keeping in contact with. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I can't even begin to put that experience into words. I think the best part about recruitment, though, was being able to run back to my sisters after reveal on Sunday. I wept. I am completely unashamed to admit that fact. I didn't realize how much I missed all of my sisters until I came back and had to walk past them but couldn't see them. But it's nice being back. It's so nice to be back.
On top of everything else, I've been continuing my preparations to study abroad. Just today I had a big pre-departure orientation where we got this big packet of information about what we need to do before we leave and what information we still need to send them. It's insane! I have to apply for a visa, and send in more forms and pictures and I'm about ready to beat my head against a wall. It'll be worth it, of course. I'm really excited. Woo!
The one thing I'm really excited about though, for this semester, is the number of people is coming to visit me. Both of my parents are coming to visit in October. What I'm most excited about, though, is the fact that one of my friends might be coming to visit me! None of my friends have ever come to visit me at school before, and I can't wait to have her come out so I can show her around.
Basically, exciting semester, school stress aside. I'll hopefully keep you all update more regularly now, too!