10 Things I Learned During my First Week of School
(( Sunday, October 10, 2004 // 04: 22 PM ))
1) Sometimes if you drop a course in the summer, you'll be sad at first. But then, you might feel thankful when Fall quarter starts, because you'll see people in your new Statistics class who you met at Orientation and they will tell you, "I was bummed when I realized I'd probably never see you again since you were already taking this class. I figured you'd be onto the next class by now." To which you'll respond, "Nope, I bombed the midterm, so here I am. It's great to see you!"
2) It is possible to strain your eyes and have achey eyeballs even if you can't remember doing anything to cause said straining. Also, achey eyeballs = painful; also see: not fun.
3) Having the name of a video game company embroidered on your school backpack can be a surprising conversation starter, at least among the gamer boys at school.
4) Seeing your super awesome friend from Orientation and spending time catching up and laughing with her is a fantastic way to spend the first day of school.
5) Zero Week is the first few days of school. This year, school started on a Thursday, so Thursday and Friday were considered Zero Week. Also, Zero Week seems kind of pointless, because teachers will only keep you in class for twenty minutes. However, this leaves plenty of time to socialize with friends and buy books, so it was actually kind of awesome.
6) Parking at UCLA can be a giant hassle. Often, the parking people will send you to a different lot. "This one's full, go over there instead." When this happens a few times in a row, your brain will threaten to explode. Nice parking garage owners will seem very interested in giving you a monthly parking pass at a pretty good rate, but then tell you every time you call, "Can you call back later?" or "I don't have a spot yet, call me in two days." You will ask yourself: What, pray tell, could possibly change that much so that in two days, there would be a spot for me? What is that?! You will more than likely throw up your hands and say, "Screw it, I'll just pay the $7 today for a day pass," every single day of the week, especially since the one time you tried to find street parking, you got to school very early and STILL had to drive around for forty-five minutes, only to find NO PARKING AT ALL!
7) There's a lot more homework and studying, as well as socializing and friend-making going on in the first quarter at a major university than first anticipated. So much so, in fact, that one worries about being overcommitted in one's goals, and if you are Meg, you say, "I don't think I want to do the L.A. Marathon in 2005 after all," and revel in the joy of finally sleeping in on a Saturday morning for the first time in six weeks.
8) If you're already late to class, speedwalking by the library as its belltower gongs loudly, GONG, GONG, GONG, that it's 9 o' clock will only make you feel worse, and kind of like you're in a movie. Seeing your classmate about ten feet in front of you, though, will make you smile, and feel better that you have someone to walk with late to class.
9) The gym at school is pretty nice, but often very crowded. The treadmill has weird ridges in the rubber that can cause a person to trip (repeatedly) if they're not used to it. Also, the showers do NOT turn off on their own, no matter how hard you hope they will once you realize you can't figure out how to shut them off. And luckily, some girl wrapped only in a towel trying to head to her own shower might not mind showing you how to turn off your shower. She might even smile and say, "No problem!" without adding, "Retard!" like you feared she might. She might be perfectly nice, causing you to feel even more confident in asking for help when you need it.
10) Number of people in each of my four classes: 200
Number of pages I have to read this week: 175
Number of times I was late to class: 2
Number of times I was so early to class, I was actually sitting in an Oceanography class instead: 1
Number of times I walked around campus, with or without friends, looked around at the various buildings and thought, "I'm really happy to be here, and that this is my school." : priceless
Hey Reenie, glad I could provide a giggle or two! Hee!
Posted by: Meg at October 13, 2004 05:35 PMThanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
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My, you certainly had an interesting first week of school. I have to admit, I got a good giggle at picturing you thinking you were early to class, then to find you were in an OCEANOGRAPHY class instead. *lmao* That was pretty funny, Meggie. ;)
Posted by: Irene at October 13, 2004 03:28 PM