College Take 3

So college is starting up again tomorrow. I moved my friend Frankie in today, which was a little bizarre - I kinda forget what it feels like to be a freshman, but I am so excited for him. I can't wait to see what he thinks of Rutgers (I know he'll love it). I think Junior year is going to be pretty good, I've finally decided on a major (Ecology) and I'm applying to a masters program in the spring (Sustainable Business). Holy Guacamole don't I feel old. I have to take physics this year, not to excited about that but I'll push through. I'm also taking a few ecology classes (soil and wetland) a disease course and a course about bugs. I think it's overall a pretty good schedule. As always, I've overpacked my schedule with extra curriculars. This is my first semester as a "brother" in my fraternity and i'm also in Student for Environmental Awareness (SEA), the Bhatki Yoga Club and I was appointed Head of Communications on the Douglass Sustainability Committee. I'm excited for that last one, but a little nervous, I've never had a leadership position in college before, it will definitely be an experience! As promised (from a long time ago) here are some pictures from my room =].

One wall with all the books I won't have time to read and my dresser

My Bed! With pictures of various nature shots (note the fine crafted side table)

Where all the magic happens, my desk. Yay for double windows.

Finally my nameless fish (chose a name?) and his new tank mates. I'm not sure if he's happy about all the extra room in the new tank or sad that he has to share it now with some other finned friends. So that's my life in a nut shell. I'll try to be better at updating and will give an update on classes once they start!

New Digs, ya Dig?

I just moved into my first apartment.

Let me say that again, I just moved into my first apartment. I can't really get over it. I can't get over the fact that I no longer have a bed at home anymore (because it is here) I can't get over the fact that I am old enough to be living in an apartment, and I can't get over the fact that I actually have to take time out of my day to do my own food shopping.

I'm living with 6 other people and luckily I have my own single (extra $60 a month is totally worth it for sanity). I know one of the other people well, two of them kinda well and the rest are strangers to me but the other people know them. I am looking forward to meeting everyone and all that but it is just all so foreign, I don't know the rules yet (food, cleaning, guests) and I still feel a little weary about the whole thing without knowing exactly what I'm getting myself into.

It's all just so bizarre. As excited as I am about this whole growing up process, it's also pretty scary and it's happening a lot faster than I thought it would. I feel like you get 18 years to slowly mature and grow and then you go to college and within four years you have to all of a sudden become an adult and do adult things. There is no more slow approach maturity, it hits you in the face and if you're not ready you get a black eye. I am so lucky that I have my parents to back me up incase I mess up on something but it's still my name that will be tarnished if (and when) I do mess up. I can't really hide behind them any more.

I also started my two summer classes which I'm kinda excited about, but I know that it's going to be 8-weeks of hell. One class is a writing class which I am not too worried about. I get to learn how to write grant proposals which is something I will definitely use in life. The other class is a computer programming class (I don't know why ecology majors need to take this, but they do) and because I know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about computer programming, I am a little worried. I feel like since it is an intro course that I can't be that bad, but that's what I thought about general chemistry too.

So times are a changing. I have to go an get some work done. Unpack a little and do that damn grocery shopping. I will edit this later with pictures...probably.

School's Out for the Summer...kinda

Ah! I can not believe that I am (almost) officially done with half of my college career. Insane. I loved my sophomore year at college. I've done lots of soul searching (with lots to come in the future) and am very excited to see what the second half of my college career entails.

Get ready for an unordered, mismatched number of paragraphs starting.....now:

If any of you looked at my facebook about a month ago you wold have saw that I was considering going into the education field after graduation. I still am, but probably not high school. I'm pretty dead set on the idea of getting my masters in college student affairs right after graduation and working in administration/admissions/academic advising for a college some where. I am still toying with the idea of vet school but at this point in my life if I wanted to complete all of the requirements, I'd have to stay at Rutgers another year (not necessarily a bad thing) but because I will most likely get funding for my masters aka it will be free (or if I go to UVM i'll actually make 15000 a year), it makes more sense for me to get my masters in two years rather than stay and extra just for a bachelors. One of the biggest benefits of working at a college is that I would have access to all of the classes so should I want to go back to school after my masters to complete vet-school prerequisite I'm pretty sure it would be fairly easy to do.

I went to Vermont for a few days to meet up with friends and view the naked bike ride. It was fun. A little weird to be back there and know the ins and outs of the school but not really belong there. It was good to see UVM from a different perspective though, after spending a year at Rutgers I can definitely see the beauty in it, much more than I could when I left. I have always said that I would like to go back and live in Burlington for a bit when I'm older - but I think that the hustle and bustle (and shootings?) of Rutgers suits me better for these crazy college years.

I'm getting an apartment this summer and living there next year. I have a single room but I am sharing the house with 6 other girls. It's walking distance to cook campus. I'm excited but a little worried, I feel like this is the first step to big-girl life and that's a little scary. I'm really excited to start to make habits that will stick with me throughout my life. I really want to try and get into morning meditation I think i'll make that habit number one. The biggest challenge for me will be to not acquire a pet. Luckily one girl is bringing a cat and another is adopting a puppy so hopefully my need to animals will be quenched. I'm going to being my beta fish as well but I can see that its going to very tempting to go down to the shelter and bring home a new best friend...

I joined a co-ed honors, service, agricultural fraternity this semester. I still can not believe that I am a member of greek life, let alone a fraternity but everyone in Alpha Zeta is pretty awesome and it gave me a sense of grounding that I needed in such a big school. Still, I wake up on wednesdays, put on my letters and just look at myself in amazement - I don't really know how it happened, it was just kind of a whirlwind of gatherings and 3 months later I was a brother - weird. Definitely a ton of fun though and I've met a bunch of great people and I think that I'll get great opportunities from it. Its just a matter of accepting the fact that I am indeed, a brother. Too weird.

I'm not sure if anything else all too exciting happened recently

Here's my blog for Rutgers. If I missed anything it should be in there.

I'll be home from the May 12-30 and I want to see people!

Exciting Update in the Life of CarolAnn:

I had a meeting with a woman in the Animal Science Department today because after watching lots of surgery this winter I think I am officially ready to say (and stick with) Veterinary Medicine as my career of choice. Ok so meeting with Animal Science lady was your typical meeting with an Academic Advisor blah blah blah but then she mentioned something quite exciting:

Rutgers is trying to develop a partnership with the Vet School in Heidelberg University in Germany for Rutgers students to be accepted into a program, spend their senior year in Germany and then as long as they don't fail out, have a guaranteed spot at the University for Vet School! And then she mentioned that she wants to send the top people of the class with a deep interest in veterinary medicine to go there and by the looks of things I would be a perfect candidate! And I'm not even in the Animal Science program yet! So a few years abroad may be in my future after all. Interesting.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Proposal

I would like to catch up with everyone soon =]

Shall we meet at borders around Thanksgiving?

We're gonna play a game...

Disclaimer: This is another one of my many life crisis posts. I'll get over it soon enough. Sorry.


Its called tell CarolAnn what to do with her life.

I really do enjoy having the ability to chose what I want to do with my life. I appreciate the fact that I have complete control over my future and what my life will hold but honestly sometimes I wish that I could give that power to someone else.

Sometimes I wish that I could give a blood sample and the computer would tell me what I was destined to become because sometimes, I can't handle the stress of choosing on my own.

I am really excited to major in psychology and am even more excited to explore the options of evolutionary anthropology but then I think that perhaps I'm better suited for genetics, or neuroscience, or music, or a plethora of other major options.

What I think it all comes down to is my sense of stability and even though I feel that I will be fine majoring in these fields, there is such a sense of the unknown and in this economy the unknown looks mighty grim.

I worry that the major decisions I make today will have my living off of my parents tomorrow.

World - 1 CarolAnn - 0

Yada yada yada Rutgers is great. Yada yada yada yes Ms Daken, you told me so. Blah Blah Blah. Fine, I admit it the world wins and I lose.

The actual meaning behind this post is that I am an OFFICIAL student blogger of Rutgers and if you all are so inclined to read my posts they can be read here:
http://admissions.rutgers.edu/BLOGS/STUDENTS/post/2010/08/30/Hellllooooooo!!!!!.aspx

I am contracted to write a post as week and will also post a link to them on this so that you guys can read all about my Rutgers life - because after all, I know you're interested.

I hope that school and life in general is moving just as swimmingly for all of you as it is for me =]