Andrew's Blog: Freshman Edition

Yeah, so... since this is my ALBRIGHT blog, I figured I should give you an update on ALBRIGHT! Everyone's getting back into the swing of things after break, and admissions is packed every day with prospective students checking out her beautiful campus. Clubs are gathering information for allocations, due FRIDAY!!!! AAAAHHH!!!! For those of you who don't have a Student Government Association(SGA) at your high schools [yeah, I didn't either...], allocations are when all the groups on campus BEG the SGA for funding for different events and activities, so that the groups personal funds can be put towards emergencies and whatnot. For treasurers and presidents all over campus, it's a PAIN! Unfortunately for me, I'm both. C'est la vie!
So, anyway, basketball season's in full swing, so I'm back in the pep band groove... that's okay, I guess, but I've decided that next semester I might just take a break from it all, except for maybe Mane Men, and just chillax. I don't really know what I'd do with my time, but who knows! Maybe I could start writing my memoir...or read that list of classics I've been meaning to get to...or date. Yeaaaaah... that'd be the life... Of course, if you really know me, you'll know that's NEVER GONNA HAPPEN! I'm not a "down-time" kind of guy. The stress keeps you limber...

I guess I don't really have much to report... I don't want you to think that there aren't a ZILLION things going on at Albright, because, trust me, there's ALWAYS something to do, but it hurts my head to think about everything all at once, and it also makes me realize how much work I have to do. (that was one LONG sentence...) I think I need some sleep... I love college. It may seem hectic and stressful, but you can only live like this in college, so you don't wanna miss out on this experience. It's truly one-of-a-kind. I wouldn't trade it for all the sleep in the world... although a nap would be nice :')
Actually, at this point I'd just like to put in a little blurb about my friend and the guy who monitors all this blogging stuff, Mr. Chris Boehm!!!!!!! *raaaaaaaaa* Let me just tell you, this guy can empathize with me. Not only does he have his own giant stack of high school students to keep tabs on, and aside from being Director of Admissions, he's watching out for all these blogs, writing his own, and still makes time to eat and sleep. All of those counselors in the Admissions Office (my home away from home) dedicate more than their fair share of time to fielding calls and taking care of all of the questions your bright young minds might have, while still contributing to the other aspects of the Albright Community, not to mention being some of the most kind, caring, and PATIENT people you'll ever meet. That DEFINITELY includes Greg Eichorn and Debi Grosch! I first met Greg when I came to interview for my scholarship, and he's just one of those truly unique people. He has that presence that just COMMANDS respect, but once you get to know him, you know that he doesn't have to force it, he earns it. Then there's Debi. If you're interested in Albright, you'll meet Debi. She puts in countless hours at the front desk with a smile on her face and, once in a special while, a whistle on her lips. (She's a great whistler, but it doesn't happen often, so when it does, you have to make sure to catch it :') If Albright were a plant (the green, leafy kind) then Debi would be the chlorophyll. (Just bear with me, 'cause I'm not sure where this is going, but it's gonna be good!) She's the one who makes first contact with you little rays of sunshine when you come to be a part of this plant. Actually, maybe she's a root... yeah, a root! She takes up the water from the ground (that's still you guys) and ships you off to the parts where you'll be most useful. She makes sure that all the visits are set up, all messages are taken care of, all mail is checked, all data is entered, and everything else under the sun. That's not what makes her so awesome, though! Well, it's part of it, but it's really the fact that she's like another Albright professor. She teaches all of us phone receptionists the ropes, and no matter how many times we mess up (Trust me, I mess up a LOT!!! At least three times per work hour... Definitely not a permanent career choice for this college kid, but I try my best) she's there to fix our mistakes and get us back on track. This is my first job EVER, so it's great to have someone like that watching over you. That's kind of the spirit of Albright, though. Everyone's looking out for everybody else. When someone makes a mistake, somebody else is there to pick 'em up, dust 'em off, and set them back on track. You have to learn to be independent, but independence doesn't mean solitude. No man's an island, and all that jazz, so if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask.
"Albright College: A Different Way of Helping Others."

Posted by Andrew at 8:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So I was chilling in my room, doing some Spanish homework that I've put off all weekend and listening to some Alanis Morissette (it's actually very manly, thank you), and her song Not the Doctor off of her acoustic album came on. Anyway, there's this lyric, "I don't wanna be your other half, I believe that 1 and 1 make 2..." and I just kinda stopped and went, "WHOA!"

In any relationship that you have, be it romantic; plutonic; business; or otherwise, that's an AWESOME mindset to have. Think about it! If we all view each other as whole other people, then it becomes more than just some encounter as part of our day, or some attempt to make up for something missing in your life or theirs, rather it becomes a cosmic meeting of two forces, meant not to fill, but to build. Our energies comingle and are augmented, leading to true connection and accomplishment. THINK ABOUT IT! That's the nature of love, which is an interesting segway into something that I now realize was not an accident, rather an act of fate.
I went home last night after the AC basketball game (HECK YES WE WON!), and at my hometown church, they hand out bulletins with all of the readings and hyms and such printed on it, but the weird thing is that when I get home I ALWAYS put them in this box in my room for later reference, but TODAY I BROUGHT IT WITH ME!!!!!! Talk about a push to spread the Word, huh? So, without any further gilding the lilies, here it is: 1 Corinthians 13:4-13 "Love is patient; love is kind; love is not enious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love." From Alanis Morissette to the Bible, this is a full-service blog. "Albright College: A Different Way of Thinking."

Posted by Andrew at 10:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

*rapping*
"Well I'm back at the 'bright, and I'm here to say, that I'm happy to be here, yes here, today!
I'm chillin' in my dorm now after seein' all muh peeps.
I can't really rap, 'cause it hurts my...cheeks?...word?...holla back???"

Yeah, so I don't know what that was all about, but WHATEV! I started classes bright and early this morning... AT 9!! WHOO!!!! That's sooooooooo much better than my schedule last semester... ESPECIALLY SINCE IT'S MY ONLY CLASS TODAY!!!!!!!!! Yeah, I have a three hour class tonight, but THE REST OF MY DAY IS MINE!!!!!! I ran a few errands today: auditioned for choir w/ Mr. Binger, figured out some financial aid stuff (GOD BLESS YOU, JUDY AND JOHN!), bought my books (only $352 compared to last semester's >$1000), and now I'm just chillaxin' until choir. Life is good.
OH! So I have something AWESOME for you today... actually... TWO THINGS!!! You're just oozing with anticipation, aren't you? Well, the first is this story my mom e-mailed me:

A college professor teaching a course on time management set a large jar
on his desk and filled it with big rocks. He asked his students, "Is the
jar full?" They said yes. Then he poured a bag of small gravel into the
jar. He asked, "Is the jar full?" and again received a "yes" answer.
Then he poured in a bag of sand and a pitcher of water until all the
crevices of the jar were filled. Then he asked, "All right, what does
this illustration teach us?" One student replied, "That's easy. It
teaches us that no matter how busy your life is, you can always make
room for more."

"No, you've missed the point completely!" the professor said. "This
teaches us that if you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never
get them in at all." This is a great life lesson! The big rocks are
life's priorities, and they have to be first on our schedules or they'll
get crowded out by other things.

For someone who likes to indulge in every activity under the sun, this really spoke to me. I mean, how many people have I missed the opportunity to ACTUALLY get to know b/c I've been too busy? It's time... to PRIORITIZE!

Posted by Andrew at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HELLOOOOOOOOOOOO, VIEWERS!!!!! Andrew is back and better than ever, because he is all rested up and rarin' to go for SECOND SEMESTER!!!! I've just been taking it pretty easy over interim, because I didn't take a course, so now I'm ready to hit the books and bring my GPA up to where it should be. My first semester courses took quite a toll, to be honest. I just wasn't prepared for a life in the science field, and my scores showed it, so now I think I've found where my heart really is... LAW! YAAAAAAAY!!! Now I'm Pre-law, Psychology, and ENGLISH! I'm really excited, and I think that I'll be showing a HUGE mental, emotional, and GPA-tional turnaround this semester...

I'll be taking Intro Psych, Intro to the Criminal Justice System (My first night class!!!), Service Learning Spanish (An awesome opportunity for community interaction), 21st Century Ethics (My 2nd honors course this year), and... *drumroll* The Vampyre!!!!! ONLY IN COLLEGE, EH?!? That last one's actually an English course with the husband of my last semester English professor, so I'm VERY excited to see what that's like; PLUS it has an Honors Module that can be attached to it, fulfilling my Honors requirement of three honors courses in my course at Albright in ONE YEAR!!!!!!!! An honors module is like a special paper or another aspect of the course outside of the class that the professor offers to give the course an honors weighting. I think that this semester is just much more up my ally, so to speak, and I'll be showing huge improvements in morale and GPA (In case you haven't gotten it, yet, MY GPA LAST SEMESTER WAS GARBAGE!!!!!!!!!!) HOWEVER, I'm dedicated to turning over a new leaf in my new fields and just ROCKING Albright to the CORE!
So, over break, I just had a chance to veg out with my "still in high school" buds as well as a few older "now frosh in college" buddies which just made for an AWESOME TIME!!!!! I probaby won't be seeing much of these people until the summer now, because I'm heading down to NEW ORLEANS OVER SPRING BREAK!!!!! I'll be heading down with Albright's "Helping Paws" organization through "Hands On New Orleans (HONO)". I'm UBER-PSYCHED! My POP (Peer Orientation Person) was actually one of the founders of "Helping Paws," which just goes to show how much YOU can be a part of Albright College!
I also had the distinct privilege of being one of the non-voting delegates to the Alpha Phi Omega National Co-ed Service Fraternity National Convention down in good ol' Louisville, KY!!!!!! IT WAS A BLAST!!!!! It was intended for the voting delegates (we also sent two senior voting delegates and another non-voting delegate, our new VP of Service) to vote on new legislation and nat'l officers for the fraternity, but there were also LOADS of Workshops and Fellowship opportunities. All in all, it was a truly one-of-kind experience that I will re-live at every convention from here on in!
I guess that's all I really have for now! I've REALLY missed you, gang! Now that I'm back, I'll keep you updated! PEACE, LOVE, AND ETERNAL HAPPINESS, Y'ALL!!!!!!

Posted by Andrew at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)