Day 1 of way too many

I was definitely tossing and turning last night I was so freakin' excited for today. I mapped out where I needed to go, I planned out every minute: I was ready.

Well, I thought I was. I woke up at 6, and was out the door at 6:30 which led me to West Dining Hall, a minutes walk from my dorm. Turns out West doesn't open until 7, so I was stuck reading my Chem book in the cold. Class act for me right? I gulped down a quick breakfast, and rode behind a guy in an orange jacket to class where I was in the doors by 7:30. Turns out that the guy in the jacket was my professor, and I had the front middle row seat to his class. 

After Dr. Nafshun made us laugh extremely hard during his syllabus introduction, I had 8 minutes to get to Math 251 in Kidder, which took me 7 minutes exactly. Again, front row seat since nobody else wanted it and I had notes from when I took 251 at Chemeketa, so that was nice. 

My break consisted of Justin and I meeting up to go to Winco to get free food. However, we didn't have enough coupons, so we used detective work to find out they have old coupons and newspaper in Snell, so we grabbed four days worth of coupons, totaling 160 dollars of free food. We biked there and got 12 pack of top ramen, poptarts, popcorn, tuna, and a bag of cereal. I paid 0 dollars and 0 cents. In fact, the lady paid me six cents for re-using a bag (my backpack), so I am making money going to Winco to get their free food. Blows my mind but whatever. Top ramen party, am I right?

At 3, I went to my COMM 111 lecture which had about.... 200 people. So that was new. My professor is the mother of the coach of Crescent Valley XC, so it's funny seeing all the pictures of him. Then, during our lecture we watched a speech and had to identify why it was so good. Most answers consisted of the basics: eye contact, enunciation, tone, natural sounding. And then there was me: "I liked how he used the hook in the introduction which led to the roadmap that he followed perfectly". My professors response was "Get out of my class. You already know everything". Couldn't help but feel good (and feel the temptation to take her up on that offer). Later, I received an email address to contact to continue my Speech and Debate career in college. Considering it with no further comments. 

Afterwards, I had 20 minutes to go join the OSU XC team on their run, which started at Dixon and lead to Bald Hill. Climbing up the steep side of Bald Hill makes the Monster at Silverfalls look like a child. It was tough, it was fun, and I was trucking up that thing like I was made to run it. After we all met at the top, I helped push the pace going home where we averaged mid to low sixes (even though it was obvious the captains wanted the first day easy. Oh well). 

My last class was CBEE (Chemical, Biological, Environmental Engineering) class which had about, 100 people. So not too bad. Dr. Skips was really funny, and made a point to say we can call him Skip when we pass the class. He also has ran 1,000 days in a row or something (I think it was more). He's pretty rad. He also doesn't use TA's and insists on teaching everything himself, so that was a huge relief. 

After eating my dinner during CBEE (Yogurt and poptarts), I went to Ultimate Frisbee practice. It was really intense and there was a lot to learn. I'm not sure it was the thing for me, but I ran probably another 4 miles there just running all over the field. My commitment is currently hesitant, and probably unlikely. But it's definitely fun, and if I have spare time to go to a pick-up game, I totally would. Just attending practice after a solid 8 miler was brutal on the legs (and butt because it cramped during Skip's class which made for my most awkward Freshman moment yet). 

On this note I will end this post: My milk is still not thawed. 

Connect Week

Wow! I took some time off because I was going to post at the end of Connect Week, and before I knew it I was swarmed with all this stuff to do!

Some notable things that happened during Connect Week!

Cupcakes and Clubs
This was an Engineering "party" where there was a plethora of delicious cupcakes and engineering clubs to join or check out. I think I will be joining the CBEE club, but I'm not entirely sure yet. I'll go to their ice cream social on Thursday, where we will be using liquid nitrogen to create ice cream. So cool.

Dixon Rec. Night
This would've been more fun if they had like dodgeball going on, but there was a bunch of clubs or intramural sports around OSU that came and presented. I gave my information to the Ultimate Frisbee team, Running Club, and the Triathlon club. Outside around nine they had laser tag, but I was way too tired to check it out. Maybe next time!

Symposium, Convocation, Picnic
Early one morning, we had a scholars symposium. I dragged my roommates along, and it was okay. We learned about how foreign exchange works, and really gained some insight on how that process all works. Turns out, choosing where you go wisely can make your tuition lower. It's hard to explain and would bore you out of your mind (if you aren't already!)
After the symposium was a thing called Convocation. We all met at the Memorial Union, received tassels that we keep until graduation (just to motivate us), and we walked the route we will in four years to Gill Coliseum. There we heard speeches from Ed Ray (the president) and other motivational speakers. I would've stayed until the end, but one of my roommates (Dereak) managed to forget his wallet in the dorm and needed let back in, so luckily I had an excuse to sneak out. This allowed me to get to the picnic on time, which served dry chicken for seven bucks... Kinda felt ripped off as well as the rest of OSU Freshman. But many sorority and fraternities were there as well as other clubs, so I am currently looking in to a zombie run that happens across campus. So cool. Zombies for life.

Friday Night Live
Finally my favorite event so far! This was free and I would've gladly paid the seven bucks from earlier! I got to the event early, and it was a blast! We were served fudge and cookies to our hearts content before filling in the auditorium. When we were all seated and satisfied, there was a quiz down. First person to stand up got to answer the question for a gift card. I managed to stand up on one that was stumping the crowd: Name four of the seven cultural centers. I managed to say Cezar Chavez Cultural Center in a terrible manner of pronunciation followed by the Asian American Pacific Islanders cultural center. Then I remembered the Native American long house and had trouble remembering the fourth. I said the African American cultural center, but they didn't accept that, and with a desperate last shot I said Black Cultural Center, which got enough laughs that they just gave it to me. So yeah: 25 dollar gift card to Bed, Bath and Beyond that I will probably never use.
After the quiz down was an awesome comedy club much like "Who's Line is it Anyway?" that I saw in the eighth grade: Comedy Sports. They made me laugh so hard that night that I may or may not have shed a tear.

Today was my first actual day of classes, so there will be a separate entry for that. Right now at 12:17 AM I am working on thawing a half gallon of milk that we accidentally froze and watching my roommates get absolutely trashed by Borderlands for Xbox. Glad to know I'm being productive. But alas, don't worry (Especially you Dad), I don't have classes at all tomorrow. Well, that's a life. I have COMM 111 Recitation at 4PM, so sleeping in for me!

Game Day! OSU vs San Diego State

Wow, today was the longest day ever! That being said, watching the Beavers protect Reser Stadium against the Aztecs was pretty awesome.

Watching football alone is fun, but it can get boring. When you throw in a couple friends, it becomes better (especially if you have chips and dip). But if you stand in the student section of the Beavers football game, it's a whole new experience. At first, it was disappointing. OSU has a new rule in effect starting this year where the ticket purchased actually does apply to where you sit (whereas in the past it was first come first serve no matter the ticket). We were sitting about 9 rows back, so we weren't really complaining, but having got there 90 minutes early, we really thought we could get the front row. As more people entered, it became apparent that there was no way the security could enforce the new rule on hundreds of determined students, so we joined the masses and moved to the fifth row on the 20 yard line. The view was awesome, and the people were even better.

Behind us was a 7th year (he graduated and came back) who was more than slightly tipsy, and was determined that a back-up kicker by the name of Owens was better than the OSU defense. Whenever we began cheering "Ooooooo" he would always change it to "Oooooweeeens" and demanded that Owens play quarterback too.

In front of us was a group of rowdy people, but they were the good kind of rowdy. They started many chants, and got stoked with every good play, and gave high-fives to about 20 people every time. I was constantly laughing, especially when we started keeping score of the WSU vs U of O game which was really close. (Ducks ended up winning 38-31, but playing an unseeded team when they are 2nd and only winning by that much is beyond embarrassing). Whenever WSU would score, our section would have intermixed cheers of "Go Cougs" and "___ the Ducks" with the blank being filled in by profanity rhyming with "Ducks".

Since the game started at 7:30, it was close to 10:30 or so when the game finished. I probably went to five high school football games. Silverton was always strong, so it was almost always a guaranteed win. However college games take it to another level. Whether it's hearing drunk guys say hilarious things, or hoping the ice cream beats the cottage cheese (it's one of the silly games they play to keep the audience entertained), college games are far more intense. I can't wait until the next game, and I'm totally ready to camp out for front row tickets, because at the end when I was leaning on the concrete wall cheering on our team for the last three minutes, it was so awesome.

Ghost Peppers and Berliners

Saturday was by far the day we were looking forward to the most. We had a trip to the McKenzie River down in the Eugene area to go rafting on some tier 2 and 3 whitewater rapids. For the record, it wasn't my first time; when I went to Yellowstone we had a lazy river trip, and then I've rafted on the White Salmon River 3 times (which I very much recommend).

Waking up to be at the back of Dixon recreation center by 8 was probably the toughest part of the trip (especially when you're watching movies with everyone else). When we finally arrived after our two hour trip, the sun was beating down at a harsh 90 degrees, and the water was a solid 50. After the general instructions and preparing the rafts, we had the opportunity to divide into different rafting routs depending on difficulty of the river: Mild, Medium, and Spicy. But there was one special boat. It was smaller, brown (different from the traditional blue) and the Elite written on the side of the boat was calling to me. It was called the Ghost Pepper boat, and it was guaranteed to flip you over, and as my guide said "Have a kick-ass time". Irvin, Robert and I took the tiny boat along with our guide Collin and a mentor named Nate. After setting our boat in the water, Collin demonstrated how easy it was to flip the boat by having us all sit in the back row. That was my first time falling in the river.

It wasn't long before we hit our first level 3 rapid. It was a very swift moving part of the river, so of course the Ghost Pepper crew decides we need to flip the boat. As soon as we hit the rapids, our guide used the rope that was tied to the front to pull the boat up to a 90 degree angle, and then we all used our body weight to tip the boat onto us. When you flip a boat, everything goes from calm and collected to instant chaos. Or that's how it felt anyways. My paddle was instantly ripped from my hands, and I was submerged for quite a while. When I surfaced, the boat blindsided me and I had to grab on, just to realize I had been moved about 100 meters. That was the second time.

We ate a brief lunch on shore, and then continued on our way. It didn't feel like a 5 hour rafting trip, but before we knew it we were approaching our final rapid. And that was intense. Just imagine the waves being about 6 feet high after it drops you down into it. It looked pretty badass, and I was ready for it. What I wasn't ready for was the fact that we decided to flip the boat. Again. This time the boat didn't flip over, but just dumped us out after going 90 degrees. We then bobbed up and down with the current pushing us as we tried to locate the boat. And so that was my third and final time.

Now I incorporated "Berliners" into the title of this post because Oktoberfest was that week, and it was dank. Oktoberfest is like the best german food party a small Oregon town could host. Anything from strawberry shortcake to bratwurst, even the smoothest root beer known to man is available on the streets of Mount Angel. I probably gained about five pounds while I was there, but no worries.

To end this post, I just wanted to share a quote that my dad sent me:
"When the air is bitter cold, I run faster, for my muscles need to work harder to stay warm. When rain is pouring down, I run farther, thankful for the drops that keep my body cool and my mouth moist. When the sun scorches, I run harder, burdened by the weight of extra water. When nature sends it's worst, I run my best." - Bluco Knight


***EDIT***
I forgot that I promised Irvin that I would post this short story. We were walking back from getting OSU Football tickets, and Robert was talking smack about how he got to the stadium before us because we took the long way around. Anyways, he was talking, and also texting while walking backwards, and he turned around just in time to collide with a light post head-on. Needless to say, he couldn't talk smack anymore since we had the upper hand!

***EDIT EDIT***
Due to a high amount of request, I am also adding this: Louis also ran in to a pole the other day and he wasn't even on his phone; he was just talking to Abraham about getting rainbow colored hangers.

Monday through Friday and everything in-between

I am just coming to realize that college life is definitely more demanding than high school was. At least the SMILE program organized their agenda that way. Each day seems to go by really slowly because we have every hour scheduled out and free time is between eating dinner, doing homework, and going to sleep.

Last night my roommates decided to get a microwave so they could finally cook top ramen noodles. Basically the college stereotype is correct: Finding a food source other than the dining halls is necessary because the food gets old very quickly, and the prices even quicker. Well, besides the fact that we shouldn't even have a microwave in our room, Robert and I decided to inform them that they could just cook the noodles in a pot on our kitchenette that we have (we have a stove but aren't allowed to have a microwave because of the wattage). Well, they decided to boil the water and left to go to the other dorm while it was boiling. Robert and I were doing our homework assignment when they came back to find the steam billowing out of the pot. Irvin and Louis began frantically waving a shirt around the smoke detector because they thought it would go off. Needless to say, it was a hilarious moment when we informed them that smoke does not equal steam.

Over the past week, we've decided to play a new sport every day. Monday was obviously Monday night Football, Tuesday was basketball, Wednesday was Ultimate Frisbee, and today Robert and I met with a member of the Ultimate Frisbee team and we are planning on joining. The first two matches are on October 11th in Corvallis (Beaver Brawl) and the second one is in November down in Chico California. I don't plan on attending the October session because I am instead planning on returning to Silverton to celebrate my anniversary with Ally.

Variety becomes really important in your diet. I learned this within the first few days while I was here. I rant about the food a lot because I always imagined it to be different. But we mostly eat at the Arnold dining center, and it becomes hard to monitor what you eat. The one day I went to McNary hall for food, I walked away with a 1200 calorie fish and chips meal. So compensation has to come at times like this morning when I bought a caesar salad and apples. Interesting enough, I was a bit upset about how expensive it was going to be (approximately 8 dollars) but then the cashier gave me the apples for free after she couldn't scan them. Robert tried to mimic my luck but got the apples for 1.50 instead of 3.75 so I guess I was just on my A-game today.

Everything. That's what I want to do. Running Club: Yep. Triathlon: Yep. Equal Opportunity Program: Of course. Cultural Center: Free food is always good. So I'm eagerly awaiting school to start so I can get a feel for my schedule before committing to anything. Some things like the EOP offer scholarships and tutoring, so it would be a nice thing to have and not need to worry about attending meetings or practices. Other things like the cultural center have the bonus of free printing and free food, but having to coordinate events would be time consuming. College has made me realize that it's all about choosing what you can do, not what you want to do.

Yesterday was a demonstration of college freedom and the repercussions. I felt the repercussions today after we stayed up until 10 to do our laundry and finish our homework. That wasn't too bad, but when Gail wanted to go shopping with Alicia at 11, and Robert was the driver, it was really tiring being at Safeway that late at night. Getting home and realizing that everyone was still awake, we stayed up talking about our plans for Sunday until midnight, when we realized some of us still had homework (not me) or needed to get to bed. Falling asleep around 12:30 left me feeling groggy at 7:45 in the morning. Lesson learned. Well-played college life.

Overall I learned a lot from this SMILE program in one week. Communication, organization, and reading instructions to the line. It's also been amazing getting to know these guys. I totally judged them wrong on the first day. I dreaded thinking that my roommate was going to be "super lame" or someone I wouldn't get along with. Instead, I have 3 awesome roommates who I plan to connect with all year long. Robert and I even share classes and plan on both being on the Ultimate Frisbee team, especially when they go to Chico.

Unlike how this week has felt, I'm sorry that this entry seems so mundane and boring. I promise a collection of funny moments coming towards the end/middle of next week, I just need to take time to remember them. This entry also shows how serious everything feels at college. Thanks for reading, and check back in around Monday for stories on my white water rafting trip as well as my adventures on Sunday! And to Allyson: Read the first letter from each paragraph. Happy 11 months :)

Welcome to OSU (Halsell Hall Edition)

As a cliche college student, I too have decided to start a blog!

I call this entry the Halsell Edition because Halsell Hall is my new temporary dorm (As part of the Bioenergy program, I only get to stay here for 2 weeks) I say get to because this dorm is the most spacious, beautiful, apartment/hotel like dorm I have ever set foot in. Immediately regretting my decision to later stay at Sackett Hall, let me give you a quick run-down of what this beauty looks like:

Imagine walking down the corridor of a hotel. That's what it looks like in the hallways. Very nice, new, and a clean feeling to it. Upon entrance to the suite (yes, they are called suites because that's how nice they are) you are greeted by a kitchenette set on the right (stove, sink, cabinets) and a living room that's about the size of any other normal dorm. On the left hand side are three rooms: Bathroom, a single, and a double. My friend Irvin just moved in to the single, and Louis is staying in the double. On the right hand side are three rooms as well: Shower room, a single where Michael is staying, and a double. My room is the double on the right hand side, but fortunately I get the spacious room all to myself. I've literally stayed in hotels that are not as nice. So a tip to anyone planning on OSU: Become a foreign exchange student, enroll when you are over 20, and join the Gender Inclusive dorm that is Halsell.

I must say, the SMILE program is treating us well. After getting basic orientation down, today was all about getting to know each other. I felt out of my bubble honestly, but then again, so did every kid. We were all latched on to our parents not wanting to associate with one another. But eventually we were pulled apart in different groups, and after a few ice breaker games and drawing some pictures I think we all relaxed around one another. Everything and anything is provided through the program, and lunch was treated to both the student and their family. Make-your-own-tacos and lemonade that was too sour for William (My Freshmen brother) was a nice treat.

After lunch, ice breaker activities, instructions about curriculum, and move-in, it was finally time to say good-bye to my family. It was... odd. Though I was only saying good-bye for two weeks, the feeling of staying in a dorm and not being at home changed how I felt about the good-bye.

At dinner I got to know my friends a bit more. Irvin, Michael, and Louis are staying with me, while Justin, Abraham and Robert are staying a room down in 221. We already formed our little posse, and it's pretty incredible how quickly we got to know each other.

It's late though. We've decided to wake up early to hit Dixon in the morning for some treadmill (otherwise I get to run around the field while Robert rides his bike next to me).

Soooo on that note.... Minute Rice out!