Here are couple fun videos of our college ecapades. Enjoy them; they take FOREVER to upload :)
Monday, July 5, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Update from a Gator freshman
Alrighty, I believe it's about time for a new post!
Today marks Day 10 of my college experience. And as I planned to blog through college, I've decided right now is a good time to recap a bit of what has happened over the past week and a half.
College as a freshman been pretty sweet, I must say. Coming to a new school, a new town, a new apartment, where you know basically nothing about what's what, and where it is, and how it works, has turned out to be kind of exciting. We've found out so many new things about school, the apartment, where to eat and how to make food, what's free and what's cheap, what sort of events and other fun things we can go to, etc. I thought that Preview was an information overload session, but actually living on campus has shown me there is so much else going on, so much else we need to remember.
Living in the apartment with me is my awesome friend, Kristina. And I am so glad she is. College life is great, but it's also a lot to take in; traversing this endless sea of unknown college stuff with her has definately been helpful, to say the least. Not only that, God has given me so many other good friends here at UF that the fear of lonliness has pretty much been dormant. Although, on the downside, knowing so many people already may hinder me from getting out of my comfort zone and meeting other new freshman. Or so I've been told. I guess we shall see.
College offers a LOT of independence. In every way you can think of. Now this may sound great, but really it gets less exciting, and rather frustrating at times. It's important to find out and remember everything about your classes, including the books. Ah books, my favorite topic. -Quick side note: Still not entirely sure whether it is better to wait to buy your textbooks until you've been to your first class or not. I've been told by many to wait, but after my first instructor said we would need to read Chapter 1 by the second day, I really don't think I should have put it off. This may be different just because it is a summer course, but who knows! I suppose I'll just have some catching up once they come in from Chegg.com, an online bookstore that I shall forever love because it sold me two used books for $19.79 each, as opposed to $106.00 from the UF bookstore, also USED.
But aside from classes... because even though they are important, social activities make for a happier, well-rounded, and slightly more sane student. We have determined that our week here has somehow turned us into some sort of social butterflies. Keeping busy has been a big priority; it keeps your mind away form less pleasant things, and it really has made UF seem more of a place we could call home, instead of just a mass of giant buildings surrounded by 50,000 students. Of course, it is summer, so there are not as many people and fewer events to attend, but we still have found ways to enjoy ourselves. Getting together with friends, we've made dinner, gone to dinner, gone to a movie, learned how to played ultimate frisbee, gone shopping (meaning to Publix and Walmart, after all, we're poor college students now), had a game night, gone to church, went to a movie night at a church, and just hung out, discussing college, life, and just having fun. Legal fun.
Other than missing our families, having temporary freak-outs over usually inconsequential things, this college thing is really going quite well. Hopefully, it continues this way. Hopefully, God will continue to guide us on this journey. And hopefully, we will let him.
Today marks Day 10 of my college experience. And as I planned to blog through college, I've decided right now is a good time to recap a bit of what has happened over the past week and a half.
College as a freshman been pretty sweet, I must say. Coming to a new school, a new town, a new apartment, where you know basically nothing about what's what, and where it is, and how it works, has turned out to be kind of exciting. We've found out so many new things about school, the apartment, where to eat and how to make food, what's free and what's cheap, what sort of events and other fun things we can go to, etc. I thought that Preview was an information overload session, but actually living on campus has shown me there is so much else going on, so much else we need to remember.
Living in the apartment with me is my awesome friend, Kristina. And I am so glad she is. College life is great, but it's also a lot to take in; traversing this endless sea of unknown college stuff with her has definately been helpful, to say the least. Not only that, God has given me so many other good friends here at UF that the fear of lonliness has pretty much been dormant. Although, on the downside, knowing so many people already may hinder me from getting out of my comfort zone and meeting other new freshman. Or so I've been told. I guess we shall see.
College offers a LOT of independence. In every way you can think of. Now this may sound great, but really it gets less exciting, and rather frustrating at times. It's important to find out and remember everything about your classes, including the books. Ah books, my favorite topic. -Quick side note: Still not entirely sure whether it is better to wait to buy your textbooks until you've been to your first class or not. I've been told by many to wait, but after my first instructor said we would need to read Chapter 1 by the second day, I really don't think I should have put it off. This may be different just because it is a summer course, but who knows! I suppose I'll just have some catching up once they come in from Chegg.com, an online bookstore that I shall forever love because it sold me two used books for $19.79 each, as opposed to $106.00 from the UF bookstore, also USED.
But aside from classes... because even though they are important, social activities make for a happier, well-rounded, and slightly more sane student. We have determined that our week here has somehow turned us into some sort of social butterflies. Keeping busy has been a big priority; it keeps your mind away form less pleasant things, and it really has made UF seem more of a place we could call home, instead of just a mass of giant buildings surrounded by 50,000 students. Of course, it is summer, so there are not as many people and fewer events to attend, but we still have found ways to enjoy ourselves. Getting together with friends, we've made dinner, gone to dinner, gone to a movie, learned how to played ultimate frisbee, gone shopping (meaning to Publix and Walmart, after all, we're poor college students now), had a game night, gone to church, went to a movie night at a church, and just hung out, discussing college, life, and just having fun. Legal fun.
Other than missing our families, having temporary freak-outs over usually inconsequential things, this college thing is really going quite well. Hopefully, it continues this way. Hopefully, God will continue to guide us on this journey. And hopefully, we will let him.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
So this is what the end is like...
Not the end, per se. More like the end of one chapter, and the beginning of another. And by now, I honestly do not care how cliche that sounds; for that is truly the only way I can accurately describe right now. So I shall take it.
As is clear, it has taken me quite a while to come back to this old blog, one I started nearly four years ago. And one I've sadly neglected for a year. But no matter; I am hear now, which counts for something right?
It is hard to believe my highschool years are now gone. Not that I don't feel old, because graduation and getting ready to set off for college can certainly make you feel that way. Yet, it does seem like just a short while ago I was thinking about the many days I would still walk through my highschool courtyard, the many hours I would spend enduring crazy hard AP classes, and the many minutes until that bell would ring, allowing me some time to relax. I can still remember going to the movies and being dropped off by my mom, and then finally being able to drive to school on the first day of junior year. I remember anxiously awaiting the release of precious books, attending midnight releases, reading 700-page books in less than three days. I remember taking one AP class and thinking this is insane! I also remember signing up for three the next year, and then five the year after. I remember those classes, and all the stress, worry, frustration, and sleep-deprived nights that came along with them. But also the good times, the great people, and the incredible knowledge I gained from those experiences.
I don't plan to lose any of these memories, no matter how important or how insignificant, no matter how good or not so good, no matter how old or forgetful I become. For they will always be there, and I don't believe anything can change that.
As I sit here and write, I have only 10 days left here. Here in this time, this moment, this chapter. I can't decide whether right now is the beginning of the new chapter or the last few pages of the previous one. Or just the time it takes the reader to finally flip that last page, and embark on a new, unknown part of the story. Either way, this realization has hit me, really hit me. Like a wrecking ball. Like I've been running without being able to slow or stop, just running straight into a solid brick wall. And now I've hit it.
Well, that's not really a fair assessment actually. I've known the wall was coming, and really it's more like a gate or a window or something. And I know I'll survive, and that there is something so thrilling, so enticing, I suppose, that has me drawn me toward it, has me running toward it, out of my own free will.
So, really, that was a bad analogy. Sorry.
Anyway, I suppose what I mean to say is that I've been really looking foward to this new change, this completely radical 180 my life will soon face. But I've discovered there is so much I still am unsure about, so much I'm not exactly ready to part with.
And that's one of the worst things to feeling: Feeling unprepared, unready, and slightly unwilling, for something you've wanted for so long, and now face.
So now what?
As is clear, it has taken me quite a while to come back to this old blog, one I started nearly four years ago. And one I've sadly neglected for a year. But no matter; I am hear now, which counts for something right?
It is hard to believe my highschool years are now gone. Not that I don't feel old, because graduation and getting ready to set off for college can certainly make you feel that way. Yet, it does seem like just a short while ago I was thinking about the many days I would still walk through my highschool courtyard, the many hours I would spend enduring crazy hard AP classes, and the many minutes until that bell would ring, allowing me some time to relax. I can still remember going to the movies and being dropped off by my mom, and then finally being able to drive to school on the first day of junior year. I remember anxiously awaiting the release of precious books, attending midnight releases, reading 700-page books in less than three days. I remember taking one AP class and thinking this is insane! I also remember signing up for three the next year, and then five the year after. I remember those classes, and all the stress, worry, frustration, and sleep-deprived nights that came along with them. But also the good times, the great people, and the incredible knowledge I gained from those experiences.
I don't plan to lose any of these memories, no matter how important or how insignificant, no matter how good or not so good, no matter how old or forgetful I become. For they will always be there, and I don't believe anything can change that.
As I sit here and write, I have only 10 days left here. Here in this time, this moment, this chapter. I can't decide whether right now is the beginning of the new chapter or the last few pages of the previous one. Or just the time it takes the reader to finally flip that last page, and embark on a new, unknown part of the story. Either way, this realization has hit me, really hit me. Like a wrecking ball. Like I've been running without being able to slow or stop, just running straight into a solid brick wall. And now I've hit it.
Well, that's not really a fair assessment actually. I've known the wall was coming, and really it's more like a gate or a window or something. And I know I'll survive, and that there is something so thrilling, so enticing, I suppose, that has me drawn me toward it, has me running toward it, out of my own free will.
So, really, that was a bad analogy. Sorry.
Anyway, I suppose what I mean to say is that I've been really looking foward to this new change, this completely radical 180 my life will soon face. But I've discovered there is so much I still am unsure about, so much I'm not exactly ready to part with.
And that's one of the worst things to feeling: Feeling unprepared, unready, and slightly unwilling, for something you've wanted for so long, and now face.
So now what?
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