One week in....

My classes after week one....
Stats: still really easy, just had my first quiz which I feel really good about, only 20 people left in the class
Physics: horribly boring and easy, today I sat through the same lecture on powers of ten as I did when I was in 7th grade, only 11 people left in this class
Race, Class, and Gender in the US: class is boring, but reading is REALLY interesting, 20 people in this class
Literature in Religion: Love it, want to take it forever, I would pay to take this class... oh wait:) only 14 people in this class.


As life slowly works its way into a routine, I'm finding I have a lot more time than I thought I would have partly because I get all my homework done when I am working at the RLCA or dorm desk and partly because I don't sleep at night. All good things:)

Presidential Debate

Things I liked about the debate:
1. The fact that McCain showed up
2. "In 16 months we should be able to REDUCE our troops" -Obama
3. "orgy of spending" -Obama
4. "I think we need MORE troops"(in Afghanistan) -Obama
5. McCain's s whistle
6. "I have not been elected Ms. Congeniality in the Senate" (he said this twice) -McCain
7. The random coughs from the pitch black audience

So let me get this straight in one corner we have Obama who will pull us out of Iraq eventually and put us in Afghanistan and Pakistan. And it's the other guy that's the war monger? And in the other corner we have McCain who wants to freeze spending on EVERYTHING except defense (war, killing people, having our own soldiers killed) and veteran health (but not health for the rest of the country). I'm honestly not sure how I feel about all this.

My new classes!

So today is day two which means I have had all of my classes. I'm pretty pumped about them all.
First on Monday/Wednesday/Fridays I have Statistics at 10:30. As you can imagine I was pretty nervous for the class that is famous for tears shed and exams failed. But Professor Urdan who looks a little bit too much like Bob Saget made everyones nerves disappear. The man is amazing. He HATED stats and didn't take a single math class all through college. He hated his stats class so much that he wrote his own book "Statistics in Plain English" so that he could prevent some poor college sap (me) to hate stats as much as he did. A huge chunk of our grade is homework that he gives full credit for effort and couldn't care less if your answers are correct. There is also a TA in the class to help with homework or studying. This, I am still unclear about because there are only 22 people in the class so I'm not really sure why a TA in necessary. But whatever one more person to help! After that class I book it to Physics. This class I am far less excited about. Prof Daffer is no Mr. Moran my fabulous high school Physics class. The class in for non science majors so its pretty dumbed down and all the topics we'll be learning I learned my sophomore year of high school so I'm banking on it all coming back. The prof is pretty serious but there are only 13 people in the class and all girls so it'll be an interesting dynamic.
On Tuesdays/Thursdays I start at 9:55 with Race/Class/Gender in the US. The class sounded really interesting and still may be, but honestly after day one I don't have high hopes. It seems sociology is REALLY interesting the first time you take it, then every other class is like "ok I get it. Social Constructs are everywhere. cool." This is not a good mind set to have being that I'm still planning on majoring in Soc. We'll see. My last class is going to be my favorite by far! It is taught by Diane Dreher the same fabulous lady who taught me English one. But now the reigns are off and she is free to teach what she wants in an upper division. She is so chill and wants you to discover yourself. Her vocation is helping people find their vocations. Its pretty fabulous. So some ok classes some interesting classes and a fabulous class. Should be an interesting quarter.

Drinking

At the end of last year I really started thinking about having a glass of wine. Not getting wasted. But being able to take a sip, I thought it wasn't that big of a deal. I didn't do it and when I went home for summer it was an easy thing to forget since Carrie doesn't drink. So, I thought coming back here i would have the urge. Boy was I wrong! College is where I remember how ridiculous drinking is. Its been two nights since my friends and everyone else moved back in. There have been transports to the hospital, couches thrown up on, sick girls in every stall, drunken hook ups, ect. Thank god! It reminds me I'd rather be listening to and witnessing the drunken madness than being apart of it.

Perspectives

During formation, the senior staff train the student leaders about all sorts of things. We discuss everything from the paperwork to fill out if ordering food over $200 to sexual harassment. But the biggest point of discussion is definately diversity. This topic is important for CF's because they are the student leaders in the dorms that the freshman need to feel comfortable coming to with any kind of question or concern. So we've talked a lot about people from different groups and their different perspectives. Everyone is being asked to consider what its like to be different. One of the things in my life that I am most thankful for, but never realized until now is the diversity in my family. Different races, abilities, religeons, sexual orientations, political views, and personalities. I love that I feel a connection with so many groups. That not only do I sympathize for all different kinds of people, but I love them; as my family.

Formation!

Formation is where I am, but that means little to everyone. Formation is the three week training and prep for my new job on RLCA (Residential Learning Community Association). Basically the six of us on RLCA plan events for all students living on-campus. Part of my personal job is being the liason for all the leadership teams in each dorm and picking out the movies for the on-campus movie channel! Both things very exciting. We share our formation with the 73 CFs (Community Facilitators) these are the RAs that plan programs for their floor or wing and write people up when theyre bad. So basically there are about 90 of us on campus right now living in the dorms. All very enthusiastic, semi responsible, involved, leadershipy, awesome people. I'm loving it! Since RLCA is special we get to do all the fun things and skip the boring meetings about paper work that don't apply to us. We get to have dinner with a different dorm group each night so we get to meet EVERYONE. It is a lot of fun and I've already met so many people that will be close friends for the rest of the year for sure.

Lets go to Newport!

We drove seven hours to go visit some friends in Newport Beach!
Lounging in the best place a person can lounge.... the beach.
Me and my buddy Jeremy having a sweet moment on the board walk... it wasn't staged i swear;)
Wave catching is a lot more fun in So Cal.... where the water is warm.

The New Digs

So this is my desk/table/kitchen area. Note the real plant, swivel chair, and curtains.
This is the new and improved bed. Its comfier, bluer, and has a special shelf thing.
This is the room from the door. I have lights, they just weren't on. You can't see the furry rug very well... but that is by far the best part of the room.
This is the sink area segregated by a fancy three fold room divider from Ross:) Complete with a shmancy rug from TJ Maxx.

You may be asking yourself, geez why did Morgan take pictures of her room without picking up first or making her bed? Well... I didn't want to feel like a fraud. That's why.