Back to School

Just to let everyone know, the comments all over the H-C site under my name that say something along the lines of, "boo _____, yay me," were actually written by Steve. I thought I should inform you all that I am in fact not THAT self-absorbed.

Well, here I am back at school. It was hard to leave home, but being back is great. My roommate is throwing a belated birthday dinner for me and the friends this Friday, so I am looking forward to that. My classes are going well thus far, although we are only 2 days into the new semester and I already have quite the load of work. Good thing I started the semester out right by going to the wrong Chemistry section. Yes I am that cool. It takes talent, talent that only I have to screw up my first class. My excuse is that it was at 8am. Of course I'd better get used to it because I have 8 am classes every day but one.

OH! - this is fun: I went to Leah's for dinner today, but she wouldn't let me eat anything because she was "saving it." I'm just kidding, she did let me eat some frosted mini wheats. Thanks, Leah! Make sure you design your wedding invitations in New York Ghetto font, that one was my favorite.

That's it for now. I guess I'm going to get back to work...either that or figure out who I am going to take to the two formal dances coming up in the next couple of weeks. Fun times.

Why Aren't Dorms Equipped with Wenches for Every Day Life?

This post is going to be dedicated to the complex art of complaining.

My room is messy again, and I want it to be clean, but last time it took me like two hours! I don't have that kind of time to waste CLEANING! Books, notes, dishes, vacuuming, clothes...I can't take the madness! Oh, and speaking of clothes, I have only done laundry three times since I've been here, and all have been disastrous. Attempt #1 I ended up with 3 loads of soapy, wet, pink, cltohes that STILL had stains on them. Try numero dos i left a highlighter in my pants and broke the drying rack. Last time was an improvement though, I actually ended up with dry cltohes, although they all shrank, AND I only lost 2 socks. Nonetheless I hate doing laundry and decided I am coming home for fall break with nothing but my dirty hamper.

And who was the genius that decided to make the 5th floor of Le Mans residential? I'd like to know who deemed this wanna-be-hallway, "livable." Take my word, there are a lot of stairs, and I HATE waiting for the elevator because some idiot on the second floor decided it would be nice to take the elevator DOWN. AH! Oh, and once, JUST ONCE, I'd like to have a lukewarm shower. Is that too much to ask? And I guess a quality well balaced meal is out of the question. Let's see...there's more...much more.

Can you say, "I hate 8am classes because I have never been good at getting up early and always go to bed late but I couldn't change the time b/c my schedule locked it in?" Well you know what...I can't say that that either! Especially at 8am in the morning b/c my brain isn't even working! Today I woke up at 8:05 not hearing my alarm and it was a TEST day. Pretty much every college kid's worst nightmare, and yes, we all knew it was going to happen to me. Luckily I ran to class, wasn't too late, and still finished the exam on time.

As far as work load goes, including band at Notre Dame I have 19 credit hours...enough said. Speaking of band...I like it a lot and at least that is going well, as long as I reaudition into symphony winds next semester and don't lose my spot.

Well that's all for now, I am going to shower, study, go to lab, go to band, then study some more...all on 4 hours of sleep. Go me, and yay college. Again...I just need to make it to the weekend. I love my weekends!

nhc

Freshman Retreat

This past weekend I attended Notre Dame's Freshman Retreat. I had the greatest time. Up until then I had been enjoying college, but didn't feel like everything had quite clicked yet. This retreat put everything into perspective for me. it started with fun icebreakers. To paint the picture for you, it was about 50 freshman hobbling around saying "I'm an egg, I'm an egg, I'm an egg, I'm and egg," playing paper-rock-scissors, and singing nonsense songs (don't ask). Then we broke up into small groups and had discussions about college, home, family, friends, and faith. I contributed to a lot of the conversation, and I felt, for the first time, at peace with having left high school. Yes, I miss all my high school friends a lot, but here at St. Mary's and Notre Dame, everyone is so intelligent and so insightful, and my bonds with them will be not only enjoyable but make me grow as a person. All my friends from West were smart too, but I will learn a lot from all the people here with different backgrounds, and I'm excited for it FINALLY. We then created skits, making fun of freshman at football games, first exams, formals, and pep rallies. The funniest scenario was by far the pep rally. All the girls in the group were yelling at "Brady Quinn," "TOUCH ME! TOUCH ME!" and at "Jeff Samardjiza," "THERE ARE SO MANY CONSONANTS IN YOUR NAME!" Then, when "Charlie Weis" came up, the mock crowd was completely silent until he said, "Hello," then they screamed like there was no tomorrow, then silence, "I'm Charlie Weis" (more unbearable screaming). This went on and it was hilarious b/c it is oh so true. After this fun, we went to an amazing mass, and the final blessing was, "Now go in peace to the basement to the raging dance party." Oh Father Dan, you rock. We stayed up until about 3 playing Snaps, then woke up at 9 for more small group and activities until 5. Then sadly, the retreat was over. Oh and this is crazy: I met this guy in my small group who is best friends with Robyn's best friend at Purdue...small world. He had actually met Robyn a couple weekends ago and she told him he needed to seek me out so whoa. I'm just trying to get through this week so I can go to the USC game then home to play with Onya, see friends and parents, and eat real food. That's all for now, I'll try to keep you posted this time.

nhc