The Realm of the Pachyderm

They let Stevie back!? That's horrendous! Seaweed extension bridge, genius!

Ok--

I haven't updated in a while, so I thought I'd post about how my first week went! It's been a long, busy affair, but satisfying in that it's Saturday, I'm still alive, and I'm going to play Gatorball in about an hour and a half [on top of Commando last night--I was MVP AND Last Winner, by the way]. So, off we go!

9 am [American Authors: Edgar Allen Poe]: E.A.P. A man known mostly for his short stories of the darkness in the human mind--perhaps you also knew he was a poet. So far, we've had nothing to do with his other [more interesting] work. We've delved expressly into his poetry, which I'm finding strange and a shade below unfathomable. The professor is nice and doesn't really call you out on making elementary observations, but the other students seem to sense that I'm not grasping everything they are within the stanzas of "Israfel" or "City by the Sea". Whatever, just wait until we get to "Murders in the Rue Morgue"! It's on!

10 am [Dramatic Performance: Antique to Renaissance]: A class of about 100, this is the only theatre class I'm taking this semester. The historical aspects take us back to the ancient Greeks and catapult us all the way to...well, I haven't the foggiest. So far, the best part of the class is Professor Beene's side commentary on things like a person's ability to be interesting or the Greek's weird sense of humor.

OH, so can I tell you about something? I've been going NUTS trying to get my Theatre Arts minor off the ground. I grabbed the form, filled out my four year plan, made an appointment with the faculty adviser, got the signature from said adviser, and took it up to the advisement center. Now, here's where things hit a hitch.

As I went to turn it in, the receptionist went to the back to figure out whether or not I needed to meet with an advisement center adviser AS WELL AS a faculty adviser. When she returned, she brought with her some lady who told me that I didn't need another signature. Shoot, she said I didn't have to even fill out the form to begin with if all I was doing was declaring a minor! So, the receptionist started work on my final paperwork [finally!] and sent me up to the department office with my original form [I suppose they needed to file it]. So, I trundle up there, fully prepared to be done with this ridiculous process. However, upon my proudly handing over the form...

Receptionist: "Um, you need to get a signature from an advisement center adviser."

Me: "No, I don't. I was told downstairs that it wasn't necessary--it even says on the front page of the form that I don't!"

Receptionist: "Hm, it doesn't, doesn't it?...well, I'll send an email to someone in the departmant who can clear this up..."

The same day, I receive an email telling me that despite what everyone's been telling me so far, I still need to meet with an adviser. When I politely asked if I could have an email address for the advisement center, I was asked what my major was [through email].

...

WILL THIS MADNESS EVER CEASE!? WILL I EVER JUST GET MY STINKIN' MINOR!?

Probably not.

11 am [Introduction to the English Language]: Now, this is a class I really like. Admittedly, the professor is a chronic storyteller, so we're already massively behind his other class, but his information/stories is/are interesting all the same. We've been discussing phonetics and the pronunciation of words, which I get to read a fat chapter on this weekend. For whatever reason, the pronunciation of language is absurdly interesting to me. I imagine that once we actually have to meet deadlines for tests and such that Professor Oaks might stop dragging his feet and teach us at an acceptable rate.

12 pm [British Literature 1]: OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOSH! ARE YOU SERIOUS!? WHAT IS THISSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!? This class is so unconscionably difficult! We're learning about the history of the English--back from like 9847549875984 B.C.! Seriously, this class is very history heavy, so I had my posterior handed to me the first couple of lessons. Only after the second one did I realize that my success would increase if I actually took notes on the reading BEFORE class. That only took like...3 hours. Even with the notes, the subject of early languages and religions and societies and whatever else is incredibly difficult. I will be stunned and amazed if I can scrape a B in this monster.

Jump ahead four hours...

5 pm [Persuasive Writing]: I really like this class! The professor is super nice [probably because she has six children outside of class] and seems to geniunely care whether or not we learn how to write while under her watchful eye. The subject matter is straightforward and practical, meaning I'm not going to put up a fight when we actually have homework. Anyway, one of my college goals is to learn how to write a paper before I leave, so this is good!

NEXT DAY--

3 pm [Survey of World Religions]: Ahhhhhh, World Religions. Taught by the kindly old Professor Choi, most of the class is spent enjoying listening to his heavy South Korean accent. Aside from that, he's super knowledgable about--well, most of the prominent world religions. Accidentally, I read all of chapter 2 [the first reading assignment] without realizing that it was supposed to stretch out over like two weeks, so now I'm super ahead. That, and I know just about everything about Hinduism. Go me!

So, that's my week in a nutshell...I hate that idiom. Let's try again: that's my week in a blog post?

Still lame, but whatever. I've done other non-academic stuff this week including a game night, a temple trip, multiple jogging excursions, Commando, International Cinema/Jamba night, Lagaan, and I'm headed off to Gatorball in just a little bit, with the promise of a Bollywood party later. Woohoo for the weekend!