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?