It’s back to school time, oh what fun! My mom and I flew in to Philadelphia on Friday and drove up to Ithaca from there all night, about 7 hours or so (including stops) – starting around 1am up until 8. Though at LAX, the gate we were at seemed like it was out of 1998 – complete with low ceilings, and old fashioned TVs! And I realized in St Louis (where we got delayed because of east coast weather problems) we were in the same terminal where the tornado hit and people took video of what happened. I was standing right there too. Powerful moment.
exact same place. You can't see it, but the Dunkin Donuts and Burger King from the video are just on the right out of frame
On the drive, we stopped at some of the same rest areas as last year! Including the New York welcome center (checked my email on their wireless!) It’s a good thing I brought my speaker cable to hook it up to my iPod, which helped keep me awake! Got in around 8am, and took the opportunity to run to the bookstore and grab my books before the big rush. It felt pretty good to be back.
Moving in went well, my room is nice, maybe a bit small, but with a few furnishings, it’s warm and cozy (visually not just physically!) It took a while to unpack everything, and for a while it looked crazy, like a hurricane or giant earthquake (by the way, hope everyone is safe after the Virginia earthquake that was felt all the way up the east coast) had come through and threw everything everywhere – but it looks much better now!
Did some shopping at Target during move in weekend – it was crazy! Mostly first year parents, but parents of kids from all years, as well as older students with their own cars – the parking lot was crowded, there were lines (but they went quickly – every Target checkstand was full!) and many things were out of stock, like my much needed blue tape! Though it’s like Christmas for the businesses. Bed Bath & Beyond and Kohls were quite crowded as well.
Spent a day with family friends on one of the other finger lakes. I hadn’t been there since last year, but we haven’t been there for a substantial amount of time for a few years. I had time to swim in the lake, and swam out past the raft (for what I think was the first time ever for me!). Enjoyed swimming through the waves created by power boats, and playing on the rock beach. Also got to use a mask and saw quite a number of fish, which I haven’t seen before – I never realized there were that many fish there. As we ate dinner outside, we thought there’d be a nice sunset, but it suddenly got foggy. Soon we saw it, an approaching storm! That was really something! I had never seen anything like it! A storm coming up the lake valley, you could see the wind come across the lake, and the rain behind it. With about 4 minutes and counting, everyone jumped up to move everything inside the house and secure the beach. It was amazing how fast everyone worked! Then a few of us stood out on the beach watching the approaching storm – almost like in a movie! Like one of those digital visual effects shots where the group is watching the approaching storm…except it was for real! So we experienced a real summer storm, complete with high winds, thunder, and lightning! But we also stayed inside and played some board games at night. I can really appreciate being disconnected from technology, internet, and cell service – it was a great mini vacation before school started! And we spent the night at a bed and breakfast which was nice as well.
Moving in went well, my room is nice, maybe a bit small, but with a few furnishings, it’s warm and cozy (visually not just physically!) It took a while to unpack everything, and for a while it looked crazy, like a hurricane or giant earthquake (by the way, hope everyone is safe after the Virginia earthquake that was felt all the way up the east coast) had come through and threw everything everywhere – but it looks much better now!
Did some shopping at Target during move in weekend – it was crazy! Mostly first year parents, but parents of kids from all years, as well as older students with their own cars – the parking lot was crowded, there were lines (but they went quickly – every Target checkstand was full!) and many things were out of stock, like my much needed blue tape! Though it’s like Christmas for the businesses. Bed Bath & Beyond and Kohls were quite crowded as well.
Spent a day with family friends on one of the other finger lakes. I hadn’t been there since last year, but we haven’t been there for a substantial amount of time for a few years. I had time to swim in the lake, and swam out past the raft (for what I think was the first time ever for me!). Enjoyed swimming through the waves created by power boats, and playing on the rock beach. Also got to use a mask and saw quite a number of fish, which I haven’t seen before – I never realized there were that many fish there. As we ate dinner outside, we thought there’d be a nice sunset, but it suddenly got foggy. Soon we saw it, an approaching storm! That was really something! I had never seen anything like it! A storm coming up the lake valley, you could see the wind come across the lake, and the rain behind it. With about 4 minutes and counting, everyone jumped up to move everything inside the house and secure the beach. It was amazing how fast everyone worked! Then a few of us stood out on the beach watching the approaching storm – almost like in a movie! Like one of those digital visual effects shots where the group is watching the approaching storm…except it was for real! So we experienced a real summer storm, complete with high winds, thunder, and lightning! But we also stayed inside and played some board games at night. I can really appreciate being disconnected from technology, internet, and cell service – it was a great mini vacation before school started! And we spent the night at a bed and breakfast which was nice as well.
This doesn't really give the storm justice - it's one of those things where you have to be there. But look at the horizontal wind sock to get an idea of the wind speed...
I’ve been able to catch up with some people here – meals with Han, Barrett, and Stephen. Had a run in with a lot of people – John, Yusnier, Alex, Ariel, Zach, Han Hee, and an impromptu Target trip with Kirat. I feel like I’m running into a lot more people compared to last year – not sure if it’s because we’re living in different places, because there are no classes, other things, or a combination of those…
Peer advising was a fun experience. We had a big information and orientation session with all the peer advisors (and free shirts!), and they were all a nice group of people, I suppose all with the shared experience of having gone through the freshmen experience. In my group, not everyone showed up, but I had a good time with the ones who were there – tried to be relaxing, helpful, covering some of the drier material and answer their own questions. It’s hard to know though – going into something like this hoping to make an impact, but all you can do is hope that you can make some type of impact or difference in the hour you spend with them. I want to be there to help them, to help give back and what not, I want them to ask me questions so it doesn’t turn into me lecturing them. It’s hard to do. But some of them were pretty engaged and had some good questions, which I really appreciate. I hope they got something good out of the session! And hopefully I’ll hear back from a couple of them. Any freshmen reading this who have upperclassmen advisor type figures, take advantage of their experience as much as you can! We’re here to help you! (well most of us at least).
Also had my CU Winds audition which was alright, nice to be back in Lincoln. It’s also nice to be back on campus, but a bit strange – almost started walking to north instead of west one time! But now I know my way around, talked a while to a freshman in the Ivy Room.
Today was also the big TA meeting for the Intro Web Design & Programming Course – it was nice to see some old faces and meet some new ones – I’m looking forward to the work we’re going to be doing this semester!
Peer advising was a fun experience. We had a big information and orientation session with all the peer advisors (and free shirts!), and they were all a nice group of people, I suppose all with the shared experience of having gone through the freshmen experience. In my group, not everyone showed up, but I had a good time with the ones who were there – tried to be relaxing, helpful, covering some of the drier material and answer their own questions. It’s hard to know though – going into something like this hoping to make an impact, but all you can do is hope that you can make some type of impact or difference in the hour you spend with them. I want to be there to help them, to help give back and what not, I want them to ask me questions so it doesn’t turn into me lecturing them. It’s hard to do. But some of them were pretty engaged and had some good questions, which I really appreciate. I hope they got something good out of the session! And hopefully I’ll hear back from a couple of them. Any freshmen reading this who have upperclassmen advisor type figures, take advantage of their experience as much as you can! We’re here to help you! (well most of us at least).
Also had my CU Winds audition which was alright, nice to be back in Lincoln. It’s also nice to be back on campus, but a bit strange – almost started walking to north instead of west one time! But now I know my way around, talked a while to a freshman in the Ivy Room.
Today was also the big TA meeting for the Intro Web Design & Programming Course – it was nice to see some old faces and meet some new ones – I’m looking forward to the work we’re going to be doing this semester!
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