Rai's Blog

This is it... Week 10

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 11:08:27 PST

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

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Thu, 29 May 2008 11:07:10 PST

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

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Tue, 27 May 2008 11:07:39 PST

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

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Tue, 20 May 2008 05:20:05 PST

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

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Wed, 07 May 2008 01:41:52 PST

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

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 01:41:27 PST

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!

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:51:40 PST

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

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 03:35:01 PST

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

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 12:57:58 PST

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

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:11:49 PST

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

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 12:11:11 PST

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!!!

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 11:51:56 PST

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

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:09:45 PST

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

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 12:07:56 PST

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...

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 11:51:13 PST

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

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 07:48:15 PST

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

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 09:46:57 PST

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

jllu@scu.edu (Josh Lu) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:46:43 PST

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

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 10:17:33 PST

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

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 10:17:05 PST

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.

Valentine's Day

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 09:23:40 PST

Valentine’s Day in college… It’s interesting. Some of it is sincere. The real “I love you”s between those who will be referred to as the “college sweethearts” in twenty years when they’re married with children. Then there’s those who are in relationships but they know it’s just a college thing; temporary; just to occupy time, in a way. Those are the ones who feel obligated to participate in Valentine’s Day. This is why Valentine’s Day is so protested by many. Even those who have valentines hate Valentine’s Day. It’s a day that forces romance out of people rather than allowing it to truly come from the heart.

Why won't they change?

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:14:14 PST

             It’s surprising how many people are still in the high school mind-set. I just can’t get over it. It drives me mad. What are they waiting for? What do they get out of it?
             Superficiality, cliques, fast friends and fast break ups, flaunting daddy’s sports car and mommy’s credit card, dating that one because he’s cuter and on the rugby team – who cares who he really is.
             That was high school and that is how some people continue to think here. Mostly freshman. Some sophomores. I hope they change soon. They are missing out on life. They see the world as “What can I get out of this?” rather than “Wow… look how beautiful this world is. How lucky I am to be alive.” It’s frustrating. It makes me want to just run up to them and shake them until their Gucci sunglasses fall off their face and all their credit cards and make-up compacts spill out of their Louis Vuitton (had to look up the spelling on that one) purses and I just want to shout, “WAKE UP AND LOOK AROUND YOU!!!”
              They will be thrust into the real world soon enough. Ma and Pop won’t write the checks any more. They’ll have to get real jobs, first apartments, and they’ll get the first bills in the mail and stare at it, puzzled. Grow up, SCU. You’ve left high school. You’ve graduated from the popularity contests. You’re legal adults now. Look in the mirror, look out the window, take responsibility and recognition.

The change will shock you

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 10:08:47 PST

I suppose I was looking for too much. I was talking with an old friend today who’s still in high school. I couldn’t believe how much we’ve grown apart – not relationship-wise, but maturity-wise, I suppose. He was telling me about how things have been going for him and he was getting so upset about the most trivial, little things. I was so shocked, really. I guess I was comparing him to my friends here as well as to myself. Once you leave high school, things are just thrown into a whole new perspective. You are on your own. Mommy and daddy aren’t there to cradle you anymore. You have to do it all yourself (except for those students who continue to be financially dependent on their parents, of course). And you have room to develop yourself, your identity, your personality, and everything that you truly feel and believe in rises to the surfaced; whereas before it was suppressed by “groups” and social norms of high school; that pressure to fit in and the overbearing, looming knowledge that you are stuck with those kids until you graduate. In college, none of that matters.

In college it doesn’t matter if you disagree with a friend on any particular issue, you simply acknowledge your differences, accept them, and love the fact that you are able to be yourself without adjusting to what others want of you. Example: My best friend and I are of completely different religious backgrounds. Polar opposites. Yet I love her to death and I could not be more grateful to have her as a friend.

Talking to my old high school friend was like looking at “before and after” photographs. I am sure I was like him when I was in high school. Without a doubt, I’m sure all of us were. But now we’ve been thrust one step closer to being alone in the world and we have to let go of all that does not truly matter. Drama is pointless. Friendships are more stable and more resistant than ever before in high school. Romantic relationships don’t end at the first fight. Professors are not just jerky adults who enjoy heaping on reams of homework. The respect for others grows one hundred fold once you reach college. I’m not quite sure what it is that changes us this way, but I wouldn’t give it up for the world. My old high school friend has no idea who he is. I am more me now than I ever have been.

Huh?!?

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 07:07:59 PST

The sky is bipolar.

I look out my window this morning – bright and sunny, a few light-gray clouds. Twenty minutes later I walk outside to go to Safeway. It’s sprinkling. I go back inside to get my umbrella from my room. I get to Safeway, get my few groceries and walk outside fifteen minutes later. It’s not even drizzling. Clear skies again. I walk to Taco Bell – right next door to Safeway – to get a quesadilla to-go. After spending all of three minutes inside Taco Bell, I walk outside and it’s pouring. I don’t understand it. I just do not understand why the weather cannot simply choose a temperament for the day and stick with it. Or at least stick with it for a few consistent hours! Man… the clouds need to go back on their Prozac…

Fly, Fly Away

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 01:06:47 PST

                This is the most insane weather I have ever seen in California. Granted, I did live exclusively in Southern California for the first seventeen years of my life, but nonetheless, this is CALIFORNIA! We are not supposed to get hurricane-like winds and swirling, pounding rain. In Southern California the worst weather we got was a couple Santa Anna winds per year. These were winds that came from the desert – so it was always a nice, warm, refreshing wind in the fall – with gusts up to 70 or 80 mph. Pretty intense. Trees, fences, and even trucks were blown over by the Santa Annas.
                But THIS storm… man oh man…
                I was walking back to my dorm room – in Casa Italiana – from work – on the completely opposite corner of campus, by Mayer Theater – and I swear I thought I was going to fly away by my umbrella like Mary Poppins. It was actually significantly more difficult to walk with the umbrella than to just give up and submit to getting soaked through and through. At one point I was being pulled along by the wind in my umbrella, and the next minute I was afraid the wind was going to collapse my umbrella onto me.
                Anyway… now I’m back inside and there is absolutely NO WAY I am going back out there until either the storm dies down or until I have class Monday morning.

A much needed extra day...

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 10:21:08 PST

                This three-day weekend is much appreciated. I, along with my fellow students in distress, are extremely glad that we get one extra day to catch up with all of our homework and to, maybe, if we’re lucky, fit in some time to relax this weekend. Thank you Mr. MLK, sir!
                Well I got back from San Diego yesterday afternoon. Monster Jam was awesome! Some highlights: One of the trucks, Escalade, caught on fire after his freestyle set. The trucks get 90 seconds to basically tear it up on the track. They do as many impressive stunts as possible and the truck with the highest score wins. (Don’t ask me what they win, I don’t know ‘cause I really don’t care. I’m just there to witness the carnage.) Typically, the driver who does the most damage to the course and to his own truck gets the highest score. Well, this driver in particular certainly followed that rule of thumb. He did his set in about 80 seconds and spent the last 10+ seconds doing doughnuts in front of the other trucks. Once he stopped his truck… BOOM! Flames galore. It was incredible. Our seats were on the 50-yard line and about 15 rows up so we could feel the heat on our faces. Needless to say, Escalade scored very high.
                The champion is always Gravedigger. He’s been racing and doing the whole Monster Jam scene for about 25 years now, I believe. So he was the last truck to freestyle. He absolutely demolished the track. He crushed every single car and bus to beyond recognition. He was pounding into these props so much that the body of his own truck began to fly off in pieces. By the end of his set, his truck was just a naked entanglement of neon green roll bars.
                All in all, a very impressive show. But now I must face the week and get a jump on my homework. Luckily there are no classes today so that means less homework for the week and more time to conquer it all. Still though… It’s a daunting task…

Monster Jam

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 10:21:44 PST

Tomorrow morning at 6:00 am I will be on the VTA Bus #10 on my way to San Jose International Airport to catch a plane heading for San Diego. Tomorrow night I will be sitting amongst 40,000 other like-minded fans as we watch monster trucks such as Shocker, Bounty Hunter, and, of course, the infamous Gravedigger rumble and tumble over the pathetic remnants of old sedans and mountains of dirt in an attempt to out-damage each other. I am most excited. My dad and I have gone to this show for the past six or seven years – I can’t remember precisely. If you’ve never been to a monster truck show, try to imagine one of those remote control cars with the disproportionate body-to-tire ratio. Now blow that up about 500 times. The tires of these monster trucks are taller than I am – and I’m 5’ 10”. The engines can be heard from about eight miles away. They demolish everything in their path. They’re so powerful that if a truck and/or driver go crazy and get off course, the mechanics have an engine killswitch that they can push before the truck plows into the stadium stands. I can’t wait! This will be a good addition to the long weekend.

Monday, January 14

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 10:03:42 PST

It feels so good to be back on campus. I missed all of my friends so much. Over break I stayed in Santa Clara to work while all my friends went back to their respective homes all over the country. It was hard being away from them for so long. I truly did not realize how much my friends meant to me. We’ve only known each other for four months now and already they feel like family. I have many friends, but very few close friends who I would trust with anything. Christmas vacation really made those friendships stand out; it made me appreciate them all so much more.
                Now that we’re all back and flowing with the rhythm of school and classes again, it feels like we never left each other. We have a lot of classes together this quarter, actually. I even have a class with my roommate which is awesome! She and I are completely different majors – she’s a bio-engineering major and I’m a classical studies major – so it is extremely rare for our academic paths to cross. So far we’re having a lot of fun with it.
                I can’t believe that this is only the second week of the quarter. It feels like we’re already up and rolling and we should be half-way done by now! But I suppose that’s what you get when you go to a college on the quarter system. Everything is so fast paced. There is no time to fall behind. You have to stay on top of things or else you’ll be spending every waking hour of your weekend catching up on 200 pages of missed reading and 40 math problem sets.
                Here’s to the new quarter…

Freestyle Gone Bad

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 05:42:21 PST

              One of my favorite hobbies of all time is riding dirt bikes, quads, ATVs, etc. in the desert. My dad, in his attempt to make up for not having a son, raised me as a tomboy. So, of course, he had to ensure that I was the only girl out in the desert every single chance of the season beginning at age six. Naturally, this became my own addiction.
                The day after Christmas, ie. yesterday, my dad and I were heading out to the desert (for all you Southern California desert rats who will know what I’m talking about, we went to Superstition on this particular excursion) to satisfy our cravings for sand in our eyes and exhaust on our faces.
                When we finally got out there – after a two hour drive – we found the first good-looking space and unloaded our bikes and gear. Within half an hour we were gassed up, suited up, and warming up our bikes. My dad rides a two-stroke 1986 Honda 250R (not made anymore) and I ride a 1998 four-stroke 200 Yamaha Blaster. Off we go over dunes, mountains, tracks and racing pits. The first two rides were amazing. On each we rode for about an hour and a half to two hours north, east, and south of our camp. On our third run we decided to venture west. The terrain in that area was fairly new to us because we had not been to Superstition in about four years. Normally we go to either Ocatillo or Gordon’s Well but this time we decided to take a chance at Superstition.
                See… the thing about Superstition is that every single time that my dad and I go there, without exception, someone gets injured. The last time we were there, my dad crashed and got a concussion which knocked out his memory for a day and a half. The time before that I was helping my dad load up the bikes and I – don’t ask how, it’s complicated – ended up being dragged along in the gravel and wound up with a raw, bloody stomach. The time before that I was following my cousin up a narrow cliff and, being a dumb little kid, I ended up driving off the edge of the cliff as I was peering down to see how far up we were. Smart, eh? I could go on and on, recounting all the injuries, but I think you understand the tradition of Superstition by now.
                So this time my dad and I vowed to break the curse of the purple mountains of Superstition. On ride number three we found this great valley full of berms and supreme jumping territory. My dad pulled over and we decided to do a bit of freestyle in this most excellent of locations. Bad move. I go first. I’m just tooling around, going off a couple jumps, did a wheelie or two, etc. etc. Well, I decided to go off this new berm. I didn’t realize the berm was lopsided until I was in the air. My right tires landed, then my left. My body bounced off the seat and handle bars of my quad and I went tumbling under the front left tire. Of course, the bike decides to come with me. My bike flipped onto me, so now I’m on my back, the quad is on top of me, and we’re both still sliding forward in the sand from all the momentum. My bike slowed down much slower than I did and it rolled across me.
                When my dad finally pulled the bike off me I couldn’t move my legs. It took about five minutes before I could stand. The left rear tire of my quad had torn apart my left thigh. Also, the left foot peg – which is a narrow, u-shaped piece of metal – landed on my right inner thigh and severely messed up my muscles. Now it feels like there is a rock in my leg where the foot peg landed. Not to mention the brilliant colors I am now decorated with.
                Needless to say… Superstition has won again. But we will certainly be back for another go.

Institutionalized

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 05:39:44 PST

What a change. I am in my own apartment. An apartment. All to myself. For an entire month of Christmas vacation. I’m not even 18 yet and I’m living on my own, working nearly full time, and supporting myself. What a change, what a change.
I’m sitting here in the living room of the mine-for-one-month apartment just… just thinking. I have an entire month to myself – no school, just me. I can relax. I can read. I can run. I can go places. I can even do things!! I can’t believe I actually have time to do things now. But really, I don’t know what to do. I just realized that I have taken classes for four years straight – since my freshman year of high school I have had classes fall, winter, spring and summer in both high school and college simultaneously with no more than two weeks of vacation time in between each session. And now I have a month off… and I have no idea what to do with myself. I’m sitting here starting at everything in the room, thinking about how the next eight years of my life are going to go. I’m realizing that once I’m out of grad school, I have no idea how to live without organizing my life around academics. I am far too institutionalized.

Friday, November 30

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 09:25:24 PST

Wow… It feels so good to be almost done with my first quarter here! Really, I’m one third done with my entire freshman year. The only thing left is three finals next week. I’m completely done with English. Entirely. I don’t have a final for that class AND I don’t have to take English 2 – thanks to the excess of college credits I have accumulated from community college. Just one week left and it’ll all be set.
Next quarter is going to be intense. Five classes + working 12 hours per week. Then there’s sports and yoga. Homework… can’t forget that. But oh well… I don’t have to worry about that for an entire month!!! It’s going to be lonely here without all my friends. I’m not going back to San Diego over break. I’m going to stay in Santa Clara; I’m moving into an apartment for the month. But it’s ok. It’ll be nice to have a whole apartment all to myself. Plus, since winter break isn’t during the academic calendar, I can work more hours at the Sponsored Projects Office – which means bigger paychecks. Can’t go wrong there. And I won’t even be working all break because the offices close down on the 21^st of December. I think it will be nice to be done with school on the 7^th, work at SPO a little harder for two weeks, then be done with everything until school starts again on the 7^th of January. And by that time…. I’ll be 18!!! Yay!

Monday, November 26

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 04:26:26 PST

This is the final week! I’m so ready for this quarter to be done with, to just get that sense of completion. It’s a strange system, the way this quarter is set up. We have nine solid weeks of school – we don’t even get Veteran’s Day off. Then we have a week off from school for Thanksgiving vacation. After that we come back for one more week of classes, followed by a week of finals. It’s awkward, but I think that the Thanksgiving break gave me that rejuvenating burst I needed that will carry me through these last two weeks. I don’t think that everyone here can say that, but I feel lucky that I can. For some, the week away from school is just a tease. Then they have to face the harsh reality of hitting the books – hard – for another two weeks. But once we are done with finals we get an entire month off! I am very excited for that. I’ll get to work more hours, which means a bigger paycheck, but I’ll still have another 20 hours in each day to relax, read, go to San Francisco, the beach in Santa Cruz – which I am still dying to visit – and play more capoeira with friends. I’m not going “home” to San Diego for break, but I think it will still be a nice vacation away from rigorous study and numerous essays.

Friday, November 16

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 12:45:52 PST

I go home tomorrow. I don’t really know if I should be calling it “home.” Things are so strange with that word. I feel like SCU is my home now. I’ll only be going back to San Diego for breaks. The other 9 months of the year I’ll be living at school. And as soon as I get out of undergrad, I’ll be off to grad school. Then, right after that, I’ll be moving out on my own. So which is “home”? I’m not really sure any more.

But anyway… I’ll get to see my dad and uncles and grandparents. I’m going to see two concerts with my dad, going dirt biking in the desert, going to see two movies, Thanksgiving, of course, and I’ll be helping to decorate my uncles’ house on Friday before my plane flight back to school (or is it “back home”?). It should be good to get away from the school and teachers for a while. This break is MUCH needed.

Wednesday, November 14

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 02:06:14 PST

Wow… The concert was PHENOMENAL! It was at the Fillmore in San Francisco. My friend, Davis, and I took the CalTrain all the way to the top, then took one bus, to another bus, to get to the Fillmore. When we got there it was incredible. It’s obviously a very old venue, but it looks so elegant inside. It’s very classy, but the dress code was still just concert-casual. The carpet and walls were a deep red felt-like material. There were chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Five balconies were perched to the left of the stage overlooking the show and the dance floor.

The band, She Wants Revenge, was terrific! They sound SO like their albums. That’s how you can tell that a band is really great – if they sound like their recordings when they are live. Very few musicians can do that. Linkin Park, Green Day, Godsmack and Metallica are the only bands I have seen live who actually sound like the CDs I listen to in the car. But now I can add SWR to that list, too!

The way back to school was a bit more adventurous. We missed our bus stop, which would have connected us to our second bus. We didn’t think that the stop was so soon and we just drove right past it. But luckily I recognized the intersection and asked the driver if we had, in fact, past it. He said we had so Davis and I jumped off at the next stop. We had to rush back to where we should have gotten off to get on our second bus. But… there were three bus stops on one corner. One was hidden around the corner and we didn’t see it – which just happened to be the one our bus was stopping at. Missing our bus, and realizing that our CalTrain back to school was the last one for the night, Davis and I started to worry. The next bus wouldn’t come for another twenty minutes. That would make us miss the train. We couldn’t take the Bart because it wouldn’t get us to Millbrae before the CalTrain. So as soon as I saw a cab, I waved him over. I’ve never hailed a cab before! I felt very New York-ish. We made it to the train station with just enough time to spare.

All in all, very good night. Everything worked out in the end. This will definitely be a night I never forget: My first San Fran adventure.

Monday, November 12

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 08:11:08 PST

I am SO excited! I am going to my first San Francisco concert this week! I have been to countless concerts in the past, but I this is my first one in a new, unknown city without my dad. My dad and I have been going to concerts with me since I was 8 years old, when he took me to my first concert ever: Metallica. Ever since then he and I have been going to three or four concerts per year. Not to mention the annual Monster Jam Monster Truck show in San Diego. This past summer I went to seven concerts, some with my dad and some with friends. But this is the first time I’ll be going with someone new who I’ve never gone to a concert with before. It’s going to be great!
The show is Wednesday night in Northern San Francisco. It’s at the Fillmore venue. So my buddy and I will be taking the CalTrain as far north as it will take us, then we’re going to try to grab a cab to the venue (it would be a long 4-mile walk from the station). Then we’ll be catching the very last offered train back to SCU – getting us to campus around 1:30am. But it’ll allllllll be worth it because we get to see She Wants Revenge!

Monday, November 5

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 10:03:55 PST

Thank you, UHP.

What a relief. I enrolled in classes for Winter ’08 quarter this morning. Luckily, thanks to being in the University Honors Program, I was among the first few students to enroll. Enrollment will continue through all of this week and next week for all other students. After planning and re-planning and re-re-planning my hopeful winter schedule I was finally able to stop worrying about Will I get in the class?, Will there be room?, Where is this going to fit?, How will I do this and work that day too?. I got all the classes that I was hoping for, luckily. Except I was only allowed to enroll in 4 of the 5 I want because of the 19 unit maximum. My classes will put me at 20 units. So I just have to wait until the classes start, then I can crash. But it’s just Latin 2 – and, pshh, who wants to take Latin. Haha! Because it’s a course directed towards my major, I can basically jump into it without any problem at the start of the quarter. It’s not like it’ll be full anyway. My advisor – who is also my Latin professor – said there will only be about 11 to 15 students in Latin 2 next quarter. Go figure.

So everything is ironed out except for my work schedule. That’ll come once the other student assistant in the office enrolls in her classes. Then we just have to make sure our work hours don’t overlap. So… so far Winter quarter will consist of: 5 classes, 10 hours of work per week, soccer, volleyball and capoeira. Bye-bye, Sleep.

Wednesday, October 31

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 11:50:30 PST

You know how everyone has their “thing”? For instance, my roommate’s “thing” is running. It’s in her identity. She runs for the school’s cross country team and she’s phenomenal at it. It’s something that she does and something that she does well. It’s something that everyone who knows her knows about her. It’s something that she will look back on in fifty years and say “Yeah, I was a runner.” Well today, I found my thing.

It’s called Capoeira (ca-po-weh-rra). Basically – and this doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of what this activity entails – capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian martial art in which two people either fight or mock-fight. It can be a physical battle – hence the “martial art” descriptive phrase – but it is mostly performed as a dance, of sorts. It is not choreographed. It is more like improv, if you want to think of it that way. You must anticipate your partner’s moves and act accordingly. I kick, he ducks. He kicks, I escape. You know what… just go look it up on YouTube and prepare to be amazed.

I have been looking for a group, a club, a studio, a class, anything! for about eight months now. I am from San Diego and every place I found in the area was either closed, closed to non-friends/family, or south of the border. But then I moved to Santa Clara! I found this group – I really can’t even recall how I found it – on the Santa Clara University website. I e-mailed the main contact for the group and BOOM! The next day I’m doing flips and kicks and cartwheels all over the place!

I was doing things today that I never thought I could physically do! It was amazing. It is such a liberating feeling. I feel as though I have found my niche. This is “what I do.” This is my thing. I cannot even express how happy I am that after months of searching for some place to learn this amazing martial art, I have finally found someplace. And not only someplace, but this place! I found something here, at Santa Clara! It’s amazing all the tings this school offers. I think I fell in love today. This sport is amazing beyond words.

Wednesday's Blog

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 02:59:59 PST

Well it seems my job has hit a plateau. I have finished the job they hired me to do and now I feel slightly useless. The ladies in the office keep me busy, but every time I go in I spend a total of 20 to 30 minutes of my shift sitting in the spinny chair waiting for something to do. I love when they ask me to run errands because I get to go for walks around campus. But most of the time my tasks are things like making copies, punching holes in papers and folders, making labels, etc. I like sending out e-mails because – as mediocre as it sounds – I get to practice typing to see how fast I can actually type without error.
I guess I am just worried that I will end up losing my job because there is not anything for me to do. There is another student assistant in the office who comes in the afternoons. We have slightly different jobs and we are assistants to different people in the office, but I know she is capable of doing my job. I am worried that I will cease to be useful. I love that job. It’s a great work-study position. The people I work with are so nice and the work is not at all strenuous. I just hope I can stay with them. I hope that I still have work to do. I never thought I’d say that… Strange.

October 22

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 05:40:09 PST

My home is burning down. I went home this weekend to visit. I got in late Friday night. I left early Monday morning. The Witch Fire and Harris Fire started on Sunday. Our infamous Santa Anna winds blew down some power lines and ignited the Witch Fire – which has been reported as being worse than the Cedar Fire.

The Cedar Fire… Horrible memories. In 2003, EXACTLY (I’m not exaggerating on that. This happened on the exact same weekend exactly four years ago – exactly) four years ago, the Cedar Fire tore through Ramona, Julian, and into the Scripps Ranch and Escondido areas. The Cedar Fire was started when a hiker was in the back hills and got lost. He either lit a bonfire or a flare – we’re not sure which, still – and it got out of control. That fire took seventeen lives and burned thousands of acres of land and property.

Now, eerily, it’s happening all over again. I remember riding through the ashy streets of Ramona with my dad. We were on our quads (dirt bikes) because cars weren’t allowed unless they were evacuating. My dad and I were ordered to evacuate. We stayed. My dad actually volunteered to help fight the fires. He saved three houses in a matter of hours. Now he’s in San Diego again, doing what he feels is right. He’s helping people. Saving lives and homes. He told me last night that he’d been kicking down doors and looking for people who hadn’t yet evacuated. Today he is escorting people from the shelters to their homes before the flames hit. People need to get medications or important papers, so he takes them back to their homes just before the flames consume everything.

As of this morning, the news told me that 1,000 homes and businesses have been destroyed; one person is dead; 300,000 people and counting have been evacuated. There are so few places left to go. Now that the fires have come from the east and circled up to the north, the entire southwest corner of southern California is surrounded by fire on two sides, the US-Mexico border on one side, and the ocean on the last side. So where are they to go now? The news said that the governor has ordered the Navy to go out to sea and make preparations for evacuees. If the 70 mph Santa Anna winds do not cease soon, the flames will push all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

I still can’t get over the shock that this is happening all over again. It’s a déjà vu nightmare. I want to be back in San Diego. I want to help. I want to be with my friends and family. My dad is in the fire storm. My grandparents have been evacuated. My entire small family is huddled in my uncles’ house – the farthest “home” from the fires. That’s it. That’s all that’s left. I have friends who have been evacuated three or four times because the fire keeps finding them in their hide-aways. I want to go home. At least, I want to go to what is left of my home.

Friday, October 19

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 10:32:21 PST

Well, that was fun. I flew back to San Diego for the weekend today, but I didn’t fly out of San Jose. I decided to save $80 and fly out of San Francisco. But then, how do I get there?

After my Latin class got out around two, I raced back to my room, packed, cleaned up, said my good-byes, did a little homework, and by 5pm I was walking off campus over to the CalTrain station – which I have never been to or even seen before. I found the ticket machine and waited for my train to arrive at 5:44pm.

Keep in mind, I’m traveling blindly here. I have never taken public transportation before, I do not know the area or recognize any city names except for San Francisco and Santa Clara, and I have no idea how to get to the airport from the train station.

After looking at a map and seeing that the “Millbrae” stop is closest to the SFO Airport, I got off at that stop. Now what? I must have spent five minutes just staring at the map at the train station. I finally figured out that there’s a connecting train called “Bart” which travels from Millbrae to SFO. So I got on that. But I wasn’t quite there yet. Once I stopped at the airport depot, I was on the completely opposite side of the airport as my terminal. So I jumped on the tram and found out that my airline was in one of the five terminals of this massive airport.

Eventually, I made it to the airport and to my gate. And luckily I booked the good flight. My flight was an 8:35pm to San Diego. At 7:50pm, leaving from the same gate as my flight, there was another flight going to San Diego. However, when my flight was boarding, the passengers for the 7:50pm flight were still in the airport waiting for their seriously delayed plane. What luck.

I feel like such a traveler! Now that I know where I’m going and how to get there, it’ll be easier to get back to campus. However, now I’m racing the clock. My train will be arriving in Santa Clara at 11:29am on Monday… and I have class at 11:45.

Thursday, October 18

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 02:01:12 PST

I love working on campus. They are SO flexible with my hours! I usually work from 10am to noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays after my 8am English class. Wednesday and Friday I work from 8am to 11am. So today I got out of English after about 20 minutes and I figured I might as well go to work. I asked my boss if I could work from 8:30am to 10:30am – getting out an hour and a half earlier than usual – so that I can study for my Philosophy test after work, which is at 1:45pm. My boss is so nice! She had absolutely no problem with me just coming in and moving my hours around to suit my school schedule and studying needs! It’s really great. It takes so much stress and pressure off of me knowing that my work is so willing to help me in any way possible with school. I thought working and going to school would be insanely difficult. But actually, it’s proven to be entirely manageable and, now that I’m used to my schedule, not stressful at all.

Monday, October 15

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 02:00:40 PST

So far I have not been homesick at all. I actually really love it here. I’m going “home” this weekend but now it feels like SCU is home. I am looking forward to seeing my dad and everyone, but I’m still a bit reluctant. Now it feels strange to be visiting there in a house instead of it feeling strange to be living here in a dorm. Only a few of my friends have yet to get homesick. Almost everyone else has made trips home or constantly talks about how much better the weather and the food are back in their towns.

I’m from San Diego, so the weather there is MUCH different that here in Santa Clara. Here it’s cool and cloudy – occasionally there’s a rain shower. But in San Diego it’s mostly sunny and every once in a while they get an overcast day. That’s pretty much how it is all winter in San Diego. I’m so glad to finally get to experience a real winter here. I absolutely love this sort of weather. It’s such a nice treat, a break from the 8-month-long summers of San Diego.

The 10th and the 12th

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:28:44 PST

Wednesday, October 10 –

AHHH!!! What an insane day. Get up, go to work for three hours; go to two classes back to back; go back to Casa; study for an hour and a half while doing laundry; go to a meeting with my advisor – who turns out to not be my advisor after all; go to volleyball practice; go to dinner with the team; come back and do hours of more studying! I don’t even know how to get my thoughts away from the perpetual To-Do list of life and onto things like… sleeping or eating or relaxing…

I’m drawing a blank. My mind won’t work. I think I have blown a fuse. The circuit board is fried and boycotting.

Friday, October 12 –

OK… that soccer game was AMAZING! In the first ten minutes, they – USF – scored with a lucky shot that bounced off of four guys before it clumsily rolled into the net. Three minutes later, our phenomenal Broncos sent a rainbow shot from the center circle, over the heads of defense and offense, which blazed straight past the head of their goalie. Now THAT is a shot!

The rest of the game was a series of penalties, obscene cheering chants from the stands and, of course, some good ol’ college heckling. The buzzer was about to sound when, from out of nowhere, a Bronco takes one last rocket shot at the USF goal and, with three seconds left on the clock, the ball flew into the net with bullet-like speed!

Three seconds!!! That was all that was left on the clock! What was the other team to do? Three seconds left on the clock and they go for the kick off. But instead of actually trying for a long shot, the forward just taps the ball and signs in defeat. Oh well… BRONCOS WON!!!! By far, one of the best games I’ve seen. An untopable finale.

Relaxed

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 10:42:26 PST

    It's SO relaxing to have so little homework. I got a lot done this weekend - thanks to the fact that teachers give out quarter schedules so you know exactly what's coming up - and now I have only one assignment per night! I'm very happy about that. That means I get to take longer dinner breaks, see my friends more, watch more movies, go to volleyball and soccer practice, and basically just enjoy time and life more.
    It also helps that my stress reduction course is absolutely amazing. I love it. A few graduate students are doing their senior thesis project on how mindfulness-based stress reduction affects college students. It's really incredible, actually. I felt so amazingly relaxed and happy after that class. And that was only the first one! Yay! We did a body-scan relaxation exercise towards the end of the class. Basically that's like guided meditation. One of the instructors guided us through focusing on our toes, then our feet, then our calves, then our upper legs, etc. etc. all the way through to the tops of our heads. It took a half hour but the time just flew by. I felt like I was floating. Very cool stuff.
    There are so many interesting things to do here! And it seems as though they all just jump out at you. You hardly even have to look for things to keep your schedule blissfully packed!

Finally!

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 10:42:48 PST

The weekend is FINALLY here! Nothing to do but relax and enjoy the beautiful autumn weather. There's soccer practice tonight, but I think I need to skip that since I pulled my hamstring at our volleyball game last night (which we WON by the way!). I need to get better by v-ball practice on Sunday. Tonight I get to watch "The
Count of Monte Cristo," which one of my buds has been raving about since we met - but that's fair since I've been raving about "Fight Club" to everyone.
I think this weekend I'm going to try to get ahead with some of my homework; do some work that's not due until the end of next week. That way when my insanely busy week rolls around I won't have AS MUCH homework to stress about. Professors give out a quarter schedule for a reason: so that we know what is coming up and when. So why not take advantage of that? Doing a little extra work now may save me a lot more grief this week.

Disappointed

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 11:00:38 PST

Well I am thoroughly disappointed. I have been trying for weeks to get a meeting with my advisor to plan out what I am going to be doing for the next handful of years here - ya know, cause that's kinda a big deal - and I just can't manage to see her! We had a meeting at 5pm today, and when I showed up at 4:55 her office was empty and locked. So I waited until quarter after.... still nobody. Ahh!!! I emailed her but we'll see what's going to happen. I'm not very happy about being stood up.

Monday, October 1

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 08:55:33 PST

Things are getting so crazy. I don't even know if I have time to do laundry this week! I have work and classes and volleyball practice and YoPi fitness class at Malley and a meeting with my advisor and Art club and a volleyball game on Thursday night and "House" Party (the TV show) and Atom Blast in Casa and.... oh man the list goes on. Not to mention homework. Did I mention the homework?Oooohhhh yes, there's homework on top of all that. But, that's life. I'm on an energy rush right now since I just got back from v-ball practice so I'm off to hit the books before "House" Party!
Where'd the time go?

Visit

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 10:47:34 PST

Yay! My boyfriend is coming to visit today! He's coming from San Diego and he's staying until Monday morning. The long distance relationship has been very difficult; especially in these past few days. But hopefully seeing each other again will make us remember how much it's worth it do struggle through the difficulties of long distance.
I think we are going to go to the volleyball game on Saturday and we're going to watch Fight Club (my FAVORITE movie) with all my friends on Sunday night. Should be fun! Then maybe we'll go across the street to Blondies for some frozen yogurt after the movie. Well, it's off to work, then Italian and Latin. Long day until Jake gets here at 2:00pm.

Managing Sleep

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 01:15:06 PST

   I am trying to decide how I should manage sleep. I know that sounds inane, but here's my problem: Typically, I go to bed at 10pm and wake up at 6am (I have 8am classes and 8am work - alternating days) during the week. Weekends, I go to bed whenever and usually try to be up before 9am. I don't want to sleep my weekend away. BUT, last night was different; far from typical. I decided to put off my homework for a bit and take a break - a much needed break, I might add. I watched the movie 300 with a bunch of people from Casa Italiana at the Atom Blast movie night. Then I spent the next three hours hanging out with friends. I didn't get to my room until 2am. And I didn't fall asleep until 2:30am. Oh... and my alarm still went off at 6am. I was groggy and completely out of it during my 8am English class that morning.
   Now I have a dilemma. Do I go to bed at my typical routine time and get plenty of sleep for classes and work? Or do I hang out with my friends who I like a lot and love spending time with? Where is the compromise? Maybe move my "bed time" back a few hours? I don't know. We'll see. Maybe I'll try that for a week and see how things go. I mean, on Thursdays I won't even get in until about 11:30pm because the intramural team I am on has volleyball games at 10pm.
   Is this college life? Is this how it's going to be? Either I have minimal social time or I get no sleep for four years? This is going to take some getting used to. Maybe I'm not as well adjusted as I originally thought....

Third Blog

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 02:05:42 PST

    I haven't really thought about having friends yet - until today. Ever since I arrived on campus a week and a half ago it has been all about classes, studying, working, adjusting, getting everything I need for my room, figuring out if my roommate and I are actually compatible enough to live together, missing my dad and my boyfriend back home, and just the added stress of being a freshman. But now that everything is beginning to settle, I am finding more than I expected here at SCU.
    I really had no intention of making any solid friends at Santa Clara. I'm way too overly independent and I like it that way. I'm used to doing things on my own and getting through everything with no help from anyone; not even from the two people I miss the most. But today, after getting a particularly upsetting phone call from back home, I knew exactly who I could go to. For once in my life, I did not want to be alone. I think that's because I have actually met people who I really enjoy being around.
    Three girls in particular are very good friends. We met at Freshman Orientation and we have stayed friends into the start our collegiate careers. When I was at a lowest of low, they brought me up. They made me smile again and they made sure I knew that everything would be OK. This is a new aspect of college that I had not anticipated. But now that I'm here, I'm glad I've found some sort of security in the most life altering of times.

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 01:50:05 PST

    Finally, the end of the week has come. I think I am actually starting to get into the rhythm of things. I work four days per week (ten hours per week) and have two classes each weekday. Plus Emerging Leaders Wednesday afternoons, Stress Reduction course Tuesday evenings, and a meeting for the Art For Our Sake club each week (days change). This Monday I hope to enroll in two fitness classes at the gym. Then my schedule will be complete. I'll actually be able to get used to a rhythm and flow of each week.
    So tonight is our floor's barbecue. ALL of 1st Floor da Vinci will be out in the courtyard eating hot dogs and hamburgers (I hope they have veggie burgers!). Then all the girls in my suite will be heading across The Alameda to have "Dessert Night" at Blondies. Frozen yogurt! Yay! So far things haven't been going so smoothly with our neighboring room, so hopefully tonight we'll be able to get to know each other better and maybe reach some compromises.
    I can't believe I have a whole TWO DAYS of no work, no classes. Bye bye alarm clock! Helloooooo pillow! :-)

First Post

blogSCU@scu.edu (Rai Cornell) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 01:34:39 PST

    I never imagined how chaotic it would be. A freshman in college and my "to-do" list is as long as my arm. I did not expect this. What happened today? It seems like today was actually two days because so much went on. It started with work. I got a job in the Sponsored Projects Office! (Don't ask me what that is. I haven't figured it out yet.) All I know is that I do computer work - website management and updates, sending out e-mails, data entry, etc. Not exciting stuff but for $11/hour I'll do any job they give me! So that satisfies my work-study requirement, luckily.
    Then it was Italian class. I love MWF classes. The hour and five minutes go by SO fast. It's wonderful, really. Ten minutes after Italian was Latin. Then "home" (it's weird to be calling my dorm "home" now) for an hour before Emerging Leaders.
    Emerging Leaders was not really what I expected. I expected an actually class in leadership. But actually all we really did was "team building" and conversations. It was a lot more fun that I was expecting, too. With the whole "team building" thing, we went outside and did a jump rope exercise. I can't remember the last time I jumped rope. We all had to jump through the rope but the rope could never stop spinning. So we had to figure out how to get the two rope spinners to jump through. Not too hard but we really had to talk and encourage each other - people we've never met or talked to before.
    Now it's homework time. I have to figure out some program called "Angel" that SCU teachers use to post handouts online. I have homework for English 1 Honors and Classical & Medieval Philosophy tomorrow. Will the day ever end???