College Knowledge

Here are some helpful hints I've learned through my five years of college. Don't worry, it's nothing mushy... But, to all you high school grads, I hope this finds you well and helps you in your journey!

College Knowledge

1. Buy a Razor Scooter. And make your friends get one, too.

2. Keep an old sleeping bag in your car. Makes for a good blanket any time of day.

3. Drink coffee. If you don't like coffee, learn to like it. It's worth it.

4. Buy a coffee maker, and, most importantly, learn how to use it correctly.

5. Invest in a road bike. You look cooler and they go faster.

6. Become an expert on some TV sitcom. You'll meet someone with the same passion, and you'll instantly be best friends.

7. Hot pockets are delicious... And don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

8. Go to Smith Rock State Park. At least once. It's beautiful. Oh, and make someone take you climbing.

9. Reread Harry Potter. If you never read them as a child, find out what you've been missing.

10. Get involved in some on-campus group or club. You'll quickly find that there are lots of people with weird interests... Just like you.

11. Bunk beds are one of the best space savers ever.

12. Never underestimate the power of candles and air fresheners--A college household necessity.

13. You can put anything in pancakes. Bacon, raspberries, Charleston Chews, etc. Seriously.

14. Don't eat too much Ramen.

15. Expired milk is usually OK. Usually...

16. Find out where your local Applebee's is. Half-priced appetizers after 9:00 p.m. if you buy a drink. Best. Deal. Ever.

17. Never take an 8 a.m. class during winter term. Bad things happen.

18. You'll end up spending most of your time doing stuff like this:

 

Don't worry. This kind of behavior is encouraged.

19. Invest in a box of Otter Pops. Seriously, it's only $3 and you get 100.

20. Learn how to Slack line. If you don't know what that is, look it up.

21. Make forts. At least once a term.

22.  Avocados go good with every thing. Every. Thing.

23. Don't take life too seriously. It's not like you're getting educated for your future or anything like that...

24. Don't freak out if you change majors. It's better to be more well-rounded.

25. Buy a giant stuffed bear from Costco. Trust me.

Well, that's it for now! Thanks to all my friends, past roommates, and co-workers for inspiring my list. I'm sure it will grow as I finish my last two terms of college.

Yay!

I have to be a grown-up

I came to the realization the other day that I'm getting married in less than three months.
More specifically, in 82 days.
What freaked me out the most was realizing that once I get married, I'm basically old... A big grown-up. I'll probably have to learn how to cook, take better care of my home, probably join some type of book club and learn how to knit.
Yes, I realize that may be a little off, but Keith and I were talking about this the other day: Once I find out that someone in college is married, I instantly feel as if they have so much more life experience than me. And the more planning and organizing I'm having to do for my own wedding, the more respect I have for others who have done all this while still in school.

Most blogs tend to have a theme... And I honestly don't know if I have one. So, I've decided one of the things I'll write about: engagement and married-people things. The closer I get to the date of our wedding, the more I realize I have no idea what it's like to be a grown-up, or even a wife. So perhaps you fine people who read this can offer some advice.

Another freak out I've had is realizing that in 82 days, I have to look super hot. 200+ people will be staring at me for the majority of the evening. Those of you who know me well know that I have no issues being up in front of a lot of people. But when the focus becomes how pretty I look, it terrifies me.

Anyway, I've started a work-out plan. So far (a whole four days...) it's been working pretty well. And it helps that the weather's been decent lately. Like many Oregonians, my productivity is highly dependent on the weather.

Here's my plan so far:
Monday: Run 3 miles, do 30 min of exercises, Yoga
Tuesday: Run 3 miles, do 30 min of exercises
Wednesday: Yoga, climbing
Thursday: 30 min of exercises
Friday: Run 3 miles
Saturday: Time permitting, do something...
Sunday: Take the day off

Any thoughts? Suggestions? Helpful hints?

Stop looking at my public posts...

This term I'm taking a class on Media Ethics, one of the required classes for my major.

Every Thursday, we talk about ethical cases in media that have raised a lot of "hoopla" in the past.

One topic that we keep coming back to is the issue of privacy, and what our rights should be.

We watched this video by Clay Shirkey (a name I have used in a game of Family before), about Facebook privacy and how employers now use your profiles and posts as part of the interview process.

In this article, they say that around 40% of current employers will look at your profile, and 80% consider it in the hiring process.

What I find crazy is how people totally freak out about this. "How dare they look at my Facebook." "That's private! That's my life!"

Yes, it is your life.  But it's not private. You chose to put that info on Facebook. In fact, you chose to have a Facebook in the first place. And if you're doing things that you don't want your future or current employer to know, perhaps you shouldn't be doing it in the first place.

All I have to say is this-- if you're ashamed of what's going on in your life, private, public, or in a social medium, it's your job to fix it. Don't claim your rights are being violated if you choose to involve yourself in yahoo-ish behavior in the first place.

Some people.

I just want to say a couple things before we get started:
I am the expert of me. You are the expert of you.
Right?

Today, I met with my "mini advertising company" for my WR 414: Advertising and Public Relations class. We had to work together to come up with a mission statement for our group. I, of course, was having issues focusing. We thought it'd be a great idea to meet outside in the nice sunshine, rather than the stuffy classroom. But it just distracted me instead.

Anyway, we got talking about our lives, and I mentioned how I've been busy lately. Of course, I mentioned my wedding, because it's a fun topic for me to talk about. However, instead of the support I'm used to, it turned into a conversation about how the majority of the group was "not into relationships" and seemed to considered marriage as a barrier, not an opportunity.

I was speechless. I honestly didn't really know how to react. I just responded with "Well, I'm glad I'm engaged. I'm really excited." But, no response.

I think it's a culture thing. My friends "back home" are highly supportive of the Keith and Emily union to happen in August. However, I've noticed that people in classes and some people I interact with at work are "happy for us," but there's an undertone of "marriage? really?"

Has this happened to anyone else? I feel like people know my relationship and feel the need to tell me what they think I should or should not be doing. Come on, it's my life.

Come on.

I love my job

I just want to brag about my life for a moment.

Even though I grew up in Eugene, in the heart of Duck Country, words cannot express how thankful I am that I go to Oregon State.
I work at Dixon, for the Department of Recreational Sports, for the Adventure Leadership Institute (ALI). I work at a climbing center, a gear rental center, and a challenge course. If I could get paid full time to be here all time every day, I would jump on that opportunity faster than you can say flapjack (I'm also craving pancakes right now, in case you can't tell).

I'm currently sitting in "my office," which is a student work room at McAlexander Fieldhouse that no other students have bothered to use on a regular basis. The door is cracked, and I can hear 80s music from our climbing center. Keith is over there with our co-worker Winkle, and they're in the middle of teaching a Rock 1 class.

What I love most about working at for ALI is getting to do stuff that most people rarely do. I get to teach climbing techniques to fellow students. I get to go on backpacking trips and get paid. I get to hang out with some of the coolest people I've ever met, and all while taking classes.

They always say that the best thing you can do in college is get involved in something on campus. I used to think I was "above" that. That I had a well established group of friends that I didn't need to branch out. I was totally wrong, or "totes wrong" as they say on the streets.

Anyway, if you want to see more of what I do, here's some links to check out. It could just be the nice weather, but I'm really thankful for my job today.

ALI Flickr
Adventure Leadership Institute
Adventure Club
Silly video

Enjoy the weather, everyone!

Oregonians are Desperate

You know who you are.
You get excited when it's 50 degrees outside for the first time.
You wear shorts and sandals with your puffy or fleece jacket.
You suddenly feel the need to go to REI and buy "summer stuff."

If you felt the previous statements were close to home, you are suffering from the Oregon Syndrome-- the need to cling to any hope of "nice" weather whenever it comes along.

After a long weekend of frisbee-playing, iced-coffee-drinking, beach-fort-making, tank-top-wearing, and sun-lounging, I realized that I am a desperate Oregonian. Suddenly everything I needed to get done was low priority, and all I cared about was tanning my ghostly-white thighs.

But, of course, reality hits in, and I realize that I still have a life that is not weather dependent.
Wedding plans.
Other peeps' wedding plans.
School.
Work.
Etc.

I can tell already that this term will be hard to get through. It's only week 4, and I already find myself feeling the "senioritis" that should have been cured last spring. Unfortunately, not all of us can be overachievers and "get 'er done" in four years. Sorry Mom and Dad.

Fortunately, I do have a lot to look forward to this term. I've been taking a crack at teaching one of the classes offered through the Adventure Leadership Institute this term-- Canoeing.
I won't bore you all with the details of this experience just yet, but a couple weeks ago, my boss told me about this little gem, and I thought I would share it all with you. It's no girl-and-kitten video, but it's pretty darn great.

Ladies and gents, I present to you Marc Ornstein.

Enjoy.

A Blog is Where You Write Stuff

I study media.
More specifically, "new media."
It's defined as "a broad term used in media studies to that refers to the on-demand access to content at any time, anywhere, on any digital device, as well as interactive user feedback, creative participation and community formation around the media content." At least, that's what Wikipedia tells us. And we know they're always right.

If there's one thing I've learned so far from my studies, it's that they encourage media immersion. My Social Media class had our final on Tumblr... My Media Management class had a Facebook group... I'm constantly told to be in the media more and more and more.

So, what's the next step? Start a blog. Because, I want to share the pointless memes, idiotic quotations, absurd articles, and priceless videos, and hopefully original thoughts that I encounter in my quest for knowledge.

Thanks for reading my first post. For your allegiance, I leave you with this video:

Hasta luego.