橋爪

Thinking about going abroad next fall. Nearly everyone I have talked to about studying abroad (my parents, my advisor, peers) has been very adamant I go, but I'm still a bit hesitant. I'm terrified that my language skills won't be up to par, that I'll be lonely, and that I'll miss out on things happening back home. Have any of you guys studied abroad? How was the experience? If you haven't studied abroad, do you have any advice for my situation?

As a follow up to this post: Since that post, I've moved into a new dorm. I hadn't heard much about that girl until about a month ago, when I asked a friend about her. Apparently, she's dropped out from Willamette, and is now going to bartending school up in Portland. Reports are that she's very happy. Go figure.

I'm in the process of choosing my schedule for next semester and I'm getting kind of concerned.

By the end of this year, I'm supposed to have chosen a major. Thing is, I haven't even the foggiest idea what I want to major in.

I've always had a general interest in most subjects, but nothing in particular has really jumped out at me and commanded my absolute attention. I've always thought that I was being "well-rounded," but the longer I go without a major or even a particular interest, the more it's beginning to sound like "unfocused."

For those in college, or who have graduated: how did you decide upon your particular major?

• Lucy and I celebrated our one year anniversary a little over a week ago.
  
• I'm out of school, as of about a week ago. My first year at Willamette was a bit of a mixed bag. Grades first semester were pretty good, but definitely tanked second semester. :/
  
• I'm job hunting, and will hear today if I will be working at Best Buy or if I have to look elsewhere for employment opportunities.
  
• I'm kind of trying to learn website design. Hopefully by the end of summer, I'll have something to show for it.
  

MORE TO COME

Ugh.

I completely forgot about my 8-9 morning shift at work today and slept through till about 11.

I'm really worried about how unreliable I can be. This is the third time I've forgotten about work entirely, and I've been having trouble motivating myself to get schoolwork done.

We just watched this Chappelle's Show clip in class:
(NSFW, by the way)

Somehow watching a skit about the "Niggar Family" in a class full of nothing but white people feels kind of wrong. :/

I just watched forty-five minutes of professional wrestling in my Politics and Popular Culture class.

wut

( My roommate )

There is a girl in my dorm who has a bit of a problem.

She's a very shy girl, very secretive. It's rare that she's around during the day, and she seldom sleeps in her own room. When asked where she's been or where's she's going, she's vague. "Oh, out." "Places."

To deal with this, she drinks. This is unfortunate for a number of reasons. One, she doesn't know how to drink in moderation. Two, she often does so alone.

I'd heard about her drinking for a while now, but have never actually seen it until tonight. I went to her room to hang out with a bunch of other people and saw her (and only her) absolutely shitfaced. She was stumbling, slurring her words, insulting people, knocking over drinks, candles, and whatever else was precariously placed. I just checked up on her a few minutes ago and my neighbor, Julia, is trying to get this girl to drink water and sober up, or at least go to sleep. The girl responds by laughing and swearing.

It almost seems like she can't interact or have a good time without drinking. This is especially bad for her roommate, Kendra, who earnestly wants to get along with her and be her friend, but feels like she can only do so when they're both drinking.

What should I do? I can't actively stop her from drinking. The RA, Stina, can't do anything about it unless Stina actually sees this girl drinking.

Please don't drink, guys. :(

Also, I have fallen in love with this song and would recommend it.

( Pictures under the cut )

( Cut for hopefully obvious reasons. )

My neighbor, Julia, and I have an internet radio show and we named it today - 8-Track and a Turntable. The name comes from the musical equipment we randomly discovered in our dorm today.

Our show is every Friday, 6-7 Pacific Standard Time. You can catch the stream on http://www.willamette.edu/org/radio/wuwire/

Currently, our show is only available in stream form, but we hope to get podcasts up and running pretty soon.

Our plan at the moment is to have a different theme every week, with the theme for this week being FUNK AND SOUL

LISTEN

FOR GREAT JUSTICE

One thing I have made a point of doing at Willamette is to attempt to get involved in as many things as I possibly can, so I can

a. Keep busy.
b. Meet new people.
c. Learn.

Thusfar, there haven't been all that many opportunities; students are still settling in, and clubs haven't really started up yet. The only activities that have really started so far have been Dungeons and Dragons and WU Wire - the college radio station.

Let me say upfront that I have never played D&D before...well, before today at least. I gave it a shot today to experience the game first-hand. It couldn't be as bad as popular stigma had led me to believe, could it?

Wrong.

Despite being MENTOK, THE LEVEL THREE ELVEN ROGUE, I had a really hard time justifying spending nine hours on awkwardly structured and generally unfun roleplaying. Hell, it took a few hours before we could even start the game, because we had to spend lots of time and effort filling out our character sheets, which detailed even the most mundane aspects of our characters (height, weight, age, etc.).

Lesson learned: no more D&D.

Fortunately, student radio promises to be far better. My neighbor, Julia and I have agreed to do an hour-long show together. We still have yet to establish exactly when our show will be, or exactly what we'll fill that hour with, but it's still very exciting. Our musical tastes seem to differ and compliment each other enough that it should work out splendidly.

My trunk is mostly packed.

My goodbyes have largely been said.

My mind is nearly prepared.

Onward!

I leave for Willamette University this Thursday morning - three days from now. Yikes. Not only that, but I've got shit to take care of before that:

• Work for Albertson's for a final 17 hours.
  
• Sell my bike. (And hopefully buy a new one.)
  
• Buy my textbooks at Powell's.
  
• Make sure some unfinished marching band business is seen to.
  
• Get school supplies.
  
• Get my Ben Folds shirt to Liz.
  
• Be almost unbearably boyfriend-y to Lucy
  
• Pack.
  

God, I hope that I don't miss anything.

This entry is probably more to help me collect my thoughts than anything else.

Salem, here I come.

I just ordered my laptop for college from Dell - a great one with Ubuntu Linux already loaded onto it for under $1000. I gotta say, if you're thinking about a laptop for college, I would recommend Ubuntu - no viruses, spyware, or fragmented discs. Plus, it's $50 less than Vista.

...I have no shame.

I just finished filling out my enrollment form for Willamette.

I apparently was awarded $11,500 in scholarship money, too.

Next year makes me very, very anxious.

After I found out I didn't get into Lewis & Clark, I was reminded just how awesome you guys are. Seriously, thank you for all the comments and support - it means a hell of a lot. :)

Dear Michael,

The Committee on Admissions has completed its review of the largest applicant pool in Lewis & Clark College's history. I am writing with genuine regret to inform you that we are not able to offer you a place in the Fall 2007 entering class.

I pretty damned bummed about not being able to stay in Portland, but this is the hand I've been dealt. It appears now that Willamette is now my destination for the next four years, so I now need to start focusing on that. Besides, Salem ain't that far away from Portland, is it?

:(

I just got accepted into Willamette University! I'm still waiting on Lewis & Clark, but this is...great. They're literally right across the street from the state capitol, and they have a great program with a Tokyo University.

Today was great. Despite the sun going into hiding halfway through the day.

I got a letter in the mail today saying that I've been accepted to the University of Oregon. Woo!

I'm still waiting on both Lewis & Clark and Willamette, as U of O was largely my safety school, but it's good to know that I won't, as my mom keeps insisting, be going to PCC.

I'm right about to finish my U of O application, but would be eternally grateful if I could get some feedback on my essay. If you've got the time, great; likewise if you don't.

( What's up, essay? )