I have officially made it through 4 weeks of school. It's hard to believe that just a month ago I was moving in and unpacking my stuff. Here is my week in review
1)Tests: Ethics Wed. and Bib Trad today. I studied my butt off for both, so I'm hoping for the best, but don't want to get too confident. We shall see next week...
2)NUCL Interview: I had my interview for this internship today. As I said in a previous entry, there's only three positions, so it's a little competitive. Luckily, the two professors who interviewed me (the co-chairs) are really nice and I could tell that they liked how I responded to the questions they asked (why I want to be an intern, how my personal qualities/experiences can meet their expectations, if I worked, and if there was a certain position I wanted). If I got the position, I would have to devote at least an hour a week to meeting with the professors and other interns to help plan the conference. Luckily, I don't work so with regards to the last question, the professors aren't making any promises for specific positions; I told them that I didn't care which position I got, but that I just wanted the experience of helping plan the conference and get to know the English department better. If I don't get the internship, I will apply to be a panel chair, respondent, or submit a paper.
3)Made my day: I asked my Bib Trad professor some questions about my first research paper, and she told me that she bragged to someone about how much she enjoys having me in class and how well I've done on the first 3 papers (A's on all of them!). She's a fabulous storyteller, not to mention, really funny and sweet. Despite my atheism, I actually enjoy going to this class.
4)Soccer game: Portland v.s. OSU. We won 1-0!
5)New perspectives: Had coffee with a fellow English major with whom I went to high school. I really liked talking with her about classes, professors, and the overall experience of being an English major.
6)Save the best for last: Although the peeps in the College of Arts and Sciences have not processed my paperwork to change my major, I already have my advisor. I emailed Herman to follow up with our meeting Thursday, and he asked me if I wanted him or another professor as my advisor. My first thought was, "Is this a joke? Do I really get to pick my advisor?" I emailed him back asking if I had to submit any forms to request him as my advisor. As the chair, he told me that he likes to ask if students have a preference. That said, I am super juiced and am extremely lucky to have my favorite professor follow my academic career for the next three years.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Greek food with the Girls!
Last night my friends and I went out for Greek food at an excellent restaurant downtown called Greek Cuisina. The pita bread was to die for, and I had octopus and calamari. Cady and I shared a delicious strawberry shortcake. We had hoped to go dancing at the club upstairs, but it didn't open until late. We just walked around Pioneer Square afterwards.
FEET!
All of us at Greek Cuisina (L-R: Sam, Dana, Me, Cady, MacK, Kaelyn, and Megan)
Dana and Sam
Cady and Me
Dana and Cady
Megan and I riding the deer
FEET!
All of us at Greek Cuisina (L-R: Sam, Dana, Me, Cady, MacK, Kaelyn, and Megan)
Dana and Sam
Cady and Me
Dana and Cady
Megan and I riding the deer
Friday, September 18, 2009
On the English Major Front
After a week of thinking about this big decision, I was positive that I wanted to be an English major. However, I was unsure as to whether I should change now, or wait until later in the semester once I got more work back. On Monday I got a quiz and response paper back in English, both of which I got B's. However, I still wasn't sure as to whether or not I should switch for fear that I would have switched too early without giving my current class some time to see how I do. On Thursday, I asked Herman what he thought, and he told me that either way was fine, and that I don't need to stress out too much about it. Thanks to his advice and encouragement, I submitted the paperwork to the College of Arts and Sciences office yesterday. Despite not having a new advisor and having to wait 2-3 weeks to get the form back, I consider myself officially an English major.
Every spring, UP sponsors a conference called "NUCL" (Northwest Undergraduate Conference of Literature). I got an email from one of the professors co-chairing the conference looking for interns. I met with the professor today to ask her questions, and will have an interview next week. There's only three positions, and it's a little competitive since 8-10 people on average apply. Also, the professor told me that sometimes seniors get priority because it would be their last chance to do this (not always a make or break factor). If I got this position, some of my duties would include administrative tasks (e-mail correspondence, entering info into a database), reading papers and deciding which ones will be accepted in the conference, logistical stuff (ordering coffee, making name tags). I e-mailed with one of the interns last year who really enjoyed the experience. I did not attend the conference last year, as Cady and I hosted a prospective student for Weekend on the Bluff (needed the day to clean my room and do homework!). Essentially, it might be a long shot as I was not at the conference last year and the positions are competitive, but hey, why not?
Surprisingly, my homework load this weekend isn't terrible as I got a lot done yesterday. Mostly I have to study for tests Wednesday and Friday. Tonight my friends and I are going out for Greek food and dancing, which should be awesome. Until next time!
Every spring, UP sponsors a conference called "NUCL" (Northwest Undergraduate Conference of Literature). I got an email from one of the professors co-chairing the conference looking for interns. I met with the professor today to ask her questions, and will have an interview next week. There's only three positions, and it's a little competitive since 8-10 people on average apply. Also, the professor told me that sometimes seniors get priority because it would be their last chance to do this (not always a make or break factor). If I got this position, some of my duties would include administrative tasks (e-mail correspondence, entering info into a database), reading papers and deciding which ones will be accepted in the conference, logistical stuff (ordering coffee, making name tags). I e-mailed with one of the interns last year who really enjoyed the experience. I did not attend the conference last year, as Cady and I hosted a prospective student for Weekend on the Bluff (needed the day to clean my room and do homework!). Essentially, it might be a long shot as I was not at the conference last year and the positions are competitive, but hey, why not?
Surprisingly, my homework load this weekend isn't terrible as I got a lot done yesterday. Mostly I have to study for tests Wednesday and Friday. Tonight my friends and I are going out for Greek food and dancing, which should be awesome. Until next time!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Major Crisis /:
This week, I've been dealing with a major crisis. Although I'm only two weeks into the school year, I'm absolutely in love with my English class. Currently, I am a psych major English minor and considered the following three options: a)keep major/minor the same b)double major (seems like the ideal solution, but I think it would be a lot of work--I already have enough work in college!) or c)change my major entirely. This is a tough decision because I like both subjects. My psych class is not the most inspiring, but research methods is a required class so it's not surprising. It's not too bad since my professor tries not to make class too boring and we're starting our project (my partner and I are researching the social scene in high school among girls, which has been a big interest to me). Basically, I've known I wanted to work with kids since I was 11. The problem is, I cannot decide whether I want to be a school counselor or teach English. I really enjoy helping others with their problems, and my friends think that I'm a good listener and give good advice. However, English has always been my favorite subject, which has made me want to teach it. Not only do I love to read and write, but I've had a fabulous teacher my junior and senior years of high school and 2 awesome professors here at UP.
As you may know, I originally declared a secondary ed/English major when I applied to UP with intent of being an English teacher. However, I fell in love with my high school psych class, and that made me consider psych as a possible major. Although my general psych class was tough, I declared the major because I thought it would be good preparation for a career as a school counselor. At the time, I did not know that teaching is a career where you can get a liberal arts degree and then go back to grad school to get a master's or a credential (depending on if the school is public or private). I did not take English fall semester last year because I had hoped my AP score would get me out of ENG 112. Unfortunately, I did not score high enough to get out of the class, so I was bummed about having to take the class because I thought it would be a repeat of my class senior year. When planning my schedule for spring semester, I decided to take it. I honestly did not care who my professor was as English has always been my best subject and I'd survived two terrible teachers my freshman and sophomore years of high school. I ended up liking it so much that I declared an English minor by the end of the first month. Honestly, I had no idea that I'd want to go to class every day and that my professor would literally end up changing my life.
During these past couple days, I was reminded of a conversation I had with a senior English major friend last year. She used to work as a hall receptionist in my dorm, and is currently in my English class. We liked talking about the books we read, and she said "why don't you become an English major?" I thought that minoring would be enough, but right now I kept thinking, "you know what, Alyssa, you're right. I think I might conisder changing."
The major reasons I was concerned about changing was that I would regret doing it and not have made the right choice, and that it would not be "practical" in terms of my dream to work with children. After several stressful days of thinking about it, I realized that I have all my life to get a job, and that I should enjoy studying something about which I am truly passionate. Plus, many people change careers (and majors!) so I'm not alone. While psych may lead to more child-related careers, I'm currently at the point where I could see myself as an English teacher. I could always teach for a few years, and then get a school counseling degree. In fact, my high school psych teacher was also one of the school counselors! I used to feel that my major had to lead to a specific career path, but now I'm okay with the fact that I'm not 100% sure what I want to do yet (and don't have to!).
My stress alleviated on Thursday when I talked to the two people who could best help me with this decision. While I expected my advisor to tell me to stay a psych major and the English department chair to tell me I should be an English major, both were unbiased. I told them both about what attracted me to both subjects, my career aspirations, and major changes (sec. ed to undeclared to psych/English minor). My advisor encouraged me to switch to English if that was what I was passionate about, and told me I could still minor in psych (which I plan on doing). I had thought about double majoring in English and psych, but decided against it because I thought it would be too much. While people can and do double major in these two subjects, it's not as common as psych and soc. Luckily, she agreed with me in that I have all my life to choose a career and should do something I love.
My next visit that day was with the English department chair, and luckily I not only know, but have a personal relationship with this person. Yes, for those of you don't know, Herman (my fabulous professor last spring), is the dept. chair. I felt confused, anxious, and stressed when I walked into his office, and literally left with a new, positive outlook about myself and the situation. I went in, and told him, "I'm having a major crisis right now in that I'm considering switching my major to English." He just smiled at me and said, "tell me about it." I told him everything, and when I mentioned that I wanted to work with children, he said "I know you do" (I told him about my summer job and mentioned that in an essay I gave him). He even told me that my reasons for wanting to change were good reasons, which I didn't quite expect. I showed him a copy of the worksheet with the classes I had taken, and checked to make sure that I could still graduate in four years. He told me about the classes I'd need to take, and assured me that graduating in four years wouldn't be a problem as I've taken mostly core classes. He gave me the English majors handbook, which had an article about why liberal arts graduates are valued by employers. Herman recognized that this decision is difficult, and told me everything will work out fine. Because I have not done much written work for my current English class, I want to see not only how I do, but if I'll still be up to a heavy reading and writing load. That said, I have not made any definite decisions. However, just talking to him made me feel a billion times better, and at this point, I am 90% sure that I'm going to change my major. I consider myself a pretty lucky gal to have someone as positive, supportive, and caring as Herman to help me with this difficult and stressful decision.
I will keep everyone updated as the semester goes on. Provided all goes well, I hope to officially make the change by mid-November, which is when registration is. This will allow me to get my new advisor and work with him/her to make sure I'm taking the right classes.
Expect more next week from your future English-major-to-be :)
As you may know, I originally declared a secondary ed/English major when I applied to UP with intent of being an English teacher. However, I fell in love with my high school psych class, and that made me consider psych as a possible major. Although my general psych class was tough, I declared the major because I thought it would be good preparation for a career as a school counselor. At the time, I did not know that teaching is a career where you can get a liberal arts degree and then go back to grad school to get a master's or a credential (depending on if the school is public or private). I did not take English fall semester last year because I had hoped my AP score would get me out of ENG 112. Unfortunately, I did not score high enough to get out of the class, so I was bummed about having to take the class because I thought it would be a repeat of my class senior year. When planning my schedule for spring semester, I decided to take it. I honestly did not care who my professor was as English has always been my best subject and I'd survived two terrible teachers my freshman and sophomore years of high school. I ended up liking it so much that I declared an English minor by the end of the first month. Honestly, I had no idea that I'd want to go to class every day and that my professor would literally end up changing my life.
During these past couple days, I was reminded of a conversation I had with a senior English major friend last year. She used to work as a hall receptionist in my dorm, and is currently in my English class. We liked talking about the books we read, and she said "why don't you become an English major?" I thought that minoring would be enough, but right now I kept thinking, "you know what, Alyssa, you're right. I think I might conisder changing."
The major reasons I was concerned about changing was that I would regret doing it and not have made the right choice, and that it would not be "practical" in terms of my dream to work with children. After several stressful days of thinking about it, I realized that I have all my life to get a job, and that I should enjoy studying something about which I am truly passionate. Plus, many people change careers (and majors!) so I'm not alone. While psych may lead to more child-related careers, I'm currently at the point where I could see myself as an English teacher. I could always teach for a few years, and then get a school counseling degree. In fact, my high school psych teacher was also one of the school counselors! I used to feel that my major had to lead to a specific career path, but now I'm okay with the fact that I'm not 100% sure what I want to do yet (and don't have to!).
My stress alleviated on Thursday when I talked to the two people who could best help me with this decision. While I expected my advisor to tell me to stay a psych major and the English department chair to tell me I should be an English major, both were unbiased. I told them both about what attracted me to both subjects, my career aspirations, and major changes (sec. ed to undeclared to psych/English minor). My advisor encouraged me to switch to English if that was what I was passionate about, and told me I could still minor in psych (which I plan on doing). I had thought about double majoring in English and psych, but decided against it because I thought it would be too much. While people can and do double major in these two subjects, it's not as common as psych and soc. Luckily, she agreed with me in that I have all my life to choose a career and should do something I love.
My next visit that day was with the English department chair, and luckily I not only know, but have a personal relationship with this person. Yes, for those of you don't know, Herman (my fabulous professor last spring), is the dept. chair. I felt confused, anxious, and stressed when I walked into his office, and literally left with a new, positive outlook about myself and the situation. I went in, and told him, "I'm having a major crisis right now in that I'm considering switching my major to English." He just smiled at me and said, "tell me about it." I told him everything, and when I mentioned that I wanted to work with children, he said "I know you do" (I told him about my summer job and mentioned that in an essay I gave him). He even told me that my reasons for wanting to change were good reasons, which I didn't quite expect. I showed him a copy of the worksheet with the classes I had taken, and checked to make sure that I could still graduate in four years. He told me about the classes I'd need to take, and assured me that graduating in four years wouldn't be a problem as I've taken mostly core classes. He gave me the English majors handbook, which had an article about why liberal arts graduates are valued by employers. Herman recognized that this decision is difficult, and told me everything will work out fine. Because I have not done much written work for my current English class, I want to see not only how I do, but if I'll still be up to a heavy reading and writing load. That said, I have not made any definite decisions. However, just talking to him made me feel a billion times better, and at this point, I am 90% sure that I'm going to change my major. I consider myself a pretty lucky gal to have someone as positive, supportive, and caring as Herman to help me with this difficult and stressful decision.
I will keep everyone updated as the semester goes on. Provided all goes well, I hope to officially make the change by mid-November, which is when registration is. This will allow me to get my new advisor and work with him/her to make sure I'm taking the right classes.
Expect more next week from your future English-major-to-be :)
Pictures from Last Weekend
As promised, here's the pictures from the Activities Fair last weekend!
Go triple! MacKenzie, Megan, and Traci
Go Dana!
MacK, Traci, and me
2/3 of the triple: Traci and MacK
Dana and Kaelyn on the Slip and Slide
Kaelyn, Dana, and me
Imitating the Cingular bar ad
Some of my favorite people here at UP!
I love my girls to no end
Go Traci!
Kaelyn, Dana, Sam, MacK and Traci
Queen Rommie (Cady)
Pilots v.s. U of VA soccer game: Pilots lost ):
Wally Pilot, our mascot
Go triple! MacKenzie, Megan, and Traci
Go Dana!
MacK, Traci, and me
2/3 of the triple: Traci and MacK
Dana and Kaelyn on the Slip and Slide
Kaelyn, Dana, and me
Imitating the Cingular bar ad
Some of my favorite people here at UP!
I love my girls to no end
Go Traci!
Kaelyn, Dana, Sam, MacK and Traci
Queen Rommie (Cady)
Pilots v.s. U of VA soccer game: Pilots lost ):
Wally Pilot, our mascot
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Classes!!
If there's such a thing as being "jetlagged" in adjusting to classes, I certainly have it, as I've been tired on and off. But it's Friday and I survived my first full week as a sophomore! If you don't know or remember, I am taking five classes plus choir (which is one credit). My classes this semester are Ethics, American Nonfiction lit, Bib Trad (Biblical Tradition and Culture for you non-UP folks), Research Methods, and Powerful Ideas in Physical Science. Here's the 411 on my classes
Ethics: This class is at 9:15, so it's my earliest class. My professor has a Scottish accent, so I decided that no matter how much I end up liking the class, his accent will get me up in the morning. So far, we're discussing different kinds of morality (subjectivism, relativism), which is interesting. He's very flexible with test dates (we have 3, but no set dates on the syllabus) and understands the fact that we have classes other than his own. Another plus is that we have a paper instead of test for our final.
English: While reading 7 books this semester won't necessarily be a piece of cake (or quiche, as Debbie, French teacher fantastique, likes to say), I'll have to say I'm most excited about this class. I haven't read a lot of nonfiction, so I'll be expanding my literary horizons. The books I'll be reading are Walden Pond: Civil Disobedience, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Hiroshima, In Cold Blood, selections from an anthology called The Next American Essay, a graphic memoir called Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, and Dreams from My Father. As sad as I am not to have Herman (my prof from last semester who I loved), I really like Dr. Larson (my professor this semester) so far. He plays music at the beginning of every class, and is VERY passionate about the subject. He even told us on the first day that he's still learning about nonfiction lit, so it's cool that he'll be learning along with us as opposed to knowing everything there is to know. My class is a seminar, so there's a lot of discussion. While I will have a lot of reading to do, I will only have to write 5 short (1.5 page) papers every 2 weeks and 2 (one 4-5 page and one 7 page) larger papers. We don't have tests except for the final, which is also nice.
Bib Trad: The second of the three theology classes I have to take, this is everyone's most feared class. Rumor has it that students who take this class have to write a 25-30 page paper. However, this rumor is NOT true! While this class is one of three "writing embedded courses" (the other 2 are English 112 and Philosophy 150, both of which I took last year), most professors break the writing into smaller papers. My professor totally understands that this is everyone's most feared class, and encourages us to come to her for help. She is so sweet and funny, and when she talks, it's more like storytelling rather than lecturing. Plus, we do all the Bible reading in class, so the only thing we have to do out of class is write the papers.
Research Methods: I need this class for my psych major, and it's not the most exciting one I'll take. We have to work on a research project the whole semester, but at least we get to do it with a partner, which will make things more manageable. On Tuesday, we pick our partners and decide what we're going to research. I'm hoping to study bullying, cliques, and aggression in middle and high school students, having more problems with mean girls than I care to remember. I had the professor for cross-cultural psych in the spring, and she's one of my favorites because she's very engaging, not to mention friendly and helpful. She knows that everyone is taking this class because it's required, so she tries not to make class too boring.
Science: I don't know if I could have imagined this, but this is the last science class I will have to take in my entire life. For some reason, all the elementary ed. majors have to take this class. My friend Kaelyn (who's an el. ed major) took it last fall and said it was a joke. There's no tests, which is always a plus, and the our final project is essentially a middle school science project. We just do in class labs, read chapters from this book called Galileo's Daughter, and write summaries/answer questions. Pretty much everything is graded on completion. The main drawback is that the professor rambles a lot and my friends who took it warned me that going to class gets painful (which I'm already feeling after day two). However, I'm just happy to have a science class that I don't have to stress about, especially since I hate science and have other classes to which I'd rather devote more energy.
Choir's also fun. It's an easy A as all I have to do is show up. We have several concerts, including one at the Grotto (performance spot) in December. Today was the Activities where we got to put our name on mailing lists for different clubs. I'm now on the mailing list for College Dems, the English Society, and Study Abroad (advertisements for open house next week!). There was also a "pride slide" where people get covered in purple paint. My friends and I also attended 20 mins of the soccer game against U of Virginia (the score was 0-2 when we left, so the Pilots weren't doing so well). Our RA hosted a "speed friending" event where we got to know people on our floor, and that was a lot of fun. I took some pictures and will post them in a separate blog either this weekend or the next. Until then!
Ethics: This class is at 9:15, so it's my earliest class. My professor has a Scottish accent, so I decided that no matter how much I end up liking the class, his accent will get me up in the morning. So far, we're discussing different kinds of morality (subjectivism, relativism), which is interesting. He's very flexible with test dates (we have 3, but no set dates on the syllabus) and understands the fact that we have classes other than his own. Another plus is that we have a paper instead of test for our final.
English: While reading 7 books this semester won't necessarily be a piece of cake (or quiche, as Debbie, French teacher fantastique, likes to say), I'll have to say I'm most excited about this class. I haven't read a lot of nonfiction, so I'll be expanding my literary horizons. The books I'll be reading are Walden Pond: Civil Disobedience, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Hiroshima, In Cold Blood, selections from an anthology called The Next American Essay, a graphic memoir called Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, and Dreams from My Father. As sad as I am not to have Herman (my prof from last semester who I loved), I really like Dr. Larson (my professor this semester) so far. He plays music at the beginning of every class, and is VERY passionate about the subject. He even told us on the first day that he's still learning about nonfiction lit, so it's cool that he'll be learning along with us as opposed to knowing everything there is to know. My class is a seminar, so there's a lot of discussion. While I will have a lot of reading to do, I will only have to write 5 short (1.5 page) papers every 2 weeks and 2 (one 4-5 page and one 7 page) larger papers. We don't have tests except for the final, which is also nice.
Bib Trad: The second of the three theology classes I have to take, this is everyone's most feared class. Rumor has it that students who take this class have to write a 25-30 page paper. However, this rumor is NOT true! While this class is one of three "writing embedded courses" (the other 2 are English 112 and Philosophy 150, both of which I took last year), most professors break the writing into smaller papers. My professor totally understands that this is everyone's most feared class, and encourages us to come to her for help. She is so sweet and funny, and when she talks, it's more like storytelling rather than lecturing. Plus, we do all the Bible reading in class, so the only thing we have to do out of class is write the papers.
Research Methods: I need this class for my psych major, and it's not the most exciting one I'll take. We have to work on a research project the whole semester, but at least we get to do it with a partner, which will make things more manageable. On Tuesday, we pick our partners and decide what we're going to research. I'm hoping to study bullying, cliques, and aggression in middle and high school students, having more problems with mean girls than I care to remember. I had the professor for cross-cultural psych in the spring, and she's one of my favorites because she's very engaging, not to mention friendly and helpful. She knows that everyone is taking this class because it's required, so she tries not to make class too boring.
Science: I don't know if I could have imagined this, but this is the last science class I will have to take in my entire life. For some reason, all the elementary ed. majors have to take this class. My friend Kaelyn (who's an el. ed major) took it last fall and said it was a joke. There's no tests, which is always a plus, and the our final project is essentially a middle school science project. We just do in class labs, read chapters from this book called Galileo's Daughter, and write summaries/answer questions. Pretty much everything is graded on completion. The main drawback is that the professor rambles a lot and my friends who took it warned me that going to class gets painful (which I'm already feeling after day two). However, I'm just happy to have a science class that I don't have to stress about, especially since I hate science and have other classes to which I'd rather devote more energy.
Choir's also fun. It's an easy A as all I have to do is show up. We have several concerts, including one at the Grotto (performance spot) in December. Today was the Activities where we got to put our name on mailing lists for different clubs. I'm now on the mailing list for College Dems, the English Society, and Study Abroad (advertisements for open house next week!). There was also a "pride slide" where people get covered in purple paint. My friends and I also attended 20 mins of the soccer game against U of Virginia (the score was 0-2 when we left, so the Pilots weren't doing so well). Our RA hosted a "speed friending" event where we got to know people on our floor, and that was a lot of fun. I took some pictures and will post them in a separate blog either this weekend or the next. Until then!
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