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 =]

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.

Thank you Logarithms

I had a biology test today and even though I think I did decently, I was in a funk afterward.

Then Chelsea needed help with math.

I know that this is weird, but logarithms made my night tonight and for that I will be eternally grateful.

So thank you logarithms, and thank you Chelsea for needing help in math, and for allowing me to listen to the cute sounding English guy in the background.

The Body Works in Mysterious Ways

I am a foodie through and through.

I love to eat. I love flavors and textures, and I love the community aspect of eating. I put love into my cooking and I love to see people enjoy something that I've made. I love food.

Unfortunately I can't eat.

My wisdom teeth are coming in and it hurts. I really can't chew on one side of my mouth. It hurts to move my tongue. I don't want to take medication, and I can't get them removed until June. Humph.

I never have been one to lose weight when sick. My mom told me that when she got her tonsils out she lost 10 pounds because she simply couldn't eat. I gained 10 pounds because I continued to eat and all I ate was ice cream and mashed potatoes. I love to eat. And so, it is very much out of my character to have completely lost my appetite. I have to remind myself to grab something before class. Even now, its 12:40 pm and I haven't eaten a crumb - honestly I'm not even hungry.

I can only assume that my body is somehow protecting me from the pain of eating by not allowing me to get hungry. And I wonder - am I starving? I have no idea. I certainly don't feel hunger pains - but I know that I am consuming many less calories then I was previous to the excruciating pain that is my lower left jaw.

I know I should eat- I just don't want to.

Let me know if I start to whither away will you?

A New Start, A New Country, A New Life?

I never know what I want.

If you spoke to me a few months ago I would have told you about how I am to far away from home, that I miss my family, and that I want to be able to attend my grandparent's birthday parties. Which is all fine and good when I am at home and surrounded by family.

When I am home, I want to be home, but when I am away, I am not so sure.

Around 2 'oclock this morning I was doing what I do best, fretting about the future, and during this time I happened to look up the Massey Vet School in New Zealand which, if I decide to go to vet school, is the school I have always wanted to go to and get this: I can start vet school next year. The program is a five year science intensive program that anyone can basically start anytime after high school and at the end of it I would be able to be a vet in New Zealand, Australia, England America and more.

Its got me thinking, why be close when I can be far, far away?

It is just as appealing to me to be close as it is to be so far away that I would have to schedule phone calls. I want to be a critical part of my family but at the same time not worry about the limitations that family brings. If I was miraculously placed on this planet with out connections or people to hold me back I would be gone in a heartbeat. But that's not me. I have school plays to go to, and birthday cakes to bake. I really enjoy doing these things but sometimes I wonder what it would be like to just do what I want to do, to have my own life without school plays and birthday cakes.

I think that part of growing up is developing your own lifestyle, so what if mine is in New Zealand? Unfortunately if I decide that it is in New Zealand, I won't get to share my life with those who love me, and how do I know if i've grown up if I don't have anyone comparing me to who I used to be?

So what to do? For now I am going to wait it out and see what schools accept me as a transfer. If I get in to Cornell or Wesleyan I think that I need to complete my degree there before moving on to bigger and better things, BUT if I go to Rutgers then there is a good possibility that you'll be seeing another post about a whole new change in scenery some time next year.

Why do I do what I do?

My English class is probably the biggest cake class that I will ever have the fortune of taking in college and I took it for that reason. I wanted a GPA booster, and I got it. The class is basically us doing reading (or not, the reading is totally not necessary) then going to class where the professor summarizes EVERYTHING we would possibly need to know about the reading. Three tests, no final, one paper. I got a 98 on the first test. Cake.

The paper is due on Friday. All it is, is five pages, explaining how something influenced the writer to write a short-story. I'm doing Religion's influence on "Araby". Sooooo easy. But I can't get myself to get off my lazy ass and write it. Why? I have no freaking idea. I have my sources, I have ideas. I could probably bang this thing out in an hour. Instead, I waste hours on facebook, formspring, twitter, blogger, craigslist and finally stumble (yes that is my order and yes I do look at craigslist, don't judge). After that I usually ponder about my future, wonder if I am doing enough, fret that I'm not, insist that I must be and then start the cycle over again.

Someone slap me?

Oh! To further my means of procrastination, I have put my Kindle to good use. I bought A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood today. It's a dystopic novel about a future society of barren women, and what happens to the fertile ones. I like it.

Snow!

UVMers love snow.

Yesterday we got out first snow storm and it was great to see everyone on campus acting like little kids again. Random snowball fights bro

ke out. Numerous snowmen were made. Not to mention the copious amount of people I saw with sleds ready to throw away homework and ride down a hill. To top it all off there was a snowball war last night. Quite literary, the entire campus came out to play in the snow and throw snowballs at anything that moved.

Photos people took around campus:

Tour of my room.

The video below is pretty useless. What can I say, I was bored.