Andrew's Blog: Freshman Edition

I HAVE GROUPIES!!!!!

2007-08-24T04:51:05Z

Okay, so it FINALLY sunk in today, that, NOT ONLY am I no longer a freshman, but now I HAVE GROUPIES!!!!! I LOVE BEING A POP!!!!! This is just so awesome! I'm making an actual IMPACT on the lives and times of the future of Albright. It's seriously amazing, though, b/c I never quite realized that the entire feeling of community and family found at Albright is almost entirely based on the orientations period. These budding young minds are left to our devices, and we're left to mold their talents and abilities into something beneficial for the whole. In the end it comes down to what we each desire and what we each, as individuals, are willing and driven to accomplish, but it's that group dynamic that really brings about something SOOOOO much bigger. I'm certain that this will be a year to remember, not only for me, but for all of my groupies and the other over 500 new members of the Albright College family. I'm mentally and physically EXHAUSTED, but it's worth it to know that I could be one of the many, like the many who've come before me, to ease the transition and give some nervous, unsure students the serenity to make all that they have to make happen HAPPEN! WHOOOOOO!!!! I'm on SUCH a high... but I'm also REALLY beat, so I'm feelin' NAPTIME ;o) MUCH LOVE!

BACK IN THE SADDLE!!!! ;o)

2007-08-23T02:22:35Z

It is SOOOOOO AMAZING to be back at the 'bright! How I've MISSED my home away from home :o( It's just AWESOME as all of my Albright crew slowly trickles in from break to see all of their bright and smiling faces again!

Right now all of the POPs are deep in training and eagerly awaiting the arrival of all of our newest Albright brothers and sisters tomorrow!!!! It's a grand time had by all as we practice our old chants and add in some new ones. I have a new roomie this year who'll be in tomorrow, which is VERY exciting. He's actually a friend from home, and a theatre buddy, so it'll be really cool to have that bit of home so close, PLUS, one of my other friends from home who's decided to call Albright THEIR new home-away-from-home! (Did that confuse the heck out of anybody else??? ;o)

I bought my books yesterday, so now I'm itching to crack them open and see what the year has in store! The new major's English and journalism, which is just REALLY exciting! I'm pretty certain now that there's teaching in my future, probably at my old alma mater, but you never know! Well, it's time to go have dinner w/ the President. Good ol' Lex O. McMillian III was going to have us all over to his place, but due to impending weather conditions, I'm setting out to the Mezzanine for our picnic feast! P-O-P-S!!!!!! *clap,clap, clapclapclap!*MUCH LOVE! ;o)

Something AMAZING!

2007-06-12T06:12:25Z

Well, maybe not so much AMAZING as interesting, but I'm too lazy to change the title... I LOVE VACATION! Anywhoo, so, hanging out with all of my friends at home has made me realize something... aside from the fact that I miss my Albright crew a LOT, I kinda wish that my friends from Albright and my friends from home could meet up. They would get along UBER-well! I'm sure that TOTAL INSANITY would ensue! It would be a good time... I smell an Albright/Pen Argyl get-together coming on!!!!!!!! If only my Albright friends weren't from all around the globe... oh, well. They're all in my heart, making me the person I am, so I guess they ARE all together ;o) It's a beautiful thing!

Summertime!

2007-06-01T23:20:05Z

Well, it's time for all of those special summer endeavors, and, gee, I do have a LOT of them!

]]> Well, I don't even know where to start! After a rather ROUGH year, my mind's changed about a LOT of things. This year was just soooo PACKED full of experiences, that I've just decided to go all out and chase my dreams. I've applied for a bunch of publishing kits, and I'm thinking about having some of my works (poetry/short stories/my memoirs) sent out for publishing. Who knows what'll happen 'til you try, right? I've also decided to be strictly an English major, and I'm tossing around the idea of graduating in just three years, but I'm not even sure if it's really POSSIBLE! I don't even know if I want to, hence "tossing around the idea." ;0)
Anywho, I've also been trying out several business ventures. I just figured, "Hm... Instead of trying to find a summer job, I'LL JUST MAKE MY OWN!" I don't wanna go into any details (business secrets, y'know?), but it's gonna be BIG! I'm actually drawing up business plans now, so I HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL SOON!

INSANITY!!!!!

2007-05-15T16:57:36Z

WHOA, GANG!!!!! WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?!? I just realized that I haven't blogged in FOREVER! I missed you... Anywhoo, life's been NUTZ! It's finals week, and I have my jury for my voice lessons at 2:30 and a paper due at 5, then my spanish final tomorrow and my LAST paper due, then TWO finals on Thursday, psychology at 8 IN THE MORNING and The Vampyre at 1... IT'S NUTS, BUT IT'S SOOOOOOO WORTH IT!!!! We've had some really successful concerts and such in the last month, and last night we had dinner with our director. The food was amazing, and it was a TON of fun, but, at the end of the night, I realized that I couldn't find my keys... THEY WERE LOCKED IN MY VAN!!!!!!!!!!!!! I FELT LIKE SUCH A DOOFUS! We called AAA, and they got out within the hour. SHEESH! What a night! We all had a blast, though!!!! Well, I gotta get crackin' on this paper, b/c I've also picked up some more hours in Admissions this week WITH MY FAVORITE PEOPLE!!!!!!! I LOVE MY ADMISSIONS CREW!!!!!! I'll catch y'all later, and I'll actually probably blog a little in the summer as well, b/c I have some EXCITING THINGS going on!!!!!!! We'll chat ;0)

WOW!

2007-04-20T01:28:55Z

So, life's been CRAZY!!!!!! I HAVE SOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH TO UPDATE YOU ALL ON THAT I DON'T KNOW WHERE TO START!!!

]]> Okay, so I'm sitting here listening to some Mama Cass and some Alanis Morisette, makin' my life all happy. Everybody else is out on the soccer field in front of North Hall for the big NEW FOUND GLORY CONCERT! WHOO-HOO! I'm not a fan, so I'm just catching up on some work. Lots of end of semester papers and what-not. CRAZINESS! Okay, so what's been going on in my life??? Well, we'll start from the most recent and work our way back, shall we?

SO, yesterday was the GLBT National Day of Silence for the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Community and their Allies, and I took part by being silent ALL DAY, w/ two concessions that had to be made, but, oh well! At ten we all got together and watched "The Laramie Project" and broke the silence by talking about the new GLBT club we want to form here. It was pretty successful, and our next step's to get our constitution ratified....

We had an open house last weekend which I hope ALL of you attended ;-) If you did make it out, just know that I saw you, but you might not've seen me... he, he...

We've had LOTS of Alpha Phi Omega (service fraternity) activity! We had our Formal last weekend, we're winding down from a busy and productive year, and we even made it out to our Sectional Conference at UPenn. That was a BLAST! Busy, busy, busy bees!

Our Mane Men performances have been going EXTREMELY well... so, well, in fact... that... Mr. Binger... has decided... that next Spring... during spring break... the Mane Men... are going...
............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
ON TOUR!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We're not sure of the route or anything yet, but this is gonna be HUGE!!!! On another Mane Men related note, the SGA had a "Mr./Miss Albright Pageant" where all of the coolest organizations on campus put in a representative. There was a talent portion, evening wear, and then a Q&A. Well, ALL of the male finalists were in MANE MEN!!! Myself, John, and Jared all made it to the Q&A round! Jared won in the end, but we were all just proud that it was a Mane Man! Pride's a huge deal at Albright. Everyone's truly committed to the people they work with on campus. It's a Different Way of Being in Clubs! ;0)

We have the Mikado coming up next weekend and the weekend after. The Chamber Choir's performing in it. It's sure to be a great show! I'm super-excited!

I guess that's all I can think of right now... I don't know if I told y'all that I'm now an English/Philosophy major. That's VERY exciting! I register for classes on Monday with the other Freshman, b/c I'm on Honors Probation b/c I didn't keep my GPA up last semester (darn Science courses!), but my grades are MUCH better this go around! I just feel really overwhelmed and busy, but I LOVE IT!!!!!!!! I'm so glad that I can just be here living this life. I honestly wouldn't change it for anything... One of a kind!

LAST NIGHT AT HONO :-(

2007-03-23T18:27:26Z

IT'S OUR LAST FULL DAY AT HANDS ON!!!!!!!!!!!!

]]> I don't know what posessed me to do it, but I went back to the school today with the kids, and we headed off to the state capitol, BATON ROUGE! Unfortunately, after the hour-long bus ride, we discovered that there was some sort of communication error, and there was NO TOUR!!!! Some of the kids were a little disappointed, and you can be sure that all of the volunteers were pretty peeved, but we made the most of it and took the kids to a park for lunch and to play some games. They all had a good time!
After we all got back and showered (my first cold shower of the whole trip! :-/ ) we headed out to the French Quarter for dinner. I had this AMAZING Jambalaya at this quaint little place called The Pearl. It was pretty cheap, too, which was great, and we all just had a good time chatting and enjoying our genuine creole cuisine. Then we hit BOURBON STREEEEET!!!!!! It was WILD! I can't imagine what it would be like during Mardi Gras, because it was PLASTERED with people! We even found this little shop where the owner gave us all free Katrina T-shirts because we were volunteers!!!!!! Everyone there was just soooooo grateful for all the work that we'd done there, and it just really makes you apprreciate what you can accomplish when people from all walks of life join together for a good cause. This was a truly great opportunity, not only to help change some lives, but also to get to know some of my fellow Albrightians a lot better. THANKS, HANDS ON!!!!!!! I can't WAIT to go back!!!!!!!

Day 3

2007-03-22T17:56:31Z

Have you ever blown you nose and found a load of black gunk in your tissue? A little gross, but that's how it is when you gut a shed, tear it down, and then lug it all out to the curb. Today was a loooooong day!

]]> Today we worked on Mr. Mason's "house." The quotes are there, b/c his place was so damaged by the hurricane, that all they really had to work with was some of the framework. They're still in the process of cleaning out the debris and getting it ready to have walls and a new floor put in. It was HOT, SWEATY, STINKY, DISGUSTING work, but we had a good time. We were ACTUALLY working alongside of one of the NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS!!!!!! He grew up in NOLA and just wanted to give back a little. There are some AMAZING people in this place, and you NEVER know with whom you might wind up working!
After a hard day's work and a nice LOOOOOONG shower, we headed out to the Creole Creamery and Ryan and I took on the Tchoupitoulas [cha-pit-oo-liss] challenge, the bowl of ice cream as big as its name! I started off strong, and with a little more time might have been able to finish the eight softball-sized scoops and eight different toppings, but, at closing time, only Ryan was able to take it all down, but we were both bringing it back up on the way home ;-)
Oh, well! There's always NEXT YEAR!

Day 2

2007-03-22T03:50:27Z

(I know that this is not exactly all timely, but I had some technical difficulties down in New Orleans, so I'm putting in my entries now :-)
So... roofing... NOT my forte!

]]> Turns out I'm afraid of heights, but I helped out with removing some of the shingles (which gave us little wooden footie-holds :-), but once they laid down the plywood, I wasn't having any part of it and was sawing planks down on the ground for them to put up there. It was a good time, and Daryl (pro roofer) was a HUGE help to us newbs. He was super patient, since Cristie, Ryan, and I didn't have any experience. It was a fun time, but I was EXHAUSTED by the time we headed back to base camp on account of our five minutes of rain. I LOVE NEW ORLEANS!!!!
Everything's pretty perfect here, I must say.
[I'm working on getting the next few entries updated, but I might just give you an overview of what all went down, some other highlights, then just leave it at that... we'll see]

Day 1

2007-03-21T03:27:20Z

So… not exactly what I expected in ANY aspect, but that's a good thing :-)

]]> I’m having a BLAST, but I kind of thought that this would be like an Alpha Phi Omega conference, but I was WRONG!!!! These people are HARD-CORE! They all eat, breathe, and sleep service. Some of these people have actually been here for a year or more working to help restore New Orleans. It’s a truly amazing experience, although today was not what I expected… these kids were… wild, to say the least. It was kind of disheartening to see the lack of respect that CHILDREN, and that’s just kindergarten and first grades, had for each other, their teachers, us, and themselves. Now, right off the bat, I’m going to just let it be stated that not ALL of the children were as… spirited, as the others, but the majority were just unlike anything I’ve ever seen. They pushed, kicked, punched, swore, and threw the middle finger like all of the screen icons they emulate so well. They knew every last vulgar word of every rap and hip-hop song out there, with every expletive accented to the fullest extent. Their teachers were stern and unwavering, but by the end of the night we were, too. It just seems that the only way to combat their violent and offensive behavior was with a cold, callowness that prevented any deep connection, which is what they all really need on the inside. These kids have already missed a year of school, on top of dealing with all of the other repercussions of the hurricanes, so the things they’ve been through are unimaginable compared to anything we can conjure up in our minds. They fall into this pattern of despair that we as individual cannot free them from. Our ways and ideas as a society need to change drastically in order to protect future budding young minds from being warped and wasted. I’ll pray for these youths tonight, in the hopes that someone can step in to make that slight gesture in their life which changes their attitude and brightens their disposition. We are needed down here SO MUCH MORE than I EVER imagined. Tomorrow I’ll be tackling some roofing, which has me a BIT nervous, but I’m ready to take on anything after today’s endeavor!

On a lighter note, this city is GORGEOUSLY AWE-INSPIRING!!!!!! The architecture, the people, the sights and sounds… AMAZING!!!! We haven’t even hit the French Quarter yet, but I’m still blown away by the ability of a city that’s faced so much to be so breathtaking. We met a one-legged man named Rogis today who told us all of the ins-and-outs of the City of Hope. We ate in this local little dive called Juan’s Flying Burrito, and ordered their signature “Flying Burrito” to split between my buddies Christie, Ryan, and myself. It was stuffed full of the typical burrito fixin’s, chicken, beef, and LOUISIANA SHRIMP!!! It was a true palate-pleaser. I can’t wait to hit the city some more and take EVEN MORE PICTURES (which will soon be available on my Facebook) tomorrow after a hard day’s work! I’m really starting to think that this is the call for service that I’ve felt all my life exemplified. This could be the way in which I spend the REST of my life. “Service is the rent we pay for our room here on earth.” ~Muhammad Ali. I met this kid Jason who’s traveling with an Ameri-Corp team, and what they do is travel around helping people, picking up free federally-funded room and board along the way. They sign on for 10 months, with most people using it as a source of college funding, and travel around the country in areas where service is needed. I want to finish out my time at Albright, of course, because throwing away a free ride to school in a place I love would just be ridiculous, but I could see it as a way to spend some time after college if I’m still unsure of what I want to do in my life… WHO KNOWS WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS???

NEW ORLEANS!!!!

2007-03-20T12:08:30Z

ALBRIGHT COLLEGE HAS ARRIVED IN NEW ORLEANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

]]> Me and 13 of my closest Albright friends are now on their first morning at the HONO site! We've broken up into our designated activities and we're hot on our way, (one hour earlier than Albright time), to becoming part of the team. [Hi, Chris!!!!! Loren and Adam are workin' up a sweat! Adam's actually ROOFING right now, and Loren's off to work on the mural.] I'm heading off to the local school to work with some of the kids, because all of the manly jobs were already taken, but tomorrow I'm haulin' sheetrock!!!! or something... WHO KNOWS??? I'll keep you up-to-date with a DAILY NEW ORLEANS BLOG!!!
The plane trip was pretty exciting... just thought I'd mention it.... I even spent a hot ten minutes with Cassie, one of two of my little pledgies on the trip (including the lovely Stacey). I MISS EVERYBODY!!! I'm not exactly sure if I'm gonna go home... I might just live here FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I miss you guys, too much! SEE Y'ALL SOON, and I'll hit you back tomorrow :-)

Opportunity Knocks

2007-02-24T03:44:21Z

There are a whole SLEW of chances to do things in college that you've never even FATHOMED doing before. Here's a whole list of examples:

]]> 1) Work at a senior center... IN SPANISH! So, for my Service-Learning Spanish class, I'll be doing 30 hours of community service en El Centro Hispano, working with seniors. Marie, my AWESOME partner (she's actually a social worker, she's just taking Spanish at Albright), and I spent our first three hours there today, and it was a HOOT! I had NO IDEA what they were talking about, but we hooked up with this guy (I'll call him Tito Puente) who spoke English and Spanish and used to work at Albright, and he helped to ease us into it. I can't WAIT to go back!
2) Tutor elementary school kids... with mild to severe autism. I actually start this one on Wednesday, but I'm just soooooo excited. I've never worked with kids with autism before, but I know a few other people who also tutor here, and they say that it's an amazing experience and that the kids are just the sweetest little things in the world!
3) Get away for Spring Break... to clean up debris in New Orleans! I can't wait!!!! ONLY like 20 DAYS left!!!!!!! Albright's sending two groups down this year; One at the start of the summer (about 40 people heading to Biloxi and to New Orleans) and then the smaller group I'm heading down with over Spring Break. It's sure to be an amazing and enlightening experience.
4) Raise money for your school... to stay OPEN! Did you know that tuition only covers 60% of the cost of attendance??? Our generous and kind benefactors contribute the other 34% needed, and we celebrate and show our appreciation 66% of the way through the year with "Tuition Ran-Out Day" where we post price tags on things all over campus to help people appreciate the real costs of operating an institution of higher learning and thank and appreciate our philanthropic donors. I have the honor of being a part of Albright's Phonathon, and on-campus job where we solicit donations that go directly to Albright College's Operating Budget to keep us up and running!

Ain't college grand? Nope. It's just Albright :-)

Big Rocks

2007-02-17T23:46:17Z

Here's that e-mail that I was telling you about!!! If you're looking for something REALLY uplifting and just mind-bending, LOOK NO FURTHER!!!

]]> < 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.>>

I've just really been trying to figure out what the "Big Rocks" in my life are, but I do know that I want to make people happy, so that's pretty much what I'm focusing on right now. What are the "Big Rocks" in YOUR life?

Blogalicious!

2007-02-12T04:20:37Z

Yeah, so my title doesn't REALLY have anything to do with what I'm writing about, but it sounded fun... ANYWAY, how's everyone doing? I'm well, thanks! I just wanted to let everyone know what's up on the Albright front. I have my first test of the semester tomorrow morning in Spanish, so this won't be a long entry. I'm not too nervous, because my new prof, Dr. Ozment, is a pretty chill lady. I mean, she's VERY fair and understandalbe, and she's really there for us. I'm excited to start our service projects for the class this week, b/c it's Service Learning Spanish, so I'll be stationed down at the Spanish Center working with the elderly. It's great with Alpha Phi Omega, because we need 20 community service hours with APhiO, and we're doing 30 at the Spanish Center. It should be fun.
I'm actually pretty pooped, b/c I had a LOOOOOOONG weekend, so I'll catch you up on some other stuff later... OH!!!! I do however have something exciting to tell you!!!! I can't get into webmail now, b/c it's down and whatnot, but I read this thing and it just made me put some things into perspective. To make a long story short (and I'll share the e-mail with you when webmail stops being a pain in the tush), I've decided to rush a fraternity next year, and I've even decided which one!!!!!! I'm going to put my music on hold, since that's not where my life is going, and expand my other horizons, including getting to REALLY know some people. I know almost EVERYONE in passing, but I want some REAL relationships, you know? It's all about the big rocks! (you'll see... curse you webmail!!!!) NIGHT!

Albright... BLOG!

2007-02-01T01:41:52Z

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."