Snow and Pictures!

Hi!
        It's snowing!  Not very much, but it's better than the insubstantial flurries we've been getting lately.  Here are some pictures I took with my phone of campus.  My friends Gill and Bryan are the featured frolickers.

Gill and Bryan on Morgan Field.  You can just barely see my building, Adams in the far left background.

View from the 3rd floor

        I hope everyone is starting to get into the Christmas spirit!  I know Dickinson has.  My neighbors made everyone in my hallway stockings and taped them to the hallway outside of our rooms and Ali, my roommate, and I put up lights in our room.

My masterpiece! 

My room!  A little messy, I know, but it's finals week, things get crazy.

Anyways, I hope you are all well, I really can NOT wait to go home and have a nice long break!  I'll see you in 5 days! 

Second Semester Schedule

After a significant amount of stress I've finalized my schedule for next semester.  In the true spirit of a liberal arts college, it covers a broad range of topics, and I will admit not all of them were my first choice but I think they will be interesting.

Classes:
Hinduism
French 116
Middle Eastern American Communities (MEAC)
Southern Women Writers (SWW)


                      Monday        Tuesday        Wednesday       Thursday        Friday
8:30-9:20      Hinduism                            Hinduism                              Hindusim

9:30-10:20

10:30-11:20  French           French           French             French           French

11:30-12:20

12:30-1:20    MEAC                                    MEAC                                    MEAC

1:20-2:45      SWW                                                               SWW

STRESS and Ugly Sweaters

These next two weeks are going to be extremely demanding for me.  I'm going to be productive and update you guys at the same time by making my to-do list here.

Week 1
- Finish French homework by Monday night
- finish psych homework by class on tuesday
- bio reading by wednesday
- bio lab write up and seminar final paper due friday
- gym at least 3 times 
- catching on tuesday
- participate in psych study on wednesday
weekend:
- ugly sweater party #1
- watch swim meet

Week 2
- bio project due Monday  
- psych final exam tuesday
- studystudystudy
- gym 3 times
weekend:
- ugly sweater party #2

Dec 13 - French Final
Dec 15 - Bio Final

Dec 17 - HOME

In conclusion:
I will be sleeping for approximately 2 days straight when I get home.

It was great seeing everyone this past week! I had a lot of fun being home, the only downside was that it came and went so quickly.  The only thing getting me through these next two weeks is the knowledge that I get over a month of school off in the near future.

PS.  For those of you who don't know - an ugly sweater party is a holiday themed party where people wear intentionally ugly or gaudy sweaters.  It's what all the cool college kids are doing nowadays  ;)

The Night of the Fire Alarm.

12:04 - first fire alarm

12:25 - second fire alarm

1:20 - third fire alarm


this makes 11.

It's a Brand New Day

       It's really beginning to feel like fall now, the leaves are changing colors, it's getting colder and the Redskins are... well, they're the Redskins.  It was wonderful coming home and seeing everyone.  It's good to see that not much has changed except for a few haircuts.  It felt short though, I was only really home for 3 days, during which I tried to cram sleep, catching up with friends, seeing family, shopping, getting a haircut, getting my nails done, and eating at places I missed.  I didn't get to do all of the things on that list.  I did however do a lot and in the end barely saw my parents or Drew.  I did spend enough with Drew for him to tell me that he now takes showers every day; at least something I nagged him about got through.  I can't wait for Thanksgiving!
       Being back at school is quite nice.  I was more excited than I had anticipated to get back and see my new friends.  Mid-terms have come and gone, I only had one so it wasn't a very stressful time, and I'm already starting to think about classes for next semester.  Along with my usual worries I've been putting a lot of thought and effort into being healthier.  My softball coach is big on fitness and essentially said that he favors physical condition over talent, which means I need to put a lot more focus on what I eat and how much I work out.  I also just feel like this is the best possible time for me to get as healthy as I can; I'm young, I have the resources, and I genuinely want to feel better about myself.  I feel like I've been trying to "get in shape" for years but something was missing.  At this point in time I feel more intrinsically motivated than I ever have to really commit to this.      
      I think that's about it.  I know people are still trying to figure out the comment section, but until then send me an email!  Love you all!

Number of days until Thanksgiving break: 33
Number of desserts I've eaten since being back: 0

Not Sleeping

       So, part of being a college student is thinking about a major.  I don't have to declare until the end of next year but I'm fairly certain that I want to major in psych.  Apparently a lot of people say that they want to major in psych and end up changing their minds when it turns out to be something much different than they expected.  While I know a lot can change, I am still fairly confident that psych is something I will remain interested in.  People have different interests, something they are intrinsically drawn to, that lead them to have a predisposition for certain fields.  English majors like literature, biology majors like organisms and how they work, math majors like... math.  I like people.  Plain and simple.  More specifically I like people's minds and I want to understand them better.
       If there is one thing I have taken away from my high school experience and life in general, it is that all people, every single person, is crazy in their own respect.  Now I don't mean crazy in a clinical sense, I just mean weird, different or quirky.  We have very specific things that make us happy, sad, angry, relaxed, anxious or content.  I think this craziness is extremely interesting, and the weirdest part is that even though everyone seems so unique, we secretly aren't.  There are numerous, universal behaviors that all humans exhibit, no matter their culture, age or gender.  This is what I'm learning about in my cross-cultural psychology class.  It takes place once a week on Tuesday for 3 HOURS.  It's a bit of marathon of a class but I actually like it.  Or at least I like the material.
       One of the concepts we've been learning about is the principle of learned helplessness.  It shows the relationship between how a person believes they can perform and their actual performance.  For example, let's hypothetically say I believe I am terrible at math because my nasty math teacher told me I stink at it and I didn't do very well on my last math test, even though it was calculus and something that over half the world will never ever need to know anyways. (Bias? What bias?)  This means I will do more poorly on a math test than I am actually capable of doing.  Instead of naturally being bad at math I learned that I was bad at it and my capabilities reflect that.  So when I underachieve on math tests it is not because I just don't get it, it is because I've learned to give up on it since I think "I'm bad at math".  This is, in my opinion, a major flaw in the human psyche and while I am not going to go on a campaign to stop learned helplessness I do think that if more people knew about it they could really help themselves and others.
       Learned helplessness is something that can be considered a universal trait of human beings.  We have all had experiences with it before and so have the French and the Eskimos and the Aboriginals.  There are so many other phenomena that work the same way; if people realized that we all suffer from the same downfalls I think we'd live in a better place.  And that's why I like psychology.

Days at school: 38
Number of times I cursed the rain today: alot.

I Can't Think of Good Titles.

"It's not the years in your life but the life in your years that count" 
- Fortune Cookie

Good Morning,
I am very, very excited for this weekend because my parents are coming to campus for a softball thing.  I miss them a lot, more than I expected, and I can't wait to have them here.  On Saturday I'm going to Shippensburg College with the softball team for a "play day"which is basically a double header.  It's the only time we're allowed to play another team during the fall season; it should be a good way for me to gauge what level other teams are on and how good we are compared to them.  Afterwards all the girls and their families are getting dinner somewhere out here, as per tradition.
In other news, well, not much is new.  Last week was particularly stressful because of softball and school work.  I had three practices in a row and then I had to work a clinic for local girls on saturday right after practice.  I also had a bio exam and a paper due Friday.  Let's just say I was pretty wiped out by Saturday night.  This week has started slowly, it rained all day Monday so I had the opportunity to whip out my new rain boots.  I watched Glee last night with some friends, for those of you who watch it: what the heck!? Weird stuff.  Next week looks amazing though.
I think that's about it, this is just a quick update.  I love and miss you guys! I'm really looking forward to coming home for fall break.

- Corinne

Days at school: 36
Days until fall break: 16

Update # 2

Hello again!

Big thanks to everyone who read my last post, it makes me so happy that I got such a great response!
    
       I've been at school for about a month now and things are ramping up a bit.  I'm fast approaching my first tests in Biology and French, I have a paper due on Friday for my freshman seminar, and I get assigned about 200 pages of reading each week for my Psychology class.  Luckily, I'm really enjoying my classes so the work doesn't seem so bad.  One of the biggest differences between high school and college that I've noticed so far is that the homework requires a lot more from me.  In high school the homework was mindless and for the most part easy to complete in an hour or so.  Even though I'm only taking 4 classes instead of 7, I have to put a lot of thought into what I'm doing which takes me much more time and effort.  This wasn't particularly surprising just something I have to get used to.

In sports related news: 

       I went to our first home football game of the season last Friday.  Dickinson fought hard but lost to rivals Franklin and Marshall.  Regardless of the loss I had a good time and it was technically my first opportunity to show some school spirit.  As far as softball goes things are good.  I've mostly been playing right field which is... new, to say the least.  I'm okay with it though, I've been playing well at practice.  I don't have any idea how permanent this will be, as of now all I can do is speculate.  We've already had a couple recruits visit the school and watch practice which is very strange for me because I'm still getting used to the team myself.  I like my teammates and the coaching staff is very knowledgable and friendly.  Every practice we have to run for 30 min and on Mondays we are timed in the 2 mile.  On Monday I beat my time by a minute and a half which not only felt amazing but I don't have to run anymore.
       It's homecoming week back home which makes me a little nostalgic. Even though I'm having a blast here I still miss my friends from high school.  I miss being totally comfortable with everyone I hang out with and having them know me without me having to explain myself and my back story.  Don't get me wrong, it's very refreshing to meet new people and I've learned a lot, I just miss my friends from home sometimes.  Luckily I have Facebook and Skype so I stay very connected.
       I think that's about it for now.  I was thinking that it would be nice if people asked me questions or to talk about something specific in my next post, just so this thing isn't so one sided.  If you can't figure out how to comment on the blog emailing me works just fine.  I love and miss you all!

- Corinne

Days at school: 30
Fire alarms: 6


  

Hello!

      I have absolutely no idea where to start with this, I've always been intimidated by a blank slate.  I suppose I should begin by explaining what I'm doing here for those of you who are not so Internet savvy.  This is a blog, sort of like a personal website, where I can blog (write) about whatever I feel like, and anyone who's interested can read it.  My intention for starting this blog is for everyone back home to be able keep up with what I'm doing.  I've felt a bit of guilt lately for not communicating with my family when I know that they are my biggest supporters and deserve to know how I am.  So here we are.  Get ready for a major catch up session.
     I love college.  I love the people, I love my classes, I love everything.  By about the second day of school I was already referring to my dorm room as "home" which definitely confused people whenever I mentioned going "home".  NO, I wasn't homesick, I just wanted to go back to my room.  I've made friends with a lot of people who live in my building; in general people hang out with their floor mates more than anyone else.  I'm really starting to like my room, I've decorated it with pictures and posters and whatever else I can find that will cover the white cinder block walls.  It really does feel like MY room now.
       What else?  I've been fighting two obstacles since arriving at Dickinson.  The first is that I am always hungry.  The cafeteria is open for lunch? Yeah, I'll go, the food's there so I should go eat it right?  4:30 pm?  I'm starving.  12 am?  Time for fourth meal.  2 am?  Time for fifth meal.  The freshman 15 is absolutely NOT a myth, although, according to one of my professors it's actually more like the freshman 5.  The second obstacle is that after about 7pm it is physically impossible to get any work done.  People are always doing something at all hours of the night, whether it's just hanging out, watching a movie, or, surprise surprise, getting something to eat.  I think both of these will subside after the newness of college wears out but up until this point school has just been a blur of classes, socializing and eating.
        And now for some bullet points of other interesting facts:

• I wrote and turned in my first serious college paper and received a B.  Not bad! 
• I've had a few softball practices, things are going well with that.  I'll write more about it when there's more to say. 
• The campus is beautiful.  In fact I'm sitting outside on the lawn right now. 
• Speaking of the campus, there are SO MANY SQUIRRELS HERE!  Much more than in Bethesda.  They even had to send us an email about it.
• The green initiative Dickinson is so proud of is actually not as prominent as I imagined.  I really haven't thought much about being greener and no one has told me to.
• I got food poisoning last Thursday because of some sushi I ate for dinner, so I had my first sick-at-college experience.  It wasn't so bad, my roommate was really sweet and took care of me.
• Finally, my building, Adams, is notorious for fire alarms.  We've already had 2 go off, once today at around 2pm and another a couple weeks ago at 4:30 AM!  Apparently they're very sensitive.

        I think that's enough for now, I'm going to try and update this once weekly or every two weeks at the least.   I love and miss everyone from home!  I'll be back for fall break Oct. 15-20.

Days I've been at school: 22
Care packages recieved: 4 (thanks everyone!)
* this is something that will be a constant on my blogs, I'll keep the days I've been here going and change the second one as I see fit.