A time to mourn, a time to dance....

Um, well, first of all, an apology- has it really been almost a month since I posted?  Whoops!  Needless to say, it's been quite a break!  There were some highlights (seeing family and friends, not having to do school work, reading a whole lot, being in the kitchen again...) and some lowlights (getting sick, Mom and Dad being sick, my brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews all getting sick within one week of each other.... yeah.  Sickness was the worst part.  But it didn't last long!)

Christmas was lovely.  We went to Christmas Eve mass, the next morning my parents and aunt and I opened gifts, and in the afternoon the whole family came over.  Lots of people, and lots of fun! :)  (There is actually a serious post shortcoming regarding a valuable lesson learned at Christmas dinnertime.... it may or may not be amusing as well. :P )

So, as you may have guessed, I'm back at school.  Hence the title of this post.  I'm mourning the end of break, but I'm extremely happy to be back.  I'm very excited for my classes this semester.  I'll be taking 6 classes, which is one more than last semester, but 5 of them are going to be really good, I think.  Today I had Media and Society and French 202 (this one'll be interesting.... there are 25 people in our class, which is big for a language.... and some of them have only had 2 years of French while others are in their 5th (that's me)...... and a couple don't know how to say their numbers..... and one girl is very excitable.  yeah).  Tomorrow is going to be nuts- I'm in class from 9:30-5 with one break.  I start with Introduction to Catechetics, run to Embryology in the science building, run back to Catechetics 1, have a lunch break at 2:15 then go back for Radio/TV at 3:30.  Welcome to my Tuesdays/Thursdays.  At least they're good classes!

I shall update you all on my classes tomorrow!!
xoxo,

Change is in the air!

Over the past 2 weeks or so, my Mass Media teacher has been telling us about a project that he would be assigning.  I know I've been anxiously awaiting the announcement..... wondering what I would get to do!

Weelllll..... today he gave us the assignment!

We were asked to do something with new media- a blog, tumblr, photo essay, youtube videos.... we were also told that we could use something that we already have.  Sooooo...... that means that this blog will be undergoing some major changes!  I'll be adding some different elements to it and changing the backgrounds, pictures, and, um, I don't know what else.  Something exciting. :)

Which brings me to the next thing.  Part of my grade will be viewer involvement.  Please comment on my blog!  Tell your friends!  Tell your neighbors!  Tell the lady at the store!  Ok, maybe not.  That would be a little odd.  In fact, please don't tell the lady at the store.  But do tell everyone else!  


I'm off to make some changes!  I'm going to start with the background and header.  Just don't think you're in the wrong place when you visit next time!

xoxo,

Yes, we are (Catholic) college students ... and other musings on college life

It is awesome to have Jesus living in your dorm.

I mean, to live in Jesus' dorm.

I love seeing friars when I'm walking to class.

There is safety in numbers, especially when you get a discount on your dance ticket.

The book club is going to be discussing "How to Find Your Soulmate Without Losing Your Soul".

We may not have a football team, but we have frisbees.  Lots of them.

There must be a sale on turkey; we've had it 3 times in a week.

Lights out is always characterized by the sound of girls chanting the Salve Regina.

Movie night is ended with the comment, "Wasn't that a great scene of redemption at the end?"

The appropriateness of movies at said movie night is determined by the USCCB standards.

One of the best feelings in the world is opening your mailbox and seeing one or more pieces of mail.

A better feeling is seeing a card with a yellow sticker in your mailbox.  Indicating the reception of a *gasp* package!!

It's great to open one of those boxes and find scented dryer sheets.

My "mysterious nephew" simply made my day last week.  

There is nothing worse than looking at your watch and finding that your class begins in 4 minutes, and you're still in your dorm room.  

After looking at your watch and bolting across campus, it's sooooo relieving to walk into that classroom precisely at 2:15.

And it's frustrating when the professor doesn't begin teaching until 2:18.  I could have saved my breath!!

The campus internet is so protected that I can't unsubscribe from the wig emails I've been getting.  (Yes, you read that right.  The last one read "Be who you want to be in a wig".  I'm who I want to be without a wig, thank you very much.)

The chapel has at least 10 girls in it every night at midnight.

12:05 mass is always full.

10:30 mass on Sundays is wall-to-wall packed.  Every. Single. Week.

There are too many households to visit.  I want to go to them all.  

Praise and Worship night is almost as well-attended as weekday mass.  Almost.

Did I mention that I love it here?

Yeah, I figured that you got that message.

xoxo,

Confusion Reigns: The Beginning of Classes!

If you couldn't tell by the title (*ahem, ahem*), classes have officially started!!  It has been fun/interesting/amusing/tiring getting to know a little more about the classes and the professors who teach them.  Now, I haven't had all 5 classes-one of them only meets on Monday evenings-but as for the other four, I think I have a pretty good feel for what the rest of the semester is going to be like.

My very first class was History of Civilization I.  My professor, who I had previously heard amazing things about, is just as good as I had heard.  Since the class is at 8 am, almost anything is funny, which is good because his jokes are rather silly.  But I think that's his point.  He encouraged us to bring in coffee, tea, or any other beverage that would help us stay awake, because, as he said, he needed help to stay awake during class as well.  He had brought coffee, and he joked that he "put the intravenous thing on in the morning to get him going".... sound familiar to any members of my family?? ;)  He also uses the best voices when he's quoting people.  I have mixed reactions about the class itself- it sounds very similar to World History I that I took in junior year..... complete with "identify and give the importance on every single person, place, or event on the test!"  Nevertheless, it should be an entertaining class.

Count of books I had to buy after class: 1

I have 5 hours between the end of Civ and the beginning of Mass Media...... this one's gonna be interesting.  The book that we're using sounds absolutely fascinating - it's something that I would read on my own!!  The course is all about Media and the Church today, how we can use journalism, internet, phone, TV, and radio communications to spread the Truth.  The one thing I learned in my first class is that turning the lights off and showing a powerpoint in a very dark room is difficult.  I think everyone came very close to dozing off at one point or another.  I managed to start awake, but the brightness, or lack thereof, was not helping me in that effort.

Count of books I had to buy after class: 2
Total Number of Extra Books Needed, Not Listed Online: 3

That was the end of my classes on Tuesday.  I spent my "free time" copying all my assignments, including exam dates, into my calendar.  It was a tedious process, but I'm glad I got it done now when I actually have that kind of time.

This morning I had Poetry.  All I can say about the professor is that he was interesting.  (Related Side note: I have a Sister in my Poetry class!  I thought that was rather neat.  Anywho.....) Said Sister commented before the Professor came in, "I was looking through this book [a book of poems that the professor wrote] and found this one..." and she proceeded to read it to us.  Here is the poem, for your enjoyment:

Pentecost
Who is this Holy Spirit?
And what is He doing in the eggplant?

Yes, that is the poem.  No, I didn't leave something out.  That's Pentecost in its entirety.  I am so confused..... I really hope we go over this one in class, because I want to know why this professor even asked why the Holy Spirit is in the eggplant.  I mean, why would the Holy Spirit be there?  Did the professor have some deep insight about the Holy Spirit and eggplant?  I am very curious about this particular poem.  And other than the fact that the course material is pretty much the same as all the poetry we read in senior English, including the different literary time periods and authors, it should be an interesting class.

Count of books I had to buy after this class: None, thank goodness!!

I had another 5 hour break in between Poetry and French.  Now, as I mentioned before, I tested into Intermediate French I, or French 201.  I was excited- I not only am able to take other classes instead of Elementary French, but I can also learn some higher lever French things.

Oh, boy.  I had no idea what I was in for.

My teacher is French.  Like, he not only speaks French, but he's from France.  He spoke literally 6 words in English the entire hour and fifteen minutes.  Do you know how mentally exhausting it is to listen to fluent French for 1.25 hours??  And he wasn't speaking slowly so we could translate, either.  It was full-on conversation speed French.  As I walked out of class, no-about 20 minutes into class- I had a pounding headache.  Thankfully, because of my amazing high school French teacher, I was able to understand all but 2 sentences of what he said.  Not thankfully, those two sentences were our homework.  So, as we were dismissed, we all ran into the hallway and consulted with each other.  "He said we had how many pages to read?"  "3 pages to read."  "No, 3 pages for a quiz."  "He definitely said it was a test." "A 10-question test?  Naw, it was a quiz."  We finally figured it out (there's a 10 question multiple-choice "test" on Monday.... it's a quiz, though.).  The fact that our heads were all aching didn't help.  *le sigh*  Shoot!  I'm even adding French articles to my English!!  This isn't a good sign....

So, basically, after that silly French class, I couldn't do anything for a while.  In other words, I wanted ice cream.  But in order to eat ice cream, one must eat one's dinner.  So I ate my dinner, went to get ice cream, only to find out that it was all gone.  Sadness ensued.  Shortly, the ice cream was replenished, and I was able to have my little bowl of ice cream with a sprinkle of heath bar on top.  *happiness*  (or should that be #happiness ... I am totally not used to hashtags.)

Count of books I had to buy after class: 1-3. I'm not really sure- I couldn't quite make out what he was saying....

Total Number of Extra Books Needed, Not Listed Online: At least 4, possibly 5 or 6

OH!!  And probably the highlight of my day was getting to Skype with my brother and 6 nieces and nephews.  :)  And to speak with my sister on the phone (and brother-on-law, but that was even more brief.  Like, 32 seconds brief).

Well, I'm off to bed.  I've got my 8 am class tomorrow...... time to break out the tea!!

A New Beginning

It's so wonderful to be here at last!!  Here's a short little synopsis of my first weekend here--

Thursday was a jam-packed day.  My parents and I woke up at 5 and hit the road by 6:45.  5 hours and a Starbucks stop later, we arrived in Steubenville!!  The following hours were spent moving in and trying to get my room into some semblance of order.  Friday there were a couple general meetings for everyone who was here, and then more unpacking.... unpacking and organization pretty much took up every spare moment that I had. :)  I also took my French placement exam on Friday morning, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I tested out of both French 101 and 102!!  So, now I'm able to go directly into 201 and replace my elementary French classes with Communications classes, which can count toward my minor, possibly giving me a triple major.  Confused yet?  Yeah, me too.  ;)  Friday I also dropped my 6th class, Geology, so that I now have a more manageable 15 credits.  I was waiting until I placed into French to decide about Geology.  There were more meetings on Saturday, and that evening was the semi-formal dance, which was (surprisingly) a LOT of fun!!  I met some new people and it was a really good time.

Sunday I went to Mass and brunch with Mom and Dad, and then they headed back home... I went to a presentation "The Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged", which was quite funny, then an ice cream social, and then... wait for it ..... swing dancing!!  That was a lot of fun. :D  I'm so excited to learn some new swing dance moves

And then we come to today.  I was able to sleep in a little bit, which was quite nice after a late night last night.  After breakfast I had two academic orientation sessions- one in Theology and Catechetics.  Those were amazing..... I got to see Scott Hahn, Bob Rice, and Marcus Grodi all in one day!  (And yesterday, I saw Righteous B!)  I thought that was pretty exciting.  Fr. Terry celebrated the Convocation and Opening of the School Year Mass this afternoon, so now we've officially started school!!  The ministry fair was also this evening, and I signed up to receive information about a mission trip to North Dakota, the pro-life group, a group that goes to soup kitchens, the sacristans, and SENT- a group that puts together and presents retreats for 8th-12th graders.  Obviously, I won't be doing all of those, but this way I can find out a little more about each of them.  Funny, I opened my book The Way by St. Josemaria Escriva, and the first thing I read was concerning not doing too much, and being good at those few things that you are involved in.  God really has a funny sense of humor. :)

I honestly can't believe that college classes begin tomorrow.  I'm really looking forward to them!
xoxo,