Go Tigers!

Since I spent two hours making this blog post and I'm super lazy and need to get dinner and finish homework, I copied this over from my admissions blog. 

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Yes, students at RIT can find things to do on weekends. And no, it does not have to include playing computer games.

In fact there are quite a few things to do here on any given night to fit your every need.

Concerts/Comedians
CAB (or College Activities Board) is responsible for most of the entertainment around here dealing with concerts, local bands, comedians, magicians, etc. These events usually take place on Friday or Saturday nights around 10 or 11. And they onlycost $1! Throughout the year there are usually two or three major concerts (like cute is what we aim for, boys like girls or nas—this year’s concerts) and then a number of smaller bands, which are usually from around the Rochester area. Friday night “The Demos” came to play at the Ritz. They’re a local band made up of 5 guys from the Rochester area.

Saturday night we went to see Johnny Walker, a comedian. The venue is really small so it makes it more personal and you can even go up and talk to them after! They might not be the biggest names in show business but it’s still a good way to spend a Friday or Saturday night :)

Athletics

One of the best things about RIT, social life wise is…hockey games! Men’s hockey is RIT’s only division 1 sport on campus and the games are awesome. Seriously, I’ve been waiting since the week before break for this game, they’re that good. I could sit here and tell you more about how amazing they are but sometimes I think it’s best to see for yourself so at the last two games I took some videos. Hopefully it gives you a feel for what an RIT Hockey game is and you’ll be motivated to go check them out.

Of course, I can’t leave out the other sports. So, today we went to see both the Men and Women’s basketball teams play Ithaca College. The women’s team unfortunately lost in a close match. However, the men’s team pulled off an exciting win against the Ithaca Bombers. The last basket was freaking amazing, I’m kind of upset that I didn’t have my video camera out at the time. A three point shot from about half court right as the buzzer was announcing the end of the game allowed the Tigers to pull of an 87-84 win.

Blog Blog Blog

So, I've got this nifty job at admissions which not only allows me to fold hundreds of letters and input millions of names but I get to blog!! 

As of tonight, I've officially started blogging on it. Don't worry, this blog will not die off. The admissions blog is for incoming students to get a taste of college life and ease the waiting process for decisions to come out. This blog will be for, well... everything else. Occasionally I'll blog the same entry on both (sorry! spare time does not come in an abundance around here) 

I've got to wake up in less than 4 hours for my flight so, for tonight, I'll just post the blog on both as well as the link to the RIT admissions site. <--- click the word link.

Once upon a time in a land far, far away when I was much younger and had more free time on my hands….

Oh wait, that was last year… It’s almost mind-boggling thinking back to this time last year when I was sitting at my little desk at home pushing the refresh button on my trusty laptop just hoping for a reply from any college. I remember visiting schools wondering if I would fit in or ifthe program was “just right” for me. I remember waiting until almost the last minute (like literally 5 minutes before the server crashed…) to submit an application online because I was convinced that I’d screw up my name or something really silly like that.

Well guys, I managed to spell my name right, pass a few classes and guess what?! I got into college! I even managed to survive the wait for the decisions to come out. When it came down to it all, I think I actually had it relatively easy. I got into all of the places I wanted and when I took a second look at them I realized that RIT was the only school I was really in love with (of course, I did my fair share of pro/con lists beforehand). But, RIT won by a landslide.

The college application process can be closely related to getting a shot at the doctor’s office. While the sheer thought of both events is overwhelming and intimidating at first, the actually duration of either is short in comparison to most other things in life. As a bonus, once they’re over you either get to attend a really awesome college/university OR get a supercool band-aid! Okay, that was a really lame comparison..

Don’t get me wrong though, the application is slightly harder than getting a shot. But still, you’re basically just “interviewing” colleges to find the right fit foryou. Ask questions, explore your choices, talk to people but ultimately the decision comes down to you. [Note: Pro/Con lists and lots and lots of patience are key in the application process.]

So, here I am, a second quarter freshman (if there is such a term?). I’ve been working in admissions now for about two months, give or take a few weeks. I spent my first quarter getting to know the campus becoming adjusted to my newly acquired college life-style. Nowthat I’ve managed to figure out a schedule that allows me to get a full eight hours of sleep a night while still finishing homework and going to class, I’ve decided to start branching out and try something new.

This blog’s purpose is basically to give YOU a first-hand account of life at here at RIT. Like most things in life, it has its definite ups and downs and we’re all here to show you a little bit about life beyond the glossy covered booklets. Sure, those give you a good look at the major aspects of college life, there are some things like finding out when the best time to do laundry is or figuring out how to class while spending the least amount of time outside as possible that you need to find out directly from the source. Cold weather and all, RIT is a pretty awesome place to be spending four years. Of course, that’s my opinion so make sure to check out allof the other bloggers if you haven’t already

And don’t worry, the wait will be over before you know it!

Life in a Nutshell

Well, classes are officially over!

My last class ended at 4 on Friday and now all I have to do is write an essay by next Friday and go in for a final tomorrow morning at 11. Hooray! This break is much needed. We've all been joking that it feels like we're getting senioritis all over again with the end of the quarter. Luckily I managed to plan far enough in advance that I only had a few touch ups to make on a couple projects last week.

As for life outside of classes..

Work
I've been working A LOT. My first official day of work was Tuesday morning from 8:30 until 11:30 and I've worked everyday since with the exception of today. I think i'm working Monday-Thursday too from 8:30 until 4:30. It's nice because I don't have any finals really so I can get a lot of hours in. I'm actually finding the work to be rather fun even though it's super monotonious. There's something about it that's kind of relaxing because I don't really have to think while doing it. It's a lot of stuffing envelopes, putting address labels on and typing names and other information into the computer.

Friends
Today a group of us drove into downtown Rochester to meet up with our drawing professor at Spot Coffee. It was really funny because there were 10 of us and we all sat in huge comfy chairs around a table, drank coffee and listened to Cliff tell stories.. I felt like we were in kindergarden during story time.

I think this afternoon is pretty open with the exception of writing my paper. I think there was loose talk of going mini-golfing? but it's kind of wet and nasty out. Last night Ash, Drake and I went to the library and checked out 7 movies... they have a 3 day return policy so we'll be watching a lot of those before Tuesday =) This week is just going to be a lot of hanging out, relaxing and working. I think a group of us rambunctious art kids are going to hang out on Wednesday or so before we all leave for break.

Volunteering
Yesterday Ashley and I went downtown to volunteer at a place called foodlink. It's a food distribution center that takes in 8 million pounds of food a year from local grocery stores and such and then distributes it to local food banks and homeless shelters. Aside from the brief panic since we had absolutely no idea where we were, things turned out just fine. It was basically us two and about 15 frat guys (who are forced to do community service) sorting and boxing huge stacks of food. The guy in charge seems really nice and we talked to him about coming back in early December.

News
Remember that Peanut butter and jelly thing that I volunteered for a while ago? Well, it made the local Rochester News... here's a clip from it.. you can actually see me for parts of it (well, sort of) I'm cut off the screen wearing a blue plaid shirt when they're interviewing the guy.

PB JAM

I'm getting pretty horrible at updating. Oops.
I'll have some pictures and such later tonight when I get around to uploading them.

I'm special.

I got twenty bucks today. For working? No, just because i'm special. 

Just kidding =) 

The great thing about college is graduate school... not that I plan on going with that route, but for the simple fact that they need people to participate in their studies. So today, I spent 2 hours of my life answering some simple questions and debating with anonymous people online about our current political system, views, etc. Then I got twenty bucks, simple as that. 

Played volleyball tonight, it was so-so. Just wasn't feeling it tonight for some reason. It also turns out that the movie we wanted to see isn't even playing until tomorrow night (guess we can't read signs...). Oh well, more time for homework.

Time for painting in the lounge! 

All Grown Up and Savin' China

Moved into college today, so far so good. Drove up yesterday morning-- made quite a few stops for such a short drive. But seriously how can you pass up Clyde Pelling's Reptileland?! Or Jones Kones?! Anyway, made it up here around 4ish.. went to barnes and noble on campus and got my books and art kit. Checked in at the hotel and then drove over to a greek restaurant just down the street to have dinner with a bunch of people from RIT. Of course, I didn't know any of them but it was pretty cool to get to meet people before actually moving on campus. This morning woke up early and went to grab breakfast before heading over to campus to register for orientation and what not. I even got my picture with the tiger! Move in was at 12:30, it was SO HOT. My dorm doesn't have air conditioning and the fan I packed was the last bag to make it up. It didn't help that we couldn't open our window for a while either. Got all unpacked and moved in. Went out to dinner with my roommate Ashley, and a couple other people who i met at the dinner last night as well as Phoenix who I had met at the last accepted students orientation. I ate the entire meal with chopsticks just for the heck of it (I had tofu ravioli and green beans). But hey, it's college who says you can't eat with chopsticks. After dinner we came back to the dorm for a while until our floor meeting. Played survivor during the meeting.. which turned out to be rather interesting. Around 10 a group of about 12 of us walked over to see a comedian, Buzz Sutherland. It was pretty amusing. Now we're back in the dorms just chilling and getting ready for bed. I'm SO exhausted, I won't even be able to complain about the bed being uncomfortable because i'm so tired. Actually, it doesn't feel that bad. And for anyone who has been commenting on the size of my room, yeah it's a little small but it seems to be working out. We'll see how it goes. Tomorrow morning we have to wake up at 7 to get ready for some convocation thing at 9. I kind of get the feeling I won't be getting much sleep this week :) There is another 10-midnight thing tomorrow night too. Oh well.

last night at home

me and the tiger!

thanks guys for the help moving in! 

moving in 

dorm room

my side of the room

closet

Sistine Chapel & the Tornado

The room is done! My mom spent all of last week (like we're talking 7 hour runs without lunch) painting their room. Here's the final result, doesn't it look good? :)

Oh yeah, and here's my disaster of a room. It's somewhat less inviting than my parents room above, but don't worry it'll get cleaned up in a few days. 

Laundry Baskets, Apple Pancakes & Fried Shrimp

Okay to start off with, this post is going to have nothing to do with fried shrimp. I simply do not eat fried shrimp and I never intend on doing so, therefore there would be no good reason to post about it.. however, I needed a third item to title this post to make it sound better and it was the first thing that came to mind.

Anyway, now for the parts of the title that actually do have meaning. Laundry baskets. The days are quickly passing by and in just under 40 days I will be packing up and leaving for Rochester. Actually, I hope to be packed up SOONER than 40 days because I don't really like to leave things until the last minute. My mom left this morning to drive down to DC to visit with her friend from high school so Sarah, my dad and I went down to Rockville Pike for a breakfast/college outing. Ate breakfast at this place called the Original Pancake House and let me tell you they have some mighty tasty pancakes. Sarah & I shared an Apple Pancake and a Dutch Baby (which are good but not quite on the same level as the ones from Walker Brothers). Afterwards we walked over to look for a winter coat for me at REI... which conveniently won't be in stock until September, a month too late to be helpful. Ditched that idea and went over to the Container Store to look for some stacking boxes for under my bed. Ended up finding a nifty collapsable laundry bag.

(isn't it neat? Sarah's favorite part is the collapsing feature which she proceeded to test out numerous times on not only this but other items in the store)

Alison's coming over in a few minutes so I should sign off and go hide our glassware :)