R-U RAH-RAH!

R-U RAH-RAH
OO-Rah OO-Rah Rutgers-Rah
Up Stream Red Team, Red Team Up Stream
Rah-Rah- Rutgers Rah
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yONlrzRDRjw

Its strange to think that this time last year I was traveling six hours north for college and this year I'm driving one hour south. As excited as I am, its weird to kinda be somewhere in the middle between the doe-eyed freshman and the callused upper-classmen - I'll figure it out soon enough though. Everyone I've ever spoken to who was acquainted with Rutgers loved it so I am sure that I will do the same.

So far things look perfect:

My parents don't seem to mind my major change.
I'm really excited for my classes - all of them.
As far as I know my roommate seems really great (maybe we'll actually talk this year, crazy right?).
I'm auditioning for the choirs on the 31st.
I have an idea of what I want to get involved in.
I am an official Rutgers Student Blogger (I'll post a link later).
And I have a paying job doing something that I don't think I'll detest.

I just worry that all of this looks perfect in my little fantasy world and won't actually work once I come crashing down to earth. We shall see.

My first task of Rutgers life is fitting everything I need into my little 2 door Honda Civic, because now since I'm so close to home my parents don't find it necessary to see me off. Here goes nothing.

I'm thinking:

Major in Behavioral Neuroscience, minor (or possible double major) in Evolutionary Anthropology.

Mom says "Make sure you can get a job". I say "I'm going to graduate school".

Really all I want to do is go to school forever.

Scary Writing

The scary thing about writing essays is that you never know what the professor wants.

I've had professors that say quoting is bad and others that say quoting is good. I've had professors that want me to to write like they never read the article and others want me to assume I have an intelligent audience. Writing styles are so subjective and I feel that just when I've figured it out, someone tells me to do something differently.

After getting critiques back on my first paper in my writing class I know what I have to change for the next paper but it's always scary to change my writing style - what if I lose me?

Loss of Wisdom

On Tuesday I had four teeth ground up and yanked from my skull. My wisdom teeth are out and I can officially say that I have less wisdom now then I did when they were in.

Why?

Well...

I had a paper due Thursday. The due date was kindly extended to Monday yet I just can't get around to writing it. I'm in a writing funk. I simply don't want to write.

Excuses used to not write the paper organized by date:
Friday (7/2) - Today is my day off, certainly I can not write on my day off.
Saturday (7/3) - I have to prepare recipes for a 4th of July BBQ and spend time with my family because soon I will have surgery and could possibly die.
Sunday (7/4) - It is a national holiday! Plus I have to make a cherry pie, biscuits, pasta salad and roasted broccoli. I am getting a kitten today, I can not be a good mother and write a paper at the same time.
Monday (7/5) - My father is off of work and I don't have class. Clearly I am not supposed to work today. The kitten is crying, I have to feed it. Look at how cute the kitten, awe. I am getting surgery tomorrow, I must enjoy my possible last day of life and make a peach and blueberry cobbler in order to show my family how much I love them.
Tuesday (7/6) - Surgery + Novocaine + Percocets= me trying to use American Sign Language to tell my mother that I can't feel my tongue (she doesn't sign at all and I can only spell)
Wednesday (7/7) - Pain
Thursday (7/8) - Pain + "Bethany's Getting Married?" marathon.
Friday (7/9) - Pain + "The City" marathon
Saturday 7/10) - I feel good today! Lets make pancakes and invite the Grandparents over for brunch! Awe look at how big my kitten has gotten I must cuddle with him. Hey my daddy's home from Utah! Pain, "The Office" Marathon.

I am going to be a mother.

But don't worry, I am not pregnant.

This is the newest member of out family:















Like any new mother, I had to show you baby pictures that no one but me finds cute.

Unlike new mothers, I'm going to ask you guys for help with names. He (?) is mostly grey with white on his belly face and paws, and he's an orphan...so use your smarts and think of whitty (or not so whitty) names for the little guy/girl.

Ready and Go!

Take the Money and Run

My psychology professor taught me that it is wiser to spend money on vacations with friends and family then it is to spend money on physical objects. He explained that while the luster of physical objects diminish over time, vacations get more pleasant each time we visit them.

I sure hope he is right.

In the month of June I will be in New Jersey for all of 9 days. I am taking a week to go to the Outer Banks, a week to go to Florida, and a week to go to Virginia Beach. My bank account is looking mighty slim and I can only hope that this fall, when I am up to my ears in school work, cursing the gods of organic chemistry and gazing at my empty wallet I will look back on all of these vacations and remember how much fun I had =]

Naked As We Came

Vermont is a naked state. And UVM is a naked school. When I went on tours the guides told me not to be surprised if I saw people walking around naked, or if I experienced naked protests on campus. To further UVM's nakedness, each year UVM puts out a naked calendar. UVM loves to be naked.




There is a wonderful naked tradition at the University of Vermont.

Each semester on the last day of class we have a naked bike ride. Students all across campus come out on their bikes, their long boards, their scooters, their crutches and their running shoes to blow off a bit of steam before finals and relish in the fact that it is absolutely legal to be naked in Vermont.

Some students plan hours in advance and have body painting parties before the race. Often students have colorful hand prints across their body; last night there were two people covered head to toe in zebra print. Other students decide in the heat of the moment that they just need to be naked so they drop their clothes, hop the fence and join the fun.

Last night I fell in the second category. I really hadn't planned on running, and I definitely didn't plan on getting naked when the night started but somehow it happened. The decision to bare myself to the world was entirely spontaneous. A group of friends decided that it was absolutely necessary for me to participate in my last naked bike ride and who am I to say no? So we ran to the bushes, dropped trou (although it is absolutely legal to be naked in Vermont it is illegal to strip in public) found an entrance point and went for it. Like I said I hadn't planned this so I ran bare foot, a couple of my friends fell and got scraped up or twisted an ankle but the general consensus was then it was absolutely worth the pain and initial humiliation.

I don't think that I will ever experience something quite as liberating as I did last night. I have always had some issues with my body and I'm not one to show a lot of skin but as soon as I entered the race and heard everyone on the sidelines cheering me on, all of those issues went away and the only thing I was worried about was dodging bikes and getting as many high fives from the spectators as I could.

I enjoyed it so much that I think next year, I might take a visit to Vermont right around finals time and do it again.