First Week at OSU!

Okay, so now that I’ve finished my first week at OSU, I have a few more thoughts to share!

I’ll preface all of this by saying that I now realize how crazy I sounded a couple of weeks ago, when I was a basket case who was worried about how well I would like it here. The truth is, I don’t like it…I LOVE it here! It is everything I imagined it to be, and more! I am happy here, and I know that I am where I am supposed to be!

Now that I have attended all of my classes, it is fair to say that I that it should be a good semester for me. My observation class went well, and I found out that I will start observing sometime within the next two weeks, but it will more than likely start during the first week of September. Sadly, I won’t be able to give an up-close and personal view of my observations, because we are sworn to an oath of confidentiality. I’m pretty sure that the syllabus for that class may as well have been a small book, because it was 25 pages long, covering every possible aspect of the class, from phone/e-mail etiquette to dress code for our observations. I like my professor, and I am interested to learn from him, as he has many years in education, both in teaching and administration. His varied experience should help to give us better insight into what administrators expect/look for and realistic classroom experience. I can’t wait to see what awaits me!

One of my new favorite places on campus is the library. OSU’s library is quite possibly the most awesome library I have ever been to in my life! I took a tour of it during Welcome Week last week, and they seriously thought of everything when they designed it. Not only are there gads of computers and printers, there are computers designated only for printing something quickly, computers designated for scanning documents in, and printers that you can plug into a laptop to print things off, too! They have tons of study space, both quiet and silent. They even have a built-in café, and food & drinks are allowed everywhere! Oh yeah, and they’re open until 2 AM on most days, and 24/7 during finals week. That’s pretty awesome, if you ask me! I love it!!

I’ve been steadily adjusting to life in my trailer. It is going well so far, and it has improved greatly since Dad and I built a deck last week. It has made my life so much easier, especially when bringing in groceries, school stuff, etc. It makes me happy that there isn’t a huge drop-off by my door anymore, and it is finally halfway safe for all ages! So, building the deck wasn’t all fun and games. Actually, it was hot, heavy, and tiring. While building it, I had my first encounter with a snake, which ended with me violently chopping it in half with a shovel. Okay, so it was a baby-sized snake, but my parents were pretty impressed by my display, because neither of them is fond of snakes. Regardless, at the end of the weekend, thanks to some help from Jeremy, we ended up with an awesome deck! I spent the last few days feeling terribly disconnected from the world, as I had no TV or Internet service. Thankfully, I had a radio & a DVD player, so I didn’t go crazy amid the silence! I also have now dealt with the ordering and installation process of cable/internet. Unfortunately, the Internet installation was unsuccessful due to the large amount of trees which surround my trailer. Thankfully, I can go anywhere on campus and have internet service, so I can keep up with my online schoolwork there. (Hence the library being my new favorite place) I’ll have to figure something out soon enough, but that will work for the time being. The cable installation went much better, and I am now able to watch TV and not feel like I’m living under a rock! Hallelujah!!

I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ll mention it again: During all of my touring experiences before I started classes, every tour guide commented that OSU had the “friendliest campus in the Big XII”. I was dubious about the statement at the time, but, folks, they weren’t lying! Everyone I have encountered is kind, cheerful, and easy to talk to. As you know, I was terrified that I wouldn’t make any friends, but I can now say that I have started making plenty of friends!! Okay, so I haven’t exchanged numbers with anyone or made plans to hang out or anything like that, but it is okay! I mean, it’s only the first week, right? There’s still a long way to go! A few of my friends are from my classes, particularly one girl who has literally all but one class with me. Not only do we share the bulk of our classes, we also share an advisor and a major, so there is a good chance that we’ll end up having more classes together! Hooray! I have a feeling that she is quite similar to me in many more respects, like her attentiveness to her studies, or the fact that we are both band nerds from way back! (She spent the last two years in OSU’s marching band, btw! How awesome is that?!)

So, do you remember me talking about the Catholic student group on campus (St. John’s) ? Well, I have finally made it back to them! You see, I had every intention of going back to Bible study after that one week I went, but then the remainder of my summer pretty much went haywire, and I was either too tired, busy, or stressed to make the time to venture out lakeward to attend. I decided that it would benefit me to find a church of some sort to fulfill my spiritual needs and to (hopefully) meet more people and make friends. I am so glad that I heard about them from a lady at church, because I have had a great week, thanks to everyone there! I went to the student Mass on Wednesday night, which was followed by an ice cream social. By what I am sure was divine intervention, I was reunited with one of my great YAB buddies from way back when! She was sweet enough to introduce me to everyone else, and by the end of the night, I felt like I was at home with them. I met lots of great people there, and I have spent pretty much the rest of the week at various events sponsored by St. John’s! Every time I go, I feel like I talk to someone different, and I am beginning to get better acquainted with everyone! I have started to notice a surprising trend…almost everyone I have talked to is an engineering major, guys and girls alike. Interesting. Needless to say, I am super pumped to see what will await me during the next couple of years there!

Okay, so this is totally unlike me to actually post about this, but I would be remiss if I didn’t comment on one of the biggest improvements from NOC to OSU…the guys! Oh my goodness, I swear that I have seen or talked with some of the nicest, most attractive guys I have ever met! WOW. That’s seriously all I can say! Now that I got that off of my chest, I’ll mention that I DID spent more time studying for my classes than I did studying the guys there…besides, I’m there with the overall goal of getting an M.Ed. degree, not a Mrs. Degree! (Okay, so if it happens that way, I’m obviously not going to be opposed to it happening, I’m just going on the record of saying that that isn’t my only reason for going to OSU :) ) I guess it’ll be interesting to see where that area of my life will go within the next couple of years…who knows, anything can happen!!

One thing that hasn’t happened yet is me finding a new job. I kind of have mixed emotions about it. On one hand, I like having the extra money around, and I don’t feel like a bum. On the other hand, I have a feeling that this semester could end up being terribly busy for me, what with my observations and all, and I don’t know that it would behoove me to start a job while I’m still trying to adjust to life at a new school. Nothing has really opened up to me, and all the places that are publicly hiring seem terribly unappealing to me at this point. After finding myself in a pit of despair about not finding anything yet, I have come to the conclusion that if I am meant to have a job right now, one will present itself to me in some way or another. Thankfully, my family is on board with that plan, and is glad that I quit stressing myself to oblivion about it. I did put in an application for a job at the library, so maybe that’ll pan out. It sure would be nice if it did, but I just can’t let myself worry anymore…it’s all in God’s hands now!

Lastly, I have to talk about campus events. They are also awesome! Having come from NOC, which is by and far a commuter college, sometimes campus events left a little to be desired by way of having a wide variety of people to hang out with. Totally not the case at OSU! I attended my first campus events during Welcome Week when they had a day of events just for transfer students. (In retrospect, I do wish that I would’ve attended more than just those, but it’s fine.) At every event that day, the level of fun only increased! (I also made a couple of friends that night!) This week, there was also the huge back-to-school fun night, called Lights on Stillwater. I’m not sure what I could compare it to, but I guess you could just imagine a few thousand people crammed into the area north of Boone Pickens Stadium, scrambling around to get all the freebies they can! If you are agoraphobic/claustrophobic, or just plain hate crowds of sweaty people, this might not be the event for you…(also, if you have small kids or a large group... it might not be the best option, either.) Many local businesses came out, and pretty much all of them had some sort of freebie/giveaway/coupon/sign-up for us…kind of like Halloween for broke college kids! By the end of the night, I came out of there with a bag full of the following: cups, koozies, ink pens, religious tracts, (lots of religious tracts…I didn’t realize there were that many churches in the area!) coupons for various salons, a pack of oreos, a water bottle, restaurant & shopping guides, food coupons/discounts, and, my personal favorite, a shirt from the free clinic that says “Chlamydia…ain’t nobody got time for that!”. And I bought a box of Samoas from Jeremy’s niece whose Girl Scout troop had a booth there, because who can resist Girl Scout cookies?! There was also a blood drive this week, which I remembered to participate in, mostly so that I don’t have to keep dodging calls from the blood institute. (One of the downsides about having O- blood..) Surprisingly, the whole process only took about an hour, and they even had Hideaway pizza for us afterwards! Awesome!

So, that is a broader view of my first week at OSU, and I can say with no hesitation that I think the next two years could be pretty stinking awesome for me! I can’t wait to see what will happen next! :)