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As Time Treads On

Towards the end of fall quarter, I thought I was doing great, and that college life was going to be a breeze. Little did I know then that I was merely taking easy classes, and fewer units than I thought I was taking. I went into the next quarter thinking that I can handle whatever is going to be thrown in my way and oh was I wrong. For winter quarter, I took up an extra four units, and had both a science and math class back to back from each other. It wasn’t the best idea ever, but using fall quarter as a precedent, I thought nothing about it till I actually had to go out and do the work required for each class. It was a recipe for disaster and I’m still on damage control, but at least I know what not to do. That is one of the reasons why “trying not to fail the classes I have right now” is such a big spot on my brain map. It is like the most important thing on the table right now, because if I do fail any of the classes I have right now, graduating in four years become much more difficult.

The video games and shopping that is on my brain map is there as my de-stressing activities, which is obviously need here since of my classes. It is towards the back and bottom to show that I am doing my best from letting them consume my life since I turn to them often. I have friends and family on top of everything since I do still keep in contact with them back up north and they are important for me to maintain my state of mind. I can rely on my friends to cheer me up when I do fail that science midterm. They are all great people, and you should strive to keep the relations with your friends back home, if you aren’t local, strong.

Getting the classes I really need takes up a good chunk of my brain map because it is stressful being an undeclared student sometimes. Some classes are major restricted so even when they are open during your class enrollment window, they can’t be selected till the major restrictions drop. ICS 31 is a prime example of this sort of class. There is also the problem with the enrollment window itself. Since I am a freshman, I don’t really have a ton of credits just yet. That pushes your window back a bit and for me, I had the absolute latest window for last quarter, resulting in a situation where I have to constantly be on guard for a class to open up. Its a big thing on my mind since it is the time during the end of the winter quarter when the windows do open up.

Lastly, learning to cook some great food is a decent sized chunk of my brain map due to the fact that I would need to live off campus in about half a year. I would like to cook some great meals by myself and am learning from YouTube videos. Honestly, some of these videos are really good at making the food look good and not that good in teaching you how to actually make the food. Overall, this is the person I became towards the end of the winter quarter.

 

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A Bottled World

Going outside really isn’t my strong point. I prefer to stay indoors, and only go out if it was absolutely necessary. The comfort of having walls around you is something I enjoy. That’s why I wasn’t particularly excited when asked to submit a post about campus involvement. However, my hall offers some really good hall events so I lucked out there. I could be involved without having to go outside into the world.

The event I went to was called glitter jars, where we came and created mason jars filled with water, glue, and glitter to de-stress with. It was hosted by our resident adviser Siouxsie in the Mariposa 5 loft, which is in the Mesa Court towers. The participants were mainly people from the same floor who came either because they had nothing better to do or because they liked the idea of creating de-stress glitter jars. All of the supplies were provided by our resident adviser, so it was free for everyone. The steps to creating the glitter jars were easy to follow and actually do. We were to first fill a third of a glass mason jar with water. Then fill another third of the glass mason jar with glue. After that we got to pick what color and size of glitter we wanted in the jar. I opted for dark colors with a dash of lighter ones while some had themed jars that were mainly a single color or include a small amount of a secondary color. This was the fun part, seeing what color combinations people can come up with. We all created unique color jars with some looking like watermelons and others looking like a magical forest.  I created something that looks like a violet galaxy. After we were done picking out our colors, the last thing we had to do was to fill the last third of the jar with hot water to help melt the glue. We were to leave some space for air though, since we wanted to be able to shake the jars. Once everyone was finished, we cleaned up and collectively looked at what we created. Of course we took a group photo with us shaking the jars and looking pleased with ourselves. I found out though that the jars looked a lot cooler when it was dark and directly under a light source. Overall, I had a great experience creating jars with everyone and would recommend anyone who is going to live in the towers next year to ask their resident adviser to host the same type of event.

 

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Self Care for the Winter Airs

Self care is an important aspect of surviving life. And since college is just a part of your life, proper self care can be used to help you get through the tough times in college. Now, the term self care can be interpreted in many different ways. It varies from person to person. One might think exercising is a great form of self care while another might think that is hard work and determination and is no way relaxing. If you are anything like me, exercising is a special event that is reserved for special occasions, such as running with an old friend that you haven’t seen in years. My type of self care focuses mainly on indoor relaxation, either on the computer or in bed.

Video games offers a nice form of relaxation for me. Simple games like Stardew Valley offers a farm to take care of, letting me control the world and blow off steam. MMO’s like Guild Wars 2 and Black Desert Online is also fun to play casually although it can be frustrating at times. Watching anime also helps as well, but sometimes you could get too into it and binge an entire series, which isn’t too good. This form of self care allows me to take my mind off of my current problems, making it peaceful to a degree. Of course you would still need to finish whatever work is given, but a small break can help boost productivity later. This is a great way for me to mentally unwind after a long day of classes. Keeping a notebook with emotional problems help me get through emotional problems. Starting it at first is difficult, but when you look at the past situations that you have gotten through, it helps boost moral and get you through the problem.

My way to relax in between classes is to play Pokemon Go. There are many Pokestops around campus so getting into the game becomes easier. Also it can be used to familiarize yourself with the area, and even connect with other people who play. Pokemon was part of my childhood so being able to walk around and catch them whenever I want is fun and relaxing. You could also use it to pass time if you have large gaps between classes.

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Round Two

With the first quarter done and over with, I am able to start the winter quarter fresh and new. There are things that I have learned about the college setting that makes creating my second quarter a whole lot easier. The first of which being class scheduling.

Since I am not a morning person, having classes before noon was a struggle. That’s why I tailored most of my classes to occur at around 12 PM. It was something that worked well for me the first quarter, and I decided to keep it for the second one as well. I also wanted so that I didn’t have to come back to my dorm over and over again between classes, so I made it so that the longest downtime I have between classes would be 50 minutes. This gives me an ideal schedule to work with.

The one major thing that didn’t work for me last quarter was the fact that I only had a few important classes. I wasn’t able to enroll in the amount of units that I really wanted. I have changed that this quarter by getting more 4 unit courses, thus getting enough credits for me to get sophomore status for the next year. That puts me on track for graduation, but getting into ICS is difficult so graduating with the right degree is hard.

Overall, the first weeks of the second quarter is a lot better than the first few weeks of the first quarter. I have gotten used to my roommates and hall members, and thus the aura of mystery and careful treading is gone. We are more open to each other, resulting in a chill atmosphere. My sleeping schedule is still the same though. It works out for me, since my classes are around the same time, but on the other hand, it works against me since my roommates have earlier classes. Still, I enjoy their company and the extra hours of interrupted sleep is a cheap price to pay.

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What to Know

Hello,

There should be a few things that you should know when you first started college. I found these things out the hard way and now I am here to impart the knowledge too you. Lets start with lifestyle decisions. If you or a roommate are able to get a mini fridge, do so. Being able to chill your foods and beverages is great, especially if you plan to either stay for the holidays or only have 100 meal swipes. The campus eateries close for the holidays so you cannot use their services during those times. Being able to store food also means that if you are hungry at some odd time in the morning, you have access to a decent snack. Just having a fridge means you are able to have chilled water, and those who like their water to taste like nothing, chilled water works the best.

Another thing that is important to note is the mail room services. If you live in Mesa Court, there are rooms next to the mail room that allow students to study in peace, if your roommates are loud and disruptive. They are always open and all you need is your ID card to enter the building. There are outlets to charge your laptop as well, allowing you to work for a really long time. For the mail room it self, know that you should never send anything there a week before or after a break or event. The mail room gets an absurd amount of packages during these times and takes a long time for packages to process. People want usually buy things from Amazon to gift to other people during these times and so there would be a large influx of mail. If possible, try to mail your packages to Amazon lockers that are located around campus. There is one directly next to the Mesa Court mail room and one further down near the Mesa Court community center. If those are both full, there is a locker at University Town Center, which is ran by Amazon itself, although there are business hours linked to them.

Lastly, regarding extra purchases you might need throughout the year. At University Town Center, there is a Target which seems great since they usually carry items that are necessary for daily use and that is true regarding soaps and towels. For any electronics or accessories, the best place to get them is Amazon. They are cheaper there, but it takes time for them to arrive. You might think paying extra is worth the convenience but the markups at Target are way to high to justify the purchase. If you are buying snacks, Target works fine, but if you are looking for some real food, Albertsons is worth the value for the longer walk it takes to get there.

Sincerely,

Tommy