Blinded Eyes

For many, this is the first time that the watchfl gaze of their parents has not been bearing down upon them. This is a time for freedom and independence, but with that comes responsibility! No one is going to be around to tell us to watch what we eat,clean up after ourselves, do chores, stay in shape, make healthy choices, go to bed, or anything else; it's all up to us. This newfound freedom can lead many people astray soon after they arrive at college. We've all heard those tales of the Freshman Fifteen, kids letting themselves go, people partying all night, everyday, and the list goes on. You have to take responsibility for these things now, or your first year of college may turn out different from what you had intended. One of the best ways that I've found to stay healthy is to visit Strohm. Beleive me, I can't stand working out and at first the thought of going to the gym left a bad taste in my mouth. However, Strohm has something for everybody, not just weight-lifting jocks! For instance, my roommate and I rock climb, play racquetball, do fencing, play badmitton, relax in the spa, swim laps, and lounge in the sauna just about every time we go; there are plenty of fun options. So get out there and get in shape!

Advisory

If the foreign exchange student that I'll be working with ever asks for my advice about surviving on campus, I'd have an earful for them. The biggest thing is time management. If you don't find an effective way to keep track of your work, you'll quickly find yourself behind in all your classes. Another thing to keep in mind is finding a balance between how much time is spent studying, doing homework, working, and just having fun. Being all work and no play is not the way to go about college life. I'd also suggest joining a club or two. This way you'll meet new people and experience new things without getting reeled into the expectations that come with being in too many clubs at once. It's also imperative to make good friends. If the only people you talk to are the ones you happen to sit beside in class or live down the hallway from, it's going to be hard to get by during your first year. You need to find good friends who will hang out with you often and not just say hello when they pass you by. good friends can make all the difference on how much you cherish your freshman year at USC Columbia.

Sneaking a Peek

Life may be just like a storybook, but there is one thing you aren't allowed to do; sneak a peak into the next chapter. You're stuck with the anticipation that follows an intriguing turn of events. There is one thing you can do to make up for this drawback, however, and that is change the chapters to come. Where with a book you are forced to accept the choices of others to a decided outcome (or what I call fate), life is ever changing in accordance with your choices. As for my choice, I've come to college as a Physics major. I've always loved theories and ideas surrounding creation, astronomy, and strange phenomenom. This, in truth, is only a back-up plan though. What I truly want to do is become an author. I realize two things about the world of writing; no one buys a book becuase the author went to college and even the best writers in the world can go undiscovered. If things go acoording to plan, however, I hope to be able to live comfortably off my novels or become a professor and write on the side while teaching and writing essays/lab reports.

Over my shoulder....

Looking back over my should at how the transition to college has gone, I really am proud. To be honest, I figured I'd keep up many of my old tendencies and bad habits, but I've managed to completely change myself for the better. Instead of never studying, only doing half my homework, spending all my time being lazy, and keeping a small social circle, I've done the complete opposite. Now I study for all my tests, finish nearly all my homework on time, go to the fitness center nearly every day, and attend many clubs, organizations, and gatherings. I expected the change to be hard, but I've fallen in very neatly with college life and I haven't been this happy in a long time. As for things that I would like to change, my only problem now is finding time to sit around an do nothing (something I don't eagerly seek out now). I think that I'll be happiest if I can keep up my new ideologies and mannerisms. I really am enjoying my life here at USC Columbia.

What does it mean?

To me, service learning is about learning through actions that benefit others instead of studying or taking in comforts for yourself. In many ways, service learning is a very useful tool for conditioning one's self to learn from every thing they do. Unfortunately, many people take this wonderful tool and enforce it as scripture. It's one thing to volunteer to learn from such things, but most often people are forced to participate (whether it's community service due to crime or the arbitrary school assignment). When service learning is forced in such a way, it is usually the community that suffers for it. In a mentoring situation, such as the one we are soon to become a part of, this can lead to a spoiled relationship with the mentee and it is the mentee who, in the end, suffers. In other circumstances, it just plain looks bad if "volunteers" are griping about helping the community; people attribute it to the community itself and not the situation of the person. I don't think service learning should be expected in any way; it is something that one must come across and choose for one's self.

Joining the Club

Since coming here to USC, one of the most exciting things about college life for me has been going to clubs and organizations. The idea of joining groups of similarly minded people to hang out, have fun, and plan awesome events has always been an appealing one for me. So far I have joined two clubs here on campus; The society of Physics Students and the Fencing Club. The Society seemed too laid back and disorganized for my taste at first, but after getting to know the people and helping to plan for future events (some of which include a giant Newton's Cradle, Sumo Wrestling in fat suits, and staging foam weapon wars), I've really fallen in with them. The Fencing Club, on the other hand, is fairly structured. It's also the first athletic club I've been a part of in a long time. The best thing about that club, however, is that everyone in it is so similar. Fencing, apparently, attracts more nerds than anything else. I came into both of these clubs looking for like-minded people and fun things to do, and I definitely found both. I suspect I'll stick with these clubs for a long time to come.

Safety First

This week we exchanged the usual classroom setting for a chance to talk to one of the police officers that work here on campus. The officer that talked to us was not the usual speaker (who is most well known for his "Brother-man" antics), but she did an amazing job of taking over. Her many tales of criminals and crime on campus really put things into perspective; USC is not a safe haven. As an open campus, just about anybody can just walk right in, including those people with malicious intent. There is also the fact that not everybody that attends this college are good people. When you first come here, however, you feel really safe. This isn't a bad thing, but feeling too secure can lead to making stupid choices, with the most common one being to leave your door unlocked when you leave or while you're sleeping. The speaker also did a good job of making us understand that the police are more than happy to help us out when things are worrying us; they are not just here to solve crimes, they are here to prevent them as well! Other than these things, my only observation was a one of a joking nature; did she not remind anyone else of the main character from Miss Congeniality?

Diverstiy is Key...

On Monday we went to visit the middle school at which most of the university 101 students in our class will be mentoring. I, myself, will be mentoring a foreign exchange student here on campus, but I visited the middles school regardless. From what I could tell, this three-story school was bigger than my middle school, junior high, freshman campus, and High school camp use combined! I was extremely impressed by the art that was apparent everywhere you looked and by the selection of books in the library. What did not impress me, however, was the way the councilors around us kept insisting that they were not a high end school and that they were a very diverse group. They seemed as if they had had people point out their fancy tendencies and they were appalled at the thought. In short, they seemed a bit haughty of their standing. My only other grievance with them is that they have same-sex classes available. I understand it must be due to demand by parents, but this kind of thing has always rubbed me the wrong way. I expect that the mentors will thoroughly enjoy themselves there despite my grievances.

Foreign Hopes

Due to having landed an amazing job setting up science labs, I was not able to sign up to mentor at Hand Middle School. Instead, I’ve been allowed to do something even more appealing; help teach a foreign student how to speak English! I’m really excited about this prospect and I think there is more that both mentor and mentee can get out of this relationship. After having transitioned into a new life at college, few people retain their old friendships and college can be a very lonely experience at first. With this setup, however, both participants gain a valuable friend who they can both rely on in times of need. While it is true that you can befriend your mentee at Hand Middles School, the friendship will never grow and if the child ever does get close enough to share his thoughts with you, you can never share your thoughts with them; it’s a very one sided relationship. The relationship with a foreign student of the same age has much more potential to continue and grow after the mentoring process is done.

Study Tips

We were recently asked to complete an assessment test called LASSI in order to improve our study habits. On the one hand, I think that it got some of my strengths correct. For instance, it gave me 85 out of 95 on how well I deal with anxiety. One of the reasons I do so well in school is because I’m an awesome test taker and I never worry about upcoming tests; I’m very confident in that respect. On the other hand, however, being told this doesn’t help me improve at all. The bad scores are what should warn me of bad habits so that I can fix them, but I found myself not caring about my lowest scores in the least. The reason the score is low in the first place is because it’s something that doesn’t work for me. If you actually use all their suggestions for studying, you’ll never get anything done. Instead, the test shouldn’t suggest thins that don’t work for you, but convince you to improve on things that already work for you.

Learning to Serve

Serving the community has never been something high on my list of To-Do's; there's always just been one thing or another. Whether i was convinced I didn't have enough time for it or convinced that it wasn't important, I've always had an excuse. And to tell the truth, I'm still not sure if service learning is really for me. When I think service learning, I think overly nice people who are so caught up in the notion of putting themselves last that they seem weird and inhuman. Compared to that I'm despicable. The only services I've ever done are ones for ROTC, but even those were just small things like picking up trash or disassembling tents after festivals. This being said, I have little love for the idea of "volunteering" to help the international students on my free time. It seems selfish, but I'm willing to bet I'm not the only one with that thought floating in their stash of mental secrets. I do admit, however, that I'm a bit excited to be making a new friend (I'm positive we'll get along). Hopefully that will be enough to sway my opinions on this service assignment.

Details, Details, Details....

I've never been one for organization. Think of me as the absent-minded professor who loses every paper that gets turned in to him, or the thoughtless husband who misses dates with his wife. Any attempt my friends or family made to rid me of this habit has backfired; I was just plain stubborn about it. I thought I could handle all the tedious details that I needed to have done each day, thought I could manage to keep my appointments on my own. Up through High School, this worked reasonably well for me. I did miss work a few times out of forgetfulness, or ditch a friend because of double planning, but nothing I couldn't handle. It wasn't until after I got to college and realized how many random classes, homework assignments, and chores littered my every day that I decided to give up on foolishness and get organized. I went out and bought a Table-top calendar with plenty of room in each box and, lo and behold, each square quickly filled up. I'm not sure how I ever lived without this necessity. It's thanks to this that I haven't missed any homework assignments, have gotten in all the proper study time, and have been able to keep all my appointments! All those little details can sure build up fast, but now I'm ready to take them on.

The Hidden Niche

I am a nerd. I've come to accept it and it's more closely related to a term of endearment than an insult for me now. There is one thing that must be said about nerds, however: we are not famous for being the heart of college life. That's the frat's and jock's job. This being the case, I came to college with the idea that I would have to scour the campus in search for the hidden niche of nerds. I knew they'd be out there somewhere (I planned to check the math department and science buildings for any signs of club activity), but what I wasn't expecting was how numerous and outspoken they were. Immediately (and without my having to poke around) signs of awesome, nerdy people appeared. Physics, video games, books, sci-fi, and even anime all had clubs dedicated to them. Before I knew it, I had gone to the club faire and found so many clubs I wanted to join that I couldn't fit them all into my schedule. annoyed and just a bit heartbroken, I finally managed to narrow it down to three clubs; NASHI (anime club), SPS (physics club), and Fencing. I've already gone to SPS and met some of the awesomest people alive, and now I'm eagerly awaiting a chance to check out the other clubs I set my eye on!

15 Floors Too High

My family has felt it necessary to warn me about every little bump they can imagine me running into during college. Summer vacation wasn't a time of daydreaming, but a season of foreboding. My parents made certain that I come face to face with reality about the big transition. Unfortunately, their idea of reality consisted of alcohol, bad people, unruly professors, mountains of homework, and (my least favorite topic) how being around my best friend so much would make us hate each other. Needless to say, they had my nerves fried before I even got here.
When they, along with my roommate's family, saw our little dorm room on the 16th floor, they shook their heads and commented about how we were "15 floors too high." It wasn't until after they tore away from us, doubtlessly to run home and cry about "their little babies", that the mood changed. What apprehension I had disappeared, replaced by a sense of satisfaction; "I'm on my own," I thought happily.
But this was far from the truth. Within days I'd met new friends and come to the realization that I wasn't alone; these people would help me at every turn and I would do the same for them. I'd never really understood what people mean when they talk about a "sense of community", but it's something that I quickly fell into at USC. It's the most important part of the Carolinian Creed to me; demonstration of concern for others. Now I'm just hoping that things keep going as well as they are.