Sunday, August 31, 2008

football game!

As I promised, here's an entry on one of the biggest spectacle on Grounds -- football games. I'll skip the actual game itself since it was pretty much a foregone conclusion and talk about everything else associated with it.

Firstly, tailgating. Starting around morning really, tables with food and drink and speakers will appear all over Grounds. Most lawn rooms will have a table outside, all the parking lots are filled with alumni who have a table behind their car. Most of the Greek houses on Rugby Road have a huge to do, so there's lots of people eating, drinking and talking everywhere. Even at 11 am when we had a 3:30 pm kickoff. The thing with parking lots on game days is... don't use them. A) You'd have to buy a permit and B) you'd be squeezing by 10 thousand other drivers but really C) traffic is less than a snail's crawl, so you'll most likely be beating your wheel in frustration instead of getting excited for the game. Some savvy students living near Scott Stadium will rent out parking spaces for the day, easily picking up $200 for an afternoon of almost no work.

I was really surprised at how packed the stadium was. I got there at 20 minutes before kickoff and wow, it was completely and utterly packed. There wasn't a seat to be found, even when I climbed up to the uppermost levels. I don't recall the first game of the year ever being so packed, but it was such an amazing sight seeing everyone turned out, ready to support our school.

This brings me to the age old tradition of 'guys in ties and girls in pearls' -- one that dates back to Jefferson's time when they would dress up nicely for any big event. Seeing as it was the first game of the year I decided to go with the tradition and put on a sundress and a pearl necklace. There is however a more modern tradition being pushed by our current football coach, the 'sea of orange', basically encouraging everyone to dress up in all orange. The stadium was flooded with orange, this might eventually become the sole UVa tradition, who knows?

I'd like to put in a shout out to our marching band as I think they are pretty awesome. Definitely great performances, and they put in so many hours in practice. My big in my sorority is actually a member of the color guard, and another sister is part of the french horn section, props to them!

Another great favorite of mine is our pre game video. UVa's mascot is the Cavalier, whom we affectionately call the CavMan. Prior to each kickoff we have a video of Cavman defeating the opposing team's mascot. It was nice to beat the Trojan on screen if not on the field. =)

Sorry if I sound rather incoherent, I'm writing this with half of my mind on work. You pretty much get loaded with work in the Comm school, and being my delightfully overachiever self, of course I'm trying to get everything for next week done over the weekend. Alright, so that was a slight exaggeration, but I'm looking at the 300 pages of reading and my eight hour shift at work tomorrow and feeling slightly sick. O_O

Saturday, August 30, 2008

scavenger hunt

So speaking of the club event yesterday, it was my peer mentoring organization's first scavenger hunt of the year. We had 15 clues, each pointing to a specific place on Grounds that first years might not know about, but would be very beneficial for them to know about. Some of my favorite clues were a student and a red cross (Elson student health center), free Blockbuster of UVa, and "I cost three dollars". (Any guesses for the last two clues?) Due to my rather small stature, I had to stand on a chair in the middle of Newcomb Plaza to kickstart the festivities. Apparently a lot of my friends and sorority sisters saw me in the middle of the Plaza yelling on a chair. Must have been an amusing sight. =P

We had a pretty good turnout for the event, I was really proud of all the work my exec board put into it. Then of course today is the big game day of us versus USC. By now there must be a lot of tailgating on the lawn, and one of my sisters just left to practice in the marching band. Get excited! Football games are a great spectacle, I'll blog about it tonight.

Friday, August 29, 2008

aaand the first weekend!

Well, for me anyways. In our Comm school we don't have Friday classes, so my weekend begins after my classes finish at 1pm on Thursday. That may sound like we're huge slackers, but really, we need that extra day. It's only been my first four days but I already really appreciate the breathing space. I mentioned all the group work in my last post, most group meetings take place on Fridays. I've had around 100+ pages of reading due everyday, so that's been a time crunch as well.

Alright, I digress. I'd promised myself that I would write a nice long entry today, but I got up, took care of a lot of work, and am now out of time. I need to shower and get ready for a presidents' meeting. And then after that one of my clubs is having its first club wide event, and then after that I'm attending the annual hypnotist's performance. ..and then after that I'll come back to the house and blog some more. A typical day! =D

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

first day of classes!

Wow. It feels kind of weird to be getting up early and going to class again. It's almost as if summer never happened -- time flew by wayyy too fast this year.

I mentioned before that I'm going to be in the McIntire School of Commerce, today was my first day in what essentially was college all over again. I feel very privileged to be using the new building, the facilities are beyond amazing. Yesterday was an all day orientation in which we were introduced to our blocks, faculty, and technology. For those of you unfamiliar with our comm school and wish to know more, read ahead. If not skip my next paragraph.

The comm school is a two year program in which students begin in their third year, so you apply for admission the spring of your second year. The entering class of around 300 students are divided into eight blocks, with around 40 students a block. Each block has their own set of professors and fourth year mentors, and you spend all school year with the block and the professors. The third year experience is called ICE - integrated core experience. All the different areas that professors teach are interrelated, so they all flow into each other. There is a lot of emphasis on teamwork and groupwork. Each block is also sponsored by a corporate partner, and students will work on some projects and presentations for their corporation.

My block is sponsored by Rolls Royce, so during orientation we received an annual report to read and discuss. Right then I could tell that the style of learning would be different in the comm school. For me, it's rather similar to high school. Although there's 40 people in a class, the professors focus very heavily on student interaction. People raise their hands to answer a question or bounce off ideas off each other -- rather different from the lecture style teaching method for larger classes. I had to take a moment and recollect my high school self as it was very tempting to sit back and just scribble notes.

Other highlights of these two days was the technology orientation. The comm school... is awash in resources. For our stock market lab, each station has dual computer screens. There's a stock ticker running around the ceiling of the lab and a board on one wall with real time stock changes. There's LCD screens in the four corners of the room so you can see what the professor is doing based on your orientation, and there is a huge projection screen up front. Students have almost an entirely separate web system compared to the College of Arts and Sciences (where we all applied from). We have our own email servers, shared servers, and everything I've already forgotten.. it's quite amazing really.

Along with the high school theme is homework everyday! Hahaha. Because comm school classes meet everyday for three hours a day, there's quite a lot of reading to do. With that said, I'm going to do some of my reading.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

mia again..

Oh dear. So sorry. This time I got snatched by the evil monster who is... 'Move In Day!' Indeed, these last three days or so have been a whirlwind of moving in, partially unpacking, getting wall decor, and things like that. And the few days before that twas the end of my day job at UVa Admissions (aw, I'm really sad that's over. It was such a large part of second year summer that it really defined it), so that's been another hectic whirlwind itself.

But about my new digs.. I'm really excited about them! I moved into my sorority house -- which by the way, was quite unproductive as I kept getting sidetracked into two hour conversations with my sisters, and have not really unpacked yet. My things are still scattered on my bed, rather helter skelter and boxes everywhere. Why'm I excited about living in the house? Of course I'm close to my sisters and can hang out with them all the time, but I'm also very close to class. I have around a 10 minute walk to class, which is quite a short walk compared to my dorm buildings of the previous two years.

Other exciting things about the house include new carpets (alright, that was a kind of silly thing to be excited about) and proximity to other friends. Some non so exciting things include our unfortunate, or fortunate location, depending on how you view it. My sorority house is close to a lot of fraternity houses, whiiiiiich means blasting music into the wee hours of the morning on weekends. Hmm, I'll update you guys on how that goes. Otherwise, not much else.

I do suppose this is the closest to single gender occupancy I've ever come close to, I'll definitely tell you guys how that goes as well. I did have co-ed housing my first two years - remind me to talk about that later as I definitely need to go to sleep as it's past 2am. G'night, or good morning!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

more Olympics...

YEAH Michael Phelps! I just finished watching the medals ceremony and his NBC interview. Hats off to ya, with an amazing eight gold medals in one Olympics.

Friday, August 15, 2008

gettin' ready...

Are you guys getting pumped up for college/back to school yet? I'm slowly dragging myself out of summer hibernation and setting up meetings, getting some shelving items, etc.

I really use summer as a recharging tool. I'm so hyperactive and all over the place during the school year that I really exhaust myself. Clubs, friends, going out, movies, class, studying, projects, meetings, etc.. you name it, I'm in it. Sometimes I get a little hermit like though, thinking "I'm sick of people! I want to curl up in my bed on a Friday night and catch up on Battlestar Galactica." (teehee, yes I'm a bit of a nerd). I find that happening more and more as the semester goes on. Then during the summertime, I may as well be a turtle, I'm so antisocial. Currently in the process of waking up the beast again (as I like to call it), UVa, watch out! I'm back! Hahaha.

But in other news, I'm moving into my sorority house next Wednesday, I'm going to have to get some shelving materials and stuff like that. Those of you going to college, I'd recommend you start packing at least a week before move in day. Try not to bring too much stuff, you're going to have probably half the space you have right now, so keep that in mind.

wooot!

ALRIGHT gymnastics!! USA 1-2! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time watching Nastia Liukin go through her routines, and an excellent, excellent job to Shawn Johnson! Alrighty, watching the complete finals and then the medals ceremony has kept me up wayyy, tooo late. Work tomorrow calls.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

go USA!!!

(Pardon, those of you visiting from other countries...) but it's hard not to get pumped up about your country during the Olympics! I just watched Michael Phelps beat his own world record in the 200m individual medley, and Lochte get a bronze after winning a personal gold 26 minutes ago! Phelps is up for the 100m fly final in 26 minutes, hope he gets another gold! Also up is women's gymnastics final in 20 minutes, I'm definitely dashing off the to TV at that time as well.

When I was watching the coverage, I suddenly wondered if we have ever had any UVa alums on national teams. Our swimming is pretty darned awesome as well, the men's especially dominating in the last year.

Ah, finals and thus TV call.

PS. What teams are you guys all supporting?

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

bedridden...

Eep. I'm sick and in bed with a fever and a sorethroat. My head feels all muggy, oh well. This is a great excuse to stay in and watch a lot of the Olympics! Teehee.

But about getting sick, one thing I had to adjust to in college was the lack of chicken soup appearing miraculously, teachers giving notes on stuff I'd missed, and my mom coming in to check on me. Still have to drag myself out of bed to go to class, cook myself soup, and stay in bed while everyone goes on with their daily schedule. It feels kind of surreal to be sick, especially since I'm involved in so much stuff. All of a sudden you can't go to any meetings, have to stay in bed and sleep while life still goes on. I felt like I was in the twilight zone. Meh. *shrug*

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

back for more!

After that abysmally short update.. here's a real length one. So... Olympics. I'm really excited about them, go USA! I watched one of the boxing matches yesterday, in which the gold and silver medalist from a world competition matched up in the first round, and Lomachev won! Nice going.

I just witnessed a very intense discussion of trading for pens between some of my coworkers. Apprently felt tipped brown pens are very much in demand at the reception desk. *shrug* Ah yes, sheer randomness. =P

The day before I left to go home, I had a four hour long club meeting. I'm president of a prominent peer mentoring group on Grounds so we usually have quite a lot to do before school starts. During this meeting we paired all the incoming first years that signed up with their advisors, and hammered out some more adminstrative stuff. Doing this gets me back in the mood for school, I think I may be a little bit more ready now. =D

i'm alive! i'm alive..

Oops. Goodness. Has it been that long since I've blogged? My humble, humble apologies. I went home for a couple days, so this kind of fell by the wayside.

Did anyone watch the Olympics opening ceremonies? Gosh they were amazing! The drums, the martial arts, and hoisting the last runner on cables -- China does know how to show off her best side. I love watching the Olympic games, they're just so good and a pleasure to watch.

Have to run off to give a tour, but I'll leave you with this parting tidbit. An incoming first year at UVA was one of the Olympic torch runners. How awesome is that?

Monday, August 4, 2008

designer stuff...

Last Friday, there was an interesting apparition at the front desk. My fellow receptionist and two other deans were engaged in a lively discussion of whether designer brand apparel, handbags, shoes and accessories were worth the price. I kind of started it by asking anyone who walked by what kind of wallet they would buy for their mom. Teehee. XD (By the way, what *would* you recommend? I'm kind of stumped. I want to be able to buy her something nice with the $$ I've earned this summer but the zip arounds she likes are just out of my price range.. hmm..*

This got me to thinking, are designer products really better than their much more modestly priced counterparts? What exactly are you paying for? The name stamped into the leather? Or superior craftsmanship, quality, materials and service? Of course, a bit of both, but do these things added together justify a price tag well into the thousands? How about all the odd, sidelong glances you receive when you use one? Does that make anyone uncomfortable? I've always been oblivious to monograms and stamps and such, but my recent research into presents has opened up my eyes a little to common brands.

And that, logically, (to me at least, haha), brought me to the thought of colleges. In a way, the Ivies are the designer brands of the college world. It's not quite a complete analogy, but close enough for what I want to expound on. Being private schools, their tuition is much higher compared to a public school like UVA (especially if you're instate) -- is that higher price tag worth it? Sure it's immediate recognition, people know your college immediately, you might be getting a better quality education -- but that's doubtful, so is it really worth the money and the cutthroat competition to get in? (And perhaps the competitiveness once you're in? It's not the same at every school, so it does depend.) I d'no, what do you think?

Friday, August 1, 2008

off the courts...

Our Snyder tennis courts have just been closed off for re- erm.. flooring? I forget the actual term, but it's when they replace the clay for all the courts. We do that every summer. Unfortunately, that also means it's the end of tennis playing for the summer. The whole process generally takes about 20 days, by when school will be close to starting again (eek!! School's starting. Oh my. Time goes by much too fast.) During the summertime there's a lot of midnight tennis going on. I usually hit the courts with my boyfriend around 9 pm - 10 pm, and the courts are usually full already. They turn off the lights at around midnight to 1 am, it really depends on the day. I remember during last school year I would often come out with suitemates late at night and play some tennis. It became something of a minor tradition, ah, good ole college days. =D