At Duke, you've got to imagine that March Madness is a pretty big deal. But, before we even get to March us students have to weather a different sort of madness...midterms! Depending on the courses a student is taking some will experience a big crunch and others not so much. For me, last semester didn't have a crunch time until finals came around...and even that was pretty manageable. This semester is different though. Now that I've survived to tell about it (it finally calmed down on Monday), I had a pretty rough week and a half. All in all I had two exams, a first draft of a project, a paper and a final draft of a project. I guess it doesn't sound that bad...but when one exam is in math which at Duke is notorious for giving everyone a hard time, one exam is in a class with a HORRIBLE professor (yes, even at Duke they exist :/), my research project required a write up that turned out to be 8 pages and I had a paper on top of that (which is always nerve-wracking...especially the first one in a class) I was forced to manage my time, work for hours on end, stay up till at least 3am on four occassions (including a friday and saturday night!) and give up going to the gym (freshman fifteen?).
Things have finally calmed down, though, and I feel good about my performances on my exams and the quality of my paper and research assignment. Even so, I'm looking forward to having some time to myself again and time to hit the gym to work on my guns ;)
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Inauguration Tales
Sorry it took me so long to get back and write about my 24 hours of adventure on inauguration day. I hope you enjoyed the pictures in the mean time.
On the night of January 19th I found myself running from commitment to commitment, as you might expect from me by now. We had a game that night at North Carolina State University...and what a game it was. Desperate for a win after opening conference play 0-3, being in the midst of a 4 game losing streak and trying to rally around their coach (the now late Kay Yow...another post on that later...and yes, I seem to say that a lot but one day it'll happen), the Wolfpack pushed us to our second overtime of the season. We won the game, went back to our locker room and immediately began writing cards of well wishes, thoughts and sentiment to Coach Yow.
Once we arrived back at Duke, I finished up my managing duties, came back to my dorm to squeeze in an hour or so of work, packed my "stuff" and was right back out the door to catch the bus to DC. I left the dorm wearing a pair of turquoise pantyhose, with gray stirrup pants (come on, you remember those from the 90s?) over them, a pair of black athletic leggings over top, and finally a pair of jeans. I also wore an under armor long sleeved shirt with a long sleeved t-shirt on top and my hiking books. With me I brought a fleece, a hoodie, a winter coat, ear warming head band, a hat (thanks Nicole!), a pair of hiking socks, a pair of cotton gloves and an old pair of my mom's driving gloves (from the 70s when she lived in NY!), and wind breaker pants. Can you say L-A-Y-E-R-S!?
We got boarded the bus just after 12-midnight and were on our way to the nation's capitol! Some hours later we stopped briefly at a rest stop before arriving at RFK stadium. As we got off the bus, the Duke chaperones gave us hand warmers! I'd never heard of them before and didn't know anything about them. To a kid from Arizona they're kind of the opposite of those instant ice packs!
From RFK stadium we caught a shuttle which took us to just a few blocks from the National Mall. We got to the national mall and waited...and waited...and waited...and tried to stay warm in the process.
The children's choir was a really beautiful introduction to the day's events. Nothing like singing "America the Beautiful" or "My Country Tis of Thee" or "My Land is Your Land...Your Land is My Land" with 2million people on the national mall!
Everything after that is kind of a blur. Lots of flag waving, cheering, soulful amens and "mhms", chanting O-BA-MA and singing "na na na na hey hey hey good bye" to Bush.
Following the inauguration ceremony we went to go find a bite to eat. This proved to be a much more dramatic task then either of us could have ever predicted. Food options were limited, everything had crazy lines and we had no idea where to go! Literally hours later we wound up back at the national mall and got hotdogs before heading back to RFK stadium to catch our way "home" to Duke.
The whole thing was absolutely incredible. To witness and be a part of history like that is a pretty surreal experience. Arguably the best $20 (thats how much my bus ticket was) I ever spent in my life.
On the night of January 19th I found myself running from commitment to commitment, as you might expect from me by now. We had a game that night at North Carolina State University...and what a game it was. Desperate for a win after opening conference play 0-3, being in the midst of a 4 game losing streak and trying to rally around their coach (the now late Kay Yow...another post on that later...and yes, I seem to say that a lot but one day it'll happen), the Wolfpack pushed us to our second overtime of the season. We won the game, went back to our locker room and immediately began writing cards of well wishes, thoughts and sentiment to Coach Yow.
Once we arrived back at Duke, I finished up my managing duties, came back to my dorm to squeeze in an hour or so of work, packed my "stuff" and was right back out the door to catch the bus to DC. I left the dorm wearing a pair of turquoise pantyhose, with gray stirrup pants (come on, you remember those from the 90s?) over them, a pair of black athletic leggings over top, and finally a pair of jeans. I also wore an under armor long sleeved shirt with a long sleeved t-shirt on top and my hiking books. With me I brought a fleece, a hoodie, a winter coat, ear warming head band, a hat (thanks Nicole!), a pair of hiking socks, a pair of cotton gloves and an old pair of my mom's driving gloves (from the 70s when she lived in NY!), and wind breaker pants. Can you say L-A-Y-E-R-S!?
We got boarded the bus just after 12-midnight and were on our way to the nation's capitol! Some hours later we stopped briefly at a rest stop before arriving at RFK stadium. As we got off the bus, the Duke chaperones gave us hand warmers! I'd never heard of them before and didn't know anything about them. To a kid from Arizona they're kind of the opposite of those instant ice packs!
From RFK stadium we caught a shuttle which took us to just a few blocks from the National Mall. We got to the national mall and waited...and waited...and waited...and tried to stay warm in the process.
The children's choir was a really beautiful introduction to the day's events. Nothing like singing "America the Beautiful" or "My Country Tis of Thee" or "My Land is Your Land...Your Land is My Land" with 2million people on the national mall!
Everything after that is kind of a blur. Lots of flag waving, cheering, soulful amens and "mhms", chanting O-BA-MA and singing "na na na na hey hey hey good bye" to Bush.
Following the inauguration ceremony we went to go find a bite to eat. This proved to be a much more dramatic task then either of us could have ever predicted. Food options were limited, everything had crazy lines and we had no idea where to go! Literally hours later we wound up back at the national mall and got hotdogs before heading back to RFK stadium to catch our way "home" to Duke.
The whole thing was absolutely incredible. To witness and be a part of history like that is a pretty surreal experience. Arguably the best $20 (thats how much my bus ticket was) I ever spent in my life.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words
Details later...but for now:
pictures of me and my friend Michael at Obama's Inauguration!!!!!
pictures of me and my friend Michael at Obama's Inauguration!!!!!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Some Catching Up To Do...
I suppose I owe everyone an apology for neglecting this blog for so long. I've got a few minutes of down time so I figured I'd post what I can now and will finish what will probably shape up to be roughly the length of a novel later tonight before I get on a bus to go to DC (more on that later in this post!).
Since the last time I wrote I finished my first semester of college. None of it was particularly difficult--at least not the academics--but there is something to be said for making the adjustment and making a seemingly foreign place your home. Since being back, Duke feels a lot less foreign and a lot more like home.
I managed a 3.75 GPA for the semester, of which I'm pretty proud. Juggling basketball, frisbee, class, getting to the gym (if you haven't seen me since I left in August be sure you buy your tickets to the "gun show" coming to Phoenix in May 2009!), Freeman Center and Hillel stuff and just life in general (college kids are supposed to be social creatures, after all!) sometimes proved to be a challenging task, kept me pretty busy and occasionally up past my bedtime (I'll post on this some other time).
Following my only final exam on December 11th, I was with the Duke Women's Basketball team through our game against then-third-ranked Stanford University. For those who don't know or didn't catch it on ESPN...we pulled quite the upset and kicked some Cardinal behinds! I was excited to see "the cameron effect" in action as All American center and 80% free throw shooter Jayne Appel went 4-12 from the line (you're tellin' me!) in just one uncharacteristic stat line from the game.
Upon my return home I spent as much time as I could just soaking it all in. I spent ample time with friends and family just enjoying being back in my conmfort zone. I "painted for peace", went to the ASU-Stanford WBB game with my dad and Barbara, went ice skating, celebrated my birthday, brought in the new year, played lots of "Mexican Train" (its a dominoes game), ran with my cross country teammates, grabbed lunch with some of the women I know from Girls For a Change, enjoyed a Holly family game night, met with my breakfast crew, just to name a few shenanigans...
I arrived back in Durham on January 4th just in time for sorority rush and Duke's home game against Temple. Yes, I know what you're thinking...I was rather surprised myself! Ultimately, I decided to rush because 1) everyone said that you met a lot of people, and with everyone being settled into their respective routines and not quite being comfortable with where I was socially and who I knew on campus, I figured it would be a great way to put myself out there some more. 2) I found myself being pretty torn about it and figured that if I didn't do it I'd likely regret not checking it out. 3) I made a promise to myself back in August before even arriving at Duke that I was going to be open minded about opportunities on campus and that I was going to take advantage of everything in front of me. In light of this vow to myself, not rushing simply based on stereotypical sorority stories or because I never thought I would seemed to be close minded and arbitrary. I wanted to be able to make an educated decision about greek life and my college experience. 4) Everyone says Duke sororities are different, in part because they don't live together. Ultimately, I completed rounds one and two before dropping out. Dropping out was a good decision, but so was rushing.
Since then, classes have started. I'm taking a required freshman writing course, second semester calculus, the second economics course (intermediate microeconomics) and history of modern philosophy. I'll dedicate a later post to detailing the courses, professors, materials, etc. I have the *pleasure* of having classes at 8:45am four days a week...and an actual pleasure of having Thursdays off.
Duke Women's Basketball has had another marquee victory over ACC rival Maryland and we currently find ourselves ranked fourth in the AP Poll with only one loss on the season.
While on the topic of Duke Basketball, our men's team has put on some nice spectacles. I had the fortune of watching Stephen Curry of Davidson in person and also a victory over Georgetown. We are currently second with only one loss on the season. K-ville is set up and if you're lucky you're staying warm while camping outside of Cameron for 5 weeks just to get in to the Duke-UNC game (look out for another post dedicated to k-ville).
Last but not least, I will be leaving for our nation's capital in less than two hours. OSAF (office of student affairs something or other) is chartering a bus to DC for just $20/student. It's a midnight to midnight turn around trip which will allow me to spend my day on the mall and at the parade to celebrate our newest president's inauguration! Definitely details on my trip complete with pictures following my safe return home.
All in all, I hope this post finds you doing well and that your New Year is off to a fabulous start. Things here are busy busy busy but you know I wouldn't want it any other way!
In light of MLK day, I'll conclude this post with two quotes by none other than the Dr. himself:
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"
and pertinent to the current state of events in the middle east
"Peace for Israel means security, and we must stand with all our might to protect its right to exist, its territorial integrity...Peace for Israel means security and that security must be a reality."
Since the last time I wrote I finished my first semester of college. None of it was particularly difficult--at least not the academics--but there is something to be said for making the adjustment and making a seemingly foreign place your home. Since being back, Duke feels a lot less foreign and a lot more like home.
I managed a 3.75 GPA for the semester, of which I'm pretty proud. Juggling basketball, frisbee, class, getting to the gym (if you haven't seen me since I left in August be sure you buy your tickets to the "gun show" coming to Phoenix in May 2009!), Freeman Center and Hillel stuff and just life in general (college kids are supposed to be social creatures, after all!) sometimes proved to be a challenging task, kept me pretty busy and occasionally up past my bedtime (I'll post on this some other time).
Following my only final exam on December 11th, I was with the Duke Women's Basketball team through our game against then-third-ranked Stanford University. For those who don't know or didn't catch it on ESPN...we pulled quite the upset and kicked some Cardinal behinds! I was excited to see "the cameron effect" in action as All American center and 80% free throw shooter Jayne Appel went 4-12 from the line (you're tellin' me!) in just one uncharacteristic stat line from the game.
Upon my return home I spent as much time as I could just soaking it all in. I spent ample time with friends and family just enjoying being back in my conmfort zone. I "painted for peace", went to the ASU-Stanford WBB game with my dad and Barbara, went ice skating, celebrated my birthday, brought in the new year, played lots of "Mexican Train" (its a dominoes game), ran with my cross country teammates, grabbed lunch with some of the women I know from Girls For a Change, enjoyed a Holly family game night, met with my breakfast crew, just to name a few shenanigans...
I arrived back in Durham on January 4th just in time for sorority rush and Duke's home game against Temple. Yes, I know what you're thinking...I was rather surprised myself! Ultimately, I decided to rush because 1) everyone said that you met a lot of people, and with everyone being settled into their respective routines and not quite being comfortable with where I was socially and who I knew on campus, I figured it would be a great way to put myself out there some more. 2) I found myself being pretty torn about it and figured that if I didn't do it I'd likely regret not checking it out. 3) I made a promise to myself back in August before even arriving at Duke that I was going to be open minded about opportunities on campus and that I was going to take advantage of everything in front of me. In light of this vow to myself, not rushing simply based on stereotypical sorority stories or because I never thought I would seemed to be close minded and arbitrary. I wanted to be able to make an educated decision about greek life and my college experience. 4) Everyone says Duke sororities are different, in part because they don't live together. Ultimately, I completed rounds one and two before dropping out. Dropping out was a good decision, but so was rushing.
Since then, classes have started. I'm taking a required freshman writing course, second semester calculus, the second economics course (intermediate microeconomics) and history of modern philosophy. I'll dedicate a later post to detailing the courses, professors, materials, etc. I have the *pleasure* of having classes at 8:45am four days a week...and an actual pleasure of having Thursdays off.
Duke Women's Basketball has had another marquee victory over ACC rival Maryland and we currently find ourselves ranked fourth in the AP Poll with only one loss on the season.
While on the topic of Duke Basketball, our men's team has put on some nice spectacles. I had the fortune of watching Stephen Curry of Davidson in person and also a victory over Georgetown. We are currently second with only one loss on the season. K-ville is set up and if you're lucky you're staying warm while camping outside of Cameron for 5 weeks just to get in to the Duke-UNC game (look out for another post dedicated to k-ville).
Last but not least, I will be leaving for our nation's capital in less than two hours. OSAF (office of student affairs something or other) is chartering a bus to DC for just $20/student. It's a midnight to midnight turn around trip which will allow me to spend my day on the mall and at the parade to celebrate our newest president's inauguration! Definitely details on my trip complete with pictures following my safe return home.
All in all, I hope this post finds you doing well and that your New Year is off to a fabulous start. Things here are busy busy busy but you know I wouldn't want it any other way!
In light of MLK day, I'll conclude this post with two quotes by none other than the Dr. himself:
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"
and pertinent to the current state of events in the middle east
"Peace for Israel means security, and we must stand with all our might to protect its right to exist, its territorial integrity...Peace for Israel means security and that security must be a reality."
Sunday, December 7, 2008
This is What I Do When I Should Be Studying...
Well, a little detour never hurt anybody, right?
Now, tell me that doesn't look like me!
Friday, December 5, 2008
ONE
That is, one paper revision and one exam before I've completed one semester of college. Today was our final day of classes, which is a bit of a relief!
At any rate, it's been a while since I last blogged--and for that, I apologize. Here's the newest from Durham:
1. Check out this article on from ESPN.com by Graham Hays about the Duke Women's Basketball Team: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=ncwexperts The season is underway and we're currently 5-1 after last night's victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes. We have another home game on Sunday against Michigan. We've encountered some obstacles as two of our point guards (including our starting PG) are currently out with injuries, but the team is relentless and continues to work hard.
2. I made a brief visit home over Thanksgiving and had a really wonderful time. Mostly, it was good to see familar faces--I got to catch up with dear friends, laugh a lot, stay up late a lot, and eat delicious home made food...what could be better?
3. Moments ago I informed my mother that I intended to rush. *Imagine the reaction I got!* At Duke, we have deferred rush so that freshmen can adjust to college life before deciding if they want to be in sorority or not. I'm not sure if I'll end up pledging but I'm keeping my options open and am looking forward to meeting new people.
4. I rang the 5pm church bells at Duke's Chapel. My Renaissance music class visited the chapel to get a tour of the bells and to watch them be played (they are played daily at 5pm).
5. I registered for next semester's classes...but I'll save that for another post!
6. The dorm is infested with holiday spirit--Christmas lights in the hallway, in people's rooms, decorations on doors, cookie making parties...you name it! It's quite a jolly place.
That about covers things for now...if you're in town in December for the holidays I'd love to see you while I'm home so shoot me an email and we'll be in touch.
At any rate, it's been a while since I last blogged--and for that, I apologize. Here's the newest from Durham:
1. Check out this article on from ESPN.com by Graham Hays about the Duke Women's Basketball Team: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=ncwexperts The season is underway and we're currently 5-1 after last night's victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes. We have another home game on Sunday against Michigan. We've encountered some obstacles as two of our point guards (including our starting PG) are currently out with injuries, but the team is relentless and continues to work hard.
2. I made a brief visit home over Thanksgiving and had a really wonderful time. Mostly, it was good to see familar faces--I got to catch up with dear friends, laugh a lot, stay up late a lot, and eat delicious home made food...what could be better?
3. Moments ago I informed my mother that I intended to rush. *Imagine the reaction I got!* At Duke, we have deferred rush so that freshmen can adjust to college life before deciding if they want to be in sorority or not. I'm not sure if I'll end up pledging but I'm keeping my options open and am looking forward to meeting new people.
4. I rang the 5pm church bells at Duke's Chapel. My Renaissance music class visited the chapel to get a tour of the bells and to watch them be played (they are played daily at 5pm).
5. I registered for next semester's classes...but I'll save that for another post!
6. The dorm is infested with holiday spirit--Christmas lights in the hallway, in people's rooms, decorations on doors, cookie making parties...you name it! It's quite a jolly place.
That about covers things for now...if you're in town in December for the holidays I'd love to see you while I'm home so shoot me an email and we'll be in touch.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Blue Stained Faces...They're Normal When You're a Duke Student
It's true.
If you see someone walking on the quad and their face is tinted blue, its obvious what they were up to. No questions necessary. Clearly they were at the night before's basketball game.
Here's a curve ball for ya though: If you see people walking around today with a stained blue face, they probably just auditioned for a coke zero commercial.
And before you ask that question which is on the tip of your tongue, just think about it for a minute. Would I, die-hard-sports-fanatic-and-spirited-loud-cheerer, really pass up an opportunity to be a crazed duke fan on a national commercial (and make $150 for it)?
That's what I thought.
If you see someone walking on the quad and their face is tinted blue, its obvious what they were up to. No questions necessary. Clearly they were at the night before's basketball game.
Here's a curve ball for ya though: If you see people walking around today with a stained blue face, they probably just auditioned for a coke zero commercial.
And before you ask that question which is on the tip of your tongue, just think about it for a minute. Would I, die-hard-sports-fanatic-and-spirited-loud-cheerer, really pass up an opportunity to be a crazed duke fan on a national commercial (and make $150 for it)?
That's what I thought.
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