It looks like my blogs have been cut short due to the fact that the end of the year just jumped up on me! Before I knew it it's time to pack my bags and get ready for the four hour drive back to good ol' Sumter, SC. A tip for the incoming Freshmen. I'll be an Resident Advisor (RA) for the 3rd floor of Milner Hall. So, if you are planning to live in THE Milner Hall next year, I look forward to getting to know you. Look to my previous blogs for other tips.
If you are coming in with friends I advise you to think long and hard as to whether or not you want to live with them next year. Not saying that living with your friend wont be anything but great, just don't be afriad to meet new people. You might also want to look into internships this summer so that by the end of your freshy year you won't be sucked into the work force as it looks like I'm about to be.
I recently thought of a couple of tips I wish I would have know before entering college in general...
Don't over pack
Learn how to find deals
Familiarize yourself with the area in which you are living
There are plenty of campus resources...USE THEM
Google apps will be your best friend
Don't get over-involved
If you need to reach out to someone, know that there is always someone who will listen
In the interest of this blog length I will touch on topics number 1, and 6.
In reference to topic number one I felt utterly dumb when I realized that I packed for college like I was never going to go back home. From my experience with Guilly, college dorms, especially for freshmen, can be pretty small. Don't over-pack as though you won't go shopping in college and remember to bring things that you otherwise wouldn't think you needed such as dishes, hooks, vitamins, bugspray, snacks, dry erase boards (for your door), a hole-puncher, a stapler...and all that jazz.
Topic six is one of which I've have personaly experience. It is possible to get over-involved in college. You got your freedom, and parent's are there to say "Maybe things are getting a bit too clustered." I did a lot this year most with juggling my extracurriculars, classes, and setting the stage for next year. I've missed more meetings than I would've liked in order to be present for other meetings. I've also had more than my fair share of all nighters due to my over-involvement...DON'T DO IT!
I know we are all eager to read about the outcomes of Serendipity. Well, the event lasted the entire weekend and started this past Thrusday. Although I'm not sure who performed at the concert, I know the large turnout of students enjoyed the music very much. I think my favorite event was the "street fair" that took place near the Guilford Lake. There was a bounce house, face painting, music, crafts, and lots of students! My only regret is that I did not get there in time to experience most of the fun. Since I got to the lake fairly late compared to others there were no painter available and most of the supplies for the crafts were already gone...It was saddening :C However, I was thankful for the opportunity to spend some bounce house time with my friends. I know some of you are thinking, "College students jumping in a bounce house?" but trust me when I say that Guilford students are never too old for the simple pleasures life has to offer.
Some other events that took place during the course of the weekend were the field dinner, a dance, and a concert. Although I did enjoy the dinner, I think, as a whole, everyone greatly enjoyed the concert that took place on Saturday night. Everyone was hyped up, dancing, and all around just enjoying the night like it was their last. I will also mention that the concert was on my birthday so I was extra happy about the whole Serendipitous feel :D
There has recently been a lot of fuss about a campus activity called Serendipity. Let the records show that as a first year I know close to nothing about what this event entails. None the less, I can honestly say that I am super excited about this event. Around the middle of the year each student was asked to choose from a number of artists and bands in the hopes that they would perform for us at the aforementioned event.
Although I don’t remember exactly what bands and artists were presented for us to choose from, my top choice was Andy Grammer!! For those of you who don’t know of him, he is an entertainer of the Baha’I Faith. I decided to include his religion because it is the same as my roomie’s. I had never heard of the Baha’I Faith before I met my roommate but I am thankful for the connection that is Andy Grammer. It’s a way for us to identify on a personal level and served to diversify my knowledge of religion.
I sort of went off on a tangent but I can’t wait for Serendipity none the less. From what I heard it is going to be the best event of the year and I know I will enjoy the experience. If anyone reading this is considering Guilly, I encourage you to ask about this event. If you end up not having time to check out the campus then look forward to future blogs because I’m sure to post about my experience.
02/22/2012
Guilly Has Me On The Move!!
I figured, now more than ever, would be a good time to talk about my school schedule for the last couple of weeks. Last week I:
Had an interview to be a Peer Educator for next year’s FYE 102 courses-
Most freshmen will take this course as a part of their “First Year Experience” at Guilford. I saw the course as a great transition between high school and college expectances and decided to apply in an effort to make the Teacher Assistant (TA) role more active.
Also had an interview to be a Residence Advisor (RA)-
I love my RA, Paula. She really makes an effort to help with anything we may need. From her, I learned how to place work orders for things that are broken in Milner Hall and very recently, how to file for housing next year.
Talked to my roommate about our housing situation next year-
Yes, I have agreed to stick with the most awesome roommate this side of ever, Heather Nelson! My advice to get a Heather Nelson? FILL OUT YOU PERFERENCES PAGE HONESTLY AND THOROUGHLY!! I believe some of the things I added to mine were that I liked Disney movies, anime, and sleeping late. Ta-da!! Instant roommate love <3 Happy Belated Valentine's Day <3 She would like to move into the all girls’ dorms, either Shore or Mary Hobbs. Although I would like to go with the majority of my friends to Bryan Hall, I know I’ll spend a lot of my free time there in the future.
Worked on, and am currently working on, a variety of projects for my 17 credits worth of courses-
Upcoming freshmen please choose your workload carefully. If you like a heavy workload, people (i.e. me) who enjoy a challenge, then by all means, schedule up! However, if you do everything in moderation and like to work at a lenient pace (i.e. me around Tuesday) schedule a little lighter. Just one class can make a huge difference.
Don’t forget that you have a lot of time to think about what you want to do as far as classes and career wise. I recommend taking a trip to your friendly Career Development Office. The counselors there helped me learn a lot about who I am and what I like when school is concerned. My friends and I have a saying when we want to stay up talking all night rather than getting a good night’s rest or when we are stressing over work and grades. “We have four years!” (Even though they have dwindled down to three in a heart beat!) ‘Til next time, take a while to enjoy Guilly!
I am reporting my current location as the Hege Library, about a five minute walk from Milner Hall if you have short legs like me. What am I doing you ask? Right now I am chatting with my friends while fighting the urge to play Facebook games instead of meeting my reading quota for the day. The quota is not mandatory. I placed it on myself so that I can complete the homework in a timely manner. Yeah, I sound like a huge nerd and the truth is, I rather enjoy the schoolwork I do at Guilford. If I were at the school purely to learn, as in if a college degree did not determine my future, I would still enjoy it and want to be here. In other words, I see the significance of what I learn here but the quantity can sometimes be killer but very few people enjoy large quantities of school work.
Yesterday I accompanied my friend, Lesley (My lovely Ghanian :) to an Active Minds club meeting. I heard that the members were few and thought it would be a great place to meet minds similar to my own in a small group setting. From what I gathered, Active Minds consists of a group of people who hope to draw awareness to global issues that people tend to ignore. Right now the focus is on mental instability and I am happy to report that I enjoyed the excitement to accomplish something that I witnessed in the Active Minds group members yesterday afternoon.
Why Guilly?
From this point on I will go into detail as to why I chose Guilford College or Guilly(like fish gills) for short. To be honest, it was not my first choice. I applied to twelve different schools and of those twelve I was accepted into four, the first school being Guilford. The summer following my junior year in which school was occupied by the Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America program (LEDA). It played a huge part in my life and greatly influenced my decision of which schools to apply to. My college counselor looked over my choices and had an eye for Guilford. Mind you, I chose to apply to this school simply because I liked the review I read on Unigo.com. Anyway, I liked what I saw in the review and hope Guilly adds more to it. Although I did not feel either way about applying to Guilford at first I took particular notice of it when my acceptance letter acknowledged that I was in LEDA Scholar. My little thought bubbles from then on read, "Huh, Guilford cared about things on my application that didn't relate to my GPA or SAT scores??" rather than, "...indifference...". I started looking more into Guilford and found core values that included Excellence, Integrity, Community which mirror that of LEDA. I knew at once that this was my choice. The distance is four hours away from my hometown of Sumter, SC and the cost was nothing I couldn't overcome with some good 0l' fashion hard work. Guilford actually offers a lot of scholarship and work opportunities. Well, that's it for now. I have to head over to Communication in French I, which I love :D !! Until next time, enjoy Guilly!
01/31/2012
A peer brought it to my attention that I have yet to start this blog despite being involved as a student blogger for a little under a week now. I attribute my delayed start not only to the fact that I am a bit hesitant to express myself but also to the knowledge that I have been given no topic on which to write about. This is the first time in my life that I have been given the freedom to write about what I want, how I want and yes the experience includes Facebook. Well, to start things off, I am a freshman currently living in Milner Hall of Guilford College. Right now I am on the Biology major track but that may change as I mature. To put things simply, I love Guilford College. It was not my first choice of schools but I am glad that I ended up here instead.
About Me
Home State: South Carolina
Major: Biology
Class: 2015
