Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Packin' it In

Well, recently a corner of my room started to look like this:
It may not seem like much, but in my little room (that I share) it was getting overwhelming.
The pile of stuff is off to the left. This is my whole room. Note the lack of extra space...
I needed to pack the stuff up! A friend from church (Thanks Sherri!) Got me some apple boxes and I went to work. I got three packed up tonight, and I think it'll only take 3 more to finish off everything! Here's how I did it:
First the kitchen stuff. Now I hear 'ya out there. "Why kitchen stuff? You don't have time to use that stuff in college, and if you DO want to make something, you can just check the supplies you need out at the desk!"
All of that is true, but I bake/cook stuff enough to make some kitchen supplies worthwhile. And besides, I did NOT buy nice cooking stuff overall. The most expensive thing I bought was the Pyrex bowl and the cheapest thing I bought was a Hercules plate for 59 cents at Goodwill. (Thanks Sherri!) In fact, I got a lot of my kitchen stuff at Goodwill. Here's what all went into this box: ("G" denotes that I got it from Goodwill.)
-2 tall glass glasses (G)
-2 ceramic white plates and 1 melamine Hercules plate (G)
-set of mini Ziplok containers (G)
-Box of Ziplok containers (Given to me)
-2 plastic cups
-2 melamine bowls (Scooby Doo and Humpty Dumpty) (G)
-2 Glass bowls
-Spatula/Can opener/Measuring cups and spoons
-4 sets of silverware (G)
-Plastic Sesame Street cup, bowl, and snack box (Gift)
-Palmolive
-8" skillet
-9x13 pan
-2 hand towels and pot holder (handmade gifts)
                       Aaaaaaand when you finagle and finagle, you can get it to fit into a box!
Complete with labels and an itemized list (cuz that's how I roll!)

Next up we have what I call utility stuff. It's the things like this:
-trash can
-Clorox wipes
-hangers
-Shout
-iron
-Tide
-Shoe organizer
-sewing kit/Goo Gone/safety pins/Super Glue/pocket knife (gifts)
-Command hooks (gift)
    And this all fit (quite a bit easier) into a box, sans Tide and trashcan, cuz those are big and easy to carry
Again, complete with labels and an itemized list.

The final box I packed up tonight was full of school and craft supplies. Making a list of all of these things would be ridiculous, but basically it's the notes and binders from senior year that will be useful, along with other random school supplies, a few crafty things, some books, and the 3 sole DVD's that I own. Yes, I only own 3 DVD's. They're expensive, people! I still have school supplies to buy and add to this box, so it still has some space left.
 
And, once again we add a lid, some labels, and an itemized list!

So, there's three boxes of stuff! I feel much more organized now, and I feel better about the amount of "stuff" I'm bringing. All I have left to pack are bathroom stuff and bedding, which will all have to wait till right before I go. All I have left to buy are another set of sheets, school supplies, and a backpack!



Sunday, July 14, 2013

"Are you excited for college?"

I have been asked that question by numerous, well-meaning people, and there's actually nothing inherently wrong with such a question. I just don't have a straight answer for the people that ask me this question, and I'm sure most of them understand that. I have so many thoughts running through my head about college, some big, some small. I'm one to plan, and by plan I mean plan. I have pored over the NWMSU website, learning and researching.
I have. . .
-Learned about every church in Maryville, and narrowed my list to about 3 or 4 good possibilities
           -Looked on Google Maps to see how far each church is from campus
-Looked up my professors
-Looked up as much information as I can about Marching Band Camp (they need to update it for this year!)
-Researched about the best things to have for college, and the most overrated things, too
-Gone through all of my class materials from last year, narrowing things down so they can be useful to me this year.
-Researched/read about healthy habits and learning strategies

Along with all of this research, I've also had lots of questions and thoughts run through my head.
-I hope my roommate and I will get along well.
-I hope marching band is fun and not just torture.
-It will be fun to perform with the marching band!
-They need to post room assignments soon right now!
-If I'm a sobbing mess and I want to call my mom, where will I go to be by myself?
-Homesickness is awful!
-I don't want to get athlete's foot from the showers! (Seriously guys, so many random thoughts!)
-I hope I find a church that is a good fit!
-I can't just go see my family.
-I can combat the Freshman 15. Marching band is a workout!
-I hope I can start new, helpful study habits.
-I don't want to grow apart from the close friends I have here!

And the list goes on. . .and on. . . I have been praying about so many things, and it all comes down to trusting that God's already got it planned out. It's hard going into something partially blind, but it will work out okay.
I guess the who point of this rambling mess is to say, I don't quite know how to feel about college. Sure, there's the independence, but there's also the feeling of wanting your parents sleeping in the room down the hall in case you need anything. There's the new classes and the new friends, but there's also the close friends from High School and the teachers I have come to love. There's a new roommate, and then there's Kelli, my roommate of forever.
But
There's God, and he's the same wherever I go.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

UI Orientation

So I just got back from my orientation at the University of Iowa. The program lasted for two days, starting in the early evening yesterday, and ending in the late afternoon today. It was pretty rad.

The dude who showed my group (largely psych and English majors, with about 20ish people total) around was super friendly and funny, and he started us off by playing an icebreaker game. During the game, I not only sweated a lot due to the 90+ degree weather and the 150% humidity, I also figured out that one of the people in my group was someone who I had emailed earlier with the prospects of being roommates. Which was kind of weird, but hey-what's life without some surprises?

So after a tour of campus, I headed back to the dorm where I was staying, and I bought myself this INCREDIBLE milkshake. Granted, it was roughly 16 oz, and three bucks at that, but it was a milkshake that would "bring the boys to the yard". I need to watch myself. If I'm not careful, those milkshakes could be the reason I become the poor college student, and gain the dreaded freshman fifteen.

So once I got the milkshake I went into the Underground. Where I met with about 30 other people and we did...crafty things. And then we played...revealing games.

Ha.

(Translation: I went into the basement of the residence hall and did some arts-and-crafts. Then I played Apples to Apples.)

The next day was all about academics. I listened to a vague, hour long presentation that I don't really remember much of. I know they talked about academic advisers. Can't fathom what took the other 45 minutes of my life up, but there you have it. (I probably just explained college in a nutshell.)

My group then got around to meeting the actual adviser of our academic dreams. His name is Brian, and he was amazing. He introduced himself, and walked everyone through how to peruse all the classes that us awesome public schoolers are able to choose from. He then went around individually to help everyone, and guess who got his undivided attention first? That's right. Yours truly.

In all honesty, I was nervous. This dude, who I didn't yet know was awesome, was being paid to help me. But Brian was very calming and respectful, and he treated me as an individual. Not a number. Which was huge for me.

And then I picked out my classes and enrolled after lunch. The sandwich, while not my mother's, was not unbearable. Speaking of parents...

Orientation at UI offers a place for parents, since it's mandatory for students, so I brought mine along. They got to stay inside. And learn stuff. I'm not quite sure what the extent of what they learned was, but they had a good time. They both told me that they were impressed with my school, which made me proud.

I can't wait to screw up and pwn the campus in the fall.

Friday, July 5, 2013

More Class, Less Cost!

Well, I'll start this off by saying that at SOAR, I was reaaaalllyy out of it, for reasons that are difficult to explain. Basically, I felt really cruddy the whole time, so my attention-paying was not so sharp. That's how I missed this cool fact: (Even though I posses an entire piece of paper about it.)
One of the honors classes I'm taking this semester is called Advanced Composition. (Basically, if your English ACT score is high enough, you have the option to take this class.) Without much thought at the time, (mostly cuz I didn't feel so hot) I said, "Sure! Why not! I like English well enough, and I feel confident about it." The one other thing that made this an easy choice was the fact that I felt like my English teacher this year, Mrs. Lem (who is awesome and funny and fantastic) had prepared me well for any sort of college English experience.
After that and a few other decisions, my schedule was complete, I grabbed my free T-shirt, and I high-tailed it out of there, to the comforts of home. Little did I realize that I had just gotten a good great deal!
Basically it comes down to this (which I am copying off of the sheet that I got but did not read until now. . .):
Not that kind of Acclerated Composition! =)
Accelerated Composition 115- a one trimester course half the cost for the English requirement
        Credit awarded: Students who enter English 115 normally get three hours of credit, in addition to the credits for 115, toward graduation added to their transcripts once they satisfactorily complete the course.
This credit replaces the three additional hours students would have earned in the regular two-trimester sequence
It goes on from there to talk about the "stimulating discussion" and "greater challenge" and so forth, but I was just excited to hear about the interesting deal!