A Little Frustration

The good:  I wrote up my first game recap yesterday and sent it in on time.  I was really pleased with the results and relieved to have one of my duties completed for The Ithacan.  

The bad:  I am getting nowhere on this preview!  I have called and e-mailed the coach, left messages asking for an appointment or phone interview, looked up the captains in the directory, e-mailed them, and I haven't gotten a single response.  I have until Monday at 5 p.m, but I'm still stressed, because it is a holiday weekend.  

Yesterday was quite interesting.  I had my first dining hall duty, and it wasn't that bad!  The staff was great and the pace was hurried, and because I was so busy the time went by quickly.  I'm not saying I will ever like the hats, but it could have very easily been worse.  I was also able to change my shift to Thursdays from 10 to 1, which fits my schedule better because Thursday is a light day and now my game attendance won't be under any stress from my job duties.  I have a lot of reading this weekend, but I'm steadily getting it done.  

Last night a couple of people from my dorm and I went over to the Cornell welcome fair and we benefitted from free giveaways of food and games for the incoming Cornell freshman.  We explored the gigantic campus a little, and concluded we were all so glad that we didn't go there.  It's a bit like a small city, with streets and traffic lights and even it's students aren't exactly sure how to get anywhere.  And, on the weekend, it's really really loud.  Getting back to campus was terrible, because despite Ithaca's obsession with the merits of public transportation, the T-CAT sucks.  We got to the stop ten minutes early and it came an hour late.  And it was cold.  It definitely did not feel like August last night.  More like mid-November.  

We decided we are just going to stay on campus from now on.  You can walk anywhere at IC in fifteen minutes or less.  There's just a lot of steps.  

Things are Piling Up!

So I guess I am just crazy lucky or something, because somehow I also got the job to work on the teleprompter for The Gridiron Report!!  So now I've got two shows, and a steady Ithacan gig, which is currently stressing me out because I haven't gotten a response from the coach.  It's understandable, because they have a game today, but I really need to get going.  Today I'm going to contact the athletics coordinator and at least try to get a quote or two to start off, and also contact the assistant coach to cover my bases.  

Yesterday was a blast, I totally love the people in my dorm.  We had a dance-off and one of the girls is a nationally ranked Irish dancer, and one is a serious tap dancer.  Then we had them battle to reggaeton music, and it was amazing.  We also ordered the biggest Chinese food order in the history of ever, and, I guess, stimulated the local economy.  And we ate a lot of food.  

Today I'm trying to get a lot of work done, then I've got dining hall, and the Boot girls are trying to head down to the commons this evening.  I'm nervous about dining hall, but at this point, I'm so used to having crazy stuff I'm not used to thrown at me, and I've dealt with it fine.  

I really really really want this field hockey preview to be good, and I've already done crazy amounts of research on this history of the team and some key players.  I need that phone call/e-mail message back!!

College is ridiculous, by the way.  I can't believe the opportunities I'm getting.  It's great, even if it is a little stressful.  

I Got It!!

I GOT THE FIELD HOCKEY BEAT ASSIGNMENT!!

MY FIRST DEADLINE IS MONDAY

OH MY GOD

I am excited.  And terrified.  

Stay tuned to see if I get published!

I am too sleepy to think up a title

Okay people, here goes.  

Last night a new development came in Abby's campus commitments after post-time!  Just a few hours after the IC-TV rush, I got a call back from The Ithacan Inquirer, offering me a very awesome and very freshman-y position, which I have decided essentially means, "wire-carrier."  It's a great foot in the door and will also let me work with video equipment, which is experience I won't get in a classroom.  

There's a thought I keep in my head a lot, especially as a journalism major:  Build your resume.  And if I can build it while doing things that are as interesting and fun as working on a tv show like one I enjoy watching, that's great!  

Today I had my seminar, which adds and pulls textbooks by the hour, and it was really interesting.  The scary part was finding it.  I was beginning to think that Friends Hall really didn't exist, and even now I'm pretty sure it exists only in the form of Harry Potter's room of requirement, except twisted.  I'm thinking the random stairwell to the top of Textor Hall to friends hall only appears in you are sweating with nerves or you really have to pee.  

I suffered both symptoms.  

Later, I had Mass Media, which was pretty light today, but will get reading heavy really fast.  

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Okay, so finishing this post was delayed because my roommate figured out a way to get Barack Obama's speech to stream live off her computer.  So I'll finish it up right now!  

After mass media, I headed out to dinner with friends K, A, and another journalism student I hadn't met yet.  It's pretty cool, with college, you're meeting people every other second.  Then, we all headed down to radio rush night, which was to be followed by the Ithacan rush night.  I didn't sign up for radio, but I enjoyed the presentation anyway.  Then, at the next rush, I signed up for the sports department, and I hope to be assigned the field hockey beat job, which could help me get writing right away.  All new writers have to attend sort of a newspaper boot camp before we can write, and I'm pretty excited for that, coming up in September.  

Today all I have is still more anthropology reading (I've got the class at 2) and the meet and greet with David Geffen, the producer of the Saw movies and Park School graduate and benefactor.  

Free pizza! And then weekend!

First Day of Classes!

It was quite the busy day today.  It was the first day of classes, and I wanted to get right into a rhythm.  Also, because I am a crazy person, I decided to hit the gym before class, and I got there about 7:15, expecting a relatively empty center.  Not so! Apparently, Ithaca is full of crazy people that have way more stamina/strength than I do.  And they are probably physical education majors.  Or football players.  Or, chances are, both.  

Then it was off to breakfast at the cafe with fellow future journalist K, where I ate my first NY bagel and tasted absolutely no difference.  But I did get the best coffee ever.  We then headed over to my first collegiate class, Intro to Journalism, where I got so excited for my major.  The class is pretty writing intensive, and we're required to do field work.  Today we had to memorize and recite aloud the first amendment to the constitution each alone in front of the class, which is only about 10 people.  It's pretty sweet.  One of our future assignments in on November 4th, we must cover the election, write an extended coverage of it, and submit it on a very real deadline of 3 a.m.  Awesome.  

One of the great things about college is that you can do anything for lunch, and I had a little picnic on the commons with friends B and R, relishing in the fact that this picnic was not actually themed nor sponsored by the college.  Then it was off to Cultural Anthropology, where I actually found the class in the maze that is Williams Hall.  Success!  It sounds like a crazy interesting class, even if there is reading assignments that surpass Patricia Carballo-level even. Yay college! 

After smoothies and a bit of hanging out, most of the Boot girls (females residing in Boothroyd hall, obviously) decided to all get dinner together and it was a blast.  Then the Parkies among us, including myself, went to IC-TV Rush which was awesome.  I've signed up to work teleprompting and writing on The Gridiron Report, who's producers got to go to Beijing this year, and The Ithaca Inquirer, Ithaca's Colbert-esque political satire news show.  I really hope I get to work on them!  IC-TV is the oldest college tv-station in the world!  It's its fiftieth anniversary this year, and it's a big to-do.  

Now I've got some Anthropology reading to do.  Tomorrow, classes and the Ithacan rush.  

Oh, and I feel quite guilty because I decided not to do crew and didn't go to the info meeting.  Then the coach sent me an e-mail, telling me it's okay since you probably had something going on, come to the physical please, bring athletic clothes, etc.  

But I do like flattery!

Lectures and Exploration

This morning all freshman had to attend a panel discussion about our summer reading of Persepolis.  The main purpose of this seemed to be to remind new students that sometimes, college can be just as boring as high school.  Seriously.  It involved the history of comic books, about which I care less than I do about the life processes of mealworms, and one half an hour lecture as a criticism of the graphic novel.  It was quite eye-glaze worthy, and the kid next to me literally fell asleep.  Oh, the prospects of lectures at 10 a.m!  

One good part, however, is that we all broke up into our seminar classes afterward and I got a little, exciting taste of the class I'm most excited for.  It lived up to my expectations, so far, and I have a different Professor than I originally thought.  But he seems pretty awesome.  I met some new people, and it's pretty awesome how quickly you can bond together in college.  We had lunch together, in terraces, which feels like a restaurant in comparison to Campus Center.  I usually go to campus center, because I am actually way to lazy to walk up one giant hill to get to the Terraces Dining hall.  Really.  

Classes tomorrow! Yay!  Also, I've got rush for IC-TV, which I'll give a good look to, but I can't wait for Thursday's Ithacan rush.  I'm itching to start writing, or do whatever they ask me to.  I'm madly excited.  Tonight, I'm seeing a movie with some people and heading to another picnic.  Really, Ithaca is obsessed with them.  

Really.  Really.  

Move In Day

So the parents and I dragged ourselves out of the Ramada down to the swanky buffet as quickly as our sleep-deprived bodies would let us.  Then, we hopped in the car to head up South Hill to the lovely Ithaca College.  But of course, because we are Paulsons, we continued Dad's quest to find the most ineffective short cuts through the town of Ithaca on our way there.  

Move in was fairly quick, but extremely sweaty.  

I met my roommate Beth and her family, and I definitely picked a great roommate.  We're very alike in everything for our sleeping habits to our passion for bright colors.  The family and I made a few last runs to Target (and I think we will avoid these stores for a long while) and grabbed lunch on the go.  Then, was the "see you at Thanksgiving if not before" moment that you are supposed to remember in 30 years.  It was pretty nerve racking, and I was sad to see them go, but being here is so amazing and totally worth it.  

I went to dining hall training and the perks are mainly a free meal once a week, some pay, and oversized jean shirt and apron for uniform, and a really, really stupid looking hat that I will wear every Saturday.  Then there was an opening picnic, that involved inflatable volleyball (like playing beach volleyball on a moon-bounce) which was pretty awesome, yet dangerous for balance-challenged people like myself, and bingo.  There, I met up with some journalism orientation friends.  I've been meeting up with them for every meal since, which is great, and they also share my love of football.  It's even okay with me that they are Giants and Jets fans.  

Today was convocation, which was very dramatic, and then ANOTHER picnic (we do that a lot here) that was entirely sustainable and really really interesting.  We then went to hear Park School Dean Dianne Lynch speak, and she is amazing and she told us about the most amazing opportunities we'll have.  I'm definitely in the right place.  We then split up into majors, and we met all the journalism professors.  My political communications teacher was gone because he's at the DNC, and he's also the senior producer at MSNBC!  The head of journalism is from Nigeria and has taught at the universities of Sierra Leon, South Africa, and Bowie State in Maryland.  Go figure.  My advisor, I swear, was the Amsterdam correspondent for High Times magazine.  I am not kidding.  All my journalism professors are incredible.  

Then, football friends K, A, and tried to go visit Dean Lynch, but she was in a meeting.  We did get to chum it up with the other administrators.  We left and popped in at the Ithacan, and threw our names into the hat about sports and political journalism.  There are a lot of sports spots available, and they're looking for team beat writers to cover a single team for a season and write features, and get some footage of practices and such.  I'm going to try to get the swim and dive team, because I've already met a few great people in my dorm who are on the dive team.  

This is a long post, but I had a lot to catch up on!  Tonight?  Seeing a comedian and grabbing some dinner.  

Success!  And p.s., I took a shower today and the showers are awesome!  

I Love People!

Yesterday I tried to avoid extreme boredom, so much to the extent that I don't even remember how I spent much of my day.  I have been trying to drive as much as possible, largely because I like to torture myself.  I am actually starting to hate driving less.  Or at least I was, until last night.  I'll get to that later.  

I drove myself over to Giant to pick up apples and crab chips to bring as an offering to a little goodbye get together.  There were no problems, except I confused a lot of people in the parking lot because I could not decide on a parking spot to take.  Note: I am bringing a large bottle of Old Bay with me to college, so I can put it on everything and introduce New Yorkers to the wonders of this delicious sodium-bomb topping.  Then, I drove myself in rush hour to friend L's house, and the drive went perfectly.  This is not to say that I didn't take off two years of my life with my nerves.  Oh, and parent who is probably reading this and getting nervous about this description?  It's totally exaggerated.  I just like to whine.  

I love hanging with my friends L and S because I am so comfy with them.  We ate cheeseburgers and ice cream and chatted about heading out, ate some more, and then curled up in blankets because we were freezing our butts off outside.  Oh yes. Who needs blankets in late-August Maryland? We do.  Friend L and I will probably get our butts kicked by Providence and Ithaca weather.  That isn't to say we won't love it anyway.  

Then of course, we watched some Olympics and contemplated the magnitude of the egos of track runners, discussed the ages of the female Chinese gymnasts, and it was time for me to go. I go out to hop in the, as Claire calls it, the Mommy Mobile, I shut the door, and THUNK! Ohhhh no.  Some jerk sideswiped me and knocked the mirror out of the, well, mirror.  They didn't leave a note.  I love people!  

Luckily, it wasn't something that couldn't be cured by a hug or two from the parents, even though I was quite dramatic about the whole thing.  

This is my last day in Maryland!  

Packing

When I started out packing, it was very exciting to be folding all my clothes and putting them into a gigantic bin! It was also really fun putting about a billion toiletries into cardboard boxes!  Then, I realized, I was actually folding clothes and putting them in a gigantic bin, and putting shampoo and things into cardboard boxes.  The excitement quickly died off.  It is challenging enough for someone (meaning myself) who has little to no organization in her room to consolidate everything she owns into bins and boxes.  So now, I am completely procrastinating.  

And that excitement never wears off.  

I wish I had something more exciting to write about, but the truth is, I spend most of my time stuffing things into bins, deciding that is boring, and then deciding watching two random Eastern European nations play volleyball in the Olympics.  It is all very stimulating, so then sometimes I have to resort to SoapNet.  

We will all just have to wait until exciting things start happening, like my moving in and actually doing laundry for the first time. 

Oh, yeah, I know you all can't wait for that one.  

Claire's Departure

On Saturday we all rolled out of bed at 4:30 a.m to hit the road to Troy, NY.  Well, actually, the plan was to get up at 4:30, but I was the only one who did so as everyone else got up at 4 because my mother decided pre-dawn dishwashing was necessary, Claire was bouncing off the walls despite only having 3 1/2 hours of sleep, and who knows what my Dad was doing, but he was up.  Claire and I, like the geniuses we are, decided it would be totally fine to stay up until 12:30 before we had to get up 4 hours later.  This extreme sleep deprivation, followed by a car ride that was not conducive to sleeping, led to Claire and I acting like we always do in car rides, only 20 times worse.  This, of course, means, we not only poked each other endlessly and giggled for hours at the names of towns in New Jersey, we became intensely fixated on complaining about the smell in the entire state of New Jersey.  We always have been victims to "Are we there yet?" syndrome.  Usually this syndrome passes after children reach the age of 9 or ten.  We are exceptions.  

When we got to RPI, in true Paulson style, we went to the wrong building and wandered around for awhile without asking directions.  Then, we finally found that we had to check in at the hockey rink, where we made Claire do everything and the rest of us stood around.  During this time, Mom and I stared off into space in an exhausted haze, and Dad marveled at all the famous hockey players that had gone there.  This again was in true Paulson style.  Finally we got to Claire's dorm, and began lugging the mountains of stuff up there.  Claire then took about 10 minutes to choose which side of the room she wanted, to which all our friends can attest, is not surprising.  It was fun decorating and setting up the room and Claire magically fit all her clothes in the tiny dresser like the magical packer she is.  After picking up her books and a little last minute teasing, it was time to say goodbye for now. 

I'm closer to Claire than any other person in the world, so of course I teared up a little bit at the end.  I coped by making fun of the t-shirt she had to wear for her orientation, which looked like someone had sneezed on it.  I was pretty depressed until I realized, Claire is always a call or e-mail away.  It's only a short while and I'll see and talk to her soon. 

Now, of course, it's my turn.  Let the incompetent packing begin!

More Goodbyes

Last night we had our last Girl Scout meeting, which, like most of our meetings in the past 7 years, revolved largely around eating food.  We were all given a book filled with pictures from 1995 to 2008, and it made me laugh so hard.  I've realized there's not much crying needed, because all the people I'm saying goodbye to are so special to me that I'm sure we'll keep in touch.  Running around the mall in giant cookie suits?  Getting wedgies 50 feet in the air?  Those are the ties that bind, people. 

Then, this morning, a small group of us had a little brunch to say goodbye to Claire and friend M. Again, there's the nerves about change but I see our departures as opportunities for even better and funnier stories to tell each other come the holidays.  That said, thanks to this thing, I will either have no stories to tell, or I will just decide to tell them again to everyone, in a very loud voice, in the most obnoxious way possible.  

Tomorrow, we take Claire and her mountains of stuff up to Rensselaer.  Then, the four of us will get really sweaty lugging the 9 billion pounds of clothing, accessories, and bedding that we have expertly shoved into the back of the van.  It'll be a change, and I'll miss her completely.  Thank goodness for texting.  I would call, but I would just end up monologuing while she assured me that college was "good," people were "cool," and everything is "nice."  I'm not going to get any elaboration from this biology major.  I can do all the talking for us.  

At least, tomorrow, I get my cat back!

P.S. The neighbors generally like Bruschi better than us.  

The Joys of Packing and Prep

We all got to enjoy a weekend of bliss in the shopping and food oasis of Boston, Massachusetts, but now, it's totally back to reality.  That means it's time to somehow fit all of Claire's possessions in containers that can actually be transported somewhere.  Also, it's time to rush to do everything else that comes with summer's end.

Claire and I actually took the time to appreciate the miracle of folding clothes, as we put them into her big bins.  Well, I appreciated it.  Claire, if she does put her clothes in drawers, will usually fold them.  I generally prefer the stuff-and-ignore system.  That, or I just wear the clothes from the clean clothes pile on my dresser (or floor, or outside my door).  This does not bode well for my future (solo) packing escapades.  With Claire's method, we were able to fit about 19 tons of clothes into a bin or two.  With mine, I may fit about 6 t-shirts and a pair of flip flops.  

Claire and I are also prepping to say goodbye to our college-bound friends.  Yesterday, we went out with friends with the goal of becoming weepy over The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.  Despite a large amount of sentimentality,  all crying was averted because friend S and I have a habit of laughing at the most poignant moments of films.  Brunch, we decided, would be a more appropriate send-off, rather than a cutesy sequel that found that art could be a meditation on the visual similarities of a worn pair of jeans and...the ocean.  

Starting Off Shipping Off

Okay.

So here goes the blogging.  This blog is being created to entertain myself in the little free time I plan to have in college.  It also serves as a medium to record the the millions of possessions I will probably lose, misplace, stain, or destroy throughout my first year of college.  Therefore, it will probably show my loved ones that despite the fact the college is a transformative experience that will allow me to grow academically and emotionally, I will still lose my jacket, hair brush, and/or every single one of my hair-ties every year no matter my age or academic achievements. 

I've got about two weeks until I head up to Ithaca with a van packed full of my possessions (and some various possessions of my sister's that I manage to finagle away before she leaves this Saturday).  Therefore, this is crunch time.  The dorm shopping spree is complete!  We (being my family and I) have already made a Walgreen's checkout employee gape at us in disbelief!  We have purchased semi-warm clothing to survive New York winters!  What more could there be to do? Well, somehow, somehow, we will have to pack it all up, and then realize that we have to buy a zillion more things.  Also, it's goodbye times, and I have to spend some quality time with the people I will miss the most!  With my family, we got a great start with the ten-hour bonding session that was the ride home from Boston.  It involved hail.  With my friends, it will probably involve Chipotle, brownies, chick flicks, and a few kitchen dance parties.

And that will be just perfect.