What time is it

What time is it? It’s Christmas of course, but the time or the date? Christmas has turned into a timeless and much needed vacation for me. Since I have arrived home, I have not known the time of day, the day of the week, or the date. Before this year, I have had a mental countdown for Christmas day and the unwrapping of presents. This year, my nineteenth Christmas, my first collegiate Christmas, I have found the true meaning of Christmas. It entails presents, caroling, cool weather, and Santa Claus, but it’s really about hanging out, laughing, giving to, celebrating His birth, and reminiscing with the ones you love. I have always understood the Christian side of Christmas and its meaning, but I am not going to make this blog a pulpit for my religious beliefs. My fraternity, pledge brothers, student organizations, roommate, and female friends have temporarily taken the role of family, but the void of real family during my first semester has been filled by the greatest gift, the true meaning of Christmas.

Of course, my wise parents have known the true meaning for many years, and they wish to share the magical time with their parents. This translates into taking family trips across the state to see my grandparents. I have always enjoyed the company of my grandparents, especially with the Christmas spirit in the air. I love the warm, cozy sanctuary of my grandparents’ abodes. It is unbelievable how much love grandparents can offer to their grandchild in such a short time. After being wrapped up in this type of spirit, one could ask, “What time is it?”

Hoop Dreams

For four years, I have participated in the annual alumni basketball game as one of the varsity players. This fifth year was very different. I sat on the “old guys’’ bench, wore the kickback practice jerseys, dreamed of dominating the “young kids”/previous teammates, enjoyed the camaraderie of fellow “old” teammates, and even struggled to run the floor like a ’74 graduate. Being the youngest alumni, I thought the ‘06ers would be the fittest and most mobile, but my expectations failed me. The “Freshmen Fifteen” has taken its toll on me and my fellow graduates. We could not run, jump, slide, sprint, or even shoot like we did back in the day when we wore the real jerseys. As tradition continued, the old, fat, physically-dominant, skilled, and arthritis-ridden alumni won the game against the current varsity team.

The additional pounds and realization of my lacking physical shape have inspired me to take advantage of the free student recreation center when I return for the spring semester. My hands also enjoyed and partially remembered the same-old texture of the leather basketball. This has motivated me to participate on my fraternity’s intramural basketball team.

The following night the varsity team played one of our rivals for an exciting regular season match up. A lot of my fellow graduates, all of my senior basketball teammates, and even a few of our former cheerleaders returned to watch the game. One of my fellow graduates who cheered for my team said it was not natural to be inactive in the stands, and I agreed with her. I wanted to be on the court just as much as she wanted to be with the current squad. We concurred that our old energies, experiences, and athletic excitement have transferred to our respective colleges. I will forever be a fan of my alma mater and will be that much better of a collegiate fan because of it.

Surprise

“Surprise!” I yelled, as I arrived home one day earlier than my family anticipated. During exam week I thought I would remain on campus the night of my last exam for much needed rest and drive home the following morning. But, my exam let out earlier than expected, and I was able to get on the road that afternoon. There was very little activity on the last day of exams, and I felt the urge to return home. Therefore, my family received the best early Christmas present, me.

The drive was very pleasant, despite my tired body’s complaints. I was ecstatic to be finished with exams and euphoric to return home. I gently released exam anger on the accelerator pedal while traveling in the huge wolf packs leaving campus for the holidays. The rival’s car flags and stickers still have that awful piercing effect a month after the big game. During the daylight of my homecoming drive, I was barraged with an assortment of autumn shades. The autumn bronze and hunter orange covered the trucks and roadside of my return trail through the back roads. When the sun began to set during my home-bound voyage, the Christmas light competitions entertained my exam-combated eyes. The trees have begun their transformation into their winter mode, as I have finished my first semester of freshmen transitions.

Four weeks will be a long break at home. I love home and I do not mean to gripe about it, but it’s a different pace of life here than my accustomed high-speed, college schedule. As of right now I do not have many plans for the break. I will surely reconnect with fellow graduates and friends during the break. I might do some odd jobs to pick up some extra spending money. I know my parents have planned to visit their parents. In any of that free time, I will be able to reflect and write articles, scholarship essays, and personal musings. And the best part of the holiday break, I will have the opportunity to kick back and relax with my family.

Stress Week

Exam week. Students are extremely motivated and focused despite the high levels of stress. This is the most focused I have ever seen the campus. At all hours of the day and night, the libraries and study rooms are constantly filled. Social activities are at a complete standstill. While walking to and from the library with backpacks, everybody is tense. They all know the importance of this last, point-loaded test. Stress can be felt in the step, breath, and voice of every student.

During my visit to the library, I found eight friends and one chair in the first room I entered. Because of the constant commotion in the library, I have resolved to study in my residence hall’s study rooms. With the 24-hour quiet time in effect at all residence halls, the residence halls are comfortable study environments. But, my dorm offers too many distractions. Everybody has found his individual form of stress relaxation techniques. My personal favorites are a quick 30-minute jog, hot shower, back massages, or even an addicting computer card game. I am proud to see everyone’s schedules completely rearranged and fully focused on studying studying, but substances such as caffeine are playing major roles.

I have even begun carrying around my mother’s parting gift of an insulated coffee cup, which is now filled with extra strong Folgers. My sleeping patterns are currently reduced, but I will surely catch up on the sleep over the break. As early as last week, when their exams were finished, students had begun flocking away from campus. I  would like to share more stories of my first collegiate exams, but I feel my time would be better spent preparing for my last few exams.

Roommates...

“My roommate and his hatred of the world just about made me leave the university,” my older friend told me as he advised me on the application. And the question remained, do I want to put a friend’s name down on the housing application preferred roommate line? This was not the only horror story looming over my decision. I decided after a lot of consideration to room with a friend since I would have the benefit of knowing my roommate beforehand and not getting an awful potluck roommate.

We have survived a whole semester together and have not made a single death threat, yet. He is a great guy, and I have enjoyed his companionship in our small abode. It is sad to say that students have moved out or been kicked off their resident halls already. These students, and a lot of others, are currently searching for houses or apartments to move to next year. A few of my freshmen friends will remain on campus to continue to meet housing scholarship requirements. There are many benefits to staying on campus, such as scholarship packets, getting connected, meeting other freshmen, guidance of Resident Advisors, parent-paid expenses, etc. Even though it was a memorable experience, I am desperately searching for next year’s apartment before they are all taken.

I have some advice to offer about rooming with a stranger. Make a contract before the semester begins. The blank contract provided by my RA sparked the initial conversations for our ground rules. Communication is key. Otherwise the small issues will build and eventually burst into one huge Mount Helen scale eruption. The tensions will be even higher within the close combines of an undersized dorm room. You must be considerate of each other’s space and schedules. Respect must be woven through all actions. As childish as it might be, the biggest one of all is the Golden Rule. And remember, most importantly, have fun-- you are in college.

There are many factors involved in choosing a roommate and these are a few that I weighed in my decision. As minuscule as they may be, I did consider these questions. Goals? Attitude? Music choice? Temperature preference? Messy? Lazy? Night-owl? Stuck up? Considerate? Respectful? Night-time visitors/shackers? Annoying habits? Schedule? Sharing? Smoker?

Even if you are paired with a bad roommate, you will most certainly have a different schedule and won’t see much of your roommate. Every campus is big enough in population or physically to avoid someone if necessary, and one can even request a roommate change. I think it was a good decision for me to room with a high school friend. We have gotten along well and zestfully shared in our first-year experience.

Dead Week

Ghastly ghouls, zombies, coffins, funeral homes, graveyards, and Halloween all came to mind when I first heard a reference to “Dead Week.” My most logical guess was a reference to the condition of students during exam week. I was close but would not have won the big prize at the county fair. Dead Week is actually official jargon used by the university to describe the week before Exam Week. During Dead Week, professors are not allowed to give assignments or tests. Although it is meant for review, half of my professors are covering new material. Even though I am not completely free, I am grateful for the opportunity and free time to continue studying for my exams. 

Exams can be very stressful. This is especially compounded, when the exams count for 25 percent to 40 percent of your final grade. My classes have only had three to four tests. Therefore, exams are crucial. A lot of the test material was not mentioned in class. This is very different from high school. You have to be personally motivated in order to earn a quality grade. Time management skills are particularly critical for success on exams. The academic schedule might be dead, but the social activities continue to roll and once again time management plays a factor.

One of my favorite parts of December is the holiday cheer and Christmas spirit in the air. It is especially prevalent on campus within the youthful and energetic student population. From the caroling to luminaries on the Quad, student groups have organized many holiday activities. The marching band has transferred from the fight song to Christmas jingles. The orchestra and singing groups have performed numerous benefit concerts. Residence halls and colleges have offered Christmas parties and exam relaxation sessions. All of these activities are preparing me for my next home trip to celebrate with my family.