Glorious Apple Day!

Today was Apple Day at Commons, a yearly tradition that is pretty much the pinnacle of heaven in the world of cafeteria dining. Essentially Apple Day is a day to gorge oneself on delectable, fattening, sugary sweets that make their appearance but once a year. I'm talking fancy desserts not the average cookie and cobbler. And, as the name implies, there are plenty of apples which all come from the Apple Hut--a lovely little orchard just outside the city with amazing apples and donuts. If you end up at Beloit be sure to make your parents take you there for Family Weekend, or failing that, your friends' parents. That's my plan for the weekend!

It was also the Off-campus Studies Fair today complete with a billowing tent set up on the lawn in front of Pearsons and presenters for various Beloit and third-party programs. I went during my lunch hour and picked up a bunch of information on studying in India. Since Beloit doesn't offer any campus programs there I will have to check out third-party providers such as the Associated Colleges of the Midwest. I plan to sit down with the director of off-campus studies sometime next week to discuss my options and make my plans since the deadline for going abroad next year is coming up in November.

Last night I attended an informational session in the career center on finding a paid internship that was very helpful. Now I feel like I have found a ton of resources and just have to narrow the search down to companies and organizations I might like to work with. That is certainly a comforting feeling. On to cover letters!

So my parents are coming to visit me tomorrow evening. I am making them soup in my dorm for dinner which means that I have to walk down to Cub Foods tomorrow morning after classes. All I need is a potato, an onion, and some carrots but lord knows there aren't any on campus. Unless I bribe one of the boys in the dish to steal me some from Commons...after all I did work in the dish room all last year. There have to be some employee benefits--or veteran's in my case. Anyway, I am very excited to see the folks again (it has already been five weeks!) and can't wait to show them my weaving. I am getting pretty far along now--almost halfway. And let me tell you, that is a lot of time spent sitting in front of a loom. But it's so much more satisfying than sitting in front of a computer. No offense, my dear prospective students! I am eagerly awaiting your questions in the evening chat sessions. So don't be shy! Ask away.

Tuesday Update

This weekend was really low-key in Beloit. The Mexican consulate was visiting campus for a three-day conference so there was a lot more activity on the academic side of campus than usual for a weekend. I went to the farmer's market Saturday morning with a friend of mine--sort of a weekly tradition. We bought little pumpkins for our dorm rooms and took lots of pictures since it was a beautiful day. Cosmos were still blooming in the little park on State Street which was absolutely gorgeous. There was a mini donut stand this week with lots of little kids lined up to share in the sugary goodness and plenty of people with dogs in tow. It's nice to see pets once in awhile. The thing I miss the most while here on campus is my cat so it's always refreshing to see other people's pets out and about.
Saturday night was a little more exciting. I was watching "Borat" with my friends at the Russian House when a whole brigade of sirens started heading towards campus, which was quite out of the ordinary especially since it appeared to be a caravan of fire engines. Naturally, we decided to join the throngs of gawking students and find out what was up. I was especially curious because the fire engines were all parked in front of my dorm...I was really hoping that Haven wasn't on fire because that would suck, to put it mildly. But luckily it wasn't anything as dramatic as that. It turned out that some student had overloaded one of the washing machines. So let this be a lesson to you prospective students: yes, laundry is expensive but it most certainly is possible to overload the washers so just don't do it!

On a lighter note, this morning I was working on my weaving and completed the first portion of my design, which was terribly thrilling. I love my weaving class so much. It is tons of fun and I found out yesterday that I am free to use the spinning wheel in the weaving studio any time I please. I haven't had access to a spinning wheel for nigh on four years. So I will have my parents bring me some wool when they come for Family and Friends Weekend which begins this Friday. Yay for family and fiber!

Laughin' it up in Admissions

I tell you, SOIs sure know how to live it up. This evening after doing a little emailing, answering some calls, and almost hanging up on our supervisor, my office cohort and I tried out the new admissions chat feature. Soon the rest of you can join us in the glory of chatting about Beloit but first we have to familiarize ourselves with the features so we don't accidentally kick someone out or ban them for life. So naturally we proceeded to have many hilarious, insinuating exchanges that are completely lacking in professionalism and not befitting our station. It seems like the chat feature will be a lot of fun so be sure to check it out when it gets up and running sometime next week! Okay, enough shameless plugs. I'm not sure what to tell everyone that is new and/or exciting in my life since my last update but I'm sure I can pull something together. I am a creative writing major after all...

Let's see. Today I taught my second yoga class and it was just as full as the last session which was very encouraging. I seem to have accessed a previously untapped niche on campus. I'm used to teaching at a small-town recreation center where people sign up for classes and then consistently don't show up so it was refreshing to have more than two or three people present. Last night was the weekly anthropology club meeting and since I consider myself a member, despite my betrayal of the department, I attended it along with some of my friends. This week's meeting we painted terracotta pots and watched an episode of "Taboo." It wasn't completely anthropological, per say, but it was pretty fun and messy. Just thought I'd throw that in there in case anyone is interested in club life on campus...

I had a meeting last night at the career center to have a counselor look over my resume. This is my second review session so I can assure you that my resume is now eye-catching and terribly impressive. I am looking into securing an internship for the summer, hopefully working with a non-profit, and have been utilizing the career center to gain direction and resources for my search. I just have to find some companies I might want to apply to and create a cover letter to send them. Easier said than done of course but I still have plenty of time. Just a little FYI for those of you who don't know--an important part of the Beloit graduation requirements is "experiential education" which usually translates into an internship of some kind related to your intended major. Since I am a creative writing major, anything I decide to do can be construed as writing-related. This means that my search is wide open which has its good points and bad.

This weekend is the sophomore reunion dinner which is a part of the sophomore year initiative that tries to prepare second-year students for the rest of their college years. The dinner will be an opportunity to reunite with former first year initiative classmates and hear about upcoming opportunities and requirements for upperclassmen. I'm excited to meet up with old classmates and see how their lives are going. Odd but true, that first week of being thrown together really does force you to forge relationships, however tenuous. Since I met one of my best friends during FYI this dinner is sure to be pleasant, though just having a free dinner on Sunday is incentive enough to attend.

Tuesday Follies

I held my first morning yoga class of the semester today. It was a greater success than I had anticipated. I reserved the spirituality room on campus for the class, which is absolutely perfect in atmosphere for a yoga class but lacking a bit in the space department. This wouldn't be an issue, I thought, since how many people would really rouse themselves from sleep to attend an 8 AM yoga class? Apparently plenty. There were six students crowded in the room and no space for any others so I would venture to say that morning yoga is a popular item on campus.

After teaching yoga, the day was still young so I spent three hours working on my Robinson Crusoe paper before heading to lunch and my fiction class. I'm almost finished with the paper having weeded out the long rambling sentences and incoherent thoughts. Now I just have to insert the citations. Yay! In creative writing we are reading a first novel by an up-and-coming author named Phil LaMarche. So, to get class discussion going and take advantage of the eautiful sunshine today, our professor sent us outside in groups to find a scene in the book to perform for the class. I was the narrator and always feel a little silly interrupting the characters' dialogue with "he said" or "said he" but those dialogue tags are important to note. On-campus tutoring has started up again as well and so I met my tutee this afternoon at the Campus Community Outreach Center. It seems like we will make a good pair so I'm excited to get to know her better through working on math skills and the like. And by and by my day has slipped away and now I am working in the admissions office updating my blog and waiting for the calls of inquisitive minds seeking news from Beloit...

Gather 'round my friends and I shall tell ye a tale...

Hello everyone! Let me share with you all the wondrous tales of my exciting adventures in Beloit. I can't promise you stories of excess and vice (for that would be unprofessional) but I can regale you with all the wacky adventures, scrapes, and torrid love affairs that comprise the basics of a Beloit education. So here goes...

I went to an English major get-together this afternoon, arriving fashionably late so I wouldn't have to mingle awkwardly and fight my way past hungry students to the complimentary scones and tea. However, I didn't realize there would be a departmental presentation beforehand and therefore had to lounge conspicuously in the doorway (next to my fiction professor, incidentally) and feel like a fire hazard, which I most undoubtedly was. Other than my embarrassment, it was a wonderful gathering chock-full of useful information about the major and literary resources on campus as well as awkward mingling.

I procrastinated for awhile this morning, killing time before my first class by watching "West Side Story" which I had never seen before and hope to never see again (no offense to any fans out there). I was lamenting the string of bad movies I have been getting from Netflix and realized that this only started after I deviated from my Dustin Hoffman film series. Maybe someone is trying to tell me something...

This evening I started my first day of work-study in the admissions office and got to learn the lay of the land and the breadth of my responsibilities as a student outreach intern. Rather daunting but I am up to the challenge!

I can't believe tomorrow is already Friday. Only two classes stand between me and the glory of the weekend! There is a conference about applied anthropology starting tomorrow that I am really excited about. Hopefully there will be some good information on how Beloit can introduce an applied approach in the anthro department. I also hope to find time to make some apple crisp this weekend. I bought apples at the farmer's market last weekend and really should do something with them. It is such lovely, crisp fall weather too, just perfect for apple eatin'. On Saturday I am going to Madison with a friend to attend the World Music Festival. It sounds awesome and I can't wait to hear all the great music. Well, enjoy the weekend everyone! I'll post again soon.