I seriously adore college. No joke. After a few days of pondering, of wandering around campus, of sketching trees and listening to birds, I have come to this conclusion.
Here's why:
1. Freedom. You can pretty much do whatever you want (within reason, obviously). For example, if I want to go to the library, I don't have to ask permission to go to the library, nor do I have to provide an estimate of when I'll be back. And if, while at said library, I meet up with a friend and we decide to walk to Pamida, I don't need to call anyone to provide an update. I can just go. It's extremely nice.
2. The classes are absolutely amazing. Morris has really small class sizes. My largest one, U.S. history, has about 60 kids in it, which is one of the larger groups you'll find here. All of my other classes have 20 students or less. These size groups make for excellent discussions. Today in intro. to lit. we had an amazing discussion about some poems we had been told to read. I normally am not a huge fan of poetry, but for some reason I found it really fun and interesting to discuss it. In that class there are about 15 people, so everyone got a chance to speak and voice their opinion, which was really nice.
3. It's a great way to meet new people. I'm usually not super good at making new friends, but everyone's in the same boat when they go off to college-new, so it's easy to relate to everyone. All of the girls on my floor in Pine Hall are really nice, and we're already planning on doing different things together and making T-shirts.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Holly Goes to College
I can't believe that I'm actually at college. I've been talking about it for years-I'm lucky, I guess, that there was never any doubt that I was going to attend college. But now that I'm here, it's difficult to grasp.
Today was just orientation-type things. Mom and Amy came along to help me move in (Dad is on a fishing trip, but promised to pick me up in May). They left fairly quickly, though, since they had another three hour drive back. In fact, they left so quickly that I didn't really get emotional about it at all. It made me think about the kids who are at the U, and how tempting that must be for them to just go home every weekend. I can't really do that easily.
I've talked to tons of people. I'm usually not super good at making friends, but all of us freshman are in the same boat, so it's easy to relate to and approach people. I'm in Pine Hall, which is coed by floor, and all the girls on my floor seem really nice. Right now as I'm typing our door is open and I can look into the room across the hall and see our neighbors puttering around.
My room still doesn't feel like home, despite all my posters and pictures and books everywhere, but I think it will eventually. As hard as it is to be away from my house and my family and friends, I think that I'm really going to like Morris.
In a few hours my whole floor is walking down to the Morris movie theater (thank goodness they have one) to see a free movie. It's G-Force, which isn't my first choice of movie, but still. It's free. And it should be a good chance to talk to a few more people.
How on God's Green Earth 30 girls will manage to share 2 showers is beyond me, however.
Today was just orientation-type things. Mom and Amy came along to help me move in (Dad is on a fishing trip, but promised to pick me up in May). They left fairly quickly, though, since they had another three hour drive back. In fact, they left so quickly that I didn't really get emotional about it at all. It made me think about the kids who are at the U, and how tempting that must be for them to just go home every weekend. I can't really do that easily.
I've talked to tons of people. I'm usually not super good at making friends, but all of us freshman are in the same boat, so it's easy to relate to and approach people. I'm in Pine Hall, which is coed by floor, and all the girls on my floor seem really nice. Right now as I'm typing our door is open and I can look into the room across the hall and see our neighbors puttering around.
My room still doesn't feel like home, despite all my posters and pictures and books everywhere, but I think it will eventually. As hard as it is to be away from my house and my family and friends, I think that I'm really going to like Morris.
In a few hours my whole floor is walking down to the Morris movie theater (thank goodness they have one) to see a free movie. It's G-Force, which isn't my first choice of movie, but still. It's free. And it should be a good chance to talk to a few more people.
How on God's Green Earth 30 girls will manage to share 2 showers is beyond me, however.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Sunday, Sunday (So Good to Me)
I leave for college on Sunday. Sunday. At about 7 a.m.
I work almost all day Saturday (it's the big Ki-Chi-Saga Days street sale at the drug store).
So that means...
Tomorrow is my last day to pack.
The problem is I haven't even started packing yet! Holy cow!
I have almost everything I need, I just need to put it together.
Hopefully I can accomplish this in a day.
Everybody pray.
Please.
Fin.
I work almost all day Saturday (it's the big Ki-Chi-Saga Days street sale at the drug store).
So that means...
Tomorrow is my last day to pack.
The problem is I haven't even started packing yet! Holy cow!
I have almost everything I need, I just need to put it together.
Hopefully I can accomplish this in a day.
Everybody pray.
Please.
Fin.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
A Sneak Preview
Here's an excerpt from my story. Still untitled. I only have about two pages written so far, but it's coming along.
There was a dull fluttering against the window. A moth was caught between the screen and the glass, and was desperately trying to push through to the light within the hospital. Ted paused at his task for a moment to watch its struggle, letting the bedpan slide back beneath the foamy surface of the water with a clatter.
From above, the wail of an ambulance siren suddenly pierced the quiet kitchen. Ted returned to his work, knowing that if another patient was being brought in, his help may be needed soon. Sure enough, someone pounded downstairs a few minutes later.
It was Ray, out of breath, black hair sticking up in haphazard tufts, and right arm dangling. Ray had been born with a twisted, useless right arm. He normally hid it in a sling tied about his shoulder, but when he was sent on errands for Dr. Paget, Ray often became so excited that he forgot about the arm and let it hang by his side like a scrawny loaf of bread.
“Ted, Ted!” Ray was panting heavily. “They just brought a gal in. She’s real bad-pneumonia. Dr. Paget wants you straight away!” He said in a broken rush.
Ted wiped his hands on his pants as he followed Ray back up the stairs and into the sterile white hallways of the ward.
There was a dull fluttering against the window. A moth was caught between the screen and the glass, and was desperately trying to push through to the light within the hospital. Ted paused at his task for a moment to watch its struggle, letting the bedpan slide back beneath the foamy surface of the water with a clatter.
From above, the wail of an ambulance siren suddenly pierced the quiet kitchen. Ted returned to his work, knowing that if another patient was being brought in, his help may be needed soon. Sure enough, someone pounded downstairs a few minutes later.
It was Ray, out of breath, black hair sticking up in haphazard tufts, and right arm dangling. Ray had been born with a twisted, useless right arm. He normally hid it in a sling tied about his shoulder, but when he was sent on errands for Dr. Paget, Ray often became so excited that he forgot about the arm and let it hang by his side like a scrawny loaf of bread.
“Ted, Ted!” Ray was panting heavily. “They just brought a gal in. She’s real bad-pneumonia. Dr. Paget wants you straight away!” He said in a broken rush.
Ted wiped his hands on his pants as he followed Ray back up the stairs and into the sterile white hallways of the ward.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
In Which Holly Writes About Writing (How Unique!)
I just started writing a story today...it's historical fiction (as many good stories are), and concerns eugenics.
What is eugenics?
a. You don't really want to know
b. Okay, ready?
c. It's basically when you decide to 'purify' the human race by eliminating any undesirable traits/genes such as:
1. Certain skin colors
2. Mental Disabilities
3. Conditions such as epilepsy, blindness, or deafness
4. Insanity
5. Criminal Tendencies (because evidently they're genetic)
6. Pretty much anything you can think of that someone somewhere may consider to be 'undesirable'
d. Is it as horrid, disgusting, and wrong as it sounds? Yes.
e. Prime example: The Holocaust
f. In the United States, eugenics even became legal for a few decades in some states (darn that Indiana), and expanded to include compulsory sterilization.
g. Compulsory sterilization is what it sounds like. When you make someone unable to have children just because you don't want their undesirable genes (see above) passed on to future generations. And it wasn't voluntary, folks, needless to say. They even did it to some African American and Native American women without them knowing it. They would go to the hospital to have a baby and come out unable to have any more, thanks to a few choice doctors.
h. Supporters of eugenics? Woodrow Wilson, Alexander Graham Bell, Teddy Roosevelt, and Adolf Hitler, to name a few.
Why did I choose this disgusting topic for a story? Because horrid as it is, I find it fascinating that so few people know that this went on. I mean, everyone's heard of the Holocaust, but hardly anyone realizes that something identical went on in America for decades.
My story is about a teenager named Ted Graham who volunteers at a hospital in Indiana, hoping to become a doctor some day. He befriends a young African American woman who is in the hospital for an illness (I'm thinking pneumonia). Ted accidently discovers compulsory sterilization and realizes that they are about to perform it on his new friend. I'm thinking he'll try to save her, though not sure how far he'll go (fight the system, or just take her and run?) Oh yes, and they also fall in love. I'm setting it in 1908, a year after eugenics became legal in the state of Indiana. This one will require quite a bit of research, but I'm excited about it.
* In case you didn't catch it, I named my main character after two big supporters of eugenics: Theodore Roosevelt, and Alexander Graham Bell. Hoping to do something similar for the girl. I love ironic names.
What is eugenics?
a. You don't really want to know
b. Okay, ready?
c. It's basically when you decide to 'purify' the human race by eliminating any undesirable traits/genes such as:
1. Certain skin colors
2. Mental Disabilities
3. Conditions such as epilepsy, blindness, or deafness
4. Insanity
5. Criminal Tendencies (because evidently they're genetic)
6. Pretty much anything you can think of that someone somewhere may consider to be 'undesirable'
d. Is it as horrid, disgusting, and wrong as it sounds? Yes.
e. Prime example: The Holocaust
f. In the United States, eugenics even became legal for a few decades in some states (darn that Indiana), and expanded to include compulsory sterilization.
g. Compulsory sterilization is what it sounds like. When you make someone unable to have children just because you don't want their undesirable genes (see above) passed on to future generations. And it wasn't voluntary, folks, needless to say. They even did it to some African American and Native American women without them knowing it. They would go to the hospital to have a baby and come out unable to have any more, thanks to a few choice doctors.
h. Supporters of eugenics? Woodrow Wilson, Alexander Graham Bell, Teddy Roosevelt, and Adolf Hitler, to name a few.
Why did I choose this disgusting topic for a story? Because horrid as it is, I find it fascinating that so few people know that this went on. I mean, everyone's heard of the Holocaust, but hardly anyone realizes that something identical went on in America for decades.
My story is about a teenager named Ted Graham who volunteers at a hospital in Indiana, hoping to become a doctor some day. He befriends a young African American woman who is in the hospital for an illness (I'm thinking pneumonia). Ted accidently discovers compulsory sterilization and realizes that they are about to perform it on his new friend. I'm thinking he'll try to save her, though not sure how far he'll go (fight the system, or just take her and run?) Oh yes, and they also fall in love. I'm setting it in 1908, a year after eugenics became legal in the state of Indiana. This one will require quite a bit of research, but I'm excited about it.
* In case you didn't catch it, I named my main character after two big supporters of eugenics: Theodore Roosevelt, and Alexander Graham Bell. Hoping to do something similar for the girl. I love ironic names.
Friday, August 7, 2009
The Easy Way Out (Not That One)
Yes, I'm back to lists. But this one should be a bit more interesting than 'things I did today' (not to say, of course that I won't use that one again).
I recently wrote a Science fiction story just for fun, and to experiment with a different genre. But I noticed a few things about my writing process and about writing in general. I mean, what happened to being able to crank out a poem in about five minutes? Everything rhymes...cheesy title...big embellished signature at the bottom...done! Things have definitely gotten a bit more complicated.
THINGS I KNOW ABOUT WRITING:
1. It's almost impossible to write a story in one sitting. Sometimes (actually, most of the time), it's necessary to walk away, do something else for a few hours, and come back with a fresh perspective.
2. Criticism stinks. It's really horrible to have someone else telling you what's bad about your piece. But you know what? It honestly, truly works. And as a matter of fact, deep down, you already knew what was wrong without being told.
3. No one will love your story if you don't love your story. Don't ever send something out that you don't have complete faith in.
4. Science fiction isn't excruciatingly boring (all of the time).
5. I've heard people say that you should never write what you know. I would say always write what you know. Include any and all personal experiences, friends, pets, names, quotes, random stories...It makes everything seem more realistic.
6. Write about what you want to write about, not what someone else wants to hear. Unless of course it's a school assignment. Then I would say do what you're told.
7. Write something you would want to read. Endless descriptions may be a blast to write, but no one want to slog though that while reading.
8. Write everyday. No matter what. Even if it's just a journal entry or a one paragraph description or a haiku. Write something. And keep it all.
That's all. Sorry if I sound really patronizing, but I'm not trying to preach. I've just recently had a sort of epiphany and I wanted to share it. Also, everything on the list is personal. I think that writing is different for every single person. There is no such thing as 'method writing.'
That's all once again. Good night.
I recently wrote a Science fiction story just for fun, and to experiment with a different genre. But I noticed a few things about my writing process and about writing in general. I mean, what happened to being able to crank out a poem in about five minutes? Everything rhymes...cheesy title...big embellished signature at the bottom...done! Things have definitely gotten a bit more complicated.
THINGS I KNOW ABOUT WRITING:
1. It's almost impossible to write a story in one sitting. Sometimes (actually, most of the time), it's necessary to walk away, do something else for a few hours, and come back with a fresh perspective.
2. Criticism stinks. It's really horrible to have someone else telling you what's bad about your piece. But you know what? It honestly, truly works. And as a matter of fact, deep down, you already knew what was wrong without being told.
3. No one will love your story if you don't love your story. Don't ever send something out that you don't have complete faith in.
4. Science fiction isn't excruciatingly boring (all of the time).
5. I've heard people say that you should never write what you know. I would say always write what you know. Include any and all personal experiences, friends, pets, names, quotes, random stories...It makes everything seem more realistic.
6. Write about what you want to write about, not what someone else wants to hear. Unless of course it's a school assignment. Then I would say do what you're told.
7. Write something you would want to read. Endless descriptions may be a blast to write, but no one want to slog though that while reading.
8. Write everyday. No matter what. Even if it's just a journal entry or a one paragraph description or a haiku. Write something. And keep it all.
That's all. Sorry if I sound really patronizing, but I'm not trying to preach. I've just recently had a sort of epiphany and I wanted to share it. Also, everything on the list is personal. I think that writing is different for every single person. There is no such thing as 'method writing.'
That's all once again. Good night.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Remember Me? No? Darn it.
Hey remember me? The one who used to blog fairly regularly but hasn't updated in about three months? I hope it sounds familiar.
Well, I'm back. Not to blog right now, unfortunately. No time right now. But just to say that I am alive and well and will be writing very, very soon.
I promise.
Well, I'm back. Not to blog right now, unfortunately. No time right now. But just to say that I am alive and well and will be writing very, very soon.
I promise.
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