Choosing a college

UVa is considered one of the most beautiful campuses in the US. Also consider that it is a World UNESCO Heritage site and BAM! you have a beautiful, well-manicured "Lawn" with flower trees everywhere. There are trees, flowers, cute squirrels, homogeneous brick architecture, ponds, and groomed grass. As you can see by these photographs, there is something that invites the tourist to take a massive amount of photographs. UVA is aware of it as well. Just check our Week in Photos if you don't believe me that we are one narcissistic, proud hell "uva" school. Around this time of the year, there will be at least one photograph of flowers or flower trees. So if you visit UVA on a sunny clear day, you will fall in love.

However, if you are on a day like today, where it is cold and misting, then you might be turned off by it. Yes, I am talking to you--- prospective young one who is deciding which school to attend. Like you I visited schools, and the skies help the schools that I visited when it was raining. I was snarky to the guides, ungracious to the current students, and deemed a hazard to any staircase that dared to trip me.

Amherst is one memorable example. With its 1960's concrete buildings, Amherst's architecture is the antithesis of UVa's colonial brick architecture. Unlike its neighboring New England colleges, Amherst does not have the ivy-covered brick buildings, but buildings made of what was then cutting edge material: concrete. While Kirin Makker would argue that the 1960s modernist buildings represent a heroic building practice, aesthetic risks, and a confident embrace of current technologies, what concrete doesn't do on a clear, sunny day it definitely does not do on a rainy, cloudy day. Plus it smells.

In short, I hated Amherst and wanted to get away from that bloody town. I hated how it made me feel like I was a cog in a machine, an unmarked slab of concrete, and a lost high school senior in the midst of college applications. I did not even apply.

On the other hand, UVa shined the minute the sun stepped away from the clouds. After a 7 hour drive from New York, I was ready to stretch my legs and the cloudless skies allowed me to do so to my heart's content. It was beautiful and it felt right. My decision was sealed with a bite of my first Five Guy's Burger.

I never critically thought about why it was so beautiful and why it felt right until now. After reading Kirin Makker's article, I realized that in my senior year, I was looking for a traditional look of a college campus. UVa looked the part of an American college (which is appropriate, considering that Thomas Jefferson was so purposeful in his architecture that he created a new aesthetic for university architecture). I was lost in knowing what I wanted in college, which is fine, but then instead of critically thinking about it, I relied on a stereotype of what college was.

In an essence, there is a powerful myth about college perpetuated by popular media, teachers, and marketing campaigns by the universities themselves. It would be a term paper to dissect this myth and the different ways that it affects college choice. (One quick example would be the powerful myth of what Harvard is and then what it actually is.)

UVa also relies on this myth in your head. Whatever the myth may be to you, be aware of it and really do think critically of why college is the right decision for you and why UVa is the right academic decision for you.

Best of luck!

Newsflash: 9 minute hurricane

Yes Yes, I have been pretty slacker with the entries, and I apologize. Before I do a "catch-up" entry though, I will put up these crazy pictures and talk about our very own natural disaster.

As the title says, we had a nine-minute hurricane in Charlottesville. Apparently this bad-boy stormed across Blacksburg, VA (aka home of Virginia Tech) before rampaging into Charlottesville. Did I mention that this was the first day of the first session of Orientation? For those nervous first years out there (and nervous parents), it was quite a story to tell.

The rain poured down around 5pm, instantly drenching the pavement and all those who were unfortunately outside. This weather wasn't too surprising though, because we've had flash thunderstorms (and flood warnings) a couple weeks before. However, things got noticeably scarier when the wind picked up and the rain started falling horizontally. As seen by the pictures, the wind shook branches and hurled small stones against the window. Finally large trees were brought down with lightning, thunder accentuating each thud.

Then it stopped and it was 5:13pm. The damage? Power lines were out (the building I was in and my house, as well as the entire Corner and Downtown area had no electricity), traffic was in confusion as street lights had ceased to work and fallen trees directed the flow of traffic. Incredulous people pointed and stared at a crushed car on 14th street. It seemed like all roads leading out of Charlottesville were blocked by purposefully spiteful trees and power lines.

After work, I rushed home and went straight to my refrigerator to chug my soymilk. No way was I going to let my oh-so-expensive $2.50/carton soymilk go bad. I had cereal for dinner that night.

Meeting at Mellow Mushroom

I took a long walk outside today, in a white button-up shirt speckled with green flowers and white capris, because I love the sky today. Although it wasn't the sunshiney blue that makes me giddy, it was my introspective greyish-blue that I hum to as I walk on the sidewalks. The temperature wasn't warm, but was tinged with enough of a cold to bite if the wind blew... Okay, so it wasn't ideal weather for a walk in a t-shirt.

I guess I wanted to walk after a $1.70 Mellow Mushroom cheese pizza slice with $1.20 toppings worth of jalapenos and roma tomatoes. (NOM NOM NOM.) I did my best not to introspect too much nor look like a creeper as I entered deserted classrooms and buildings on Grounds. Having been on Grounds during summer, winter break, and spring break, I am used to and even like the feeling of being the only non-international student here. It's nice to reorient oneself without responsibilities expected from other people. I would definitely say that I am introvert in that sense.

I had lunch with an alumna, a recent graduate from the previous decade '09, at Mellow Mushroom. She ordered a small Kosmic Karma pizza that consisted of olive oil, pesto, roma tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese, and was successful in devouring only half of it. Her flyaway hair reminded me of wispy clouds that had graced the sky on Monday, and I missed her owl-esque look that was wise to my young soul. I presented her with a belated graduation gift of a scarf.

We talked about life, school, life after school, classes, majors, friends, our dorm, how indecisive we are, and Blueprint. All this and my pizza needed to be digested hours after our conversation. I think one of the best quotes from today is "Consume experiences, not material things. The truly happy cherish friends, family and new experiences." Woah. Yeah, that's right, woah.

sushi, hip-hop, friends, and late-night dancing

I went to a friend's apartment house party last night and it was awesome. Let me preface it though with a description of my lovely Saturday. Honestly, yesterday was one of the most satisfying days of my life. Yes, I am talking about hedonistic pleasures, which include sushi, hip-hop, friends, and late night dancing.

The morning started off quite disappointingly because I woke up early for two meetings, both of which I never got in touch with the person with whom I was supposed to have a meeting. However, I was thoroughly enjoying the gorgeous weather. For the past four days, Virginia has decided to pour her heart out in the form of biting wind, thundering or misty rain, wet leaves, flooded brick sidewalks, and inside-out umbrellas. Miraculously, on Saturday the sun was out, temperature highs were 19°C or 66°F, and girls were wearing strapless sun dresses (your prime indicator of the weather...). For those of you not familiar with Virginia weather, Virginia is a bipolar, maniac depressive maiden when it comes to matters of weather and love. While in New York, once it hits October, it's chilly and then cold and then freezing until March, in Virginia, it vacillates. Therefore I was pleasantly surprised by the gorgeous weather, and despite being dumped for two meetings I was actually in a great mood.

Oh, and despite the fact that it had been raining nonstop for four days and Professor Wilson says that the day of the week doesn't really affect your mood, I was so happy that it was Saturday. I mean, what Professor Wilson says is true... TGIF in America, or Thank God It's Friday, definitely did not apply in South Korea, where the week school used to continue to Saturday. (They're currently trying to phase it out so that on every alternating week, school ends on Friday.) I'm sure if classes continued to Saturday, Fridays would just become the next Thursday. However, I also might just transfer to another school that doesn't implement such heinous practices.

Fortunately, it was Saturday and at the University of Virginia, it means a day of no classes. I decided to go on a sushi lunch date with friends... Guess where we went? YES SUSHI LOVE [see two posts earlier]. Two of my friends actually never had sushi (or sashimi or rolls), so I was really excited. I won't get into too much details, but essentially we had an awesome lunch of the bento box at a reasonable price, and talked for two and a half hours. There was such a feeling of solidarity that it was remarkable. It really reminded me what the combination of good food and fantastic women can do for one's soul. I believe we talked about everything from an amazing novel called Things Fall Apart to African womanism to UVa Orientation to music. We all agreed that the chic decor and great tasting food added to the mood. Silly pictures ensued.

We got kicked out of the restaurant at 3:36pm. They needed to set up for dinner. Because of the great company, we decided to meet again for Ill-Literacy. Essentially the description was something like this:

[Spoken word and hip-hop favorites iLL-Literacy returns to UVA for a third time just days before the release of their first record, iB4the1.1! Creating an ever-expanding sonic universe piecemealed together by their ever-shrinking attention span, iLL-Literacy has invaded concert halls, off-Broadway stages, and college arenas throughout North America and Europe.]

Awesome? Oh yes. We were blasted with truth in the form of spoken word and beats. Why is the word fuck beeped from shows and movies that have murder scenes, sex scenes, and drug scenes? Why is our first black President talked about as if he is the last chapter in the race dialogue? Who does Glenn Beck think he is in coining the term "post-racial America" because of Obama? Not only were we the row who screamed encouragement the most, I believe we got a kick out of the fact that N.I.C. took a picture with me and my friend. Overall, a very fulfilling night.

let it rain...

I swear Virginia is so mercurial when it comes to its weather. It honestly can not make up its mind. Sunny one day and rainy the next, the weather decides to fluctuate temperature as if it was a bipolar patient. I woke up today pretty early for a Saturday to start on my essay, looked out the window, and felt blah. It was one of those days with dramatic clouds on the skyline, threatening to shiver rain whenever the wind blew at whim. Not wanting to suffer the consequences if Virginia did decide to rain, I closed my window (with difficulty).

While microwaving my breakfast at 8:02, I continued to put on my blah face and not make eye contact with anyone in the kitchen. Of course, the girl next to me remarks on the weather. "It looks so epic..." she announced, pointing out the shivering tree line in the west. "Looks like an adventure!" declaimed her boyfriend as he stirred a pot of hot chocolate. I looked at my plate of freshly microwaved broccoli and cauliflower, while contemplating all the things I had to do today. Essay. How blah.

As I sit in my room, having only my desk light on, I am writing my essay. Oh yes, I am... but I'm also on facebook, checking my mail like it's my job, and eating extraordinary amounts of snacks. At times, my room is suddenly infused with light as the sun emerges from its coat of clouds and I am happily distracted by my window of a landscape outside. Everything gleams in its wetness and beckons. Other times, clouds cast their shadow and my room is pitched into darkness. Shadows lengthen as I am sitting in my room.

Today was the football game against Georgia Tech. I know because despite my shut window, I could hear cries and moans of hundreds of anguished football fans. My guess is that we lost today. After a certain point in the day, the weather decided to accommodate by drizzling on the crowds of orange and blue people slowly walking past. The rain splattered against my window.

It is 3:24pm and I have not finished my essay.

feel the rain on your skin...

Or more like warmth on your skin! I was giddily happy today all day because we actually had temperatures in the 60s for once! I walked around Grounds with such contentment it was a bit silly. I do like the cold, but it's been so ridiculous last week that it's been hard to enjoy it. I think it's been the coldest winter I've had in C'ville so far! People were breaking out Rainbows and t-shirts like no other in general celebration. =)