The side effects of a social life

Well, so much for writing every day. However, I feel I should mention that the day to day details are rather tedious, because it's a lot of the same. Still, it's been too long. The problem is that ever since I found out that Kate, Greer, and Alyssa live two floors below me, my evenings have been spent chilling with the ladies until much too late at night. Outside of that, I'm doing homework, class, and I joined the dance club. So, yeah, things are a little crazy.

Anyway, enough with the excuses. Life is good here in Michigan. Fall has struck. Leaves are changing color and dropping. The wind has that clean Fall bite to it, and the weather keeps fluctuating between too warm and chilly. You'll hear no complaints from me, though. This is my favorite kind of weather. It's perfect for riding and makes me miss my pony.

This week was the second week of lessons. I haven't rode the same horse twice yet which makes sense, because Danielle, the coach of the Dressage Team, is seeing how I do when on different horses. So far, I don't have a favorite. I'm unlearning a lot of the hunter tricks that I was taught the first several years of my riding career and relearning how to put my leg on correctly and sit right. It feels weird, but I'm not getting the back pains that I used to get, so I must be doing something right.

Classes are good. I have three papers due on Friday. Yikes! One of them is for philosophy and has an eight page minimum. I'm supposed to take the public policy theory that this guy Ellis takes 200-pages to tell you is impossible to do in our current government and then apply it to a different public policy. I've decided to write about the child-killings that have been occurring on Daytona Beach. It's this place where cars are allowed to drive on the actual beach, and despite that there have been an increase of children hit and killed by the cars, the city has decided to keep the beach open to autos because of the tradition it stands for. It's an interesting article, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to have trouble lengthening it into eight pages. I haven't written anything that long in my entire college career. If you have any advice, pass it on, please.

The first Dressage show is the 16-17 of October over at Michigan State University. I think I'm excited. For those of you who know me, you'll understand my confusion. For my newer readers or those who just don't know me as well, I have a hard time showing emotions and on the rare occasion that they do show up, I don't usually recognize them. I say "I think I'm excited" mostly because I figure that a normal person would be excited for their first show. Anyway, yeah, first show in a couple weeks.

I went to a rodeo last weekend. The equus club was going and I wasn't going to go, but I was drawn into it by the ladies. I'm not a fan of rodeos. Oh, I like barrel racing and reining, but I'm not a huge fan of the rest of it. My mom rubbed that off on me. Beyond that, though, I'm also not a fan of rodeos because despite that they claim that they are not affiliated with any political party, you walk in as a moderate or democrat and you feel like you've just crossed into no man's land. Needless to say, it was a little uncomfortable, but it was fun chillin' with the ladies.

Then last night I was met with my first opportunity to play drinking games. Sorry to disappoint some of you, but I turned down the chance. For one, I was getting motion sickness just from walking around. For two, I'm just not the drinking game sort. For all you How I Met Your Mother fans out there, there's that one episode where Marshall and Lily decide to be mature and have a wine tasting while Barney and Ted go out to a club with Robin. Well, I would be the "boring" people sitting on the couch waiting for the wine to breath and playing trivial pursuit. So, don't expect any wild stories, though I promise that if there ever is a wild story to tell, I will blog it. Instead, I chilled with Kate, spending the time I should have been writing down Sam (R)'s birthday present talking about my stories. Basically, I've gained another fan before I've even had anything published. My books better live up to all your expectations or I'll feel pretty dumb.

In a little bit, I'll be off to go design T-shirts for the equus club to sell at our barn shows, then we're tie-dying the club shirts. I helped design the logo for this year! I'm not the artist though. I can draw, but this girl Megan is incredible, so her design won but we paired it with my idea. I'll take a picture when I get my shirt.

And there you have it. I'm all caught up. I'll try to do better about writing more often, but no promises. I have four papers and a presentation due in the next two weeks, plus these stories I'm working on outside of my novel and planning the outline of the Loft class I want to teach next Summer. Plus, there's this whole problem about having a social life! *sigh* Things were so much simpler when I was an anti-social study freak. (That would be sarcasm, btw.)

A Horse Named Petoskey

Today I had my first riding lesson and it was the day that I found out for sure whether I made the team or not. As of last night, I still hadn't heard anything and was beginning to tell myself, "Well, I didn't make the team . . . guess this means I don't have to spend $400 on show clothes!" Despite my up-beat, always-a-silver-lining attitude, I was feeling both worried and disappointed. I have never not made a sport I tried out for. And for all that I love Albion just as a school, the whole reason I came here was to compete on the equestrian team. So, what would happen if I didn't make it?

Well, my alarm went off at 6 a.m. this morning. I rose only long enough to turn it off before rolling over and sleeping for the next half hour before the second alarm sounded. This past weekend had not been especially productive. I spent the whole time in my room watching t.v. shows. I didn't start doing homework or laundery until Monday. This meant that despite my goal to be in bed early last night, I didn't get to sleep until around 2 a.m.. Ouch. Nonetheless, I was excited when I finally did pull myself out of bed and got ready for my lesson. Excited and a bit apprehensive.

I ran into Greer in the cafeteria when I slipped in with the first batch of much-too-awake early birds. We sat together and talked of classes while we waited for the food to take effect and our brains to wake up. Greer is one of the people in my Tuesday lessons, but I hitched a ride from campus security to the barn. That early in the morning, I guess the campus police don't have much to do, because my ride was waiting out front of the dining hall exactly when I asked to be picked up. I arrived at the barn with plenty of time to spare.

The first thing I did was locate the white board that told me what horse I was riding. Petoskey. Not a horse I was familiar with, but I've never met a horse I didn't like, so I was excited to meet this gelding. Next, I obediantly checked the card on his grooming box to find out if there were any specific instructions I had to follow when dealing with him. There weren't. Now, since I still had a little time before I needed to start getting tacked up, I went in search of Danielle to ask her whether the teams had been picked and the riders informed. As I passed the huge bulletin board outside of the indoor arena on my way to find Danielle, the word "congratulations" caught my eye:

Congratulations to the 2010-2011 Dressage Team!

Second Level
Kjirsten Sneed
Nicole Howey

First Level
Greer Clemons
Johnna Serydynski

Training Level
Alyssa Olsen
Sarah Morris

Introductory Level
Samantha Green
Nora Cox

That's right, peoples. I made the team.

No news

It's Friday. Alyssa and Kate both told me that I'd know whether I made the team or not today, but it's 12:45 and there is still no word. I'm not worried. I'm not disappointed. Just because Alyssa thought they had to have to roster for the teams turned in by tonight, doesn't mean she was right. It also doesn't mean that I didn't make the team, if she was correct. There's plenty of reasons why Danielle didn't notify people tonight. So, life goes on, and the long weekend is here. I have my dorm to myself, because Alesha and Edwin went home for the weekend. Tomorrow is a new day. I've got a new Faulkner story to read, as well as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. There's plenty to keep me occupied while I await the verdict of Thursday's tests. And when I know, no matter what the news is, you will be one of the first to know.

On a separate note, I was assigned my horseback riding lesson times today. I'm riding Tuesdays from 8-9 (and that would be a.m. . . .) and Wednesdays 4-5. Look out sore muscles and sleepy class days, here I come!

Horses and exams

Once again, last night I had a post all ready to publish when the server crashed, and I was unable to load anything. I think I need to find a way to plug my computer in because the wi-fi signal in my room isn't very good.

Anyway, yesterday was an average Thursday until my Faulkner Seminar ended at 5. Yesterday was the day of the equestrian team try-outs. It was also the day of the Writing Competency Exam. Both stress-inducing tests occurred one after the other, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

After class, I rushed across campus to change into my horsie clothing, and rushed back to the dining hall to meet Alesha and her boyfriend, Edwin. More to the point, I rushed to meet Edwin's car. Normally, I will be receiving rides to the barn from campus safety, but I've been informed by several people that if you don't give them an hour leeway, you'll end up wherever you're going an hour late. Yesterday, I couldn't risk that, not with only a half hour to spare between the end of class and the try-outs, so I bummed a ride.

I arrived at the barn in plenty of time, despite my worry when Edwin didn't show up right at 5:15. Everyone else who was trying out was already gathered in the viewing room, all dressed up in their tall boots, breeches, and fancy, five-hundred dollar helmets. I felt a little out of place with my mud-coated paddock boots, well-worn, suede half chaps, and the still slightly milldew-smelling schooling helmet. It didn't bother me, though. I'm used to feeling out of place in the barn.

I was just beginning to recognize the mixture of excitement and nervousness curling in the base of my stomach when Danielle (the Dressage coach) and George (the Scottish coach of the hunt seat team) came in and explained what was going to happen. They were going to treat this just like a show. Each of us would draw a horse out of a hat (or basket in this case) and that would be the horse we rode. Some of the girl's had a decided advantage over me because they had been taking lessons already and knew the horses. I didn't mind. I've been riding lesson horses most of my life. I'm used to not knowing a lot about my horse.

Then it was time to draw. I was in the second group, with five other girls and one of the last to choose. I walked up to where Kristin (known as Bob for a reason I'm fairly certain I already explained) and Sarah, last year's co-captain of the Dressage team were prepared to assign me whatever horse I chose. Quickly, I reached into the basket, shuffled through the long strips of paper, drawing out the first I could get my fingers on. It was still folded, which boded well. The horses that had already been chosen to ride before me wouldn't be folded. I'd have a fresh horse. Sliding the strip out smooth, I read aloud the name: Romulus. Greek! Cool! I passed the paper to Bob and headed back to the viewing window trying to remember if this horse was one of the ones I met. The name was familiar. A big bay came to mind. While the other girls from my group collected around Bob, asking questions about the horses they were to ride, I stood at the window, feeling the nervousness grow a little more. This wasn't bad nervousness, by any means. I didn't feel nausous or light-headed. This was the same feeling I got when I used to show. I was excited! But my hand was shaking, ever so slightly, and I knew that nervousness is not something you want to possess up on a horse. The horse will sense it and react with their own anxiety because they don't know why you're nervous. So, while I waited my turn to show my stuff, I closed my eyes and concentrated on calming my pounding heart.

Then it was my turn. I followed the rest of my group out into the arena. Some of the girl's horses were already available, so half our group was on and walking around long before I even  had a horse. My horse, Romulus, is a beauty. A tall bay with little ears. Randi Heathman (I talked to her for a long time when I first visited Albion back in February) helped me get the horse ready, warning me about a couple of the gelding's quirks, but ended by saying that she was so jealous. I had chosen the best horse in the barn.

I mounted, feeling like I could touch the sky. After my little pony back home, this horse felt as big as the  Greek legend behind his name. Naturally, the saddle had to be adjusted to accompany my short legs, but before long I was off, walking, then trotting, then cantering with the other girls. It was a short try-out. I didn't fall off. I didn't break any rules. I looked down at the horse only twice to make sure I was rising and falling in time with the correct front leg of the horse (called a diagonal, for you non-horsie people--or non-English riders, anyway.) Though my dreams last night were plagued with images of my back grotesquely arched during the whole ride, I know I kept my back straight, my core strong. Your back feels like your spine was hit by a hammer if you arch your back while riding. I was nervous, though, and Romulus could feel it. He wouldn't relax while I was riding, and he was drenched in sweat after I got off. It was toasty in the barn, but not that toasty. But Alyssa and Randi and Danielle and Bob all reminded us that this try-out is not based on how the horse looks, it's about how the rider looks (the discipline of equitation), and I've been told by many people that I am a very skilled equitation rider. Now, all I can do is wait and see.

When I got back to the viewing room, it was nearly 6:23. I asked Edwin and Alesha to pick me up at 6:30 because I had this exam at 7, and I wanted to leave plenty of time in case something happened and they could't be there right at 6:30. I shouldn't have worried. Edwin pulled up right when I walked out the door, and I was at the science building, where the test was to be held, at exactly 6:30. With half an hour to kill, I took a moment to breath. I was surprised to find that I really wasn't nervous about this exam. Maybe I had used up all my anxiety for the day at try-outs. Maybe I just have that much faith in my writing. I don't know. But when I sat down in the massive auditorium with my bluebook, pen, and the list of topics we had to choose from, I wasn't really thinking of this as an exam. It was just another college essay, and I had two hours to craft my best possible response. This was nothing like the final exam essays I had to write at Century (my previous college, for those who don't know) because with those the entire exam (vocabulary, short answer, and essay) had to be completed in two hours. Here, I had two hours devoted solely to writing an essay. I will say that I didn't especially like any of the topics. They were all current events, and I don't read the newspaper or pay much attention to what's going on in the world. But I managed to write a reasonable essay about the Islamic cultural center that the Muslim community of Manhatten wants to build two blocks from where the Twin Towers collapsed. Then that was it. I turned in the book and the topics and walked back to my dorm feeling more productive than I had felt in a while. Now I just hope that I pass. I've heard a couple people say that they didn't and had to retake it, but most of them said this not long after talking about how drunk they got last night. Once again, all I can do is wait and see.

The complications posed by time and new anime

The stairs for the Library Stacks: six tiers of books
squished into three floors.

It's been a while. Don't worry, though, you haven't missed much. I spent this weekend attempting to do nothing. After class got out on Friday, I spent the rest of the day reading my assignments for Monday so besides a short diagnostic essay on The Wanderer, there was nothing I had to do. Instead, my intention was to spend the entire weekend watching the animes I brought with me, pausing only for a trip to the basement to do laundry. Well, as some of you may have noticed from Facebook, I failed. I just couldn't stay away from Faulkner. However, Sunday I am proud (though it could be viewed as patheticness) to say that I didn't leave my building once; and I only left my room at the end of the day to type up my paper in the disgustingly stuffy and hot computer room in my building.

Then Monday came around and it was the beginning of week two. Week two? Only week two? How is that possible? I feel like I have been here forever! (Forever in a good sense, mind you, not in the when-will-it-be-winter-break way.) Monday did bring something out of the ordinary, though. In the evening I went to the first equestrian club meeting where I learned that try-outs for the teams are on Thursday (tomorrow now that I'm finally writing this) at 5:30. I also found out that there will be three dressage shows this school year (actually five shows, but in only three different locations and only three different weekends). While I am a little disappointed that I won't be around the show atmosphere more often, I don't regret my decision to only try out for the dressage team. The hunt seat team that I wanted to go out for has ten shows this school year, and that may not sound like a lot, but it is. Maybe next year I'll go out for the hunt seat team. We'll see. I may not need to, though, because the campus barn puts on jumping shows every month and you can rent a college horse to compete in them. Next year, if I manage to make enough money to afford to keep my horse here, I'll be able to show her. That would be really nice, though I don't know what my horse would think about that.

Tuesday brought another unusual event: the review for the writing competency exam I have to take in order to remain a Junior. If I fail, I'll be demoted to Sophomore until I pass it. It's nothing out of the ordinary, really. It's similar to the essays I had to write for colleges where they give you a list of topics and you pick one to talk about. I just wish that it wasn't on the same day as try-outs. Tomorrow's going to be a busy day.

And now, just like that, I'm caught up. Today nothing especially interesting happened. I have decided that I rather hate my philosophy text book. The writer is horrible! He keeps using massively big words to say things that he easily could've used a smaller word to say the same thing just as well. He repeats things more often than necessary in the same sentence, and he's over all very confusing, and that's saying somethng, coming from me. I'm the one who enjoyed reading Kant who is determined one of the most confusing philosophers out there. But with Kant, once you understand his language, it's not too bad whereas with this Richard Ellis, the deeper into the book I get, the more confused I become. I have a lot of respect for books, so you can understand the seriousness of my frustration when I say that I nearly flung this textbook against a wall! (I was in the library, though, so there weren't any walls close enough for me to fling it, and there were people around trying to study.) The good news is that there are only two more chapters (or so) and then that will be it! Hooray!

Okay, I'm done ranting. The interesting thing that occurred today was something called Briton Bash. All the clubs associated with the school set up tables and try to recrut you. Naturally, I signed up for the Equestrian Club, but I also was enticed by the Dance Association, which is trying to get a Swing Dance Club started. I said I'd do what I could to help, because I do love swing dancing. I was coerced by a classmate into signing up for St. Jude's booth (though I figured it was for a good cause) and was nearly drawn into the First Responders by one of my hall-mates. That one was easier to say no to, because it was more for biology and pre-med majors. Still, Miss Mackenzie can be very convincing. I remember choosing to sign up for the Intramurals Club, which is a group of people who get together and play sports. And finally, I'm going to be a Big Sister! There was a representative from Big Brothers, Big Sisters there and I've always been curious about it, so I decided to just go for it and sign-up. I'll let you know how that goes.

The Wanderer

My Brit Lit professor assigned us The Wanderer for Monday. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. It's a short Old English poem by an unknown author, and it's beautiful. I won't deceive you. It's full of sorrow and loneliness, but in that melancholy, there's a beauty that reminded me of my river, the Mississippi. I had the sudden need to be near water and somewhere solitary where I could read the poem again aloud. I set out for the White House Nature Center and the Kalamazoo River.

Since I've arrived at Albion, I haven't left the campus. For one, I haven't had a need to. For two, I've been too busy to pursue it on my own time. Today, though, I finished all the reading I had for Monday with more than enough time to spare, so I just started walking, trying my best to picture the map of the area that's pinned to my bulletin board. Looking at it now, I was completely off, but I realized that the point of my wandering wasn't the destination, but the walking itself. Even though I didn't find the river, I did get to see a bit of Albion.

Here on campus, we're sheltered. The buildings are beautiful and well-cared for, and even the Greek houses nearby look like they belong in a wealthy suburb. Once you pass out of this world, the houses change. They become smaller, shabbier, faded . . . alive.

When first I came to Albion back in February, I was disgusted by the town. The houses are all needing paint, with junk and garbage lying in the front yards. Walking today allowed me a closer look at those same houses. This time, I didn't see junk or garbage, I saw newly planted flowers in lovingly tended gardens. Instead of chipped paint, I saw curtains hung in windows, cats guarding porches, and people buried under the hoods of their cars. I saw life! And for all I treasure and love the town of Marshall, MI with all it's pretty houses and historic pride, I realized something important today: Marshall is like an antique store; Albion is a home.

Social life: 2?

I have decided that I really like my philosophy professor. I wasn't sure when I left the class on Tuesday, but after today's class, I'm sure. Today's class proceeded how I predicted. It went for two hours, and it was full of discussions, and not stupid discussion, but really interesting, where-has-the-time-gone discussions. We nearly talked through our break. When we returned to class, the professor actually had to tell us to be quiet so she could talk about everything she wanted to discuss today. Yay! We're going to go back to the topic of extrinsic/intrinsic values when we meet again on Tuesday. I can hardly wait!

I ate all three meals with some mixture of the equestrian girls today. I don't talk a lot, yet, but that's not a horrible thing. I like just sitting and listening. Of course, the downside to this new-found social life is that I'm suddenly struggling to get all my homework done. When I ate alone, I would be in the dining hall for maybe 15 minutes, giving me plenty of time to curl up in a chair and read. Now I can spend up to an hour there just listening and enjoying their company. Hence, I'm here in the library at 9:30, instead of back in my dorm getting ready for bed. Oh well, the weekend will be here soon, and most people are from Michigan so they go home for the weekend. I should have plenty of time to get ahead for next week, hopefully with time left over to be lazy in the evenings. We'll see.

. . .

As I was sitting in the library absorbing the reading for my history class tomorrow morning, a guy sitting at another table was talking to people about parties, alcohol, and other things that I know aren't legal on this campus. He ended by commenting on how he wasn't doing very well in his classes. Hmm. I wonder why?

I knew that there would be parties in college. I knew there would be stupid people who drank too much and shouted obscenities at most unreasonable hours of the night. It's something that comes with the whole college experience. But I have to say that as I was crossing the Quad from the library to my dorm and thinking about this party atmosphere, I couldn't help but smile when I saw a group of guys and girls running barefoot across the Quad, dodging sprinklers while playing Ultimate Frisbee in the dark (they even had a light-up frisbee). It's good to know that there are at least a few people here who can enjoy innocent fun.