I Was Here

I'm Back! 'Bout time, huh? Well, my first few months in college have been... interesting. Very interesting.  It's actually more enjoyable than high school.  However, it's harder, but all you have to do is work at it, pay attention, and read the textbook. Actually read the textbook! Unlike high school where you can get away with not reading it.  In college, reading the material will help you a whole lot better, which I realized after the first two months.
In college, you have a whole new world around you.  The students are super nice and you meet someone new every day.  It's amazing and I just love.
There are also some stressful moments, like trying to figure out what classes to take next semester that won't make you want to pull out your hair and throw your books out of the window or stressing over a quiz or exam you decided to wait until the last minute to study for (I can honestly advice you to not do the latter, just so you know. Been through it and I am not doing it again).  In a lot of classes, your final grade depends on three exams or a few quizzes.  You don't get a lot of daily assignments grades like back in high school.  So, whatever you get on those FEW quizzes and exams, it will average out to be your final grade.  So you better get to work.

Thanksgiving break is next week and that means I get to leave Tuesday! I'm so excited.  I can't wait to go home and just relax for a few days, even though I know I'm going to have do some kind of reading for school *sigh*.  Anyway, I saved a huge bag of dirty clothes to wash at home (haha).  Don't judge; I'm a broke college students and the price is too high to wash and dry three loads of clothes ($1.25 to wash AND dry= a little too much).  I also can't wait for the good Thanksgiving food.  The food up here is getting kind of old and disgusting so it will be nice to actually have a home cooked meal.  I feel like Theo Huxtable from "The Cosby Show" when he comes home with a huge basket of laundry and rummaging through the cabinets for food.  When I look through the cabinets and see nothing there, I give them the Theo look:

"Where's the food?"

On a last note, here, in college, people have a lot more goals then the people back in my high school.  They all want to go out in the world and make a difference, which is what everyone should do.  They all want to leave their mark on the world, which is also a goal of mine.  I heard a song a few days ago that basically sums up what I just said. Hope you enjoy it.

"I've done everything that I wanted and it was more than I thought it would be. I will leave my mark so everyone will know I was here.  I just want them to know that I gave my all, did my best, brought someone some happiness, left this world a little better because I was here"- <<<< my favorite line in the song.

“It's the bad days that make the good days seem better.”

Today was not a good day.It all started early this morning.  At 7:00 this morning, I heard some kind of alarm go off.  I thought it was like an alarm clock or something going on outside.  I tried to ignore it, but it kept going.  My roommate said it was the fire alarm.  I walked out into the hallway to see my floormates all still dressed in their night clothes with groggy looks on their faces and complaining about a fire alarm early in the morning. I was with them on that.
And so, all of the residents of Cabaniss Hall descending down the stairs and outside of the building where we were instructed to stand on the sidewalk.  It was a site to see: all of us standing in the early morning wearing pajamas, scarfs on heads, blankets wrapped around some people.  We all looked a hot mess. I bet the firefighters who came by to check the dorm got a good laugh in. But, hey, who would expect for us to look glamarous at 7 o'clock in the morning?
I was mad.  I had went to sleep fairly early (11:45 is early for me) and was not supposed to wake up until 8 o'clock.  I had a Biology exam today and needed some beauty rest before test time came, which was not until 3, but still...
So there I stood in my shorts and t-shirt, hair down in my face (I had to take that horrible looking scarf off before leaving the dorm), crust around my eyes and legs unshaven.  It should have been embarrassing to stand in front of all of those people looking like that but at that particular moment, I really did not care.  I was mad that thirty minutes of what could have been my sleep was wasted.  Hmmphh.

Now that was only the first part of my bad day.  The next story is the second.
The black sororities and fraternitites are hosting a lot of events for every day this week, all leading up to the Fall Block Step Show this Saturday (which I'm going to), which is also VCU's oldest tradition and the biggest step show in VA.
Anyway, today's event was a blood drive.  My friend asked me if I wanted to go and I said sure.  I have never given blood before, but decided that now is maybe my chance.  I mean, how bad could it be?
Bad!
So I met up with my friend and we went and waited a hour before finally being able to go get tested to see if we were eligible to donate blood.  My phone's battery was low, so I turned it off to save some juice before I went to get tested.  It took me only twenty minutes before I finally I got the green light.
I was directed to another line to wait in before officially donating some of my blood.  All of the chairs were taken so we had to wait until a group finished.  I looked around for my friend and did not see her. I kind of had a feeling that she could not donate blood, but figured she had already went in, even though we had both went to get tested at the same time.  I turn on my phone and see a text explaining that she couldn't donate blood.  She had left, leaving me alone to deal with a process I had never did before and had had many doubts about.
I was so mad and upset, I teared up!
What made it worst was that I had read a list saying that dizziness, vomitting, and fainting may occur.  An alarm went off in my head: I did not want to do it!
The line moved and I walked into the room where they took your blood.  They offered food and drinks before you donated your blood, which I took because they said the symtoms I mentioned earlier were likely to occur if you had not eaten or drinken enough before donating, and if you were tired or nervous. I fit into all of these categories, but I thought that I had to go through with it since I had came this far.
In the back in my mind, however, I prayed that I would get the strength and walk out of that horror room.
What I saw in front of me sealed the deal. 
A boy who was donating blood had threw up and passed out.  After that, I handed the bag to a lady and jetted out of there.
I got on the bus and listening to some upbeat music from my iPod to try and cheer me up from the anger I felt for going through something I didn't really want to do in the first place and the guilt from not finishing what I started. To my benefit, the music did help.

Tomorrow will be a better day; I know it :)

Me and Mr. President

Thursday, I stood in line for a hour and in the rain just to get a free ticket to see President Obama deliver a speech at the University of Richmond.  Not a big deal, right?

Friday, I left my dorm at 7:30 and arrived at the University of Richmond Robins Center around 8:00.  The long was ridiculously long and it took me a few minutes to walk all the way to the end (yeah, that's how long it was).  I stood in that long for two hours before finally being able to go in, where we were checked "ariport like security."  While standing in line though I was able to observe some of the people around me.  All you ever hear about on the news was how President Obama's approval rating had dropped to its lowest point.  Yet, looking at all of these people -about 9,000, according to an article- they all still believed in the man that promised a change almost four years ago.  There were people campaigning for him, telling us to vote for him in 2012.  Being from a redneck county, it was nice to have a change of scenery, to be around people who actually were with him and not agaisnt him. 

About 20 minutes before the President arrived.

 A high school student from Richmond Communty High School introduced the President.  The boy did a really good job with his introduction and he was really well spoken. 

When the President arrived, the people went CRAZY!!!
Oh, and ignore the guy whistling; he did that during the whole speech.  He was really annoying; he even tried to hit on me at one poin: EWWWWW get away from me you old perv!!!

This is the second time I have attended a rally from President Obama; I went to one in Newport News (about 40 minutes from my hometown) back before he was elected president.  So to see him as President - to even be in the same building as him- was a completely fantastic experience. He even referenced us college students, by saying that we need to hit the books.  We are now competing agaisnt students in Bangalore and Beijing and we can't avoid the math classes and engineering classes.  We have to focus and up our game.

He spoke about the bills he wants to pass and how he knows there are naysayers out there that expected him to get everything right that was wrong in a short span of time.  Stuff like that takes a while to pass.  President Obama has his head on straight and knows what he is doing; like a friend of mine said, he doesn't sugarcoat anything.  Give the man a break and stop badgering him  because of the color of his skin.  Gosh.

The Univeristy of Richmond had a beautiful campus, so I had to take pictures.  At first, I wished I had applied, then, after I picked up a brochure and looked at the tution, I was happy I didn't.  Tuition is 43, 000, NOT including room and board, which is an extra 9,000. 








On today, I went to mass for the first time while in Richmond.  The church is actually on VCU's campus, The Cathedral of the Sacred Heart.  And, adding up to its name, it's huge on the inside! And very beautiful.  I went on the right day (thanks to my grandma) because they played my favorite song "I Danced in the Morning" and had a dinner afterwards for VCU students.  I wasn't going to go to the dinner at first because I had some studying to do, but decided to go because a variety of foods sounded better than just a sandwich and chips for dinner.  I also figured that now I'm in college, I shouldn't let everything pass me by like I let it did back in high school, so I went for it. 

The dinner was really good (enchiladas, black beans and rice, salad, and a few dessert options.  The people were really nice and very funny.  Never have I met anymore nicer people on campus than today at the dinner.  After the dinner, we took a tour of the "house", the back part of the cathedral, which is just like its name- a house.  After the tour, a group of us just sat down and talked about our majors and other different stuff I can't remember. We even put together little candy bags for the open house this week. 

Overall, I really enjoyed my weekend, as you can tell. 

Today is also ten years of the day of the terroist attacks on the World Trade Center.  I watched the ceremonies on the news this morning, but it was too emotional so I went back and forth between my computer and the TV. 
This is the story that touched me the most. 
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/upshot/boy-read-poem-13-grown-135446727.html

Psalm 46:1: "God is our refuge and strength."

Singing in the Rain? Um, no thanks

It's been raining for the past three days and it's supposed to continue to rain for the rest of the week.  Monday and Tuesday wasn't as bad as today though.  I left out of my dorm around 11:15 for my 12:00 class and was greeted with a down pour of rain.  Now, it wouldn't have been so bad if I had my umbrella.  Unfortunately, Irene (Hurricane) broke it when I was making the short walk from the cafeteria across the street from my dorm. 
Anyway, the downpour had stopped for a while and it turned into drizzle as the afternoon went on. At about 6:30, I had to go outside of my dorm to meet with my aunt before heading off to a SI session.  The downpour had started again and, on my way to my aunt's van, I stepped into a huge puddle.  Luckily, my shoes didn't get that wet.  However, on the way to the bus, I stepped into a river (literally) that I couldn't step around.  My shoes were SOAKED and as I continued walking, I could feel water squishing in my shoes.  Ewwwww!
So, tomorrow or sometime this weekend, I will have to invest in a a new raincoat, rainboots, and an umbrella.  Apparently, I'm not the only one because the bookstore that sells the cheapest rainboots ran out today.  Oh, joy.
My boot and socks, if you can tell, are soaking wet. (those socks are new and have been rubbing on my shoe, so my room isn't that dirty lol)

I also had an embarassing situation today, but it really wasn't that bad.  I had left out of my math class early and headed for my biology class, which started in like 15 minutes.  So I went inside of the building and, usually I can never tell where the right classroom was because the doors were open and always covered the sign with the room number on it.  Today, the door was open so of course I couldn't see the room number.  So I just stood outside of the classroom that I thought was the right one and figured I would peek behind the door once the class that was coming out of the classroom moved out of the way. 
I tend to have very forgetful moments.
I walked right into the classroom looking for a seat, like I never had doubt that that was the right classroom.  I found a seat in the back, got my pen and paper out, and put my glasses on.  I even got on Twitter while I waited for the professor, just minding my own business.
Next thing I know, the lights dim.  I just figured that the professor was doing something new today since he usually doesn't dim the lights during his lectures.
Then, when I glance up at the front of the classroom (actually, I should say lecture hall) I see a man I have never seen before.
I was hoping he was a subsitute, but I quickly wondered do they do that in college.  This wasn't high school.
He started talking about what sounded like Chemistry or something and then the realization hit me: I was in the wrong classroom. I had a thought to just stay there and pretend like I was in the right class so I wouldn't embarass myself, but decided that I needed to be in Biology class.  The beauty of being in a huge class and sitting in the back: I could walk out without a disturbance.
Ok, so my homework is finished and it is freezing in my room, so I am going to snuggle in my bed and watch some reality shows on my laptop.  Night ya'll :)

The Dorm Life

I live in Cabaniss, a freshmen dorm on the MCV of VCU. It was not on my list of choices when I payed my housing deposit back in May, but since I signed up so late, I was put in this dorm because all of the other dorms were filled.  My assignment was two weeks late, so I was just excited to have finally gotten my housing assignment. 
This dorm is actually okay in my opinion.  It's quiet (on some days; the other days are a different story).  The big problem is that this dorm has communial bathrooms.  I do not like this at all.  Now at first, I thought that this would not be that bad, but after a few days, I understood what the complaints were about. 
The bathrooms are disgusting! Hair in the showers, sinks are dirty.  I can just imagine the bacteria in the showers and toilet stalls.  Eww. As you can probably already tell, I am a germophobe, so I take extra caution whenever I enter that horrid bathroom: I always take a bag with me to put my clothes in whenever I go to take a shower or get changed (I actually stole this idea from my roommate) instead of putting it on the seat in the shower stall and I wear my shower shoes while in the shower.  I even have went so far as to look up extra precautions so I can be even more prepared.

Enough about the bathroom.   Let's talk about the noise (remember I said the other days were a different story).  Well, last night, I was doing a little reading for my Mass Comm class, which was due today.  In just five minutes, the 7th floor of Cabaniss (the floor I stay on) went from being semi-quiet to loud! People were talking really loudly, cussing, yelling, it was ridiculous! I wanted to do this:

But, of course, I didn't.  I just waited for them to call down.  You would think I would be used to it with  aunt having six kids and all of them yelling and screaming through the house whenever I visited (which I did every week). At least there I could get them to quiet down, but here? No.  Not my job or place.
This is only the 2nd or 3rd week.  I don't even want to know what will happen in the upcoming months.

Broke College Student

The first day of classes started on Thursday.  I had three classes, all of which are close to each so I did not have to walk far (my legs were still sore from all of the walking I had did just a few days ago). My first class was Mass Communications 101, which consisited of maybe 100 people.  Not bad.  I actually think I am going to like that class (fingers crossed that I won't regret saying that in the upcoming months). My major is Journalism, so of course I would find this course interesting.  The professor gave us a standing assignment to bring in two facts from general and trade news to report to him.  That was the good part; the bad part was that he assigned us to read four long chapters in our textbooks and it was due next class, which is on Tuesday.  Oh, boy. Welcome to the college life.
My next class was psychology 101.  And I thought that my mass comm class was huge.  Psychology class had to have at least 200 or more students.  The lecture hall was almost as big as my high school audiotorium (sp).  I was a little bit hesitant about his class, but all of that demolished during the class period. The professor was very entertaining; a lot of students came in late and he had them go to the front of the class to explain why they were late.  Sounds kind of embarrassing, but it really wasn't; he had an outgoing and funny personality so he joked around with them.  One of the late students was junior and said he was late because he couldn't find the builing the class was located in. The professor jokingly told us were wrong for being to class early and knowing where the building was.
Now the last student he called out should be embarrassed.  The professor called him to the front of the class because he had fallen asleep.  When asked why, he said he was up partying.  You could tell that the poor boy did not want to tell why he was sleep and what he was doing the night before, but he really didn't have a choice.  The professor had him stand in front of the class, microphone in front of him along with 200+ students staring him dead in the face.  He was asked whether he was drinking or smoking or both.  He always paused before answering the embarrasing questions the professors asked.  Turns out, he was out partying and drinking the night before class.
The class seems interesting, subjectwise.  I was going to drop the class, but after a talk with my grandmother and aunt, I decided to stick with it.

All of my professors for my classes gave homework, some of which required books.  So, that meant I had to go out and buy them.  I could have bought them early, but decided to wait to get the official "ok" from the professors.  Today, I asked my friend if she could show me how to get to Virginia Book Company and Bookholders, which are two places on campus that sell cheap textbooks.  I got the books that I needed with the exception of one because they were out of stock.  The total amount for all of the books:$402.  Now, this may seem like a good price, but this blew me away. That's a lot for some textbooks! At that moment (for just a few seconds), I missed my high school days where I could just get the books for free.

Don't Rain on my Parade

So, some good and bad came out of today.  First, as everyone is America knows thanks to our fast working journalists, an earthquake hit Virginia and almost all of the East Coast. The epicenter was thirty miles north of Richmond, in a town called Mineral.  I was in the cafeteria with my friend getting something to drink when I felt the ground shake. Then, the cups next to the drink machine started shaking.  I paused, confused for a minute, and I thought that it was a big truck or a train going by.  The possibility that it might have been an earthquake did cross my mind, but I dismissed it.  Earthquakes did not happen in Virginia to my knowledge, except for once when I was younger, but it was small one. 
Everyone in the cafeteria became rowdy, trying to figure out what that shaking was.  A few minutes later, everyone's cell phones showed no service. My cell was going in and out, letting me send text messages at one minute, but not the next.
My friend and I sat down with our food near the TV, which was on the news.  Sure enough, a 5.9 earthquake had hit Virginia.  What suprised me though was that it was felt all the way in D.C., Ohio, Detroit, New York, Martha's Vineyard, Toronto, and other states I can't remember.  So the thought that I had earlier was right.  It was scary.  I texted my family members to see if they were ok and, thankfully, they were.  I did appreciate all of the texts that I recieved asking if I was ok.

On a lighter note: I got Wes Moore's autograph!! I was so close to not being able to get it, but I got it.  First, the convocation (on his book, where he was supposed to be the guest speaker) was canceled because of building inspections after the earthquake. However, the block party where he scheduled to sign our copies of his books was still on.  That I did not want to miss. I had planned to go with my friend, but she had to leave to go somewhere with her Dad, so I went by myself.  Yep, that means I rode the bus to and from the Monroe Park campus all by myself and I made it back in one piece :)
Anyway, I had waited in line (which only consisted of like 20 something people) for only like three minutes when Wes Moore's bodyguard (I think that's who he was) said that he had to cut the line short because Mr. Moore had somewhere to go and that he will be back sometime this year.
I was not having that. I did not ride the icky bus just to get turned away.  I went up there anyway.
Apparently, the other students had the same idea I did.  We all crowded around Mr.Moore, holding out our books and taking pictures.  He was nice enough to take every picture and signed all of our books and he even thanked us for supporting and reading his book.

I was able to take a few pictures of him.

The book signing was defiantly the highlight of my day.  I'll explain why his book was so interesting later :)

Toto, we're not in Dendron anymore...

So today officially kicked off the Welcome Week activities at VCU. This morning, my floor's RA taped a list of required events that we had to attend on my door. After breakfast, my roommate headed out for the Monroe Park campus, where the activities were being held. 

I live in a freshman dorm on the VCU medical campus (MCV), which is about 10-15 minutes away from the Monroe Park, which is the main campus and where I will be taking all of my classes. In order to get there, the students on the MCV campus have to take the VCU shuttle bus, also called the VCU connecter.
Now, I am a county girl, born and raised. The only bus I have ever ridden was the yellow bus that comes around to take me to and pick me up from school. I was nervous and excited at the same time. My roommate and I took tours of the buildings where we will report for class come Thursday.  It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulder- the last thing I wanted was to get lost or show up late on the first day of class.
Afterwards, my roommate and I both went our seperate ways.  I decided to go hang with one of my friend's at her friends dorm, all of whom were very nice.  It's kind of funny because one of her friends was my supposed to be my roommate (she was switched out of the dorm). I only stayed for like 45 minutes because I had to leave and catch the shuttle bus to the MCV campus to attend a required comedy club/informational session called "Love 'n' Liqour." 

I had to take the bus alone since I had no idea where my roommate was.  I was scared and nervous.  It wasn't like this morning where I had my roommate with me; I was alone this time.  So, I prayed that I would get to the right place and not get lost in this big and now scary place.  Thankfully, I did get to the right place at the right time. My prayers had been answered.

Overall, today was a good day.  The seminars were informational, helpful, and funny and I got to meet a lot of friendly people.  I am really looking forward to tomorrow because there will be a convocation held about the "The Other Wes Moore," a book assigned to us to read over the summer.  The guest speaker will be the author Wes Moore.  Afterwards will be a book signing.  If anyone knows me, I am a total bookworm, but I'll explain more of that and my experiences at the convocation tomorrow :)

Colleges, Colleges, Colleges

My first choice was not VCU; I wanted to attend Howard University, even had found a roommate.  However, the financial aid never came through (as in, it was never sent to me), so I decided to attend VCU instead. 



I was not at first happy about giving up on my first choice, but as the move in day for VCU approached, I decided to make the best at VCU.  It's actually a good school and became widely popular when their Men's Basketball team were in the Final Four earlier this year.  I am kind of excited for Basketball season :)

Move in day at VCU

Today, I became an official student at Virginia Commonwealth University.  I moved into my dorm around 10 this morning and, to my suprise, it wasn't that much hectice.  The earlier you arrive, the better.  Setting up my room did not take long either.  My mother was here to help me, so that made the process a lot quicker and easier. 

My roommate is very nice.  I was really worried that I was going to be paired with someone I did not get along with at all.  We actually have a lot in common, from TV shows to music.