Austin's Blog

The Aftermath

aalleman@scu.edu (Austin Alleman) — Mon, 24 May 2010 14:13:00 PST

Bay to Breakers 2010:

Well, we made it back alive.

That's really how the experience can be summed up. I don't know the official figures for this year; last year, no less than sixty thousand people made their way the 7.43(ish) miles from downtown San Francisco all the way to the beach. I would be surprised if the number was smaller this year.

We got up at 3 or 4 in the morning to prep, get dressed in our costumes, eat something and have coffee. Needless to say, that was quite the challenge for us five college students. It helped a little that the entire dorm was doing exactly the same thing, and they were significantly louder than we were. After wedging ourselves into spots on the 6 o'clock CalTrain, we spent the next forty-five minutes with a thousand of our closest friends; by 7, we were lined up and ready to go.

The real experience at Bay to Breakers is the spectacle. Though we made it the whole way, the only thing fueling our progress was the astounding progression of folks around us. A number of superheroes, Gumby, people in the nude, neon-clad runners, neighbors grilling on their stoops, sign-touters – all brought together on this holiday (that's what it is, there's no other word for it) for no particular purpose other than to get from point A to point B herded us along the winding course through the city and park. If you stop, odds are good you'll be a pancake within minutes.

By the end, we were exhausted. We laid in the sand for a few short minutes, gathered our belongings and our resolve, and took the bus back to the train station. What an ordeal.

Now, I don't look forward to any holiday more.

The state of things

AAlleman@scu.edu (Austin Alleman) — Mon, 17 May 2010 14:16:00 PST

Another beautiful Saturday in Santa Clara, California, spent watching the first round of the college lacrosse quarterfinals. My team has already been knocked out, but Cornell won, so not all hope is yet lost. In essence, I'm forgoing homework for vegetation – but the finals only happen once a year. For a couple weekends.

Tomorrow is one of the biggest events of the year for Bay Area residents, and especially college students: Bay to Breakers. Tomorrow, we're all waking up at 4AM to make our way into the city, decked out in ridiculous garb, to participate in a San Francisco tradition second only to activism. It's a run/walk/stumble, 5 and some-odd miles of costumed revelers making their way from the bay side of the peninsula to the ocean side. Right now I'm mentally preparing myself by doing as little as possible, because tomorrow is sure to be jam-packed.

Peace.

Sunday, and we had rain. Rain? What?

AAlleman@scu.edu (Austin Alleman) — Tue, 11 May 2010 15:24:00 PST

Well that's fine. A friend and I had to study for a classics midterm as it was, so we made our way down to the old standby, Mission City Coffee. As I may have mentioned in earlier posts, Mission City hosts an open mic as well as local bands; though I admit to never having been to seen one yet. Sunday, though, as we were plowing through the Argonautica, we struck an open mic session at 3:30.

Many of the Santa Clara locals, it seems, write and play their own songs – a throng of them entered, and they all appeared to be the best of friends. They were excited to be onstage, and many played songs together. Despite the somewhat overwhelming amount of studying we had left to do, we opted to sit and listen for a few songs while we finished our coffee. Sure as heck beat reading the Iliad!

Stream of Consciousness

AAlleman@scu.edu (Austin Alleman) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 15:31:00 PST

8AMs: Don't schedule them.
Meal points: Spend them wisely.
Essays: Don't procrastinate.
Daily homework: Procrastinate, accomplish at 2AM.
Warm clothes: Don't bring them.
Sunny days: Don't waste them.
Money: Always have a little on hand.
Your favorite thing: Keep it close.
Parents: Call them at least once a week.
Library: Well, let's be honest – you're probably going to end up on
Facebook anyway. And if not that, then crumpling up paper and throwing
it at your friends. Study parties are always more party than study. Find
your own study place.

Good day.

Productive? Ridiculous.

AAlleman@scu.edu (Austin Alleman) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:00:00 PST

Hey all!

I'm blogging today just down the street from Santa Clara, at Mission City Coffee Company. A recent discovery of mine, they serve up great coffee, pastries, and personal favorite, an atmosphere. The bricks walls, the sound of pages turning, the quiet jazz and alternative selections, the clacking of keys, and the espresso machine whining away all summon a mood, which surprisingly enough is a proactive one. There's a brooding productivity about, to be sure – the guy across the room is authoring a book, the gal in the corner is halfway through a Dickens book, and I'm here hunched over French Roast, typing away. You wouldn't guess that at night here, they have local artists and an open mic that gets pretty rowdy. The only thing that really gives it away is that my bench, built into the wall, is extra squeaky and a little loose.

Clearly, it's been rocked out on one too many times.

*Sip*

Mmmmm.

Dearest Class of 2014...

AAlleman@scu.edu (Austin Alleman) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 15:11:00 PST

Well folks, it's April 5th. For you current high school seniors out there, this means a lot of things, chief among which is that the ball is in your court as far as choosing a college goes. All your decisions have come back, and for better or worse, you now have some idea of where the next four years of your life will take place. Maybe not specifically,but the short list anyway. Santa Clara decisions came out some time ago,and if you're reading this post, it's likely you've been admitted and are considering coming to school here on the mission campus. I'd like to take this post to offer a little about what I know now, which I believe is substantially more than I knew this time last year. I will admit to being somewhat of a college admissions junkie. Ever since my first campus visit in October of my junior year, I was hooked on getting the best test scores, writing the perfect essays, researching schools to which I might apply, making sure I had a reasonable balance of safeties, matches, and reaches (difficulty of admission, in layman's terms). I wasn't sure if I wanted to be an engineer or a science major,which was a big deal because half the schools on my list would have been fruitless to attend should I choose the former. I wasn't sure if my family could even afford for me to attend the schools I wanted to go to. Heck, I'd only visited a third of them, which meant that I spent hours of my time on forums, asking people who'd actually been how the social life was at Anonymous College, or what housing was like at University of Naught. My complete focus on the future meant I had a real love/hate relationship with the time between the aforementioned October and April 1st..

In the end, I was left with a few choices, one of which was Santa Clara.

The thing about choices, which I'm sure you all know, is that often they are difficult. It's hard to be convinced you're making the right one. The college choice especially is exacerbated by many influences, including your teachers, parents, friends, family, family friends, friends' families, random people crawling the Internet (I'm looking at you, College Confidential), the people who do US News Rankings, et cetera. All of them, to some degree, will sway you in the decision-making process. The funny thing about all of them, though, is that none of them are going to be spending four years at the school you choose. It's only going to be you. Think about those implications for a second. To be honest, you will likely be happy anywhere you go. It's an amazing feeling to leave home and go live on a campus with hundreds or thousands of other people your age, all of whom are very different in background and interest. You will meet great people anywhere, you will have access to most of the same things anywhere, and you will get into the same trouble anywhere (trust me on that one). But don't take too lightly your choice, because the one thing you might not do anywhere is achieve. So now it's time for my plug. This is targeted specifically at those of you sitting on that metaphorical fence, the one I'm sure you'd all like off of now 'cause your rear end is starting to hurt, but also at those of you who will apply in a year or two. I was once one of you, and I made the hard choice. Now that I've had a whole year to assess it, it is my intention to help you make your decision with special regard to Santa Clara. I will do this in the classic list form – it's been quite some time since I've used proper bullet points.

- Santa Clara is in a great place. Admittedly, the immediate area isn't enthralling, but all of forty minutes away lies a thriving urban metropolis, rolling hills prime for hiking and amazing beaches for surfing, towering Redwoods for camping under. - You're less than an hour away from thousands of other college students. San Jose State, Stanford, University of San Francisco, San Francisco State, and UC Berkeley are just a few, all of which are easily accessible by public transport.

- Transportation to aunderrate this. It's not very much fun getting in after a long flight and having no plan for getting from the airport to campus. There is a free shuttle to the CalTrain station, right across the street from Santa Clara, which takes all of five minutes to get from San Jose International Airport. The CalTrain goes directly into San Francisco, not to mention easy transfer to the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system at Millbrae.

- This is a master's university. This means, in essence, that the university hosts some graduate programs, but places emphasis on the undergraduate students. Most of the bigger name universities, while attractive because of their reputation, place most emphasis on research output and graduate programs.

- For those of you who are thinking about building a resume for graduate school, incidentally, Santa Clara provides an environment where not only do many students know their professors well, they often work with them on coauthoring papers or doing research in their labs. At a school with thousands of other students, few may even know the professor in the first place. Just another perk of the small, undergraduate focused education here.

- For you potential business and engineering majors out there, not only are Santa Clara's respective schools top-notch, you're in the Silicon Valley. The hearts of entrepreneurship and ingenuity beat here. If there opportunity per capita was a tangible figure, nowhere else would it be higher.

- It's possible we may have the best library/technology center in the Bay Area. It's brand-spanking new, and you can rent anything from books to HD video cameras. On the opposite end of the spectrum, you'll never have to wait for a machine at Malley Fitness Center. Whether you enjoy being in the gym, or you just want your workout done as quickly as possible, you're pretty much set. And coming soon, fresh for the class of 2014, is the new Locatelli Building, home to many of your clubs and student activities.

- I promise you, there's no better climate for you mild weather fans out there.

Like I said earlier, the ball's in your court. Decide what will be important for you, and what you can most easily compromise on. If in your heart, you know you couldn't live without that prestigious name on your diploma, then go seek that out. If you couldn't live anywhere but the middle of a bustling city, or hours from other signs of civilization, then go seek that out. Heck, if you couldn't live without a snowy winter, make sure that wherever you go to school has that snowy winter. Know that there's no wrong choice. Just consider carefully what you give up that Santa Clara has to offer. You may be surprised how little you care about all those other things when you find a place you really 'fit'. For me, that place is here, with all the tools I need to achieve. I wish you luck, Class of 2014, and I hope to see you next fall on the mission campus.

California's just a big softie.

AAlleman@scu.edu (Austin Alleman) — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:25:00 PST

California is really just a big softie. It threatens all week with heavy clouds, the news anticipates showers and thunderstorms, you dress up in pants and bring a coat – and then it's a beautiful day. Almost as if to say, “You guys better be ready, you better – nah, just pulling your leg. I couldn't do that to you.” Today was just such a day.

To celebrate, I yanked my bike out from under the bed, where it was pretty well lodged, inflated the tires, and went for a little (6 hour) jaunt in the Silicon Valley. The scenery takes on a dramatic air just eight to ten miles north of campus – a short CalTrain ride. Rolling hills, eucalyptus trees, and lots of good, clean air, not to mention a few surprising sights along the way. Even though we're two weeks til finals, if the weather is half as nice as it was today, I'll probably grab the ol' Bridgestone and forgo the studying in favor of another

Parents' Weekend

AAlleman@scu.edu (Austin Alleman) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 10:18:00 PST

Hey all!

This weekend is Parents' Weekend at Santa Clara. Yes, it's that magical time when dorm rooms shine just a little brighter, but not so bright as to set the proverbial bar too high. It's that time when students make trips with their parents to Costco to stock up on enough boxes of chips and bottled water to last a nuclear winter. Maybe most of all, it's that time when mom and dad get to see how well us freshmen have been getting along away from home.

Friday morning, the campus was brimming with parents on tours, parents in seminars, parents in lectures, parents on ice – the whole operation was extremely lively. I had class until 2 o'clock that day, unfortunately, but by 2:30, I was off with mom and dad to go check in at the hotel across the street. Saturday (which ended about 2 hours and 37 minutes ago, according to my alarm clock), we took a walk in the arboretum, and went into San Francisco to have dinner in Union Square. Tomorrow, I'll see off my parents, and return to the daily homework grind – a sobering prospect. Such, however, is the life of a college student. I've already begun my materials science lab, as well as picking out classes for next quarter, which I register for on Tuesday. Being with the parents removes you slightly from college life, just enough to miss home a little. Though I wish mom and dad could stay for longer, or I could go home for a short while, time stops for no mouse. And besides, I know Santa Clara will throw some crazy curveball my way, like it always does, and I'll be right back in the thick of things here. So bring it on, rest-of-second-quarter. Let's see what you've got.

A Day at the Boardwalk

AAlleman@scu.edu (Austin Alleman) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:13:00 PST

This past weekend was one of the mythical three-day variety, and to celebrate, a group of friends and I made our way to Santa Cruz to hang out on the beach and see the boardwalk. I had only been once before on a cursory drive-thru visit, to see the ocean, the houses, and the university, but never to the boardwalk or the beach proper. It was a beautiful 70 some-odd degree day, and the surfers were out in force. Besides playing frisbee on the sand, walking the pier, and eating one of the better hamburgers in recent memory, we all rode the Giant Dipper – the boardwalk's premier rollercoaster. Most of you amusement park junkies out there will probably scoff, seeing as this particular rollercoaster achieves a maximum drop of 80 feet, and never spirals, loops, or twists. But this was my first ride on a rollercoaster ever, so scratch that one off the bucket list. Quite a way to spend a Saturday!

San-ta Cla-ra!

AAlleman@scu.edu (Austin Alleman) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:26:00 PST

Hey all!

The weather recently has been very reasonable, but the clouds rolled in today. Since it looks, smells, and feels like home, I figured I make my way across the street to Starbucks for some quality brooding time. So I'm sitting here, hunched over my laptop with a cup of black coffee, listening to Coldplay's X&Y on repeat (yeah, I said it).

I went to my first Santa Clara basketball game last Thursday – the biggest game of the year, Gonzaga. Since they were ranked 8th in the nation then, you can imagine how excited we were to knock 'em off the WCC throne. The Leavey Center we absolutely packed; you couldn't have fit a quarter between students in the courtside section. From the start, we came out firing on all cylinders, and continued to do so for most of the game. At one point, Santa Clara held a two-digit lead. Cries of “Let's go, Broncos!” erupted from the bleachers as points racked up on the board – it seemed as though it was impossible for Gonzaga to come back from the deficit.

Alas, in the last four minutes of the game, the unthinkable happened. Gonzaga finally wrested the lead from us. I'll be the first to say that it wasn't entirely our fault, though. There were some very poor calls made, and each one meant two more points for the Zags. An awfully sober bunch of fans left the stadium that night, but wow, that was a close game. Incidentally, Gonzaga went on to play USF on Saturday and lost in overtime.

School has been anything but a cakewalk. Midterms are just 'round every corner, waiting to pounce on unsuspecting freshman. I've had and continue to have the essays from hell in my CTW course, which in two quarters has surpassed the number of essays I wrote in the last two years of high school. On lighter note, having one lab instead of three is great, and Burn Notice is back on USA. There's a new episode tonight (2/4), which I plan to watch over physics homework. Needless to say, I'm pretty pysched. One quick shout-out to James Hill, representing Santa Clara on Jeopardy! Way to go!

Fast Times at Santa Clara

AAlleman@scu.edu (Austin Alleman) — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 12:35:00 PST

Hey all!

It's been an unfortunate amount of time since I last posted. That can be attributed chiefly to the fact I've been absolutely floored by sickness, sleeping about 16 hours of most of last week. I finally phoned in a visit to Cowell Health Center, which I would report as an extremely positive experience, and I'm now feeling much, much better. The new quarter is, I'm happy to report, also going well. Everyone seems to have settled in a little more, and to have become more used to the pace of life on campus.

The first three day weekend of the New Year is upon us, and everyone is celebrating by doing what college students do best in their free time:

…

Well, wait. That's kind of a big generalization to make. Huge, in fact.
Some people are playing guitar, some are writing, some are watching movies, some are going to Santana Row to catch a movie, go shopping, or have a meal. Tons of people headed up to Tahoe for the long weekend to go skiing, some went home to see their families, lots are going out into the neighborhood and hanging out. And well, some are just catching up on sleep, then staying up late to make up for it participating in generally counterproductive debauchery.

Colour me coloured.

Bon soir, mes amis!

AAlleman@scu.edu (Austin Alleman) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:22:00 PST

Well, I've been in a galaxy far, far away for a pretty reasonable amount of time now. What is it, a week and a few days since break started?

You'll find, given the time of year, that this post concerns the ghost of Christmas past, a host of Christmas presents, and most of Christmas future. That's an awful lot of ground to cover, so let's go!

The Saturday after I flew in, I went to see the Trail Band at the Aladdin Theater with the fam. This is perhaps my favorite tradition, one which we've maintained ever since moving to Portland. Last year, though, there was a freak snowstorm (incidentally, I had just gotten back from visiting Santa Clara when it started! It was awfully cold in shorts and flip flops laving the airport.) and sadly, we couldn't make it. Fortunately, the only thing falling from the sky this year was plain jane Portland rain. So I got my holiday fix, one well worth the wait.

The next morning, I volunteered at my old high school's Christmas tree sale. It was a balmy 30 some-odd degrees, so I put on two coats and got to work. I've done this for the past three years, and this year proved no different. Joined by my very good friend, we cleft and hefted Christmas trees for a solid four hours. We received hot chocolate and good company for our trouble, and of course, enhanced holiday spirit. This time of year, what more can you ask for?

Except, of course, Christmas presents. Santa makes his rounds soon, after all. That means Christmas shopping, which means mall crowds. I don't subscribe to the mall scene save one day a year, which happens to be this week. I have most of my shopping done, but I just like to 'sip the kool-aid', if you know what I mean. A holiday season isn't complete without a visit to Washington Square, to go shopping with five or ten thousand of your closest friends. And nothing spreads holiday cheer like laying on your horn when your turn gets taken three times at the four-way stop!

But I digress, the next few days will be active, to say the least. Relatives come into town starting Wednesday, and things are going to become hectic fast. The more the merrier, yeh? I wish you all a happy holiday season, whichever you celebrate, or at least a restful winter break, and a fruitful new year!

PS – Sherlock Holmes countdown: t-minus 3 days. Be excited.

PPS – Santa Clara gear comes in holiday colours.

PPPS – This is starting to sound a little like a list.

State of the Student

AAlleman@scu.edu (Austin Alleman) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 09:03:00 PST

Hey all!

Well, it's winter break – a time for ends and beginnings, departures and reunions. Fall quarter and the first quarter of college have come to a close, as well as the school year for 2009. Finals week is all in the past (at least until March). I've said my goodbyes to friends at school, almost all of whom left before I did, and got on the plane home. I've since reunited with my family and old friends from high school, and although it's only been a week or two, it seems like forever since I last saw them! Not only that, but Christmas is going to be at home this year, complete with more family members than you can shake a stick at. It'll be a new year, and a new quarter, before too terribly long here.

Speaking of which, I should probably mention that class scheduling went very easily. I think this was chiefly due to the early registration the honors program affords, but it was straightforward, simple, and effortlessly accomplished during a chemistry lab. Registration for new classes only sidetracked most of my section further than usual, myself included, but hey, it's the holiday season. What do you expect? In any case, it looks like I'll be letting off the throttle a little this quarter, dropping from 19 credits, a more than manageable load, to 17. As for the subject material, it looks like I'll be taking Differential Equations, Introductory Physics (Mechanics), the second half of my CTW sequence, and I do have a coveted spot in Introduction to Materials Science.

That's just a quick update on things as they are; a State of the Union address at the collegiate level. “State of the Student”, if you will.

Dang, that's catchy.

So...then what was last week?

AAlleman@scu.edu (Austin Alleman) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:29:00 PST

Good evening!

Or maybe good morning is more appropriate? It's 1:16 AM on a Thursday and the library is still buzzing with activity. Yes, it's that time of the year – nope, not Christmas – it's DEAD WEEK. Cue the thunder and lightning.

crackBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

Err, well, sort of. It's nice to be toiling away with about eight or nine hundred of your studious companions. It creates a real feeling of synergy, of camaraderie, of exhaustion. That said, I've become used to being in the library for obscene amounts of time. I've been here since 5PM, right after my last class of the day, and I missed dinner as well as a screening of Elf, complete with s'mores.

Instead, my back hurts from being hunched over, my stuff is strewn all over the table, and there are two empty coffee cups standing stoically atop a stack of textbooks. But in the immortal words of Marty Feldman, cast as Igor in Young Frankenstein, it could be worse: it could be raining.

...

But this is Santa Clara, California, so I'm spared that. And that's quite a comforting thought.

Back in the P-N-W...R?

AAlleman@scu.edu (Austin Alleman) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 14:20:00 PST

Greetings from scenic Portland, Oregon!

It's been a hectic two weeks. Which is to say, of course, that last week was hectic enough for this week too. Two essays, several midterms, two presentations and tons of homework all right before the biggest pressure release in the last ten weeks – Thanksgiving.

Ah, yes, Thanksgiving – that time of year when we count our blessings and take several helpings. It is, personally, my second favorite holiday, a close second to Halloween. Santa Clara grants us a week-long break from studies and California sunshine to go home, see family, and eat ourselves sick, a break which after nine weeks away I was eager to take advantage of. The week, however, had other ideas. It just flew by and I didn't accomplish half the things on my to-do list. That's fine, though, because in two weeks I'll be back here at the old stomping grounds with a break thrice as long.

For now, though, since it is only two days past Thanksgiving, I'd like to take this time and space to talk about a few things I'm thankful for.

First and foremost, family, for eighteen and some-odd years of constant support and entertainment. I couldn't be here without you, and I would say more, but at the risk of publicly gushing, I think I'll leave it at that.

The opportunity to attend college at a place as open and inviting as Santa Clara!

My cat, who keeps me honest as type this. Thanks for sitting on my keyboard, buddy.

My friends, everywhere. I'm glad to have seen some of you this week, I'm glad I'll get to see some of you again next week!

My car. It's been a while, but it's nice to be reunited.

Oregon water. This won't make any sense unless you've had it.

Really comfortable bed, more food than I've seen in quite some time, and some well-deserved tranquility. Easy to take for granted, let me tell you.

Things I WILL be thankful for:

The end of finals and first quarter. Pretty self-explanatory.

The Ducks going to the Rose Bowl.

The forthcoming Vampire Weekend album. January 13th – aka Christmas,

Part II. At least in my little world.

I promise I don't plan these lists. They just seem to happen.

In twenty some-odd hours, I will be merrily on my way back to school, to face what is certain to be the most epic of work weeks thus far. There's so much to be done, but with the promise of winter break and of finals week consisting of about three true tests, two of which I don't even have to wake up early for, I think I'm mentally prepared. Bring it on.

Signing off,

Austin

Somewhere only we nap...

Aalleman@scu.edu (Austin Alleman) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:23:00 PST

Phones need recharging, cars need fuel, and college students need naps. It's a simple fact of the life away from home. After class or perhaps following a meal – there's never a wrong time to stretch out on your bed, let the California sunshine keep you warm, and doze off for a little bit. Well, actually, I take that back – it may not be your wisest choice to fall asleep during nationally broadcast Pac-10 football games. Take that from me.

I will admit I have a hard time getting to settle down enough for a nap. My roommate is a champion sleeper – a minute is just about all the time it takes for him to go from awake to unconscious. I just can't quiet my mind enough to pass out for a few hours – there's so much to do here! A bike ride? A trip to Safeway? Multivariate calculus? The mysterious and omnipresent et cetera, perhaps?
Some thoughts:

1.Stanford beats USC 55-21. I applaud you, gentlemen. The Pac-10 is no longer dominated by a USC dynasty.

2.Or maybe 1(a)? By the mascot transitive property, a pine tree with googly eyes beat the spit of a bunch of Trojans. That's something to ponder.

3.It's really pleasant outside. My friend's crew coach says this is winter in California, 'this' being 70ish and clear. I'm disposed to believe him.

4.The Engineering School is awesome here. We have opportunities to compete and exercise skills learned in the classroom all the time. This is one of the major differences between high school and college. Actually, scratch high school and college – this is a trait specific to small, undergraduate-focused universities in areas ripe with business and technology. This is a number of schools I believe I can count on one hand. And you know, I wouldn't have it any other way.

5.It might be time for a nap.

Yeah, it's time. I can feel it coming on. Peace out.

Mood for a Day, Mood for a Night.

AAlleman@scu.edu (Austin Alleman) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:18:00 PST

Hey all!

It's been a long week, and it will be a long week. I have a math midterm, a chemistry test, and an essay rough draft due on Wednesday, as well as class sign-up for next quarter coming up soon. The pressure is on for the time being. All of this, I guess, is a long-winded way of excusing my absence-of-late from the blogosphere!

A lot has happened in a short while, though. Besides classes, I attended an open forum last Wednesday regarding diversity here at the university. There was an off-campus incident, unrelated to the university, which offended many SCU students, particularly those of non-white racial background. I'd heard about it earlier, but I wasn't sure whether I would attend, since the issue at hand seemed to have no connection to me. But then a close friend of mine, who lives on the same floor as I do, told me he was planning on speaking at the forum, and asked me to come. I left that night with a completely new perspective. The university, in providing a place to speak openly about a sensitive topic, brought to light the thoughts and feelings I never knew existed of students here on campus. People of all different backgrounds shared their sentiments on the issue at hand for an hour and a half, and the whole experience was eye-opening. I hope in posting about this I am not making a mountain out of a molehill, or vice versa – I just found the forum extremely interesting, and I was glad Santa Clara hosted such an event.

On a lighter note, this weekend, sans haunting the library trying to get some homework for this week done, I made another CalTrain pilgrimage north (not nearly as exhilarating as last time, I assure you) to discover more of the lay of the land. Not to Fisherman's Wharf, or Berkeley, or the Haight – no, this time I stopped short a zone. I went to Stanford.

Stanford, this weekend at least, was enemy territory. They hosted my top ten-ranked Oregon Ducks in what is perhaps the most recognized collegiate contest of will: college football. My friend and I, decked out in yellow and green, marched proudly into Stanford Stadium, ready to watch my home team crush the Cardinal, just like all the predictions said. And four quarters later, we left quietly, head bowed, and slunk back to the CalTrain station in shameful fashion. We lost to unranked Stanford 51-42. Nine out of ten times that game is played, Oregon wins. And yet, the one time, not one after the biggest upset in the Pac-10 this season, we coughed up the biggest hairball this season. Ugh.

I returned to campus and found, much to my chagrin, that one of the community facilitators on my floor had returned from the game as well. Her loyalties, however, lay with Stanford. This meant for me that all the jeering and taunting I'd hit her with earlier came back to bite me in my green and yellow butt. The other shoe has to drop sometime, I guess. I was just hoping it would drop some other time.

As a final thought, it occurs to me, in looking around the Harrington Learning Commons (which is Santa Claran for “the library”) that this place is quite the establishment. I come here anytime I want to get some serious work done. At least 75% of my Sunday has been spent here, blasting through a chemistry lab report and English homework. It's difficult to study in the residence halls because it doesn't feel like you're really in any kind of crunch – many people will be playing video games, or there might be beach volleyball just outside your window, and yet you're the only reading Proust. No thanks. In the HLC, though, everyone is busy working, and productivity is a virus you quickly catch. Harrington Learning Commons is the kryptonite to distraction.

I suppose I'll end on that ironic note, seeing as technically, I should be working. The best laid plans of mice and men, though, eh? Essays don't just write themselves, though I soon hope to engineer something that will do just that.

Happy trails!

Week 5!

AAlleman@scu.edu (Austin Alleman) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:28:00 PST

Salutations!

What a weekend! I just got back from San Francisco and UC Berkeley about 8 hours ago, and have since decided not to go to sleep. Instead, I've been puttering about while my motivation to do homework meets in an epic battle with the desire to get on Facebook. Out of a madly swirling confluence of apathy, English assignments, insomnia and excitement, this blog post emerges (for the record, my watch reads 6:52 AM – class starts at 9:15).

Where to begin? After class ended at 3:30ish on Friday, I quickly gathered the bare essentials and made the pilgrimage to the CalTrain station. At first it was quite an intimidating prospect, but everyone at the station was very helpful to me in explaining how I was to buy tickets, where to transfer, which transfer to take, and so forth. The ride turned out to be extremely enjoyable, and there's a certain sense of accomplishment one derives from being able to get place to place – independence, perhaps? The BART is even more fun – like “roller coaster meets city tour” fun. Unsurprisingly, the daily commuters didn't share my enthusiasm, but I'd never been on public transportation so glamorously space age before. I felt straight out of an episode of the Jetsons!

In a matter of an hour and a half I had arrived at the Downtown Berkeley station, where I met my friend. He's a current student at UC Berkeley, and went to high school with me. This is the first time since I left that I've reunited with an old friend, and it was quite the experience. It made me miss home a little bit more than usual, but also provided an unusual sense of security, knowing somebody else was going through the same things I was – completely new place, all new faces, and of course, new challenges. Who better to gripe about doing your own laundry with than an old friend?

I stayed through Sunday, spending time both at home base and out in the city. On Friday, I explored much of the Berkeley area, which is really cool. I highly recommend a trip out there with a little spending money – between all the great places to eat, buy books and music, and anything else a college student could want, it's impossible not to indulge. I personally came back a couple items of clothing and about six CDs richer.

On Saturday, the focus of my excursion shifted towards the city. We took the BART to the Embarcadero station, which is within walking distance(or you could take a bus, but that would be lame) of Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf. We got some fish and chips at the latter location, which were excellent. I don't recommend feeding any to the seagulls, even though it's fun to watch them squabble for it. Very quickly, innocent feeding of the gulls can turn into something resembling Alfred Hitchcock's “The Birds”.

Extensive exploration of the pier area on Saturday was followed by a day of relative inactivity on Sunday (namely, sleeping). I believe we woke up right around 2, and went straight for a shower and breakfast. A little more touring around the Berkeley area soon found 7 o'clock and time to leave. So I packed up and made the two or three hour voyage back home. It was nice to return to quiet, relaxed, familiar Santa Clara after a weekend of bustle in the city, and after dropping my bag off in my room, spent much of the evening carousing with some friends. Gooood weekend.

Well, it was a good weekend, anyway. It's 7:30 AM, which means Monday is more than current. Now begins the downhill side of the first nine weeks at school, and the homestretch for the first break. I say that, of course, knowing full well I have a midterm coming up on Wednesday. Time to get studying, I suppose!

Sayonara,

Austin

My class is early in the morning, so I stayed up all night to be awake for it.

AAlleman@scu.edu (Austin Alleman) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:21:00 PST

Hey all!

Right now it's raining, which I feel is appropriate given we've had so much sun in the past couple weeks, not to mention the past couple hours. Turn on a couple of warm lights, curl up with a latte and grab a book or some homework, and you're set until the storm doth cease. Or, put on a jacket, jeans and some old kicks and stroll the neighborhood – rain doesn't happen just everyday!

It's almost Halloween (which should be a CRAZY good time) – another week or so. It's so strange to think that already I'm over the hills, through the woods, and headed to grandmother's house (sorry – done with midterms, nearly five weeks elapsed, and halfway to Thanksgiving break, where assumedly there will be a grandmother or two). Sure, there'll be more hills between here and there, but seriously, I feel as though I could have been here for a week. The college pace picks up quite a bit of slack that high school left behind.

This past weekend was Alumni Weekend. Now, I know most of you have seen Animal House, and many of you have even been to college, so you probably have notions about the college party scene. So when I tell you that the alumni took over campus, carousing, eating, singing and dancing, it should come as no surprise to learn that they know how to have a good time. What should come as a surprise is that they were up past when I went to sleep (on a Saturday night) doing all those things. I guess the real world doesn't slow the Broncos past down one bit!

So, update on the San Francisco trip – it's actually going to happen this weekend. I mean that sincerely, with all possible candour. I talked to my buddy this weekend and it looks like I'll be able to stay with him up at Berkeley, which should be way cool. I'll also have my maiden voyage on the CalTrain/BART, which from all accounts is quite the cross-section of humanity. Let's do this thang.

Signing off,

Austin

Everybody's Workin' for the Weekend

AAlleman@scu.edu (Austin Alleman) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:13:00 PST

Hey all!

Week 3 has come to a complete close; 2 hours from now, Week 4 will commence. Midterms are imminent if not already upon some. In fact, I'm in the Orradre Library right now, blogging and watching everyone else stress out. I only have one midterm this week, and it's not even on Monday, so I feel pretty good right now. That said, I do have 100 pages to read before I go to bed tonight, so I shouldn't really be so lax.

On Friday night, I went with a group to see “Couples Retreat”. The group's original intention was to go see “Paranormal Activity”, but we boarded the 60 Southbound, not the 60 Northbound. Oh, well. The movie was pretty excellent anyway – I found myself laughing most of the time, and I hadn't expected to. After the movie, we went to the bus stop only to find the bus doesn't run past 10:30.

Hold on.

Reread.

The bus doesn't run past 10:30 on a weekend night? Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority, what were you thinking? In any case, we made an adventure of it. We walked the couple of miles back to campus, courtesy of Google Maps. We may or may not have made up for missing “Paranormal Activity” by spending a little extra time on the walk back in or around the cemetery. That's how we Santa Clarans do.

The area around campus is calm late at night. I've elected to start making my run a nightly ritual, because although the fitness center is awesome, sometimes it's crowded (which assuredly attests to its niceness). I tend to get a much better workout when there's no distraction, so I've taken to the campus loop – 1.73 miles of relatively peaceful running. Doing the loop twice or thrice every night, and suddenly I feel much better (Secret to Getting Through College #173 – Get those endorphins moving during midterms).

By this time, I've figured out how to balance my schedule, and have had more leniency in exploring the area. I figure reviews of some of the local fare are in order:

Blondie's: If what you're looking for is a frozen yogurt experience paralleled by none, look no further. The pistachio flavor is excellent.
Quality establishment.
Frozo's: Self-serve frozen yogurt? So wait, that's like, frozen yogurt you serve yourself? Absolutely, along with the largest assortment of toppings this side of the Mississippi. Raspberry, Froot Loops, and chocolate syrup, anyone?
Stuft Pizza: All-you-can-eat pizza lunch for a measly $6. 'Nuff said.
Wrap This!: This eatery has a special place in my heart. I found it quite by accident, laaaate at night. I came back the next day to try it, and let me say, the gyros are to die for. I haven't even tried anything else, and I've been back several times. Blissful.

As a footnote, I'd like to mention that we had an EPIC storm on Tuesday.
Nothing like pouring rain to motivate a little quality time with the homework.

I guess that just about completes this installment, fresh off the blog press. I'm going to try for the fabled trip to San Francisco this weekend – wish me luck! I'll be sure to take lots of pictures! Oh, and a shout out to our first tour groups of the year! Good luck in the college application process! Hope to see you here next year!

Peace out.

PS -- Included are some pictures from orientation and two of my visits to the school. New ones forthcoming, but until then, I hope these will
do :)