The first week of classes

This was the first official week of classes here at Smith, though for me it was barely a week as I only had classes on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (that's right - NO FRIDAY CLASSES! BOOYAH!).

I really like my classes so far! This semester I'm taking Abnormal Psychology (which is gonna kick my ass!), Research Methods, Children's Literature, and Modern Biology for the Concerned Citizen. I already have a buttload of reading to do, but reading is never really much of a burden to me.

I also finally got a work-study job! I'm an office assistant for Student Affairs. The work environment is really relaxed, and the people I work with are really young and chill. It's going to be a good job, I can tell.

I best be off or else I'll be late to my INTERVIEW WITH WOZQ RADIO! I applied for a specialty show focusing on heavy metal. That would be pretty sweet if I got the gig.

Convocation is clothing optional

Convocation was CA-RAZAYYY! Jordan house got dressed up as our theme, Safari (I wore a snakeskin shirt with leggings and gladiator sandals), and paraded down to the John M. Greene memorial building while shouting out our cheer. The hall was SO LOUD! Everyone was dressed up... well, most people were wearing at least a bra and undies, we'll say that much. There were a few nips here and there, some daintily hidden behind electrical tape. But it was so cool to see the entire school squashed into one building, screaming their heads off for the houses that they love. I am completely in love with the amount of spirit here at Smith.

School starts tomorrow. Yikes!

Weekend update

I am totally burnt out! Today I'm taking most of the day off of orientation activities because if I don't, I'll be no fun at all. That's kind of what happened yesterday when a group of transfers went to the Three County Fair.

Normally I love fairs, but as soon as I stepped foot on the fair grounds, I regretted going. I mean, fairs are kind of a weird place to go if you don't really know the group of people you're with anyway, especially if it's not even nighttime (when fairs really come alive), but I was just so exhausted from socializing and running around and trying to remember people's names that I just kinda sucked into myself. We ended up leaving early, and when we got back to campus I went off on my own. I laid down on the grass near the pond in a patch of sunlight and closed my eyes for a half hour, appreciating the silence and warmth.

I felt much better afterward and enjoyed the rest of my night hanging out with some girls in my dorm.

Friday night we had game night with Sessions House. It was a blast! I managed to make some Sessions friends who also happen to be transfers, so that was pretty cool.

I'm about to head off to the gym for the first time, but beyond that, I'm not quite sure what my day will hold! (Besides a barbecue later)

Common Ground

While I had a superb day and all, it doesn't even compare to what happened tonight.

Tonight, Jordan House participated in an exercise called Common Ground. Everybody got in a big circle, and our House President read us a list of categories. If we identified with them, we stepped into the circle.

The categories started out pretty light, with things like racial identity, nationality, geographic origin, et cetera. Then they got a little more personal, asking about things like religious affiliation and financial status. And then it got heavy: sexual orientation, suffering from a disability or mental illness, struggling with or living with someone who struggles with an addiction...

It was incredibly eye-opening. I was inspired by the girls who stepped forward to admit things that most people are ashamed of, and I was humbled to find that many of my assumptions about some of the girls were wrong. I felt relieved to be able to share some of my burdens with others, and I also felt vulnerable. But at the same time, I felt surrounded by a bunch of supportive and non-judgmental people, and I feel safe with them.

I am extremely lucky to be amongst a group of such diverse women, and I can't wait to learn from them.

Day 2: Water balloons and Paradise Pond

After a delicious breakfast of fried eggs, potatoes, and yogurt, I started my day of academic advising meetings and summer reading discussions.

Between all that administrative stuff, I managed to stop by the Lyman Plant House and pick up my free ivy plant (and one for my mom)! I think I shall name them Nadine and Rocko.

I've got all my potential classes picked out - I'll update with which ones I actually get on Friday. Get this, though: there's a class offered in the Spring called "Roll over Beethoven: A History of Rock" that examines the growth of rock music from blues to heavy metal, grunge, and techno! How freaking awesome is that?!

After an extremely hot and long summer reading lecture, we met in the Jordan house living room for some ice breakers and a WATER BALLOON FIGHT! I didn't want to join in at first, but then I got over being a big baby and got in my bathing suit. It was a blast! And then we spontaneously decided to go jump in Paradise Pond, another thing I wouldn't have ordinarily done because of my fear of leeches and dark water, and that was even more fun! I'm so glad I forced myself out of my comfort zone tonight.

Lesson of the day: stop being lame and just do it!

More tomorrow!

Like I promised...

I just screamed my head off for 45 minutes straight.

The reason being: the Quad Scream. Every year in the Quad at Smith, the various houses come up with chants and run out into the quad to scream them at each other. The last house standing wins. This year it was a 3-way tie between my house (Jordan), Gardiner, and... Wilson, I believe? Anyway, it was awesome! This was our chant this year:

J, O-R, let me hear you Johos roar!
D, A-N, scream it louder than they can!
J-O-R, D-A-N, sounds so good we'll say it again!
J-O-R, D-A-N, the house you wish you could live in!
Jordan house is like no other, if you don't like it... UH! YOUR MOTHER!
Jordan house is the best on campus, if you don't like it, then kiss our asses!

So backtracking a little bit, I had a great day even before the Quad Scream. I moved in around 11, went to a Presidential Address, and walked around campus with my mommy. I bought the traditional college apparel (a sweatshirt and sweatpants) and had dinner with my house.

So far, all the girls seem really cool! I'm looking forward to getting to know them better as the orientation festivities progress.

I think this is going to be a great year!

Starting anew

So starting tomorrow, I'm gonna try really hard to update regularly about my transition into Smith. I feel like it's really hard to remain consistent with blogging if you don't have a theme. So my theme is Smith. For now.

Moving in at 9am tomorrow morning! Eek!