Coming into college, it’s nearly impossible to know what to expect. You are entering a whole new life it seems like. You no longer have your parents and high school teachers around to baby you; you are responsible for yourself. You have to realize that your mind is going to change a million times, not just on your major or your class choices, but it will also change your outlook on life. College requires a lot of growth and maturing. A lot of people find themselves changing the instant they start college. I know that whenever I left high school to move on to college, I certainly had a very different outlook on everything than I do now.
All throughout high school, I know I had it easy. I knew that I could get most of my assignments finished in class and I could do the rest in homeroom. I was even able to write my English papers in my journalism class, so I was left with virtually no homework when my school day ended. It was stressful trying to finish all of my work in class, but I preferred it that way so that I could relax when I returned home. I was excited for college, but I also dreaded it at the same time. I knew that my days of taking it easy would be over once I hit college, and even though I knew I was smart and capable of doing my homework, I was stressing that I wouldn’t be able to handle the adjustment very well.
I was right in some ways and wrong in others when I thought that college would be a huge, stressful adjustment. I was expecting to be doing homework all night every night, and never know what was going on in any of my classes. I guess I felt like I was going to be lost and confused. While it took awhile to get used to my classes, I was happy to find that they weren’t as monstrous as I thought they would be. I am still not totally adjusted to doing my homework at home instead of in class, but it is a work in progress. My classes have either met or exceeded all of my expectation and/or worries, but I am getting used to them.
History has always been my weak point. I’m not very good at history. Everyone who had already taken the U.S. World History course told me how much they dreaded it. I, too, dread it every day. It requires around 30-40 pages of reading each class, and the tests are pretty difficult. For someone who hates history and has a hard time comprehending it, this class is definitely a struggle for me. Fortunately, I did not go into this class thinking it would easy. It has met my expectations in that I expected this class to be extremely difficult and kill me.
Another class that has exceeded my expectations is my English class. I expected this class to be a lot of book reading and quizzes. I was thrilled to find out that this class was based more on writing than book work. I love to write, so this class has been good for me to practice doing so in order to get better. While sometimes it is a pain to have to write so much all of the time, I know that it is just good way to strengthen our writing skills.
Besides my attitudes and expectations in individual classes, college has also changed my outlook on life in general. Of course, being away from your family can sometimes make you miss them. I live several minutes away from mine and I still miss not seeing them every day. I think college has showed me how important my family actually was to me. College has also given me insight to the “party life”. I was never around partiers much in high school, and now I’m around them daily. The way they act and the things they say when they are drunk has just strengthened my reasoning on why I think partying is not a good idea for myself personally. College has shown me that life is real. We’ve had cases of rape on campus, car break-ins (including my own), burglaries, and drug busts. It’s just not something you see a lot of when you’re living a cozy life at home with your parents. Lastly, college has shown me how to take care and fend for myself. Everything here is my own responsibility. I have to make sure I’m up on time, that all of my homework is done, it’s up to me to talk to my advisor or get my major changed, it’s up to me to make my own doctor’s appointments, and that’s been a big adjustment from when I lived at home. At home, my mom took care of a lot of stuff like that. In my dorm, I have to clean, I have to do dishes, and I have to make my own meals. While I don’t necessarily like doing all of these things, it does give me a sense of independence and comfort knowing that I am capable of living by myself.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
College?!
Fresh out of high school, it’s easy to think that college is going to be a breeze. It’s easy to think you can sleep in until noon every day, throw together a paper, and be done. In high school, it was easy to look at your older peers in college and think that they have the easy road. They didn’t have to deal with the same kids every day, they didn’t have to wake up at the crack of dawn, and they only had the same class once a week. Sure, it seems simple enough to be a college student. While it is certainly easier than living the high school life, college is not an easy thing; it requires a lot of hard work. To succeed in college, you must end the habit of procrastination, you must be dedicated, and you must learn to go with the flow.
By high school, we had all learned too well how to procrastinate. It was easy to get away with when your teachers only wanted a finished assignment from you. I know of many times that I Aced a paper I just put together the night before simply because not many people tried hard enough to even throw a paper together. We get in the habit of putting things off until the last minute because we can get away with it. In high school, it’s easy to pass off really good grades without hardly lifting a finger. In college, however, procrastination will often leave you stressed and out of luck. Tests are harder, assignments are harder, and the teachers are harder on you. So when you decided to put off your paper until the night before it’s due, chances are your professor will be able to tell and give you the grade you deserve: an F or a D. They don’t tolerate many excuses, and while they are not totally mean all of the time, you will usually get somewhat of an attitude when you start making excuses for why you didn’t turn in your homework. It’s insanely tempting to procrastinate in college. There’s always a party down the hall, there’s always friends to hang out with, and you don’t have your parents there breathing down your back. With all of the commotion and fun going on, school work is probably one of the last things on your mind. Procrastination is a hard habit to break, but if you are able to, it’s the first step in your college success.
Dedication is another key factor in being successful in your college career. If you are not dedicated, you lose sight of why you are at college to begin with: to learn and earn your degree. Professors don’t care if you don’t have your homework in; you have to care. They aren’t going to baby you and make sure your assignments are in so you can show your good grades to mommy and daddy. If you fail a course, you pay to retake it, simple as that. You have to keep your main goal in mind, and that is to graduate with good grades. It is certainly hard whenever there are so many distractions around you, but if you keep that dedication it takes to keep up with homework and have good study habits, it will be worth the trouble. When you are sitting in your dorm at night with your books out studying, you have to remind yourself that you are doing all of this hard work in order to be successful later in life. You will never regret hard work in college.
Lastly, to succeed in college, you must learn to go with the flow. While structure is nice and everything, sometimes college just doesn’t work like that. Occasionally you might have to change your schedule for a class, or change your schedule in order to make more time for studying. You must be able to handle that. Also, however, you must learn to go with the flow because you will enjoy college more that way. Taking on this kind of attitude will help you maximize your college experience by allowing you more opportunities to experience things and make friends. Making friends is very essential to college. Your friends become your support group because they are all dealing with college life just like you.
While it is hard to transition from high school to college, if you’re prepared, making the switch will be a little easier on you. Knocking off the habit of procrastination early on will help you be more successful. Like anything else, college also requires dedication. If you are just dreading college and you couldn’t care less about it, college probably isn’t for you. You have to want to be here. Lastly, college is a great experience; learn how to go with the flow and have fun. You can work hard while staying focused on school. It may not be easy to be successful in college, but it sure is possible.
By high school, we had all learned too well how to procrastinate. It was easy to get away with when your teachers only wanted a finished assignment from you. I know of many times that I Aced a paper I just put together the night before simply because not many people tried hard enough to even throw a paper together. We get in the habit of putting things off until the last minute because we can get away with it. In high school, it’s easy to pass off really good grades without hardly lifting a finger. In college, however, procrastination will often leave you stressed and out of luck. Tests are harder, assignments are harder, and the teachers are harder on you. So when you decided to put off your paper until the night before it’s due, chances are your professor will be able to tell and give you the grade you deserve: an F or a D. They don’t tolerate many excuses, and while they are not totally mean all of the time, you will usually get somewhat of an attitude when you start making excuses for why you didn’t turn in your homework. It’s insanely tempting to procrastinate in college. There’s always a party down the hall, there’s always friends to hang out with, and you don’t have your parents there breathing down your back. With all of the commotion and fun going on, school work is probably one of the last things on your mind. Procrastination is a hard habit to break, but if you are able to, it’s the first step in your college success.
Dedication is another key factor in being successful in your college career. If you are not dedicated, you lose sight of why you are at college to begin with: to learn and earn your degree. Professors don’t care if you don’t have your homework in; you have to care. They aren’t going to baby you and make sure your assignments are in so you can show your good grades to mommy and daddy. If you fail a course, you pay to retake it, simple as that. You have to keep your main goal in mind, and that is to graduate with good grades. It is certainly hard whenever there are so many distractions around you, but if you keep that dedication it takes to keep up with homework and have good study habits, it will be worth the trouble. When you are sitting in your dorm at night with your books out studying, you have to remind yourself that you are doing all of this hard work in order to be successful later in life. You will never regret hard work in college.
Lastly, to succeed in college, you must learn to go with the flow. While structure is nice and everything, sometimes college just doesn’t work like that. Occasionally you might have to change your schedule for a class, or change your schedule in order to make more time for studying. You must be able to handle that. Also, however, you must learn to go with the flow because you will enjoy college more that way. Taking on this kind of attitude will help you maximize your college experience by allowing you more opportunities to experience things and make friends. Making friends is very essential to college. Your friends become your support group because they are all dealing with college life just like you.
While it is hard to transition from high school to college, if you’re prepared, making the switch will be a little easier on you. Knocking off the habit of procrastination early on will help you be more successful. Like anything else, college also requires dedication. If you are just dreading college and you couldn’t care less about it, college probably isn’t for you. You have to want to be here. Lastly, college is a great experience; learn how to go with the flow and have fun. You can work hard while staying focused on school. It may not be easy to be successful in college, but it sure is possible.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
The Joys of Working in Fast Food
Working fast food seems simple enough. You go in, you take some money, and you flip some hamburgers. Or so everyone seems to think. Working fast food, especially an “upscale” fast food place like G.D. Ritzys, can be tedious and downright exhausting. Ritzys prides itself on making all of their ingredients. They make their own ice cream, their own croutons for the salads they put together themselves; their own chili, coleslaw, and they even shred their own cheese. Many don’t realize that it is often times the employee’s responsibility to do these everyday tasks that people don’t think of. You can go on thinking working fast food is the easy way out, but just take a look inside our workdays and you will find it is not anywhere near an easy thing.
I arrive at work at 8 a.m., even on the weekends. We don’t open until 10:30 a.m., so there are two and a half hours of preparation before we even open. We all are assigned our own jobs. My job is to do salads. I go in, put on my hairnet, booties, and gloves, and get busy. The first thing I do is see what salads and toppings are left to use from the night before. I have to check all of the leftover salads to make sure they are all fresh; freshness is very important to the Ritzy image. I discard the ones that have any hint of brown in them. Next, I take the leftover lettuce from the night before and fill up the lettuce containers for the sandwich makers. I take all of the leftover lettuce to the salad, where I chop it up. We have huge sinks in the back that we fill up with chopped lettuce to make our salads; we usually go through around 70 salads a day. The chopper is heavy and a burden to use, but it’s what has to be done.
After I chop the lettuce, I start making salads. I get out the tomatoes, the hardboiled eggs, and the carrots. I have my own way of making my salads. I line up as many bowls as I can on the counter of the sink. I fill each container with salad, and then I top each with two tomato slices, three hardboiled egg pieces, and a handful of carrots. Then I go through and put the lids on each one, stack them up, and bring them to the refrigerator. This whole process has given me nine deluxe salads. I repeat this process until I have 70 deluxe salads, 16 side salads, and 6 taco salads. It would be lovely if my work ended there.
I then must chop more lettuce to give the people working the next day some help. I chop until I have an entire container of it, and I put it in the fridge. I then cut more lettuce for the sandwich people. Around this time, it is nearing 9:30. I have to have my work done by 10 in order to get my break, so I start hustling. I cut, chop, and dice more tomatoes to fill the container. I cut up more hard boiled eggs, and I skin more carrots. By this time, I usually have a big mess to clean. I must clean every bit of lettuce out of the sink so the dishwasher can start to use it. I must clean every bit of the little pieces of lettuce left in the chopper, which let me tell you, takes forever. Lastly, after my mess is cleaned up, I am to help whoever has not finished their tasks yet; no one goes on break until everyone is done. Finally, 10 o’clock rolls around and I can take my twenty minute break to eat.
That’s probably one of the busier parts of my day. By this time I am usually already exhausted with all the lifting and carrying I had done. But then, I must start my 10:30-4 shift. All day long I work the cash register and take peoples orders. I get them salads, I get them drinks, I get them ice cream, and everything in-between. I clean up spills, I deal with angry customers, I wipe tables, and I refill ingredients, to name a few. We don’t get any breaks to sit down. We are literally on our feet all day. By the time 4 o’clock rolls around, everyone is beyond exhausted. I go home with a sore body, an exhausted mind, and a terrible grease smell imbedded on my clothing, hair, and even skin.
I’m not saying there aren’t rewarding parts to working fast food. You do, after all, get a paycheck every two weeks, and you will occasionally deal with customers that you just love. But for the most part, it is just an exhausting job. I’m not sure how there are some people there that use this as their full time job. Flipping hamburgers is alright and all, but I’m beyond glad to be at college so that I can have a job one day that doesn’t require me to ask “would you like fries with that?”
I arrive at work at 8 a.m., even on the weekends. We don’t open until 10:30 a.m., so there are two and a half hours of preparation before we even open. We all are assigned our own jobs. My job is to do salads. I go in, put on my hairnet, booties, and gloves, and get busy. The first thing I do is see what salads and toppings are left to use from the night before. I have to check all of the leftover salads to make sure they are all fresh; freshness is very important to the Ritzy image. I discard the ones that have any hint of brown in them. Next, I take the leftover lettuce from the night before and fill up the lettuce containers for the sandwich makers. I take all of the leftover lettuce to the salad, where I chop it up. We have huge sinks in the back that we fill up with chopped lettuce to make our salads; we usually go through around 70 salads a day. The chopper is heavy and a burden to use, but it’s what has to be done.
After I chop the lettuce, I start making salads. I get out the tomatoes, the hardboiled eggs, and the carrots. I have my own way of making my salads. I line up as many bowls as I can on the counter of the sink. I fill each container with salad, and then I top each with two tomato slices, three hardboiled egg pieces, and a handful of carrots. Then I go through and put the lids on each one, stack them up, and bring them to the refrigerator. This whole process has given me nine deluxe salads. I repeat this process until I have 70 deluxe salads, 16 side salads, and 6 taco salads. It would be lovely if my work ended there.
I then must chop more lettuce to give the people working the next day some help. I chop until I have an entire container of it, and I put it in the fridge. I then cut more lettuce for the sandwich people. Around this time, it is nearing 9:30. I have to have my work done by 10 in order to get my break, so I start hustling. I cut, chop, and dice more tomatoes to fill the container. I cut up more hard boiled eggs, and I skin more carrots. By this time, I usually have a big mess to clean. I must clean every bit of lettuce out of the sink so the dishwasher can start to use it. I must clean every bit of the little pieces of lettuce left in the chopper, which let me tell you, takes forever. Lastly, after my mess is cleaned up, I am to help whoever has not finished their tasks yet; no one goes on break until everyone is done. Finally, 10 o’clock rolls around and I can take my twenty minute break to eat.
That’s probably one of the busier parts of my day. By this time I am usually already exhausted with all the lifting and carrying I had done. But then, I must start my 10:30-4 shift. All day long I work the cash register and take peoples orders. I get them salads, I get them drinks, I get them ice cream, and everything in-between. I clean up spills, I deal with angry customers, I wipe tables, and I refill ingredients, to name a few. We don’t get any breaks to sit down. We are literally on our feet all day. By the time 4 o’clock rolls around, everyone is beyond exhausted. I go home with a sore body, an exhausted mind, and a terrible grease smell imbedded on my clothing, hair, and even skin.
I’m not saying there aren’t rewarding parts to working fast food. You do, after all, get a paycheck every two weeks, and you will occasionally deal with customers that you just love. But for the most part, it is just an exhausting job. I’m not sure how there are some people there that use this as their full time job. Flipping hamburgers is alright and all, but I’m beyond glad to be at college so that I can have a job one day that doesn’t require me to ask “would you like fries with that?”
Friday, October 8, 2010
Fall Festival!
If you were to take a helicopter ride over the west side of Evansville some time in your life, the week of the West Side Nut Club Fall Festival would be the week to do it. From above, on the first full week of October, you would not recognize this usually somewhat boring street. Any other week, you would see a bunch of family-owned stores, a couple banks, and a library. It’s an interesting and historic street, but definitely not a busy one. On this particular week, however, Franklin street becomes the focal point of the whole tri-state area. I would love to take a helicopter ride to get the full effect of just how busy the Fall Festival is.
From above, you would first notice the crowd. Thousands and thousands of people crowd in everyday, it’s almost overwhelming. You would see commotion as people move both up and down the street. You would see the food booths that are lined up along four or five blocks. You would notice the rides, starting with the ferris wheel. You would see flashing lights, fast-moving rides, and people going booth to booth to play their favorite games. From the sky, you just catch a glimpse of what is actually inside of the festival.
Being inside of the festival, you really get the full effect. It is definitely a sight to see. Going up the street, I first notice all of the people. You get a variety of people at the Fall Festival. You see gangsters, you see rednecks, you see druggies, you see white trash, and everything else in between. It’s hard not to stare sometimes. At night time, you see a lot of “almost” fights, where people yell profanities back and forth but usually end up walking away. Occasionally, you might even experience an actual fight, but the police are usually quick to stop it. For some reason, people find excuses to fight at the Fall Festival; I really don’t understand it. Beyond the people, you notice the numerous food stands. There are signs advertising all kinds of food. Pretty much everything you could ever eat, you’ll find it fried. Fried cookie dough, fried green beans, fried macaroni and cheese, even fried turkey testicles (one of the more disturbing things I’ve seen at the Fall Festival).
You also see one of the most well-known booths at the festival: the bug booth. There you see brightly colored lollipops with scorpions, crickets, and grasshoppers in them, as well as chocolate covered crickets. If you successfully eat one before you get too grossed out, you receive a big button stating you are in the “I ate a bug club”.
Besides all of the unusual, different, and downright gross food you see at the Fall Festival, you can also find your normal foods. Corn dogs, cotton candy, walking tacos, barbeque sandwiches, apple cider, chicken dumplings, and so much more. Looking at the food map, it’s almost impossible to make a choice with the hundreds of food options they present you with. I can only imagine how much money is brought into the festival just for food.
You experience many different tastes at the festival, depending on how adventurous you get with your taste testing. One of the favorites of the people is the fried cookie dough. I tried it for the first time on Monday, and while I could almost feel myself gaining weight as I ate it, I will admit it was delicious. You bite into a fried coating, and then you get to experience the warm delicious cookie dough inside. It’s a million times better than sneaking cookie dough from your mother’s batch while she’s not looking. Being a big pickle fan, I had to try the fried pickle chips as well. It tastes just as you would think; fried coating over delicious pickles. Dip it in some ranch and it’s rather amazing. Corn fritters will always be one of my favorites. It tastes like fried corn casserole, which sounds nasty, but it’s delicious. You dip it in maple syrup. It always makes my fingers sticky, but it’s well worth it. Pretty much everything at the festival has a fried taste to it, but that’s what makes this week so much fun.
The Fall Festival also has a very distinct smell: a mixture of grease and cigarettes. As you pass each booth, you can usually pick up on the smell of the different foods cooking. As I walk by one booth, I smell corn fritters. As I walk by another, I smell corn dogs. Usually the smell is what allures people to buy from a particular booth. Once you walk away from the food part of the festival though, it gets a little gross. Over by the rides, you can no longer smell the individual foods that smell so good. Instead, you solely smell grease. The smell of cigarettes also becomes stronger as you move away from the food. A lot of the ride attendants and game owners are heavy chain smokers; it’s nearly impossible to escape.
While the Fall Festival is not necessarily a classy event, it is definitely a fun one. As much as I hate the stomachache I endure after a Fall Festival dinner, I make it a point to do it every year. It’s one of those love-hate relationships. Everyone knows the festival is dirty, greasy and even trashy at times, but we all love it. The sights, the smells, and the tastes of the Fall Festival are what make it such a unique experience; plus, I don’t think you could find fried turkey testicles anywhere else. At least, I hope not.
From above, you would first notice the crowd. Thousands and thousands of people crowd in everyday, it’s almost overwhelming. You would see commotion as people move both up and down the street. You would see the food booths that are lined up along four or five blocks. You would notice the rides, starting with the ferris wheel. You would see flashing lights, fast-moving rides, and people going booth to booth to play their favorite games. From the sky, you just catch a glimpse of what is actually inside of the festival.
Being inside of the festival, you really get the full effect. It is definitely a sight to see. Going up the street, I first notice all of the people. You get a variety of people at the Fall Festival. You see gangsters, you see rednecks, you see druggies, you see white trash, and everything else in between. It’s hard not to stare sometimes. At night time, you see a lot of “almost” fights, where people yell profanities back and forth but usually end up walking away. Occasionally, you might even experience an actual fight, but the police are usually quick to stop it. For some reason, people find excuses to fight at the Fall Festival; I really don’t understand it. Beyond the people, you notice the numerous food stands. There are signs advertising all kinds of food. Pretty much everything you could ever eat, you’ll find it fried. Fried cookie dough, fried green beans, fried macaroni and cheese, even fried turkey testicles (one of the more disturbing things I’ve seen at the Fall Festival).
You also see one of the most well-known booths at the festival: the bug booth. There you see brightly colored lollipops with scorpions, crickets, and grasshoppers in them, as well as chocolate covered crickets. If you successfully eat one before you get too grossed out, you receive a big button stating you are in the “I ate a bug club”.
Besides all of the unusual, different, and downright gross food you see at the Fall Festival, you can also find your normal foods. Corn dogs, cotton candy, walking tacos, barbeque sandwiches, apple cider, chicken dumplings, and so much more. Looking at the food map, it’s almost impossible to make a choice with the hundreds of food options they present you with. I can only imagine how much money is brought into the festival just for food.
You experience many different tastes at the festival, depending on how adventurous you get with your taste testing. One of the favorites of the people is the fried cookie dough. I tried it for the first time on Monday, and while I could almost feel myself gaining weight as I ate it, I will admit it was delicious. You bite into a fried coating, and then you get to experience the warm delicious cookie dough inside. It’s a million times better than sneaking cookie dough from your mother’s batch while she’s not looking. Being a big pickle fan, I had to try the fried pickle chips as well. It tastes just as you would think; fried coating over delicious pickles. Dip it in some ranch and it’s rather amazing. Corn fritters will always be one of my favorites. It tastes like fried corn casserole, which sounds nasty, but it’s delicious. You dip it in maple syrup. It always makes my fingers sticky, but it’s well worth it. Pretty much everything at the festival has a fried taste to it, but that’s what makes this week so much fun.
The Fall Festival also has a very distinct smell: a mixture of grease and cigarettes. As you pass each booth, you can usually pick up on the smell of the different foods cooking. As I walk by one booth, I smell corn fritters. As I walk by another, I smell corn dogs. Usually the smell is what allures people to buy from a particular booth. Once you walk away from the food part of the festival though, it gets a little gross. Over by the rides, you can no longer smell the individual foods that smell so good. Instead, you solely smell grease. The smell of cigarettes also becomes stronger as you move away from the food. A lot of the ride attendants and game owners are heavy chain smokers; it’s nearly impossible to escape.
While the Fall Festival is not necessarily a classy event, it is definitely a fun one. As much as I hate the stomachache I endure after a Fall Festival dinner, I make it a point to do it every year. It’s one of those love-hate relationships. Everyone knows the festival is dirty, greasy and even trashy at times, but we all love it. The sights, the smells, and the tastes of the Fall Festival are what make it such a unique experience; plus, I don’t think you could find fried turkey testicles anywhere else. At least, I hope not.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Yummy in my Tummy
There are several small memories that I relate to a specific meal or dish in my life. Since it is Fall Festival week, I will start there. My earliest memory of the Fall Festival would be eating corndogs when I was around 7 or 8. I remember that my parents never wanted to spend much money on food at the Fall Festival, so they would tell us we could pick out one thing to get. Usually, we would get a corndog. We would pick one day out of the week that we wanted to buy bracelets to ride all the rides we wanted, and our parents would buy it for us. Us kids would get around 30 dollars apiece to spend on what we wanted at the festival. If I ate a corndog before rides, my stomach would get queasy, but it was never too bad. However, if I got adventurous and chose deep fried corn fritters as my meal, my stomach usually couldn’t take it when I would get on the rides. In general, Fall Festival food doesn’t settle well with my stomach. I haven’t really eaten there in a couple years, but it seems like my stomach has went downhill since then, so I am curious to see how I handle all the greasy food this year.
One of my earliest food memories, if you could even consider this food, was when I was 3 or so and I had an obsession with gum. I loved the taste of it, and I thought it was so strange that you could chew it for hours and it would never go away. I’m not sure why my parents trusted me with gum so young, but they did. I just remember every time I saw my great-grandma, Ma, or my Nana, I would ask them for gum. I was watching my little sister’s baby video the other day. I was about 2 and a half in the video, and my parents were bringing my sister home from the hospital. My great-grandma walked in, followed by my mom, dad, and the new baby. Instead of me asking to see the baby, you see me in the video tugging on Ma’s dress and asking her for gum. It was cute to look back on because I had forgotten how much I loved gum and I didn’t really realize how much I related gum to both my great-grandma and my grandma.
Then, of course, there is school lunch. 99% of the time, the food was nasty. But there was always that one day during the week that the food was good. During elementary school, it was Thursday, pizza day. We would all get so excited to go to lunch and eat pizza. Looking back now, I’m pretty sure it’s the same pizza that disgusted me in high school, but oh well. One thing I will always remember about elementary school is the milk in the plastic bags. You would just take your straw and stab it through the bag. At the time it was no big deal, but when you think about it, it’s a very strange thing. The bags always had little cartoon characters on them saying random things. During middle school and high school, it was Wednesday, mashed potato day. It either came with mini cornies, beef fingers, or chicken nuggets. For some reason, this made the whole week okay. In high school, when I would be having a terrible day, my friends would always just be like “at least it’s mashed potato day!” I have no idea why these instant mashed potatoes had such an impact on our lives, but they did. How strange.
Hospital experiences have had a way of affecting my views on certain foods. When I was in St.Louis Children’s Hospital, they had a Dairy Queen. I would always get a blizzard with my dinners. Now, every time I eat a blizzard, I think of my time in the hospital. Same goes with meatloaf, and green beans. I have a hard time eating those without thinking about the hospital because I ate that so much there.
Lastly, food also has a way of reminding me of home. I still live close to home, so I can always go back to get my fix, but my mom is the best cook. She makes awesome chicken dishes, spaghetti casserole, pumpkin bread, etc. She always has something good to eat. My nana lives in an apartment connected to our house, so if Mom doesn’t have something cooked, Nana will. Nana always has good spaghetti dishes for us to try. I love going home for a home-cooked meal. I’m lucky that they live so close, so I am able to do this pretty much anytime I want. It’s the best.
One of my earliest food memories, if you could even consider this food, was when I was 3 or so and I had an obsession with gum. I loved the taste of it, and I thought it was so strange that you could chew it for hours and it would never go away. I’m not sure why my parents trusted me with gum so young, but they did. I just remember every time I saw my great-grandma, Ma, or my Nana, I would ask them for gum. I was watching my little sister’s baby video the other day. I was about 2 and a half in the video, and my parents were bringing my sister home from the hospital. My great-grandma walked in, followed by my mom, dad, and the new baby. Instead of me asking to see the baby, you see me in the video tugging on Ma’s dress and asking her for gum. It was cute to look back on because I had forgotten how much I loved gum and I didn’t really realize how much I related gum to both my great-grandma and my grandma.
Then, of course, there is school lunch. 99% of the time, the food was nasty. But there was always that one day during the week that the food was good. During elementary school, it was Thursday, pizza day. We would all get so excited to go to lunch and eat pizza. Looking back now, I’m pretty sure it’s the same pizza that disgusted me in high school, but oh well. One thing I will always remember about elementary school is the milk in the plastic bags. You would just take your straw and stab it through the bag. At the time it was no big deal, but when you think about it, it’s a very strange thing. The bags always had little cartoon characters on them saying random things. During middle school and high school, it was Wednesday, mashed potato day. It either came with mini cornies, beef fingers, or chicken nuggets. For some reason, this made the whole week okay. In high school, when I would be having a terrible day, my friends would always just be like “at least it’s mashed potato day!” I have no idea why these instant mashed potatoes had such an impact on our lives, but they did. How strange.
Hospital experiences have had a way of affecting my views on certain foods. When I was in St.Louis Children’s Hospital, they had a Dairy Queen. I would always get a blizzard with my dinners. Now, every time I eat a blizzard, I think of my time in the hospital. Same goes with meatloaf, and green beans. I have a hard time eating those without thinking about the hospital because I ate that so much there.
Lastly, food also has a way of reminding me of home. I still live close to home, so I can always go back to get my fix, but my mom is the best cook. She makes awesome chicken dishes, spaghetti casserole, pumpkin bread, etc. She always has something good to eat. My nana lives in an apartment connected to our house, so if Mom doesn’t have something cooked, Nana will. Nana always has good spaghetti dishes for us to try. I love going home for a home-cooked meal. I’m lucky that they live so close, so I am able to do this pretty much anytime I want. It’s the best.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Our dorm
I am at 1720 Rochelle Lane, O’Bannon, second floor, in room 212. I am in the common room that I share with my roommates Sydney Barcelli, Kara Marvel, and Kelsey Harris. When you first enter our common room, you are pretty much looking at a plain wall because we have yet to have a chance to decorate our common room. You also see the two chairs and the couch that came with our room. We did, however, manage to get a Hannah Montana rug on clearance at Wal-mart to add a little fun to our common room. Kara’s fiancé works at a movie theatre, so he was able to bring us a few movie posters. On Kara and Kelsey’s door, to the right, they have a Toy Story 3 poster. On the room I share with Sydney, we have Shrek 3 movie poster on our door. Next to the couch, we recently added the pink lamp that Sydney bought a few weeks ago. We have yet to use it. To the left is our kitchen area, complete with a sink, a microwave, and a mini-fridge. We usually dump all of the random papers and pamphlets we get on top of the microwave, so you can find all of that there. Next, we go into our room.
My and Sydney’s room is to the left as you walk in. To be honest, our room is usually like a zoo; it is always a mess. It always smells awesome though, compliments of my Febreeze air fresheners. Immediately to your left you will see our sink. My favorite color is turquoise, so there is a turquoise soap dispenser, along with a turquoise toothbrush holder and matching towels. Our towels are thrown about the sink, and there is usually some sort of clutter. Sydney’s makeup, Q-tips, bobby-pins, and hair straighteners usually take up a lot of counter space. Directly in front of the door is Sydney’s fridge. To the left of her fridge is our bathroom. It’s very cute, I won’t lie. We have a polka dot shower curtain, and a pink fuzzy rug.
Sydney’s side of the room is right by the bathroom. She has her bed against the wall, and her desk is up against that. She’s got pink sheets and a striped comforter. Her closet is also right next to her bed. And, of course, she has the movie poster for Charlie St. Cloud taped above her bed. She thinks Zac Efron is hot. If you turn to the right, you find my side of the room. I’ve got my desk to the right and my bed pushed up against the left. I brought a cabinet from my house to put in front of my bed to keep my television on. I don’t like when the sun wakes me up early, so I have a turquoise curtain on my window. Like I said, it’s my favorite color. I have turquoise sheets, surprise, and a white comforter with colorful flowers on it. I have a few things hanging on the walls; a painting of two birds that’s all colorful, and a picture frame with a picture of my boyfriend and I. I have a couple cute lamps on my desk, but it mostly just has a ton of random items that get dumped there throughout the school week. Throughout the whole room, you will find mess. Clothes and towels thrown everywhere, shoes scattered about, snacks on the floor, the whole works. We clean up when we feel like it, but we’re pretty content with a messy room.
If I were on the 3rd floor looking down on our room at a sky level, the shape might seem rather strange. Both of the two bedrooms would look like upside-down “L”s, which is usually how they are described to people inquiring about the dorms. Compared to the bedrooms, especially at sky level, our common room would seem extremely plain. Kelsey and Kara have a colorful room just like Sydney and I do; they also have theirs set up the same. If looking at our room from the 3rd floor, there would be no doubt in anyone’s mind that this room belonged to a bunch of girls. Basically, at 1720 Rochelle Lane, O’Bannon, second floor, in room 212, you will experience an intense explosion of colors and randomness in both room décor and, as well, in the personalities of the four girls living there.
My and Sydney’s room is to the left as you walk in. To be honest, our room is usually like a zoo; it is always a mess. It always smells awesome though, compliments of my Febreeze air fresheners. Immediately to your left you will see our sink. My favorite color is turquoise, so there is a turquoise soap dispenser, along with a turquoise toothbrush holder and matching towels. Our towels are thrown about the sink, and there is usually some sort of clutter. Sydney’s makeup, Q-tips, bobby-pins, and hair straighteners usually take up a lot of counter space. Directly in front of the door is Sydney’s fridge. To the left of her fridge is our bathroom. It’s very cute, I won’t lie. We have a polka dot shower curtain, and a pink fuzzy rug.
Sydney’s side of the room is right by the bathroom. She has her bed against the wall, and her desk is up against that. She’s got pink sheets and a striped comforter. Her closet is also right next to her bed. And, of course, she has the movie poster for Charlie St. Cloud taped above her bed. She thinks Zac Efron is hot. If you turn to the right, you find my side of the room. I’ve got my desk to the right and my bed pushed up against the left. I brought a cabinet from my house to put in front of my bed to keep my television on. I don’t like when the sun wakes me up early, so I have a turquoise curtain on my window. Like I said, it’s my favorite color. I have turquoise sheets, surprise, and a white comforter with colorful flowers on it. I have a few things hanging on the walls; a painting of two birds that’s all colorful, and a picture frame with a picture of my boyfriend and I. I have a couple cute lamps on my desk, but it mostly just has a ton of random items that get dumped there throughout the school week. Throughout the whole room, you will find mess. Clothes and towels thrown everywhere, shoes scattered about, snacks on the floor, the whole works. We clean up when we feel like it, but we’re pretty content with a messy room.
If I were on the 3rd floor looking down on our room at a sky level, the shape might seem rather strange. Both of the two bedrooms would look like upside-down “L”s, which is usually how they are described to people inquiring about the dorms. Compared to the bedrooms, especially at sky level, our common room would seem extremely plain. Kelsey and Kara have a colorful room just like Sydney and I do; they also have theirs set up the same. If looking at our room from the 3rd floor, there would be no doubt in anyone’s mind that this room belonged to a bunch of girls. Basically, at 1720 Rochelle Lane, O’Bannon, second floor, in room 212, you will experience an intense explosion of colors and randomness in both room décor and, as well, in the personalities of the four girls living there.
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