Midterms and Spring Break

It’s midterm time here at Susquehanna which means it’s almost time for Spring Break! I’m so excited to be going home on Friday. Unfortunately, there are some things I have to finish up before then.

My main task to complete before break is my Aesthetics and Interpretation midterm. This was a take-home midterm. I have to write 2 essays, roughly 2 pages each, which didn’t sound too difficult until my professor estimated it would take four to six hours. I really need to start on these essays tonight. I’ve blocked out two hours today to work on them. I’ll have to see how far that gets me!

I also have some more work to do for study abroad. As I mentioned before, I’m already approved by Susquehanna, but I have stuff to do for the program provider, IFSA Butler. I need to do a few paragraphs about myself and an academic statement, among other things, and get them sent out to Butler as soon as I can. I also have to make some choices on my housing preference form for where I’d like to live that semester. At least I have my ideal courses selected—Magic and Witchcraft in Early Modern Britain and Ireland, Writing the North: the Literature of the Troubles, and From the Vote to the Pill: Twentieth Century Women’s Writing. This would give me the elective credits I need for my Creative Writing major, as well as one religion elective for my Religion major.

For my Poetry course, I need to turn in three revised poems, but fortunately, the due date for that was pushed back to Monday so I will have some time to work on them at home, if need be.

At least I have one midterm done. Today I took my Intro to Asian Religions mid-term exam which included multiple choice, true or false, short answer questions, and an essay. I took up all the allotted exam time (I was jotting down my last sentence with 90 seconds to spare), but I feel confident about how I did.

I do not have many plans yet for Spring Break, though I certainly want to get in some sleep and relaxation.  A lot of friends from high school seem to have overlapping spring breaks this year so I’m planning on hanging out with them for sure! I am also going to be meeting with a historical society in Harrisburg to discuss a summer internship possibility in their archives. I also have a dentist appointment which is decidedly less exciting. No matter what my plans might be, I’m quite excited to be heading home Friday. 

Almost at Easter Break

Friday I had a workshop for my literary journalism piece in Intro to Creative Nonfiction, which was about me going to a dog expo where they had Dog Olympic Games and pet contests. I wasn’t feeling too great about the piece, but the workshop went a lot better than I thought; in the grand scheme of things, this piece might be the one that needs the least amount of revision, in comparison to my personal essay and memoir. Like Intro to Fiction, Intro to Creative Nonfiction ends with the turning in of a final portfolio. Whenever I try to think of all the assignments left before the year's end, I keep forgetting about it. Hopefully this doesn't continue. 

Relay Team in our super cool tent

Also on Friday, a group of friends from my floor in Hass headed off to Relay for Life, an event that lasted from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. the next morning; it raises money for cancer research. It was held in the Field House part of the fitness center. They had activities and tables selling things to raise more money. The most touching aspect was the Luminara Lap, during which the lights went off and attendees lit bags around the track in remembrance of those who fought against cancer.  It was impacting to see just how many people have lost love ones due to cancer, and I felt very blessed and privileged that I have not yet undergone such a loss. I did a lot of walking. Seriously, that was probably more exercise than I’ve done all year. By the end of the night (or morning, I suppose), my feet were in terrible pain, and of course I was exhausted. I climbed into my bed and woke up around 2 p.m. that day. Basically, it threw off my sleeping schedule for the entire weekend. (Can I still blame it for my late start this morning?)

The rain and wind were very intense Saturday. My friend Lindsey and I ventured outside, in hopes of making it to Deg for dinner, but made it about five steps before retreating back indoors. We ended up ordering Domino’s. Sunday was a day for getting work done. I also went to the Bible Study at Dr. Martin and Dr. Bohmbach’s house, which was awesome as usual. Also exciting was my roommate coming back, who'd been home sick for a few days.

This weekend I was slightly stressed out because I have a lot of work coming up in these few days before Easter Break. I have two group presentations tomorrow, one for Applied Biblical Ethics on Female Genital Mutilation and one in Sociology on Underage Drinking, and an 8 page paper on the influence of narrative technique in Daisy Miller and The French Lieutenant’s Woman for Romantic Novels. I really am looking forward to break, though it would be smart for me to spend it working on other upcoming assignments. I have two final exams, a final portfolio, and two more papers due before the end of the year. Another source of stress is finding a job for the summer!  I've felt so busy and haven't set aside enough time to apply to jobs.  I really need to get on it this week, especially over break.

If only break could actually mean a break!

Spring Break--An Overview

It seems to happen whenever I set out to write a blog post, but again, I am impressed and slightly terrified at how fast this year is flying.  Today is my first day of classes post-Spring Break—the last quarter of the year!  I’ll admit, I was wishing for a few more days of break. 

I was lucky enough to have classes cancelled on Friday so I went home Thursday night.  When I got home, however, I still had to work on an essay for Romantic Novels that was due Friday at 4:00.  I, being me, had procrastinated.  The essay was about Wuthering Heights and Emma and how they portray intelligence in their female heroines.  This got sent in at 3:51 p.m., exactly 9 minutes before it was due.

Backstage during my last HS musical

Friday I did get to have some fun, though.  That evening I saw my high school’s musical.  My high school had a complete renovation since I’ve graduated.  It was very strange to be there—and it was especially strange to be viewing the musical, rather than being in it.  They performed The Wizard of Oz, and it was spectacular and adorable.  The effects, sets, and costumes were particularly great.  After the Friday show, the cast traditionally goes out to eat, and I suppose you could say I crashed.  It was nice to be able to spend time with friends in the show who I hadn’t seen in a while.

I also got to hang out with my friends Robert, Bev, and Kimber that weekend.  We went to Friendly’s for lunch and then headed back to Bev’s house to play a Wii game Just Dance.  My performance was horrifying—I think I lost every round I played—but it was still fun. 

Over break, I also had to go on a quest to find a paddle.  For Alpha Phi Omega, I have to decorate a paddle to present to my Big.  I’m worried about this since I lack all crafty skill.  At least I have a paddle and supplies, though.  When I went to Michael’s, there was only one paddle and it was cracked.  Then I went to A.C. Moore’s and they only had oak paddles that were very costly!  Fortunately, my dad was able to find a paddle for me at a different Michael’s.

A lot of my break was, admittedly, spent being lazy, sleeping in, watching television, going online, hanging out with my brother, etc.  The only schoolwork I really did was read Daisy Miller for Romantic Novels, not all that impressive since it’s a mere 81 pages, revise my personal essay a little for Intro to Creative Nonfiction (speaking of which, I have my conference about it today; I’m less nervous than last time, but not what I’d call excited) and go to PawsAbilities, a dog expo, for the experience component of my literary journalism piece. 

Maybe that laziness is why I’m missing it! 

Spring Break

In the world of television and movies, Spring Break equals hitting the beach with friends and going to wild parties and getting up to all sorts of college-aged shenanigans. In my world (and it seems like the world of most I’ve spoken to), Spring Break means getting to go home! It means relaxation and much watching of the television. It means getting together with friends. It means doing laundry because a massive amount of dirty clothing has accumulated in my dorm room closet. It means getting in a few volunteer hours towards my total for Alpha Phi Omega by going to the library where I volunteered all four years of high school. It means hopefully getting to go see my high school’s production of The Wizard of Oz. It means working on my literary journalism piece for Intro to Creative Nonfiction. It means sending in my application for housing next year. Two friends and I are both aiming for the Scholar’s House.

It also means I am halfway through my second semester of my freshman year of college, which I talked about in my previous post. It just sounds so kooky to me! I can’t believe I only have a quarter of the year left.

Even if I’m a bit freaked out by the quickness of this year, I have to admit how excited I am to go home. I’m very fortunate in that, unlike a lot of my friends, I can leave Thursday instead of Friday. My classes end at 4:05 Thursday, and both of my classes are cancelled the next day. It will also be awesome because my older brother will be picking me up and this is the first time he will get to see my dorm room in person. Also, I will be making him take me to Red Robin after he picks me up, which I’m currently craving as I type.

More so, I think this is a point in the semester where a lot of people, at least among my friends, are ready to escape from campus life for a bit. With midterms coming up, the task of figuring out rooming arrangements for next year, and a bunch of activities in full swing, the past few weeks have gotten a little rough. And though I love SU and am not and will never be the go-home-every-weekend kind of kid, I’m definitely ready, and definitely in need of, a stretch of time at home.

I only have to get through two more days, write a 6 to 8 page essay on 19th century romances (I have about 2 pages...procrastination!), and take a midterm in Applied Biblical Ethics tomorrow.  Not so bad in comparison to the schedules of many.  I'm almost free!

TV!

College has had one unanticipated impact on my life; it’s severely cut down my TV time.

I love television, to an extent that I think has, at times, surprised people.  Maybe it’s the storytelling aspect of shows.  Or maybe it’s the chance to calm down my overactive mind and slip into a somewhat vegetative state.  Either way, I spend a lot of time watching TV at home, whether its reruns just to have background noise as I’m on my computers, favorites like Glee, Conan on late night, ridiculous Degrassi, or reality shows like America’s Next Top Model, Project Runway, and the Amazing Race. 

But something about being here, at Susquehanna, has severely limited my use of the television.  I’m at the point now where I only make time to watch Glee on Tuesdays at 8, and the rest of the time, unless my roommate is watching something (rare, since she watches a lot of shows online), our TV is off. 

I think business is probably one of the main reasons for this.  There seems to be so much more packed into my day that I can’t really work my TV watching around it all.  Also, it’s nice to have a TV on when you’re alone at home, just to avoid eerie quiet, but for me, being alone here is rarer.  I have people to talk to and socialize with, that is, if people aren’t busy doing homework.  Or okay, even if people should be busy doing homework. 

I'm looking forward to Spring Break, though, because whenever I've gone home so far, I've spent a lot of time lounging around and catching up on all the TV goodness I've missed.

Homecoming: College vs. High School

When I returned to campus last Tuesday, the immediacy with which I was thrown back into college life made it seem like there’d hardly been a break at all.  Luckily, I got a relief from the work over Homecoming Weekend.

I'll admit I was curious for quite some time about what exactly college Homecoming would be like.  At my high school, the Homecoming dance was a big deal--at least to many girls.  Dresses and dates seemed to be a major topic of conversation as early as two weeks into the school year.  Corsages and boutonnieres were bought.  Elaborate plans were made beforehand on the group you'd go with, where you'd take pictures, where you'd go to dinner, etc.  

Homecoming here wasn’t an occasion of such drastic importance—or nearly as much contemplation.  Dates didn’t feel necessary, nor did any other real form of planning, besides a friend’s Facebook reminder over break to bring a dress and shoes.  The dress didn’t even require endless searching; I just used my Homecoming dress from senior year.  My friends and I prepared ourselves in dorm rooms and in front of bathroom mirrors, then tottered over (well, except for me, who had worn sensible but adorable silver flats) to TRAX, the on-campus club. 

My high school dances usually involved strings of sappy slow songs, but this didn’t occur at college.  The entire night was non-stop dancing.  It was fun and casual, and at least from my perspective, not the same source of drama that high school Homecoming can be.  Despite the Semi-Formal label, some guys even showed up in jeans, becoming symbols in my mind of the No-Big-Dealness of it all.

I realize that calling something No Big Deal may make it sound like a bad thing.

But it really isn’t.

It’s a good thing.  A fun thing can be No Big Deal.  It just means that it’s not something you have to lose any sleep over.

Thinking about the differences between college and high school Homecoming makes me think of the visit I made to my high school during break.  My high school started renovations my senior year and made its biggest changes over the summer.  Walking through the completely different lobby was nothing short of bizarre.  As I got further into my school, it began looking like my alma mater—but it was still strange, the notion that I didn’t go there anymore, that I shouldn’t have been in that hall.


I had fun visiting, but it’s not where I belong anymore. 

Events like Homecoming and that visit have emphasized that college is not high school.  And for me, that’s turning out to be a pretty good thing. 

Journey to Susquehanna Part 2



Me before my student reading
at the Writers Workshop

To recap, Journey to Susquehanna Part 1 shared my love for creative writing and my first experience at Susquehanna.  I adored the school, but I was only going into my junior year.  It was too early to be sure about anything. 

As a junior, I came for a formal visit.  It was my first time seeing SU during the school year.  I had read that it was important to visit when students were there to see if you liked the vibe.  I was not disappointed.  My love for the school was affirmed, and it only increased when I participated in my second Summer Advanced Writers Workshop.  At the end of that program, I didn’t want to endure another year of high school.  I wished I could simply stay on campus and start my college life.



Unfortunately, the week ended, and I was off to my senior year.  Susquehanna was obviously on my application list.  No matter how excited I got about other schools, I had a gut feeling I’d end up here; there was something that struck me as homey whenever I was on campus.  Still, I applied to seven colleges total.  I was applying to a lot more places than most of my friends.  When many had already settled on their college, I was still in agony, no sure idea of where I’d end up.  It was stressful to think that I didn’t even know what state I’d live in the next year: Ohio, New Jersey, Vermont, North Carolina, or Pennsylvania?  When it was finally time to hear back from my last few “reach” schools, I wasn’t dying to be accepted as much as I was dying to know.

Even once all the decisions were in, my decision wasn’t yet made.  My options came down to three schools: Susquehanna, a small private college in Ohio, and a state school in North Carolina.  The North Carolina school was eliminated first because of distance and an unimpressive financial aid package.  To make a choice between my last two schools required a trip to Ohio.  My other option was nice, and it had everything I wanted, in the general sense, but the campus lacked that same feeling that Susquehanna gave me.  A certain chemistry, so to speak.  Even my parents preferred SU.

Speaking of my parents, they are big reasons I can come to a school like Susquehanna and major in Creative Writing.  A lot of parents try to push their kids into profitable fields or certain molds, but my parents have always allowed me to pursue my individual dreams—even if that comes with some risk.  They've supported my creative endeavors my entire life, just as they’ve supported my older brother’s and just as they supported me in my choice of college.

With the help of merit scholarships, I was able to pick Susquehanna, the school that I loved, which didn’t only seem to have stronger academics and more opportunities but just felt like my school.    

I’m happy to say now that I’m here, it still feels like my school.  Like right decisions and no regrets and a home away from my home.

Making it to Fall Break



Me in a
lovely Susquehanna
 sweatshirt
at the retreat

Before and even at college, I’ve heard this advice for freshmen: “Don’t go home until fall break.”   I’ve followed this advice, and now I’m eagerly looking forward to tomorrow, when I’ll be on my way home for the first time since my parents dropped me off August 26^th.

Orientation was inevitably awkward, but soon the third floor of my residence hall Hassinger (affectionately known as “Hass”) provided me with great friends.  At Susquehanna I’ve already had many late nights of giggling and talking—and as many late nights trying to finish homework.  I’ve written my first college paper and survived my first nail-biting exam.   I’ve raved at the club on campus, TRAX.  I’ve had my words workshopped by my peers in Tom Bailey’s Intro to Fiction class.  I’ve started my assistantship in Advancement Communications, which has meant writing articles, interviewing professors, doing research, and starting this blog.  And I’ve gotten involved, going to Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, Lutheran Student Movement, and even a Religious Life retreat at Mountain Dale Farms that allowed me a weekend off campus and one of the best views of the stars I've ever had.

Up until this weekend I viewed Fall Break with a certain amount of apprehension.  Home is home, and I love it, truly, but it’s so different from here.  A friend of mine compared college to a constant sleepover where you have to do homework.   So far, I agree.  There’s always that world waiting right outside your dorm room door.  At home, I open my bedroom door to a usually empty hallway with some laundry machines.  Not exactly as thrilling.

I’ve come to realize, though, that a break from the constant whirl of people will be a welcome refresher.  I look forward to spending time with my parents, meeting up with friends from high school, and catching up on all the TV I miss now that I actually have a life.  I want to be relaxed and renewed when I return to campus on Tuesday.   My shock at actually being in college is starting to wear off, and now I’m thrown into the reality of the situation.  Now I’m thrown into making that reality the best it can be.

I am finally excited about Fall Break.  In fact, I'm depending on it. 

That long Winter Break, however...

Journey to Susquehanna Part 1

Towards the beginning of Perspectives (a required 2 credit freshman seminar course), the students in my class shared life maps of how we ended up at Susquehanna, which seems like a fitting way to start this blog.

I’ve always wanted to go to college, as far as I can remember. And just like I’ve always wanted to go to college, I’ve always wanted to be a writer.

My elementary school years were spent drawing and writing stories. In second grade, our teacher had us write weekly in a Weekend Journal. I always wrote more than the other students and was thrilled by the teacher’s encouraging comments. Stunning literary talent isn’t exactly evident whenever I comb through that old journal. What is evident is the torture I put my parents through in quests for Backstreet Boys apparel and my family's enduring love for pizza.  My passion for writing increased tenfold when I wrote a story about a superhero teacher, the student who discovers her secret, and the giant lizard villain they must defeat. I showed it to my third grade teacher, Mrs. Bechtel, who I remember as one of my favorite all-time teachers. She had me read my story to the class and put it in the school library.  I was hooked on writing and the idea of publishing, even though this experience meant hearing about my third grade lizard story all the way into middle school.

It also meant I was never one of those kids that wrote in secret. From that early age I was known as the Writer Girl—a shallow generalization, sure, but one that was pretty okay with me. This perception didn’t vanish in middle or high school, since both eras were spent getting serious about my writing. In middle school, I attempted my first novel, and I’ve been writing novel-length works ever since.

When I needed something to do the summer after my sophomore year, I started searching for summer writing programs. I found a summer writing workshop for high school students at Susquehanna University. That is when I first became aware of the school’s stellar creative writing program, though I had certainly heard of SU before.  During the one week program, I fell in love with the campus, met the girl who is currently my roommate, experienced my first real workshop with Tom Bailey as my teacher, and felt what it was like to be surrounded by people who loved writing as much as I did.

I was sold. I was going to study Creative Writing no matter where I went. I was also sold on my love for Susquehanna—though I wasn’t positive I’d come here yet, and wouldn’t be until late my senior year.

Look forward to the other parts of “Journey to Susquehanna," since I have already rambled about myself far too long for one post.