Wednesday, August 21, 2013

My roommate


My crazy roommate, Marisa!

Donating blood



The American Red Cross came to campus today. I was going to donate and post a pic of me donating, but I gave just under 5 weeks ago and my iron is still replenishing. So I took a pic of others donating. Just a post on the event and to support those who donate blood! 

Half court shot and free semester tuition



This was a guy this year. Marisa and I saw this happen with our own eyes! It was amazing! He had to win at musical chairs for that chance. He took three shots, one way too short, one nearly hitting the basket, and one hitting the rim, before he made it! He is officially the first person in BSU history to score the freshman half court shot and win a free semester's tuition! And he doesn't even play on the basketball team (or planning to)! He is a freshman in school for a Sales and Marketing major.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

8/20/13

So, a lot has happened since I have arrived. Where to start?

Lets start with Accelerate! I will be a bit vague with this, only telling the basic info, so bare with me.












This is my Accelerate group. We did a lot of adventures and had lots of fun getting to know each other. It was nice getting a head start on meeting new people. The variety of people here was amazing as well. No one was alike. It was a great group lead by an awesome leader (Zach Shelley, front row white shirt). I would recommend this program to everyone going off to college!


















(our accelerate group hanging out. Zach found an unused wheelchair and was driving around in it!)


While at Accelerate, we met several inspirational speakers. one of which was a quadriplegic named Kyle Maynard. He was the author of the book "No Excuses," with the story of him growing up in his condition. He later went on to became the first man to crawl on his own to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. After an awesome talk, I got a pic with him!

















After Accelerate, I went to Walmart to buy some things I still needed and was greeted by Wally-world in an awesome way!













And after a fun time of playing capture the flag- nerf style, I went and splashed my feet in frog baby's pond, which is a tradition!

















Thanks to my brother, Jake, I found myself a church called Revolution. The service was amazing and I enjoyed their lessons. Afterwords, we had a picnic and I got into a small group.

Now I am in classes. The first day was easy in finding my classes, but today (day two) did not go as smoothly trying to find the classes. I would suggest everyone finding their classes before school starts, that way they don't get lost like I did! 

Overall, I have had an eventful week and a half, and I can't believe how fast it has gone by. I have made many friends, gone to every event I could, found clubs to join, and even got an interview for the job I really wanted, which has a good chance of being mine! I got to say, though, I miss my baby-girl Sandie (my dog). I need my fluffy puppy to cuddle with. 

I am also already getting tired of eating out. I have been craving my parent's home cooking for a few days now (especially Mom's grilled t-bone steaks... Mmmmm....)

Anyway, long update is long...
So until next time, PEACE OUT!!


Thank you for visiting my blog!
Until next time,
Nobbe~



Sunday, August 4, 2013

A week away...

... until I move in to my college!
That's right! Just one more week until I head out of my family's home and into a dorm!

I am moving in early to college due to me signing up for a program called "Accelerate." In doing so, I will get to know my college better before all hell breaks loose of the official move-in day for everyone else. We are to take tours, do activities, explore, and have fun during these few days before everyone else comes.

In turn, all who go to Accelerate have to help others in move-in day as well as helping out as a volunteer during certain events, if need be.

It will also help in the aspect that I won't be climbing on top of my roommate, Marisa, to unpack. Turns out, though, she may be a day or two later than most due to being out of state for something. So I will be able to unpack and get situated a whole week before she comes. Once she comes, I will be settled and able to help focus on helping her unpack and getting comfortable in our new dorm!

The dorm
Just recently an email had been sent to all of us through our BSU email to let us know where our dorms shall be. I had been informed that my requested roommate will, for sure, be my roomie!

On the downside, our dorm is in the place where the rooms are in the odd "Z" shape, making it more of a challenge to situate/fit into it. Also, our building does not have a food court built in as Lafallete (where I had hoped to be placed). Therefore, we must go outside, to another building, just to get our meals, not matter how bad the weather. Good thing I packed an umbrella! I have a feeling I'll need it!

Yet, even with those not-so-good points to the dorm, I still couldn't be more excited! I'm still about to go into the four years of my life that all adults claim to be the best years of their lives! I am nercited (nervous and excited)! I'm feeling th wave of fear of facing the unknown, going off on my own, and the fear of if I fail. I'm excited, of course, for almost the exact same reason! Getting to experience something new I have never tried, being able to be on my own, and working towards a job I love, all while getting to have fun! Who wouldn't be pumped up for that?

Packing
 With college just around the corner, my packing has come to the serious nitty-gritty. I am getting down to the clothes and everything else, placing it into a pile in the living room to have it all together for the big day.

I'm am making sure to have fun with it. The loft my dad built has been out in the garage, wet with the blue paint I chose, finally covering up all of those pen writings my brother had left behind from his years of using it in college. I am also painting chalkboard paint onto one section to be able to write messages to myself on it, as well as a bulletin board above it to pin things up! I will be adding some of the quotes I love on it, as well as various things over the course of BSU.

Many of the things I am packing I did not buy, or I bought them very cheap. I went to several garage sales over the summer, collecting things I would need. I don't have to pay for many things: loft, fridge, microwave, etc. This is all thanks to the college hand-me-downs of my big brother, Jake, and my roommate bringing some of the other objects.

Shopping for Supplies
Some of the objects I have been buying I had never expected to need. Luckily, the insight of my brother helped prepare me.
For example;
The Bike Lock and Bike Locker:
 I have a bike lock. I thought that I would just use that one instead of buying a new one. After a quick lecture from my brother, I realized I didn't have the right type. You see, in college, many people are needing money. One of the ways some people use is stealing bikes and selling them for some extra bucks. Now, don't go around thinking every person is a thief. These are just a select group of people. They will take bolt cutters and snap your lock and steal the bike. My brother had lost a bike of his own that way. I learned that not any lock will do in college. The type most recommended is the U-bolt. The U-bolt lock, if you buy the good type, is resistant to most bolt cutters, and some even require a key so no one just solves a code. It's metal it is made of helps discourage thieves due to the difficulty it would take to get it to finally break.
Then there is the bike locker. This is for when you are back at your dorm. It is safer than leaving your bike out all night, to rent a bike locker and keep it in there (though some, if saving money, will take the extra work of bringing to their room every night). I have heard this is a great defense against getting your bike stolen.

So when you are about to shop, get some inside information from experienced college students if the supplies you already own are good enough, and which type of an item you should get.

Freshman Summer Reading
In BSU, as well as many other colleges, they have this summer reading to start everyone on the same step. Once you all read the book they hand you at orientation, you must write an essay of their choosing and submit it before the due date.

As for me, we are reading "Little Princes." It is a book written by a man about his true life story about helping orphaned children during a civil war of another country, and trying to find their parents they were taken from. It is truly inspiring, and I would recommend it to anyone.

Now I am just wrapping up the reading. I have just a few chapters to go. Once I'm finished, I will write my essay, which I only have a set amount of time to write after I start, before August 15th. So wish me luck! and for all you people reading this in the future: Don't procrastinate on this! I am a fast reader and had started right after I got it, yet I'm still not done. This is due to all the busy schedule events of preparing for college along with all the obstacles of everyday life. So don't wait. This is your first work of college, after all. Don't start off bad!

So, with a week to go, I am doing the final work on my preparations.
I will be quite busy (especially with the planning of celebrating my parent's 25th anniversary for the day before I leave). Wish me luck! i will try to stay up to date on here!
And don't forget to message/email me if you have any questions or topics you would like me to cover!

Thank you for visiting my blog!
Until next time,
Nobbe~

Getting Ready

Though college is still a month away, I have already packed most of my things I will need but don't for now. For example:

My List
I have already made myself a list of all things I needed to bring to college. If I was able to go ahead and pack it, I would do so and continue to cross it off of my list with a red marker. For the items that I had, but could not yet pack, I would highlight in yellow for a reminder. I took the remaining items, the stuff I still needed to buy, and wrote them down separately on a different list. I went down and bought the items as soon as I was able so I could pack them. Now I don't have to deal with the back-to-school crowd once the craze hit. All I have left to buy is a new wardrobe as mine is mostly ruined with stains, are too small, or have holes in them. It's better to be prepared early to keep the stress levels down the closer you get.

Communicating with your Future Roommate
Another thing I noticed is that I have to remain in constant contact with the roommate I'm going to be living with. We already sorted out that she was to bring the microwave and I was to bring the mini fridge. We also decided that she would bring the TV if I brought the device to play DVD's on (I'm bringing the PS2 for that).

Also, I have been told several times by innumerable amount of people to start creating a roommate agreement. If you are like me, my mind turns to the silly roommate agreement Sheldon had in the 'Big Bang Theory.' Yet, this is actually a smart idea to have. Though you may think you are a perfect match with your roomie, you should still go ahead and make a roommate agreement, just in case. The agreement is to work like a contract. You work together to form the rules you must set with one another that you deem important to keep the peace. Examples of the topics might include times the lights go out, if people of the opposite gender may enter your room, and so on. Afterwords, both of you are supposed to sign it to show you understand and agree to the contract. If one person starts to fail and refuses on holding up their end of the contract, you may bring it to your RA or other authority to help them obey the rules you set. It can help avoid long fights and help keep the peace and happiness within the room.

We have yet to form this agreement, but we have a month. Hopefully, if all goes well, we should have it done before we move in.

Orientation
Most schools require their freshmen to go to an orientation before they start school in hopes of setting the rules, assigning classes, and providing important information. During orientation, Ball State University randomly places you in a room for the overnight stay. During the first day of orientation is when I met up and decided on my roommate. We later found out that we had also got randomly placed together for the night! It was nice to test out how we would get along.

Thank you for visiting my blog!
Until next time,
Nobbe~