Last night I couldn't sleep. At all. So, I woke up this morning and it was rather difficult to listen in class. Language was first and it wasn't that difficult. We talked about word order in languages. In greek, you have to listen to the endings, and therefore the cases, to understand the meaning. In English we have to focus more on word order. We discussed the reasons that the original creators of the written language would have chosen to word it this way.
Math all we talked about was angles, which was actually quite interesting. He asked me for my definition and without using the book, I used the word choice that Euclid did. I'm not sure if I just remembered it that well or if I am Euclid-smart. Although later in the conversation he did call me out on something that I thought seemed more complex than it actually was. Turns out it's REALLY simple. Oops.
I had lunch with Ethan and Maggy, one of Em's friends. It was very funny! They're pretty awesome people. After the upperclassmen left, another freshman sat with us and made fun of me because I never sit on the quad to talk to people. So, I told him I'd start. I may also have a lying problem.
I had lab this afternoon which was really fun! My OCD came out when the teacher asked us to draw a general view of the tree, then a part of the tree to start off our discussion on plants. I sat outside for over an hour drawing every leaf individually. It looks very cool, however it is only halfway finished.
I decided to try to take a nap to sleep of the not-sleep that happened last night. I decided I should be productive instead. So, I rearranged the mirrors on my wall that have been bugging me for the past 6 days because they were slightly imperfect. Then, I decided to clean because I "just can't handle the dust" any longer. Halfway through dusting my bookshelf, I decided that my time would be better spent finishing up a drawing from last night. Then, I decided that I had better begin Book 13 for Thursday. So, I came back in my room after dinner two hours later with books scattered across the floor and an unfinished drawing. Three Cheers for A.D.D!
Anyways, I'm about to go to "waltz" lessons, which is actually swing dance. Maggy is going to be my partner, which could be interesting. I'm excited. Then, hopefully I'll dust my desk and clean up my colored pencils...perhaps finish my drawing or read another book of the Iliad. Probably a little bit of everything.
Tomorrow I have Freshman Chorus (yuck!) and then a free afternoon! It will be nice to have these days to read my seminar reading.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Catch-up Week I
So, today is Tuesday and I've officially been gone from Ohio for a week! Already missing the parents, but care packages are on the way!
I walked into the campus with no idea if I had actually officially registered--luckily, all the papers had reached the correct offices. However, there was still a lot to do. Dad and I spent an hour and a half going through the registration line that should take "max 1/2 hour." I was quite impressed. So, I gathered my things and took the first load up eager to meet my roommate, or see if by some miracle we had made it through registration faster than she had. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would be in a single, but here I am.
That made the first week very interesting. During convocation I tried to make friends with the guy sitting next to me who did not have major b.o. issues. Success! His name is Ethan and he's pretty cool. We bonded over the fact that neither of us are very social, yet he's making much more of an effort to meet the freshman than I am.
So, Wednesday night after a long question and answer period with the dean and president about classes and so forth, I was in my room when a girl on my floor banged on my door and made me come out to the quad. Apparently Johnnies celebrate New Year's every week. So, I met a few people and everyone was very nice. My friend Kaitlin told me about her best friend from high school that goes here and I was able to meet up with her and her friends that night. That was another success! They're super awesome!
Thursday was our orientation day and I was very excited to get to know people. Unfortunately, the orientation was more getting to know your school and campus, so that was disappointing. But, I also learned a lot. They told me about fine arts classes that I can take for free, so I think I'm going to take drawing or pottery! I'm pretty excited.
Our first seminar was Thursday night over the first 6 books of the Iliad. We had a very interesting conversation about what it is to be god-like and how many of the well-known heroes demonstrate god-like qualities. First seminar went a lot better than I expected, but it was definitely a learning experience about who likes to hear their own voice. I had to do a lot of almost yelling in to be heard at all. But, it was very cool to get such a good grasp on the books from so many different people.
Friday was the first full day of classes. I had language, math, and luckily my laboratory class was canceled. I learned what my core group is, students that have the exact same schedule as you, and realized that we really do not have much in common at all. They're all really nice though so I won't complain. We began to study the ancient Greek language and had a long discussion about the differences in alphabet languages and pictograph languages. It was a very thought-provoking conversation. Math was a little more confusing. We read the definitions, postulates, and common notions of Euclid and they're a little difficult to understand. However, I think I have a much better grasp on the entire idea now. That afternoon we went to meet the Gym coordinator, Mr. Pickens. He seems awesome and I can't wait for Kunai, the girl's intermural team, to start. Everyone is very pumped and I know some of the Captains, which hopefully will keep me from being drafted last.
Friday night I texted Kait's friend, Em and we went out, which was lots of fun! I ended up talking to a lot of new people and everyone seems very friendly--I just have to get over my fears of meeting people.
Saturday we had the all-college fair which is where all of the clubs come out and let you sign up for them. I did several, volunteering, vegan and vegetarian, dark room, film production, yoga, and a sailing picnic, which is scheduled in late September. It was pretty interesting, I'm excited to get to go to things! It should be fun!
Directly after was the all-college soccer game. I decided to go out just for kicks (pun intended). The game was Extremes (Freshman & Seniors) vs. Means (Sophomores & Juniors). The only rule was no slide tackling, which included kicking people in the chest World Cup style. Unfortunately, my knowledge of 2 rules of soccer (don't kick at your goalie and don't use your hands) didn't get me too far and one of the senior guys tried to coach me mid-game. I think it just made him laugh...at least I hope. I'm hopeless at soccer.
Then the entire game trudged over to eat dinner with the rest of campus. There were ribs, hamburgers, and VEGGIE BURGERS! HOORAY! I sat with a friend, Danny, and his friends, and it was interesting...even though I am their age, the upperclassmen scare me. Oh well.
Sunday I read a lot. I had language and seminar Monday, so another six books of Homer were required. Language was very interesting, but hard! We had to understand syllables and accents by that morning. I'm still lost. Seminar was good, but our class started arguing and wouldn't shut up. Usually the tutors should stop the arguing, but I guess they didn't see it as a huge problem, but I did. I came home and drew a picture to decorate my room. It's kinda a blank space right now except for my comforter. So I hope to change that soon. My mom is sending me a lot of stuff which should help. Unfortunately, I do not have my Ellie to help me put things together this year. Sad face.
I walked into the campus with no idea if I had actually officially registered--luckily, all the papers had reached the correct offices. However, there was still a lot to do. Dad and I spent an hour and a half going through the registration line that should take "max 1/2 hour." I was quite impressed. So, I gathered my things and took the first load up eager to meet my roommate, or see if by some miracle we had made it through registration faster than she had. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would be in a single, but here I am.
That made the first week very interesting. During convocation I tried to make friends with the guy sitting next to me who did not have major b.o. issues. Success! His name is Ethan and he's pretty cool. We bonded over the fact that neither of us are very social, yet he's making much more of an effort to meet the freshman than I am.
So, Wednesday night after a long question and answer period with the dean and president about classes and so forth, I was in my room when a girl on my floor banged on my door and made me come out to the quad. Apparently Johnnies celebrate New Year's every week. So, I met a few people and everyone was very nice. My friend Kaitlin told me about her best friend from high school that goes here and I was able to meet up with her and her friends that night. That was another success! They're super awesome!
Thursday was our orientation day and I was very excited to get to know people. Unfortunately, the orientation was more getting to know your school and campus, so that was disappointing. But, I also learned a lot. They told me about fine arts classes that I can take for free, so I think I'm going to take drawing or pottery! I'm pretty excited.
Our first seminar was Thursday night over the first 6 books of the Iliad. We had a very interesting conversation about what it is to be god-like and how many of the well-known heroes demonstrate god-like qualities. First seminar went a lot better than I expected, but it was definitely a learning experience about who likes to hear their own voice. I had to do a lot of almost yelling in to be heard at all. But, it was very cool to get such a good grasp on the books from so many different people.
Friday was the first full day of classes. I had language, math, and luckily my laboratory class was canceled. I learned what my core group is, students that have the exact same schedule as you, and realized that we really do not have much in common at all. They're all really nice though so I won't complain. We began to study the ancient Greek language and had a long discussion about the differences in alphabet languages and pictograph languages. It was a very thought-provoking conversation. Math was a little more confusing. We read the definitions, postulates, and common notions of Euclid and they're a little difficult to understand. However, I think I have a much better grasp on the entire idea now. That afternoon we went to meet the Gym coordinator, Mr. Pickens. He seems awesome and I can't wait for Kunai, the girl's intermural team, to start. Everyone is very pumped and I know some of the Captains, which hopefully will keep me from being drafted last.
Friday night I texted Kait's friend, Em and we went out, which was lots of fun! I ended up talking to a lot of new people and everyone seems very friendly--I just have to get over my fears of meeting people.
Saturday we had the all-college fair which is where all of the clubs come out and let you sign up for them. I did several, volunteering, vegan and vegetarian, dark room, film production, yoga, and a sailing picnic, which is scheduled in late September. It was pretty interesting, I'm excited to get to go to things! It should be fun!
Directly after was the all-college soccer game. I decided to go out just for kicks (pun intended). The game was Extremes (Freshman & Seniors) vs. Means (Sophomores & Juniors). The only rule was no slide tackling, which included kicking people in the chest World Cup style. Unfortunately, my knowledge of 2 rules of soccer (don't kick at your goalie and don't use your hands) didn't get me too far and one of the senior guys tried to coach me mid-game. I think it just made him laugh...at least I hope. I'm hopeless at soccer.
Then the entire game trudged over to eat dinner with the rest of campus. There were ribs, hamburgers, and VEGGIE BURGERS! HOORAY! I sat with a friend, Danny, and his friends, and it was interesting...even though I am their age, the upperclassmen scare me. Oh well.
Sunday I read a lot. I had language and seminar Monday, so another six books of Homer were required. Language was very interesting, but hard! We had to understand syllables and accents by that morning. I'm still lost. Seminar was good, but our class started arguing and wouldn't shut up. Usually the tutors should stop the arguing, but I guess they didn't see it as a huge problem, but I did. I came home and drew a picture to decorate my room. It's kinda a blank space right now except for my comforter. So I hope to change that soon. My mom is sending me a lot of stuff which should help. Unfortunately, I do not have my Ellie to help me put things together this year. Sad face.
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