1st Days Cont'd

Sorry I didn't write yesterday! Never got the chance! Today I have 3 days to discuss, so tomorrow I'll post the list of things to bring, some pictures, and tell about the dorms since I'll only have to account for Thursday!

So, Monday Morning (June 27th), I woke up at 6 am. Around 7 am I went down for breakfast, and was headed out for my major classes at 7:45. They start promptly at 8, and dorms are closed at 7:45 so they can be sure everyone is on their way to class. In my major, Communicative Arts (CommArts or Commie for short), we have a 2 hour session, a break, and then a different 2 hour session.

My first class is called "The Feminine Mystique" with 'Tamara' (all the GHP teachers, except one or two departments insit on us using their first names). In it we are reading the novel "She's Come Undone" (it fits in well with the novels we read in your class, Mrs. Brunk! It's sad and depressing, too! But still good, just as the others were, of course). We read an article that focused on what makes genders behave so differently, refuting the idea that women have more neural connections in the brain from birth than men, and thus communicate better, with more studies done on many more people than the studies that say there is (sorry Mr. Higgins!). We also watched some of the special features from the movie, "Mona Lisa Smiles". The overall purpose of the class is to consider whether we should become a genderless society, how that would affect us for either good or bad, and, if we should decide we should become genderless, to identify what "coming of age" rites of passage make girls women and boys men and thus consider which could be eliminated/controlled for a genderless society.

After a 30 minute break, I have my 2nd session class, "The Socratic Method Seminar" with Jill. For 30 minutes, we read an article about the topic for the day, and then we debate/discuss for 1.5 hours. Monday's topic was the public school system and whether we should change how it functions. Everyone had an opinion about school, of course, so it was an interesting discussion.

Major classes are dismissed at 12:30. Then it is lunchtime until 1:45. As everyone was dismissed at the same time, the line was 695 people long again, so I went up to my dorm to wait it out while I finally called my mom. I still needed to unpack, so I hoped to eat quickly so I could do so before the minor fair at 3:30, but when I finished my phone call and when back downstairs to go eat, I ran into a rather long line for students to get their ID cards fixed so we could use them as keys to lock our dormrooms. I decided to get in line, and a good thing, since within two minutes (no exaggeration) the line was already down 2 halls. 35 minutes later, I just finished getting my card fixed, but lunch was over. It was 2pm, and I was hungry! I went with my friend from home, Raina, to the Student Union to buy some food. I got a chicken finger platter and a drink (since they aren't included) for $11.21! Even though it was expensive, I was able to take it to my dorm to eat and unpack at the same time while Raina kept me some company, plus it was heartier food than I had been getting from Palms Dining facility, so my grumpiness from the frustration of yet to be unpacked and hunger quickly eased. Also, the ice in my ucp lasted until I went to bed so I was able to continue to pour my waterball in it to get cold!!! Lame, I know, but a big deal down here in the heat.

At 3:30 pm Raina and I made the long treck down to the PE complex for the Minor fair. We got there around 4:00. The French and Spanish instructors told me I wouldn't enjoy their classes as I was more advanced than what they'd be teaching even though I felt I needed a refresher in French and knew only a little Spanish (and that not being anything oral!). So, Raina and I walked around the fair to find some others (you have to rank three on your minor selection sheet). We found the design minor to be very interesting...they were going to be making and designing artistic lamps, which would be a new thing for me. I also became interested in Executive Management. We passed by what looked to be a graphics design minor, only to find out it was MATH! They were doing some very neat computer things that didn't look like math to me at all, and actually seemed like fun, so I decided to add it to my list as well.

At 4:45 Raina and I hurried back up the long trail to our dorms for a 5:15 hall check. I ended up having a brief 10 minutes to call my mom and get her opinion on my new minor options and to see how I should rank them. At our hall check from 5:15-5:45, we officially selected our minors. My choices were: 1. Design 2. Math 3. Executive Management.

At 6 we all went down to dinner, and then supposedly we had a counselor meeting scheduled at 7:15. However, we found out there had been a mistake and that only certain people went to that meeting. Mine is on Wednesday (tonight). So at 7:20 I found myself at the student union, working on my blog, which I had to stop at 8:55 due to the building closing. That night, I went to the Hopper courtyard to meet some new friends and hang out, then at 9:30 went to my first seminar, "stargazing". Only one problem: it was cloudy and dark with no stars. So we stayed out on West lawn anyway, some people throwing light-up frisbees, some playing group games, some sitting by the fountain. I walked around and took the time to give my mom and dad a nice long call, and still had the time to socialize. At 10:30 we had another hall check and meeting that lasted until 11:00 pm. I read and got prepared for bed, then the 11:30 lights out ended my first OFFICIAL day of GHP.

Tuesday (June 28th), I woke up again at 6 am and had breakfast at 7 am. I had classes at 8. In my Feminism class we started to discuss our novel, compared women and their roles in the 50s to modern women, sicussed discirmination and gender in the workforce, and began to watch the movie Mona Lisa Smiles. [We get to finish it tomorrow (Thursday) at 5pm after hours so we have more class time.] Instead of a break, we went to an introduction of the library meeting before our 2nd session class. In the Socratic Seminar, our topic was MORALITY! We brought up Kohlberg's 6 stages of morality and the Milgram experiment (thought about you, Mr. Higgins!). All in all, this was an "EPIC!" debate, as described by one of my new friends and classmates, Hillary. The main focus was: is there a set moral standard in existence, and if not is one possible?

After class, Hillary, my other freind Chloe, and I  went to lunch. We got there before the line, somehow. Then I went to my dorm to call my mom and prepare for the first day of minors--I got MATH!! Around 1:30 I arrive for my 2:00 minor, so those of us who were early got to get our accoutns early and play around on the Math only computers. At 2, the teachers introduced themselves and described the classes, we selected our courses, and then played Mastermind while we waited to see our results. Then we had 25 minutes to go to each class. My first minor session is about Fractals. Our teacher is Mike, and he is really cool. Aaron, the computer guy, helps us out, too. you'll hear more about them later. We create computer generated images that, when zoomed in, repeat themselves forever. We played around with sample ones for our 25 minutes. My 2nd session is Delphi. We learn to create software programs through Delphi. yesterday we made buttons that changed the color of the computer screen.

At 4 :30 Raina and I went back to  our rooms to drop off our things, I then I went on to dinner at 5. I ended up staying the entire time, going through 3 phases of friends. Te last group included Raina and two of her roomates, along with a guy named "Zan" who we began to call "Keith" as he reminds most people of Keith Urban. At 7pm the dining hall closed, and the girls and I went up to Raina's dorm for some girl talk that we had all been deprived of since summer began. At 8:30 we had had our fill and were ready to go play, so we went out to the courtyard where some kids were playing Ninja. Only it was raining! I went back for an umbrella, and then came back out to hang out, make some new friends, and take pictures for you all to see. Some of my new friends include "AFA" or Air Force Andrew, Keith or Zan, John, 2 Logans, Courtney, Melissa, Hillary, Chloe, and some others. We meant to check out the book club at 9 o'clock, but lost track of time.

At 10:15 I went to my room to prepare for our 10:30 hall check, only to discover that our toilet had broke!!! We can't flush it has the wire in the back that connects the handle with the flushing dvice snapped. After the hall meeting we told our RA, but we had no luck fixing it. As of yet, we have not got it fixed, and it is Wednseday at 6:11pm! But the maintenance man is aware of it, so it shouldn't be long. I read some more of my novel before bed, and then it was 11:30 and lights out!

Well, I had planned to tell about today, too, but now, as I said, it is 6:10 and I am meeting some freinds for dinner at 6:15. I'll try to come by the library either later tonight or tomorrow. Sorry, and thanks for reading My GHP Journey so far!

TO BE CONTINUED....

PS. GHP IS GREAT! Everything is better than I expected!