Getting Settled--Week 1

Hello, faithful blog readers! Thank you for being patient during the week as you waited for this long-overdue post. I have been busier than I can explain these past five days. I started my new set of classes, all of which are challenging and exciting. I really love my professors. I thought that I wasn't going to enjoy Physics, but my professor is really cool and accessible. He makes class fun, and I can't believe how fast that class goes (and it's my first one of the day on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays). My Botany professor is really awesome. He is so enthusiastic, and I can tell that he is a highly motivated and intelligent individual. He makes ecology a pretty big focus of the class, which is a-okay with me because I think all of that is so interesting. That's part of the reason why I would really love to be a wildlife veterinarian. Jobs are limited, so it probably won't happen, but I think it would be so cool and rewarding. However, I am equally interested in large animal medicine, so either way, I won't feel like I'm compromising or selling myself short. Molecular Genetics is a very stressful class. I am doing research, and we have had two days in lab so far. Both days, I have had some problems and difficulties. Our professor told us that there is a "large learning curve" to all of this and that we should expect to be frustrated most of the time. Yippee. Yet I still enjoy the class. I like getting into the lab and feeling like I am doing real science. My Aerobics class has turned out to be more involved than I thought it was going to be. In addition to dancing, we will be taking quizzes and tests, filling out worksheets, doing other assignments (a month-long workout calendar, doing an athletic activity outside of class that has a leader), and eventually choreographing our own one-minute routine that we will teach to the class. I am a little nervous for that last one, but we went over all of the available steps on Wednesday, and I am already thinking of a handful that I really like and that are relatively easy for me to do. I'm glad that I have this required physical activity built into my schedule, otherwise I am afraid that I would not do it because the rest of my week is so jam-packed.

I haven't really seen any of my London friends yet (except for Haley). I'm trying to organize something for tomorrow night, maybe a group outing to the comedienne who is coming to campus. My friend Kayla, who lives in the area, wants to have the other six of us over to her house one night for a sleepover so we can watch The Lord of the Rings (probably the first movie or maybe a marathon of all three!). Lauren has never seen them, if you can believe that. I think that is so nice of Kayla to want to have us over to her home! She even said that her parents will feed us dinner!

It's been so nice being back on campus. I am lucky enough to have a class with my good friend Heather, who is also in Circle K with me. I went to my first Circle K meeting of the year on Tuesday, and I was so glad to be back with all of those familiar faces (plus some new freshman faces).

I also started my new job as an Organic Chemistry proctor. I will admit that I was a little fearful at first because I wasn't sure that I remembered enough about Orgo to really be a good proctor, but it turns out that it's really hard to forget how to do things in lab when you spend a full year on them. Plus, my two fellow proctors are really nice and helpful. In addition, I recognize a lot of the sophomores from last year; they were my General Chemistry students when I was a General Chemistry proctor. It's really nice because I don't have to do anything super scary or hard, and I feel like I am really helping the students. Most of the time, I just get to sit in a desk and do my homework. Hurray for paid study hall! Not only that, but the lab instructor is a different professor than I thought I was going to work for. His name is Dr. Narske, and he's this old teddy bear of a guy who probably shouldn't be teaching anymore. He is so hilarious.

On a different note, I really like my roommates. They are really nice and cool. I look forward to spending more time with them and getting to know them better in the weeks to come. At the same time, I have to get used to my new potential roommates for next year. I went to a housing and apartment fair on Wednesday night, and I found a group of four girls who are looking for a fifth roommate. Long story short, we are going to look at a couple of five-person houses with really affordable rents that aren't too far from campus on Sunday. I really hope this works out. I'm anxious to sign a lease and get this stressful stuff out of the way. That doesn't mean I will sign without thinking about it first, but we are kind of running out of time.

My weekend will probably consist of homework, exercising, and the other activities I mentioned before. In addition, I am working the BBB booth at Novemberfest (a fall celebration) on the Lower Quad tomorrow from 5-6 PM. If I haven't explained before, BBB is a biological honor society that promotes scholarship in the sciences and scientific research. We have meetings three times per term and plan activities and fundraisers related to the missions of the organization. Our booth will feature materials for people to make gingerbread houses, and in turn, we will tell them about BBB. It should be pretty fun, I think. Well, that's all for this week. Next week is a short week, as I will be leaving on Wednesday evening to drive back to Minnesota for Thanksgiving and my 21st birthday!