Day One Down

The first day of school has come and gone. Well, mostly. I mean, I still have a good chunk of day left, but the on-campus in-class part is over. Thank goodness.  I’m a little overwhelmed already, and it’s only day one. Not necessarily a great sign, although admittedly it’s not a death sentence. I tend to get easily overwhelmed anyway, so maybe a healthy does of positive thinking will put things in a different light.

Here’s a breakdown of my day.

My alarm goes off at seven. I check the time with disbelief. Usually I wake up several times the night before my first day of classes, so I was just sure I had a few hours left to sleep. Not so. Nevertheless, I hit the snooze for another 15 minutes.

It isn’t easy to roll out of bed, especially if you’re me, and especially if you don’t want to be getting up several hours earlier than has become normal. Even Tucker didn’t get up with me, and that’s saying something because usually he’s rip roarin’ to go as soon as I throw back the comforter.

I take my time getting ready. The whole point of getting up early was so that I’d get moving with enough time to be mildly coherent when it came time to leave. Fortunately, all goes well and I leave on time, heading to campus at about 8:15.

Good morning, Aggieland!

If you know me, and even if you don’t—and if you didn’t, now you will—I’m notorious for going out of my way to be early to things I’m uncomfortable with. I hate not having my pick of seats. I always worry I won’t be able to find my building, my classroom, my brain, so I like to leave myself plenty of time to get everything in order. I meet up with my friend and former roommate, Megan, and we chat in the library annex until we’re more reasonably early.

My first class is at 9:10. Marriage Institution. First impressions? Interesting professor, probably not an easy class. Perks? I know one person in my class! We had a couple of classes together last semester, so now I have a study buddy and it’s only the first day. That’s encouraging. Our professor informs us that she curses and says it like it is, and if we don’t like it we’re free to transfer out. I usually don’t approve of professors using foul language, but let’s be honest; I kind of got used to foul language last semester. And the semester before. When I took (my now favorite ever professor) Larry Heinemann. So as long as she doesn’t curse TO me, things will be fine.

Marriage Institution will be reading intensive, which I’m not looking forward to. Mostly because…so are all of my other classes. With the exception of math, which I’m sure will just be intensive. We’re also going to have a 10 page research paper, due in November. I’m okay with research papers—I’m an English major—but that doesn’t mean I’m thrilled at the prospect of writing one.

Still, I’m not feeling totally negative about this class. I think the lectures and subject will keep me interested, and having someone to study with and compare notes with is encouraging. I’m thinking I can make an A, but I’m also thinking it’s not going to be A piece of cake. Get it? Hah. Yeah.

My next class is right after Marriage Institution, at 10:20. Campaigns and Elections. In a word? Yikes.

The perks? November is congressional elections so there’s a current-event focus, which helps. And I like politics, so…we’ll see.

But I’m pretty sure I am actually the only non-Political Science major in the entire class. By pretty sure, I mean we went around the room and said our name and major and everyone else I heard said they were a PolySci major. The “pretty sure” is a disclaimer because I could hardly hear the people at the front of the class.

The professor seems to know his stuff, but it’s kind of hard to hear in the back. And I’m worried he may have a tendency to be monotone. Still, I guess I’ll hold back on judging the class until we get a little farther in.

Our professor also pointed out that this is a reading intensive class (Are you keeping count? I sure am. That’s two for two.) And, again, we’ll have a research paper. This one’s only 7 pages, (I’m keeping count of those, too.) and not due until December. But we do have a first draft due in October. I’m a little nervous about this one.

Weird desk setup, if you ask me.

Next class, again right after, is at 11:10. The Sociology of Gender. This class is packed, literally. A bunch of us guys are in there, which should make the class discussions she wants to have…interesting. First impressions? I like this chick. I feel rude saying chick, but girl isn’t appropriate, and she’s not too much older than me so lady doesn’t seem quite right either. But upon calling roll, one girl said she went by her middle name, to which our professor replied, “That’s okay, I go by my middle name, too. You may have noticed I’m listed as Demetrea, but I go by Nicole. People ask me, ‘Ha, how did you get Nicole out of Demetrea?’ I didn’t, dumbass.” It made me chuckle.

She told us she’d be giving us fill-in-the-blank notes, which I love. My Criminology professor used those, and they’re great because I’m neurotic about copying down every bit of text on a PowerPoint. This way, I don’t have to. I can just fill it in. Plus, when it comes to studying, there’s no question as to what’s important. Very handy.

Perks? No research paper! We have a thought journal, which consists of five entries throughout the semester. And two tests. Not much room for error, but no research paper!

Poor Yorick's, when it still
looked like a little coffee shop.

Between Soci of Gender and my next class, Shakespeare, I have a sizeable break. Enough time to grab lunch, or go let out the dog. Today I stayed on campus, in the interest of not losing my parking spot. I grabbed a ham and cheese croissant at Poor Yorick’s, a cute little coffee and sandwich (and apparently sushi) shop by the library. Well, it used to be separate from the library. But they’ve done some remodeling while the rest of us had summer break (or took classes, you know, whatever) so now it’s more open. Honestly, I don’t like it as much now. At all. It feels like a dining services station, which it is, but before it actually felt like a little coffee shop. The charm is gone. Completely gone. R.I.P. gone. But fortunately, the sandwiches are still good.

After eating, I started typing up this blog. Because let’s face it, I still have a good hour until my next class. My internet isn’t working in the library, which is infuriating. Because I have full signal, and the right passwords, and it shows me as connected. But it won’t load anything.

Woe is me.

In the library, just about to start typing up
this blog post.

I can’t wait to finish my last class of the day. Shakespeare is at 1:50, and I have it with Megan, the friend I met up with before classes this morning. It’s where I’m going after I’m done sitting in the library…

Which for you guys, might as well be right now.

Shakespeare. 1:50. The class is packed. Not at first, of course, but by the time class actually starts, it’s pretty much full. I’d guess there’s about two hundred of us in there. But despite the huge number of students, I still managed to make a friend! Megan, aforementioned in this very post, is taking Shakespeare with me, and we met another girl so now we have a three-person study group. Or, we will whenever we need to be studying. Excellent!

Impressions? Love the teacher. I think she’ll be great. Although…another reading intensive class. (Still counting? Me too. That’s three.) But I’m generally more confident about English classes in the first place, since that’s my area of study. So, so far I have high hopes for that class.

By the time I finished with school, I wanted to drop dead. It’s hellaciously hot here in Aggieland, and I sure ain’t used to wakin’ up at 7am! But all in all, it wasn’t a bad first day. In fact, it was much better than I’d been expecting. I still have my reservations about math tomorrow, but…it feels good to have Day One under my belt.

Right now, the first thing on my list to do is take a nap. I’m bushed! The best part of my day, aside from the napping, will be watching last nights episode of True Blood. Beacause really that’s all I’ve wanted to do ALL DAY. Eric Northman, you distract me. Don’t ever change.