YAY

Studying pays off. Don't think you can manage by just glancing over your notes the hour before an exam. Studying (esp. with another person and with flashcards) seriously helped me out.

First collegiate test: A.

...!!!

They said it would happen.

Almost everyone I talked to before coming to UT - friends, college grads, future professors, OAs, etc. - made it very clear that a lot of people end up changing their major at least once before they settle on a decision.
Well, I thought I wanted to major in Business. I thought I wanted to merge into the corporate world or use some mad entrepreneurial skills and start a small business.
I think I thought wrong.
In BA 101, speakers/professors from the specific majors within the business school have come to the past couple of classes and introduced us to the career paths we might be following if we decide to major in, say, finance or accounting or MIS or IB. So on and so forth. But sitting there, taking in exactly what these majors are all about made me realize how uninterested I am in following any career path of the like. Then I thought about my other classes; and I love genetics, and (after reading the assigned chapters) I'm certainly growing to love psychology even more than I already do. I'm already planning on double-majoring in psychology; that is, if I continue with business.
Should I stay with business?
Should I consider biology?
Should I go for a BS instead of a BA in psychology?
I'm not going to make any definite decisions now - I'm hardly a month into my freshman year. There's no need to be rash right now.
Oh, by the way: I started at Tiff's Treats yesterday. Enthusiasm all around!

Psychology or just plain psychotic?

I don't understand my Psychology class.
Don't get me wrong - I understand the material just fine. It's the purpose of the class I don't understand, because I seem to be learning anatomy instead. Yes, I know anatomy plays an important role in the convoluted workings of the psyche, but do we seriously need to spend a month on it? Maybe we do; maybe I'm jumping to conclusions far too early in the semester.
I'll continue this thought later in the year.
Good news: I made it to FBA yesterday. In fact, I was early. I am changing my ways already.

Ohno.

Great way to start the year:
Using a planner.
Sad, careless, awful, lousy, no-good, substandard way that actually started the year:
Missing three different meetings within a week.
I have got to change that. Now.

Homecoming. Coming home.

I probably should have posted long before now. Um, whoops.
I made my first trip "home" this weekend. It was... different. Not necessarily better or worse than when I lived there, but a lot of things changed. The whole weekend passed in the blink of an eye, such a surreal and out-of-body experience that it seemed more like dream.
Friday
10:15 p.m. - Three of my friends and I rolled onto the road, only semi-ready for the 3.5-hour drive ahead of us. It was late, of course, but we really didn't want to get up early the next morning for the drive (it is my firm belief that - in my case - it is easier to stay up late than to wake up early).
Saturday
1:36 a.m. - We finally get there. I start dropping each of my friends off at their respective houses.
2:44 a.m. - I drop the last person off, heading toward my parents' house at last (Yes, that's right... it took me an hour to drop three people off.)
2:54 a.m. - Open garage door, unload car, walk into house. My mom wakes up and says "Hi", and then I leave again, heading up to the high school.
3:21 a.m. - Rest assured, I am not a bitter hoodlum looking to avenge my depressing high school experience by vandalizing the front marquee. The orchestra had their annual lock-in that night, and a few of them invited me over since I was in town. Of course, I went. As soon as I walked in, two lovely young seniors - Spence and Dave - [loudly] broke out into "Lean on Me", complete with steps and clapping.
3:47 a.m. - I decided that Link Tag is officially one of the greatest games this side of the Pacific.
3:48 a.m. - I realized how... old I felt once I was back with the awesome orchestra kids.
4:23 a.m. - I leave. Because now I'm old. And I can't stay up so late.
The rest of the weekend went by in a flash. I managed to sleep through one breakfast, have two lunches with my parents, play Guitar Hero with a bunch of people for four hours, get my Shipley's fix with an amazingly tight-knit circle of friends, stand in the pouring rain and be happy about it, visit the movie theater, and still have time to do laundry.
Okay, so my mom did most of my laundry.
This might be sad, but I think the part of my hometown I miss the most is my job at the movie theater. There was never a day that went by at that place where something didn't push my buttons. But even with all the mishaps, all the pressure, all the ridiculous experiences, I loved being there. The people were (are?) absolutely amazing and hilarious and personable (well, most of them). The hours were good. And the perks (e.g. free movies) weren't bad either.
But still, college is so much cooler.
On the way back to Austin, in a little four-door sedan with just enough room for four college kids, their fresh, clean laundry, and their huge love of music, I said something without even realizing what I had implied at first:
"We're going home. It feels good to know we're finally going home." I don't know exactly when I realized it, but I know it now: Austin is my home. I'll always have a place to stay back in my hometown, but I don't belong there anymore like I do in Austin. Here at UT, I'm comfortable, I'm permanent, I'm myself - I'm not just a visitor for a couple of nights. UT is truly home.
I'm home. Flying down a deserted county road, windows down, the wind whipping throughout the car, beautiful cornfields on either side, the orange sun setting just over the distant treeline, and three friends in the car singing at the top of their lungs brought me back here. Just like the song we were singing, Bono said it best:
"It's a beautiful day."

RE: Knowledge.

Everything I have "learned" thus far into the school year (i.e. had hurdled at me through countless slides, smeared chalk drawings, and lectures that are more repetetive than a broken 8-track) has been review of what I learned in high school - with the exceptions of Italian and the yet-to-begin BA 101. Whether or not this is a good thing: I'm not so sure. I thought college was an institution of higher education, not a place to reflect on the lessons I've already learned. Most kids would kill to get credit for a course in which they essentially know all of the material; it's an easy "A", right? Call me a nerd (it's already a widely-known fact that I am a nerd), but I like to actually learn new things. Hopefully - probably - I'm wrong; it is only the second full week of school - maybe this is all quick review before jumping into bigger and better things.
Still, I dutifully take notes in every class. Why? I honestly don't have an answer for that. Maybe it's because I feel like if I don't take notes - even though I know the material - I'll forget. Maybe it's a comfort thing; take good notes, get better grades. (This sounds like an obvious statement, but it's not always so simple. Let's examine one possible situation:
A) Bobby is an excellent note taker. He writes down all of the information on the slides plus jots down the teachers' meticulous explanations plus adds his own personal notes to help him understand the material. Bobby is also always ten minutes early to class, and stays ten minutes afterward to ask questions. He skims over the chapters in the book with semi-attention - besides, he already took awesome notes.
B) Janice does not take notes. She makes no move during the entire lecture to retrieve pencil and paper from her backpack, if she even brings her backpack. Janice is never early and never stays late, providing she even shows up for class. Janice always reads the chapters instead of taking notes.
Event: Quiz over identifying key characteristics in DNA. This was briefly covered in class, extensively covered in the book. Who does better? Well, that depends on a lot of contributing factors. But we're going to assume that Janice did better because she paid more attention to the book than the lectures.
Point in Case/Case in Point [If you know which is correct, I'd appreciate the tip.] : Taking notes does not guarantee better grades.)
This is not to say that taking notes will damage my GPA. Not at all. Maybe notes will help me remember all I learned previously. Maybe notes won't do a dang thing.
Maybe I'm severly psychologically damaged.
Just kidding. Or maybe I'm not. Enough with the "maybe"s.
I can't even remember why I started this entry; how is it I can remember the make-up of nucleic acids from last year's Biology?
Oh well. The point is, I'm hungry, and I've got thirty minutes to get to J2, eat, and still make it to Eco on time. Ah, the quirks of a college life.

Bittersweet.

Wristband draw for the Ohio State game: starts 1000 after my number. Some of my school spirit just dissipated into the dark abyss of disappointment, never to be seen again.

On the upside: I got a callback from Tiff's Treats today for a job. Meeting with the managers tomorrow...!

Musing on the masses.

Apparently, networking is one of the many keys to Success. Meeting more people equals knowing more people equals reaching more people with your intended product, idea, message, entity... whatever. Living in a small-ish town for over eighteen years hasn't really given me a chance to "network"; I grew up already knowing quite a few people in town. But moving to Austin, to UT, to a city of over 700,000 people... I'm struggling to realize how incredibly many people I don't know. It's staggering. I leave my dorm two minutes later than usual and end up seeing 200 people I didn't see the day before on the sidewalks on my way to class. I introduce myself to the kids sitting next to me in Psychology, and the next class I walk in and cannot find any of those same people in the masses.

So what does Denise do?

Naturally, I sit next to someone new and start talking. But truth be told, I'm getting tired of being the one to start the conversations. I know I'm not the only freshman looking for new friends. I know I'm not the only person who needs a study buddy in Eco. But why am I the only one who attempts to get to know anyone new? Well, okay, I'm over-exaggerating... I have had a few people introduce themselves to me first, and there have been instances when I haven't talked to someone even though I had the opportunity. But looking back on those times, I'm hoping that tomorrow I won't make the same mistakes. Tomorrow, I will try to talk to anyone, any chance I have. And if he/she doesn't like my personality, then they can decide to stop talking. I'm not stupid - I'll get the picture, and I will shut my mouth.

But back to networking - kinda.

I guess constantly being the one to introduce myself first could help with networking; I really do want them to know who I am. Don't get me wrong: it's not because I want the most friends on Facebook, or the most people sitting with me at lunch. I just want people to know that they're not the only ones looking for someone to chill with on the weekends or play a round of ping-pong with in-between Genetics and Eco. I love people. Love. And I don't want to miss the opportunity to know some genuinely amazing person that I otherwise wouldn't know.

Cookie crumbs and college classes.

College may not be as scary as I thought.
It's Sunday night, and my first week (and by "week", I mean "three days") of classes are over. Recap of what I've learned thus far:

a) Professors (and/or T.A.s) are surprisingly down-to-earth and personable, not the cocky, arrogant caricatures I've so often seen in movies and read in books. They truly seem to understand a student's life. In Italian, we greet our teacher with the informal "Ciao" - her request. In Genetics, our professor helps us out by telling us when not to take notes. In psychology, we actually took a poll (by hand-raising), and as it turns out, the professor hates exams just as much as the 300-person class.
b) There is a bus for almost anywhere I'm going. Up 21st Street to visit a friend in Dobie? There's the FA. Going from PCL to Art? There's the WC (West Campus, not Water Closet). Need to make it from Kinsolving to Jester in less than ten minutes? Well, I haven't had to do that yet, but if I did, I'm sure there's a bus for it.
c) J2 is financially-sensible heaven. The food's not bad, either. All-you-can-eat for... what, $3.00? Beats the hell out of a $6.00 meal of a sandwich, chips, and drink down at Jester City Limits. It deeply saddens me that J2 is closed over the weekend - I feel like I'm wasting money by not eating at a buffet. Then again, I guess the weekend is what the twelve coupon booklets I've accumulated over the week are for.
d) The laundry room is deserted on game days. I didn't get tickets for the North Texas game in time, so instead, I did laundry and watched the game on the TV in there. Easy cheesy.
e) Always wear orange on game days. Always.

And now, I'm sitting in my dorm with eight of my friends (one of which is Dylan), eating Tiff's Treats and watching Office Space. Right now, it doesn't get much better than this. Of course, right now, I don't have much homework. Though I am expecting it. (If you're a professor, please don't hurt me by giving insane amounts of homework on Tuesday. Mm ok thanks.)

NOTE: Tiff's Treats rock my face off, and they'll rock yours off, too, if you give them the chance. Seriously... my face is on the computer screen right now. Actually, it's kinda hard to type in this condition.