To Pledge, or Not to Pledge: That is the Question

Well, I never thought I'd say this, but I just accepted a bid from Kappa Alpha Theta, and will become an official pledge on Thursday. I can still drop out and still rush in the future as long as it happens before initiation, which is spring semester. But the question must be asked... What am I getting myself into?! I have always looked with disgust at Greek life. I went so far as to compare joining a sorority to selling your soul to the devil! So what am I doing joining a sorority? Well, just to clear a few things up, greek life at my college is NOT like Greek life elsewhere. It isn't filled with the stereotypical Abercrombie models who define themselves solely by the fact that they are a member of a fraternity or sorority, nor is it super exclusive, superficial, or shallow. Theta, of all of the sororities on campus, is by far the most laid back. However, I still have my doubts. I suppose only time will tell if I belong with the Thetas or not, but any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Tina Fey as Sarah Palin

I thought this was absolutely hilarious! Thanks for sending it to me, Tamerlane!

Homesick

Today I felt my first bout of homesickness. It's been making me procrastinate a lot. I just haven't really had the motivation or the energy to do anything. Looks like I'm going to have to push back doing laundry one more day (don't worry, I still have clean clothes to wear!). I also ate a whole thing of macaroni and cheese, which wasn't very good. I even made the noodles in my hot pot... which didn't work as well as I had hoped. Next time I'll just use a pot. Unfortunately my mother is going to see that I ate a whole pot of macaroni and cheese... oh well... I'll eat a lot of fruit and vegetables tomorrow. She will be glad to hear that my favorite thing to eat from the cafeteria (other than soft-serve..... but I limit myself!) is the roasted vegetables, which could actually do with a little less oil. I also have hardly touched the jar of nutella sitting on my bookshelf. I think I'm going to go on a run tomorrow to try to keep the freshman 15 off, or as I heard someone say, the freshman 40. Things are going pretty well. I'm making friends and enjoying classes for the most part. Today's classes weren't all that great, which is interesting because they were my two favorites. We are reading this strange story in Spanish class where this woman is reminiscing about her past, while excaping her house which is on fire, and there is this grafic scene, and her husband is obsessed with sex, and then he hangs himself, and thats only pages 7-27... so.... Spanish should be interesting. I'm trying not to cling to certain friends too much, just because I'm feeling homesick and want to hang out with people, but I don't want them to get sick of me, so I just have to make sure I mix it up.

Today has basically been a mess of getting up early, waiting for class to end, getting two packages, taking a 2 hour nap, listening to the Senate, eating, and trying to occupy myself with various other things so I don't get to self conscious or weird, and basically trying to get through the day. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

The Senate

The Senate came and played for us last night at our Coffeehouse. They are a local band from Seattle, and they are fantastic! Anyway I thought I would put their name out there. If you haven't heard of them, you should check them out!

On a different note, I'm really enjoying college. I just finished my first week of classes, and did in fact end up dropping my history class and adding Beginning Acting, which I am very excited about. It looks like it is going to be a lot of fun, and one of my new friends is in my class. I would have to say that my two favorite classes thus far are definitely Spanish and Modernity & Antiquity. I have really great professors for both classes.

More on them later. I'm headed downtown with some friends. We're stopping by Goodwill to get some clothes for the 80's dance party tonight. I'll keep you posted!

First Day of Classes

Well, I figured that since yesterday was my first day of classes, I should probably tell you all how that went.

My first class was Development of U.S. History, and (surprise!) I am thinking of dropping it. I'm a little bummed about it actually, because I absolutely LOVE U.S. History. I thought it would be a fun class to take even though I was in an AP U.S. History class last year. Although we are going to be able to read some very interesting texts in the class, it is at a fairly introductory level, and I'm worried that I will be bored (not to mention after my first night of homework, I'm not sure I'm going to have time for the extra reading). I'm going to talk to my prof. about it today, so hopefully I'll be able to figure something out. It is quite possible that I will be replacing U.S. History with Beginning Acting (which I'm really excited about).

My second class was Spanish 305 (which is a step up from the level I tested into, 205), and I am very excited for this class. My professor is very nice and told us about the history of her name, as well as wet through the course syllabus, all in Spanish of course! I surprised myself and was actually able to understand it all!

My third class was Shakespeare, which is a 300 level English class (I know... what was I thinking?!), but although I entered the classroom terrified, I walked out a little more confident, thinking that maybe, just maybe, I could do this. I forgot to mention, that not only is it a 300 level class, my professor has a reputation for being an EXTREMELY hard grader. But class went very well yesterday, and I learned a lot! I even contributed a little to the class discussion. I'm still incredibly intimidated, as I am the only first year in the class, but I know I'll have the help of my peers, and as long as I seek help when I need it, I should be fine.

And now, for the incredible homework load. Thankfully I finished reading books 1-4 of the Odyssey and submitted a response to an online question for the CORE class I have at 11 today. However, I still have to read Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, including the Norton Introduction, by tomorrow at 1. That, as well as meeting with my history prof., going to a study abroad meeting, attending a CORE coffee talk, and checking out our school's male a cappella group at our study break, will make up the majority of the rest of my day! Well, I better start getting ready for class. Wish me luck!