Eureka!

Waking up early (before 10:00) is a surprisingly good way to make the day seem longer and more productive. That, and having a long term goal in mind for the end of the summer. Yesterday I went to the book store to pick up a few books on web design and music theory/DJ'ing. Since R/C helicopters are expensive and not worth the time (you can't make any money flying R/C copters), I have decided to further hone the skills involved in my DJ business so that I'll be an even greater force in the fall when I go back. While the website that I designed earlier is ok, I would like to be able to make it awesome.  Also, I'm looking to take some web design courses at school and if I work on it this summer I'll already have a pretty good foundation which makes for an easy A.

As for the music theory book, one of the things that a DJ has to be able to do nowadays besides rocking parties is remixing. Being able to remix well is a definite advantage in the DJ world and something that sets you apart from everyone else. Without a fairly solid understanding of music theory, remixing is close to impossible. Which is why I bought the book. I played piano back in high school so I have a fair grasp on it already but I only know how to read music. I'm in the dark as to how it is created. Luckily that is something that I aim to fix by the end of the summer.

-theFroshPrince

Advanced Registration

I still haven't finished registering for my classes this semester. I've changed my schedule about 100 times since registration first started up and I really can't decide on what I want to take. On top of that, we have to declare our major at the end of the semester while continuing to fulfill all of the sector requirements (Sector requirements are general requirement classes that you have to take in order to graduate. For example, Psychology, which fulfills the natural science requirement). I'm still not sure of what I want to major in yet and there are a lot of classes that I want to take that don't count towards anything. One thing that I am sure about, however, is that whatever classes I take, I'm going to be sure that I can make an A in them. Well not necessarily an A, but at least a B+. I have found that when I take courses that really interest me, I tend to do well in them. And since graduate schools don't look at the courses you take (unlike high school) but rather your test scores and GPA, I might as well take classes that pique my interest that I'll do well in.

I'm going to try this again.

-theFroshPrince

I’m Bored…In a Good Way

While being back home with my friends and family and bed is all well and good, I kind of miss always having something to do at night. Don't get me wrong, I definitely do not want to be back at school right now. However, where I live there isn't much to do. Basically the format for the past few days has been:

Around 10:00 AM: Wake Up

10:00 AM-8:00 PM: Watch TV, check facebook, eat junk food, practice mixing

8:00 PM: Call my friends and try to find something to do

8:02 PM: Wait for a while until a plan formulates

10:00 PM:  Go out for a little bit and hang out

2:00 AM: Come home and sleep

As much as I love lounging around the house and doing nothing, I need some excitement in my summer! I'm thinking that maybe I should pick up another hobby or something. Maybe I'll try building R/C helicopters because I've always wanted to fly one. Either that or I could spend a day coming up with stuff for us to do at night so that I'm not bored anymore.

But here's the kicker. While either of those options would provide a cure to my boredom, they both require effort that I'm too lazy to put forth at the moment.

It's a vicious cycle.

-theFroshPrince

The Next Generation

**Caution: The Following May Not Make Much Sense. I'm Trying To Work On Better Articulating My Thoughts.***

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending my old high school's graduation. I must say that it was weird seeing it from the perspective of someone who had already graduated.

This was mostly because I realized that the graduation ceremony itself isn't as important as everyone else makes it out to be. At least that's my opinion. I see graduation as something that is more so for the parents than the students. To be honest, I think that students could care less (I know that that was a pretty strong statement, so feel free to comment if you don't agree).

Of course it's nice to put on your cap and gown and march down the stage and everything, but you don't really feel any different afterward. I'm pretty sure that I would be in the same emotional state that I was in after graduation if they had just handed me my diploma on the last day of school instead.

At the same time, however, graduating from high school is a pretty big deal for a lot of people and the pomp and ceremony that surrounds that occasion is a good way of symbolizing its significance. I think that part of the reason that I feel so indifferent towards high school graduation is that to me graduating high school wasn't that big a deal either. I think that for me, graduating high school was pretty much the same as graduating 8^th grade…

Let me explain.

I learned a lot in middle school but what I did there (at least grade-wise) had no effect on high school. In high school my grades mattered but only because I needed them to get into a good college. Obviously the knowledge, study habits, etc. that I learned in high school are a valuable asset to me in college, but beyond college they don't really count for anything. It's almost as if life were a cruise ship. In high school you are stuck in your cabin. Once you graduate you get to go explore the rest of the ship with all of its fun and festivity. And finally, once you graduate college (and grad school if you so choose, I'm pretty sure that I will) you get thrown off of the ship and you're stuck on your own to fend for yourself out in the ocean.

I think what I'm trying to get at is this: The jump from high school to college seems like a big one but it's nothing compared to when we'll have to venture out into the real world. Because of this, graduating high school isn't that big a deal in comparison to, say, graduating college.

That being said, I'm still bopping around the cruise ship at the moment and I've got a while before I have to take the plunge.

Hopefully that day will be a bit more powerful.

-theFroshPrince

The Good Life

Life at home is fantastic. I never thought that I would miss the South but I forgot just how nice it is down here, especially the weather. Since I've been home the temperature has remained at a steady 85 degrees and the sun has been out all week. Of course it's nice to eat real food again, and also to sleep in my own bed. Most of my friends are back from school and I've been hanging out with them for the past few days. It's surprisingly difficult to put into words how good it feels to be home again. And the best part is that my vacation lasts for about 3 and a half months! That means 3 and a half months of no tests, reading, or homework. Also, I no longer have the feeling that something is looming which feels great. All that I have to do now is relax.

And work at my dad's office, but I'm looking forward to that because it's going to be fun.

-theFroshPrince

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen…

Freshman year is officially over. All of my exams are finished and my room is in the condition that it was in at the beginning of the year. I've said goodbye to all of my neighbors, packed all of my stuff, and turned in my keys. Now I'm in the airport waiting on my plane (which luckily) is delayed. I say that because these last few hours have been pretty frantic.

I took my exam at noon and right after that I had to finish packing my stuff. That wouldn't have been so bad had it not been for the fact that I also had to finish sending all of my DJ equipment home. I went to the FedEx store yesterday but they didn't have a box big enough to fit my turntables. The guy told me that he didn't know when they would be getting new boxes which meant that I would have to go to the big FedEx place downtown. It was closed yesterday so I had to go today after my exam.

Unfortunately it was raining really hard today and my cab driver was a jerk. I asked him to drop me off at the FedEx but instead he dropped me off diagonally across the street from the FedEx (it was a four lane street) in the pouring rain with two 40 pound turntable cases and a 68 pound, poorly taped cardboard box of electronics. I ended up taking shelter under a bus stand. Fortunately, there was a woman waiting on the bus who was able to watch my giant box while I ran my cases across the street into the FedEx store. Then I had to sprint back across the street to the bus stand and back to FedEx carrying my 68 pound box in the pouring rain. Once inside, it took the guy about 30 minutes to get everything wrapped and processed. Then I caught a cab back to school and finished packing.

When I got to the airport I had a piece of luggage that was overweight so I had to rearrange stuff so that I didn't get charged. That took a while as well. I finally got it done though and from there on it was smooth sailing.

And now I'm sitting here, ready to start summer. It's going to be a good one :-)

-theFroshPrince

One More for the Gipper

So my Psychology exam is officially done. I'm feeling pretty confident but I'm not getting my hopes up either. I need at least a B on this test to salvage a B in the class so I'm a little uneasy. But it's over now and all that I can do is wait.

But on a somewhat lighter note, something came up that forced me to bump my move-out date up to Monday instead of Tuesday. While that means that I get to come home one day earlier, it also means that I have to be packed one day earlier. In addition, I also have to study for Legal Studies which happens to be on the same day (and is also the last exam of the year!). How I'm going to get both of these feats accomplished by this new deadline is going to be interesting but I'm confident in my ability to roll with changes.

Tonight my new housemates and I are going to take all of our stuff to the house. I haven't boxed it all yet so I'm going to go do that now.

-theFroshPrince

The End of the Tunnel

As weird as it seems, I'm closing in on the end of the year. I only have two more exams and then it's summer. My first exam is on Thursday and some of my neighbors are already studying for it. I have decided that I need some relaxation time so I am going to put off studying for a bit. I know that there is a good chance that this decision will come back to bite me but I think that I study best under pressure. On top of that it's not really that much material so I should be fine. I don't need to study for Legal Studies until the weekend because I know most of it already.  On top of all of that I'm going to have to start packing soon. Definitely not looking forward to that. Luckily, the landlord of the house that I'm moving into next semester is letting me store stuff in the basement. I just have to figure out what I'm going to leave here and what I'm going to take home.

I think I've said this before but in case I didn't, I hate packing.

-theFroshPrince.

Great Success!

After 3 straight nights of DJ'ing formals, I'm finally done. The first gig was amazing. It was in this giant hotel ballroom and there were about 100 to 150 people. I was situated on a big stage above the dance floor and I could see everyone. I got a lot of compliments which is always nice and I even got one from the security guard as I was leaving which pretty much made my night. The next night wasn't as good as the first but nevertheless it was pretty fun. Part of that is because it was at a swanky restaurant and I got to eat for free :-) The last formal was at a smaller hotel with a smaller frat. The crowd there was alright but a lot of them were way too drunk to have any idea what was going on. All in all it was a pretty fun time though. I definitely don't have any complaints.

Now that all of that is over, it's time to buckle down and get ready for these last two exams. I have one in Psychology and the other in Legal Studies. I'm pretty confident about Legal Studies but Psychology scares me. We'll see how they go.

-theFroshPrince