|
Rai's Blog
-
 This is it... Week 10
Tuesday, Jun. 3, 2008 11:08 AM
We're getting closer. We're getting to the end. We have three more days of classes, then one four-day week of finals. I can't believe this is the end of my first year at Santa Clara. Honestly, I don't know how the time has gone by so quickly. I have almost completed three quarters worth of classes. My core is two-thirds complete. I have found classes that I loved, some I hated. I have met teachers that have inspired me and some that have pushed me to do work I never thought I was capable of. I have found what subjects truly interest me and I have changed my major and my minors. I have made friends that I will never let go of; people I will be friends with until the end of time. I am so happy that I chose to come to Santa Clara. I have two incredible best friends, a myriad of other close and incredibly diverse friends from all over the country, and a wonderful boyfriend who I could not possibly be happier with. All thanks to my first year at SCU.
Sure it was a gruelling, difficult year. Sure there were plenty of ups and downs. Sure there was stress, late study nights, lame papers and taxing group projects. But it was all worth it. I have a solid on-campus job and the most amazing friends I could ever possibly dream of. Not to mention the greatest benefit of all: getting much closer to realizing my dream and developing a life-long career in foreign languages. All in all, I say Year 1 was a success.
-
So Close
Thursday, May. 29, 2008 11:07 AM
This week has just blown by in the blink of an eye. It feels like the week just began but, what's this? Tomorrow is Friday? Lucky me!
I'm so excited for next year. I know this one is just ending, but I'm really looking forward to all my classes next year - especially Italian, German and French - and so many other things! I will have my own room in an apartment in Casa Italiana. I will have the same steady job with three great ladies on campus. I will get to see my friends again after a busy, yet relaxing summer. I will be the treasurer of the Italian Club. And I will have experience. Now that this first year is coming to an end, I have figured out a lot about myself, other people, and some very important and helpful things such as my personal study habits and time-management skills. I know what it takes for me to be able to balance everything now. I know how to relax and not get burned out. I have a huge group of great friends to help and to go to for support. Next year will be even better than this one. Not to mention, there will be a whole new class of students full of people to meet and make new friends with. So this year is coming to an end... and I can't wait for the next one to begin.
-
Three Day Weekends
Tuesday, May. 27, 2008 11:07 AM
It's amazing what one extra day can do for you. Monday was Memorial Day, which, in the world of the college student, only means one thing: one less day of classes, one more day to unwind. No classes on Monday means that Sunday actually feels like Saturday and you get a chance to take in a nice big breath of air. It makes the following work week seem to go by incredibly quickly and in the last final monotonous weeks of the last quarter of your first year at college, that is a gift of gold. We're all just hoping and wishing and praying for Week 10 to come and go. We're all feeling the same mixture of eagerness and dread towards the inevitable finals week. This three day weekend give you the opportunity to actually do nothing - or absolutely ANYTHING - for one day over the weekend. Instead of homework, homework, homework, you get to relax your mind, push all the books away from you for a day, and do something freeing like going to the beach or out for a drive or to the movies or anything else that you have been sadly putting off due to the overwhelming mounds of homework, essays, and studying. Basically, the three day weekend is a college student's greatest savior of sanity.
-
Sanity, Complements of the UHP
Tuesday, May. 20, 2008 5:20 PM
I'll never get over how wonderful it is to be able to have priority registration thanks to the University Honors Program. Once again all the undergraduate students on campus are scrambling to claim the classes they want and need for their majors, minors, programs and, of course, the Core. Day one of registration was yesterday, Monday the 19th. I am already set in all my classes without any worries about meeting requirements or deadlines. But I look at the faces of my friends, logged on to e-campus and watching all their classes change from the "Open" green circle to the "closed" blue square. The stress is just dripping from their eyes. They'll get into those classes eventually. But most likely it will be in their third or fourth years, after they have built up enough units to be towards to top of the priority list for registration. But for now, I feel so lucky to just sit back and relax knowing that my academic plan is secure thanks to the UHP's granted priority registration. Honors Program students even get priority over athletes! It's quite a good benefit.
I suppose the moral of this particular blog is that working hard and getting solid grades isn't just a help to your GPA. If you are offered a chance to be a part of the University Honors Program, jump at it. Grab that opportunity and never let it go. Because among all the benefits among the world of Academia - such as smaller classes, more devoted teachers, special lectures and seminars and speeches - there are also the more personal benefits that just help out with the stress of college life. I.e., $2,000 per year and the most glorious benefit of them all: Priority Registration.
-
Smoothing Things Out
Wednesday, May. 7, 2008 1:41 PM
There are only five weeks left in my freshman year at SCU. Really, the weeks just fly by. With so much going on, all the classes, homework, studying, working in the office, running errands, playing sports, and just trying to find time to do things with friends and relax, as soon as Monday is over, it’s Friday. I have no idea where the time goes. It’s hard to stop and think sometimes. I only really got a chance to stop and think about my life and what is really going on last week when I decided to change my major and minors. I finally got time to breathe and think about the things I’m doing and why I’m doing them. It was at this much-needed break that I realized I needed to make a significant change – and quickly, before there wasn’t enough time to fit it all in. If I had waited one more quarter to change my major, I wouldn’t be able to complete two of my three minors. Timing is everything. It’s shocking how important time is and how easily it seems to slip away.
As the year comes to an end – or nearly so – it seems like all the bugs of being a freshman have been worked out. I know how the school works, I know the campus better than I ever thought possible at orientation, I know so many people and have so many new friends, I know all the details of the requirements to graduate, I know the surrounding area of Santa Clara and even some areas of San Jose and San Francisco. When I first got to SCU I felt so out of place and so foreign but now this is home. This school is more of a home to me than even San Diego. I’ve had a year to figure things out and I have changed a great deal. The last few weeks of the quarter will be interesting. We’re not really freshman anymore. We’re not new anymore. We’re not young anymore. We blend in with all the other upper-classmen and we know the way things work around here. Soon there will be a whole new batch of freshman and we’ll just be moving right along, never taking a break, time just flying by as it always has.
-
1 in 2
Wednesday, Apr. 30, 2008 1:41 PM
Statistics have shown that at least 50% of undergraduate college students will change their major at least once in their academic careers. So far, out of the eight people in my close-knit group of friends, I am the third person to change his/her major. We’re getting closer to affirming that statistic.
Lately I have been getting very concerned about the usefulness of my passion for classical studies. Sure it’s a wonderful topic – despite the fact that none of my friends seem to agree – and I am extremely interested in it, but I think their advice is a little too unrealistic when counselors tell you “Just major it whatever you’re passionate about. The topic doesn’t matter as long as you get a solid degree and you’re doing what you love.” Honestly, that probably works for things like political science and philosophy because these people have many options for careers after college. But really… what am I going to do with a Classical Studies major except teach classics? I’m sick of academia.
So, I have joined the 50% and I have changed my major. I am now majoring in Italian Studies with minors in Classical Studies, German Studies, and French Studies. I think this new academic plan will be much more conducive to getting me where I want to go – which is working as a translator for the government or teaching foreign language in another country. I’m getting there…..
-
My First Car!
Tuesday, Apr. 22, 2008 11:51 AM
This past weekend my dad came up to help me buy my first car. I've always wanted a truck because I love going to the desert for quadding and to the mountains for snowboarding! Also, since I moved out of my home in San Diego, I move around a lot up here from living on campus to renting places of the summer and the winter vacation to live and work up here in the Bay Area. So this weekend my dad and I went to Toyota Sunnyvale and found the PERFECT truck! On Sunday, I ended up driving a brand new 2008 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 back to SCU. There's an unusually large hole in my savings account now, but it's what I've been saving up to buy for 4 years. I'd definitely say it's worth it all! If you work hard and keep your mind focused on the goals of your bigger future plans, rather than the smaller present benefits, it's so worth everything when you reach your intended goal - in my case, my beloved new truck!
-
Man vs Machine - Kinda
Tuesday, Apr. 15, 2008 3:35 PM
Ok so the best part – by far – about living in Casa Italiana is the fact that each suite has their own individual air conditioning unit which then gets pumped directly into each room within the suite. Now… it’s starting to warm up pretty quickly around here. Therefore, said air conditioning should come in handy, right? Well, you would think so, and it should. But the thing about air conditioning is that it is only handy in hot weather if it actually blows cool air. That’s right… For some reason, the air conditioning in our suite has decided to compete against the outdoor weather over who can blow warmer air. Who is winning, you ask, Mother Nature or good ol’ American Engineering? Well I’m afraid our modern day conveniences are betraying us and have taken the lead in being the hotter of the two contestants.
So the air conditioning has been on for about six days straight now. I think we’re all just hoping that miraculously it will decide to behave and allow us to be able to live in our rooms for another two months. But until Mr. Anti-AC cooperates, my roommate and I leave the window open while trying to will the cold air into our rooms by night, and immediately shut the window to trap the air inside as soon as the temperature starts to show any sign of rising in the morning. It’s a science. That’s what we’re here to learn, right? The science of beating the air conditioning in it’s childish little game.
-
It Begins
Friday, Apr. 11, 2008 12:57 PM
The first two weeks of the quarter are done. This is about the time when teachers expect you to know exactly how to handle their course and when they figure that you’re serious about the class since you haven’t dropped yet. For example, in one of my upper-division classes, we have just finished with all the readings which my teacher refers to as the “background material” on the subject of Ancient Mythology. Now is when we’re really starting into the heart of the course. Soon we’ll have our first exams, soon our first essays will be due, and soon we’ll be wishing it were week ten. The first two weeks are like the introductory cushion when there’s a bit of review of old material for continuation classes such as languages and math, and they’re also the time when teachers are slightly more lenient with grading because “it’s your first assignment.” Now things will pick up pace. Now things will get tougher. Now marks the period of very little sleep and spending large portions of your life in the quietest corners of the library. Is it week ten yet?
-
Woah... Random Realization
Thursday, Apr. 3, 2008 12:11 PM
I think a really big worry that many college students have is the idea of letting down their parents. Everyone wants to make their family and friends proud, get a nice, prestigious (at least highly respectable) job after college and graduate well. But I never really thought of having anything to worry about in this area. I never really felt like I had to make my dad proud or get an amazingly high-up job to be accepted… Until yesterday.
I guess prior to the past month or so, I thought I’d get my PhD at a good university and after graduation I would aim for getting a teaching job at a solid university on the west coast and eventually land tenure. But things change and dreams are very malleable. This former dream is, in itself, pretty easily respected and possibly even admired. Maybe that’s why I never felt that tinge of doubt regarding whether or not I’d make my dad proud of me in the long run. But (as odd as this scenario is, I swear this is how it happened) while I was reading the story of “the Rape of the Sabine Women” – for my “Women in Ancient Rome” class – this thought just completely blindsided me and a flashing red light went off in my mind as the announcer shouted “TRAVEL AGENT!!” Haha… I think I want to be a travel agent.
All I want to do in life – really, ALL I want to do – is travel, read, and write. For the rest of my life. In fact, I want to die while flying over some part of the Indian Ocean when I’m 113 years old and I’ve written three dozen books on every topic that has ever even grazed my interest. When I was in elementary school, around eight years old, I remember going to school with these two brothers named Zach and Ross. They missed weeks of school at a time, several times per year, because they would always be going on cruises with their mother who was a travel agent. It seemed as though they spent half of their childhood traveling. Now, I don’t know much about being a travel agent. Maybe the sort of travel agent their mother was is some unreachable status that is completely impractical to aim for. I really have no idea. But IF that is a possibility, IF I can really get paid to plan and organize people’s vacations, then go on them, too, I would be in love with my career. That would be everything I’ve ever wanted. I love planning out trips. I’ve actually spent hours on end planning out my imaginary trip to Thailand. Completely planned out. Down to the tour I’d take on Koh Panghan. If I could do that as work… oh my god I would feel like the luckiest, happiest person alive.
But now back to my first point… If I go from dreaming about being an esteemed college professor with a PhD in Linguistics and teaching at a prestigious Ivy league university to dreaming about some mundane travel agent, well I don’t really want to imagine the look of disappointment on my father’s face. This is the first time I have really thought that something I’ve chosen to do would lead to disappointment from my dad. I’m not quite sure what to do.
-
The REAL College Learning
Tuesday, Apr. 1, 2008 12:11 PM
The first day of the quarter has come and gone, and now we’re diving into the lectures and the homework and the exams and essays. It’s oddly exciting, to be honest. I’m taking two upper division classes this quarter, purely my major: Classical Studies. I feel like I’m really in the midst of my college experience now. The first two quarters were mostly full of CORE classes like English, Religious Studies, and beginning languages. It almost felt like just a more independent extension of high school studies. But now my classes feel so collegiate! (Haha, that must sound awfully nerdy.)
For example, one of the classes I’m taking is titled “Classical Mythology in Western Tradition.” This class has a lot of intensive reading assignments – unlike the quick 10 to 15 page high school assignments – and some major essay projects – one paper spanning about fifteen pages. While I’m not quite looking forward to writing fifteen pages worth of Roman literature analysis, I know I’m going to love how interesting and rewarding this class will be. Already I look forward to doing the readings. It’s almost like Story Time when I was five years old. I just get to read myths and legends all afternoon! It’s wonderful, really.
The second half of this class will be much more graduate-level-like. My professor said to us that we will never be tested on the readings for the second half of the quarter. So why read them, right? Nooooo…. That’s the best part! This class is full of students who are suspiciously in love with Classical literature like I am. We actually want to do this homework, even if it will never go towards our grade ever.
I guess my point is that now I am seeing the real rewards of my choosing to be a Classical Studies major. I can’t even count how many times people have said to me, “Why are you studying classics?? That’s ridiculous. You can’t do anything with that, can you?” They give me this look of bewilderment when I actually respond in agreement with them. No, there is not much at all you can do with a degree in Classical Studies – besides go back and teach it, of course. But that’s not the point. I have come to realize that these classes make me happy. I get interested and time just flies by when I start getting into these ancient myths. This is what I really love. Just because it won’t immediately toss me into a career doesn’t mean that I should abandon my passion. Quite the contrary. Classics is my passion. It’s what I love and what completely entraps my mind. There is so much knowledge and wisdom you can gain from studying Classics; I’ve already begun to see how what I have learned is affecting my daily life. This is what will carry me to a career – well-roundedness, sincere interest, a drive to pursue what I love, and a uniqueness of mind (after the open-house, I really believe Classical Studies must be the smallest department on campus, haha!). Follow what you love. Whatever it may be, no matter how useless and obscure it may seem. It will lead you to a career you love, in turn.
-
DONE!!!
Sunday, Mar. 30, 2008 11:51 AM
Finals are now officially OVER! For me, at least. I had one Monday afternoon, one Tuesday morning, and two today. I just finished with one of the longest written finals I have ever taken. My Classical Culture final consisted of four sections – each with several questions, all different sorts of written short answer and essay questions. In the end, I filled up twelve pages of a testing blue book. My hand is screaming at me. That’s what I get for being a Classics major, I suppose. But I think I would much rather take a final exam for three hours than go through another situation like one of my friends is enduring. He only has one final exam, but he must, in addition, write four separate essays for four other classes. I don’t mind writing essays for classes during the quarter when the due dates are relatively spread out. But having to write four essays all due within a two day time frame is torture. I really should not be complaining about my finals. They were all scheduled at good times and they were over and done with in less than two hours each. In my opinion, I got lucky. Unless I find myself having to write four final essays within one week, I will never again complain about the rigor of my finals. Things could be worse.
-
Restful days are now few
Friday, Mar. 28, 2008 12:09 PM
Spring break is coming to an end… only two and a half days before it’s “Rise and shine! Turn in those papers and prepare for your exams!” once again. My schedule for Spring quarter is absolutely absurd – and I love it. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday I’ll have five classes straight plus work at the end of the fifth with no more than ten minutes in between each ordeal. I will go straight from 9:15 am to 5:00 pm three days per week. But, no matter how horrible that sounds, this fact makes up for it: I have nothing but a two-hour shift at work on Tuesdays and Thursdays – therefore essentially granting me an extra two days off. I’m looking forward to it, but not so soon. Only two and a half days left of Spring break… I don’t want it to end. But luckily there are only eleven weeks left to go, then I’ll be off to Australia for two weeks at the beginning of the summer.
Only eleven more weeks… Only eleven more weeks…
-
Downhill Dangers
Tuesday, Mar. 25, 2008 12:07 PM
So the cool thing to do around here on winter weekends seems to be going to Lake Tahoe to ski or snowboard. I haven’t been so far, but I plan on going with a group of friends in a couple weeks. I was all excited for it and completely ready to go tear up the snowy hills, until my best friend sent me a text today while in Tahoe with another mutual friend of ours. Around 9:20am I woke up to a text message from my best friend saying, simply, “I just broke my collarbone.” He sent this to me as he was waiting for the snowmobile gurney to take him to the first aid wing of the resort in Lake Tahoe.
Once he was finally in the local hospital and getting assessments from doctors, he sent me a few pictures to better explain his incident. He sent me a picture of the x-ray of his collarbone – a complete break of the bone setting it a new and cruel 150-degree angle rather than the natural should-be straight line. Later he was able to tell me that on his second run of the entire trip, he went off a jump – which he only realized was there two seconds before being launched into the air – and landed right before an small icy mound in the snow. This sent him snapping forward into the solid ground and, of course, pop pop pop – thus a broken collarbone.
Now, especially after my abundant history of broken bones and distorted joints, I am a bit more worried about hitting the slopes than before. Seeing my friend in a sling and constantly seeking pain relief from prescription Percocet does not exactly give me that same craving for the soft powder I once had. When my friends and I go up in a few weeks, we’ll just have to make it up to him and prove we can all come back in one piece.
-
So close...
Tuesday, Mar. 11, 2008 11:51 AM
Just one more week… If I can last just one more week of this quarter I’ll be free!
It’s Week 10 now and Spring Break seems so close yet so far away. So much lays between me and eleven restful, peaceful days of no classes. There are only three more days left in this week but still so much has to be done. I have to study for four finals, write, memorize and perform a skit for my Italian II class, write two essays – one for Classical Culture and one for Religion & Culture of Africa – and I still have two units worth of material to learn for Latin II. Oh… and I’m still sick. And working.
I feel like all the energy I have has been drained from my body and I need to conserve every single last ounce of it to power my brain to continue learning for just three more days. But luckily I know this is pretty much as bad as it will ever get – working, being sick, having no energy, and trying to prepare for finals all at once. So if I can make it through this week, I know I can handle anything college life has to throw at me.
-
Foundation of Survival
Wednesday, Mar. 5, 2008 7:48 PM
If there is any piece of advice I could possibly give you for college survival, it is this:
DO NOT GET SICK!
I’ve been sick since Sunday and I am spiraling here. I can’t go to work, I could only stand to go to one class on Monday, and I have been sleeping through all of my free time. If you think it’s hard to concentrate in the dorm when music is booming and voices are escalating, screaming and laughing, then imagine how hard it is to concentrate on homework when you have to deal with all that plus a throbbing head, sore throat, aching body, and you’re coughing every two and a half minutes.
Anyway… the point here: In college, your number one priority should be your health. If your health falls, everything else which depends on the strength of your body and mind will fall with it. But if you can manage to stay healthy and avoid illness, you can make it through anything college throws at you.
-
Kooza!! An Adventure
Friday, Feb. 29, 2008 9:46 AM
For Valentine’s Day I gave my best friend tickets to the Cirque du Soleil show “Kooza.” The show was today and it was definitely an adventure getting there. We missed the bus leaving SCU by thirty seconds. We decided to get on another bus that was heading the same way. But because we missed the first bus, we also missed our connecting bus… so we decided to walk. It was only about a mile and a half walk, but we had to cross two highways along the way. Before we crossed the first highway, we decided to stop at a bus stop for the second bus we missed. When the bus finally arrived, it turned left and went off the route we thought it would take. She and I looked at each other, both of us getting very nervous, and decided to get off at the next stop and walk the rest of the way. Luckily we didn’t stay on the bus any longer than that so we didn’t have too far to walk. We arrived at the show about twenty minutes late, but it was definitely worth all the hassle. It was definitely an adventure, but now she and I can both say we learned a lot about the surrounding area – which comes in handy every time you want to leave campus.
-
Endurance
Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008 9:46 AM
This week is so intense. Two midterms – one in Italian and one in Latin – and two papers – one in Classical & Medieval Culture and one in Religion & Culture of Africa. This is the most difficult week I’ve had since arriving at SCU. If I can just make it through this week, the last three weeks of the quarter will be a breeze by comparison. It seems like this is the toughest week for everyone. So many people are freaking out about projects and important midterms and running out of time and massive twenty-page research papers and on and on, never ending. But I think the entire campus will heave a huge, collective sigh of relief as soon as Friday is done with. We’re all waiting, just trying to push through…
-
Exhausted
Friday, Feb. 22, 2008 10:17 PM
This week has been absolute insanity. Work, homework, presentations, essays, sports, projects, and so little sleep. This afternoon I just completely crashed on my bed and took a four hour nap after I got off work. I can’t believe that we are nearly done with the Winter quarter. I don’t think I would be able to survive semesters. We would only be a month into school right now if we were on the semester system. I couldn’t do it. I need things to just get done and to get done quickly. Three more weeks of school, then three days of finals. I cannot wait for finals. That sense of completion, that sigh of relief that it’s all done with and you can start with a clean slate next quarter. Not to mention that overwhelming idea that you are one step closer to graduation and that much closer to being pushed into the real world. That part’s my favorite :) .
-
Heaven on Campus
Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2008 10:17 PM
I can't believe it! I just found out from the housing department that I qualify for a Junior-Senior suite next year! I'm so excited. A Junior-Senior suite is basically heaven in my dorm. No... wait... correction: A Junior-Senior suite is heaven campus-wide! It’s amazing. A Junior-Senior suite consists of four rooms, each with only one person, two bathrooms, and a full kitchen – refrigerator, microwave, oven, stove, dishwasher, sink.
It’s going to be absolutely wonderful. In college, privacy is a rarity. After you’re done with going to classes with people, going to work with people, eating meals and doing sports with people, after hanging out with friends, you go back to your room and there’s someone there, too! It’s very common for students to crave alone-time. Being around people 24/7 is tiring and personal space is hard to come by. But in a Junior-Senior suite you have that much needed personal space. Having a single room seems like the perfect solution to the hurried and chaotic life of college. Having somewhere you can go where you can do whatever you want, have some time to yourself to listen to music, read, not worry about other company or distractions that a roommate often provides, and just being able to close the door on all the noise of the world is unbelievable helpful to focusing and mental health. This year has definitely been stressful and I think that having a single next year will certainly relieve a great portion of that stress.
|
