It's been a while. Since my last entry a lot has happened. First, I spent the weekend at Alyssa's house, I attended and helped out at the college's first jumper show of the school year, I survived the four papers I had to write and mid-terms, and now I have four days completely to myself.
Okay, starting at the beginning. The last weekend in September, Alyssa invited me to come spend the weekend at her house in Clarkston. She was going home to celebrate her birthday with her family. It was a lot of fun. She has three horses right in her backyard (essentially) and the weather was perfect for trail riding. It was so nice to get on a horse and just ride. I haven't done that since I stopped going out to the hobby farm I used to ride at. I've missed the simplicity. After riding, we went to her mom's boyfriend's house for food and fishing. Alyssa's boyfriend was out of town, but his brothers lived nearby and I got to meet them. The way Alyssa interacts with them reminds me exactly of my relationship with the three boys I spent several years babysitting. I've added hanging out with them to my list of must-dos when I come home in November. All in all, it was an awesome weekend, even if I did end up getting a cold. Though I think that cold had more to do with the four papers I had due that Thursday/Friday before. I survived them, despite that the British Literature paper I thought I had until midnight to finish was actually due at 5. So far, I've only had the Faulkner critique returned to me, but I'm not entirely worried about the others. I feel like I did well on them.
And moving on. The following Friday I had my first midterm (October 1). It was for this reason that I chose not to take my Brit Lit professor's offered extension on the paper. I could've e-mailed him and asked for another week to do the paper so that I wouldn't have four papers due so close together, but I decided I didn't want to worry about writing a paper while also studying for the mid-term. I had never taken a midterm here before and I decided I wasn't going to rely on Century College's midterms as an example because Century is a two year college with a lot lower standards then I'm expecting Albion to have. Anyway, I didn't study a lot for this test because I would just be trying to fill my head with too much information since I had no idea what to expect. I did know that I would have to know the titles and authors of the pieces we read and that there would be vocabulary questions. So, I skimmed and went into the test feeling minorly unprepared. For good reason, it turned out. I knew only two of the five vocabulary questions, but I did get all the rest of the test done fairly well. The reason we had to know the title and author was because the professor put quotes from the different pieces we read and we had to identify their source and explain the context. I nailed that, so that was good. I got my test back last week and got an 85 without the curve, a 90 with it. Not too bad for not knowing what to expect. It did teach me to take better notes in class, though. A couple of the vocab I didn't even have in my notes. Oops.
That same weekend was the first Winter Series Jumper show. A jumper show is pretty self explanatory. Competitors ride their horses over brightly colored fences. The idea of a jumper show is to clear the first round (as the rider does in the video). Riders clear the round if they get over all the fences in the right order (you might be able to see the numbers leaning up against the jumps, these mark the course), then get the best time in what is called the jump off without knocking down any of the poles. The jump off is a shorter version of the original course (and not shown in this video). The show started Saturday morning with cross-rails. Cross-rails are jumps where the poles form an X. These are beginner jumps either for horses or students who haven't done a lot of jumping or as a warm-up for the classes with verticles (like in the video). As the show progresses, the jumps get higher. The rider in the video is probably jumping 2'3''-2'6''. The show I was at ended up at 3'3''-3'6'' by Sunday afternoon. Olympic show jumpers can jump as big as 6'. Next year, when I bring my horse up, I'm going to try to compete in show jumping. I do love Dressage, but there's something about being on a jumping horse that makes you feel like you have wings.
Anyway, at the beginning of the video, you may have noticed the woman running through the course. She was part of the jump crew, which was what I did. The jump crew goes out and sets up any jumps that the horses knock over. I had a really good time, but I'm looking forward to being the girl on the horse for the next show (NEXT WEEKEND!!!!!).
This past week was midterms. I only had two because I did the Brit Lit one the week before and because I don't have one for my Faulkner class. I had a better idea what to expect after Brit Lit, so I actually spent time Wednesday and Thursday night studying. I was most worried about my philosophy one because the history class I'm taking is a first-year class containing mostly freshmen. So, I stayed in the library going back through all my philosophy notes and the handouts I received until 1:30 in the morning. Alyssa kept me company, which was really nice. We chilled in the older half of the library because the lights aren't super efficient and go off every half hour there isn't mass movement. Jolly Ranchers, Oreos (for some crazy reason I can eat Michigan's mini oreos. They don't contain soy or dairy.), Pepsi, and BBQ chips helped keep us going. Alyssa had to move her car before 2, so we ended up leaving before I got all my studying done. Alyssa completed all her homework for the following day, though, so at least I'm a good role-model. : ) I went back to my dorm and found that Alesha was still up, so I stayed up another hour and finished all my notes. I went to bed feeling very prepared for philosophy, but also very happy I didn't have to get up until 9:30. In the end, both of the midterms felt like they went well. I won't know how I did until Friday when grades are due, but I feel pretty confident.
And now I'm on Fall break and the campus is deserted. I've never seen so many empty parking spots in the entire time I've been here. All of my friends have gone home, so I have a huge amount of time on my hands that I've been spending trying to remember what I did before I acquired a social life. For the last three weekends I've had something to do. There was the parade, going home with Alyssa, and the jumper show. I was hugely looking forward to this weekend because I would finally have a chance to sleep in (which I did), but once I woke up I couldn't remember what I used to do. Yesterday, I spent the entire day in my dorm room watching an NCIS marathon. That was enjoyable. I do love NCIS, but the whole time I kept checking my e-mail accounts and Facebook for someone to talk to, and I couldn't stop thinking how much more fun watching NCIS would be if Kate were there to watch it with me. Today, I woke up earlier (not before noon, of course) and absolutely had to get out of the dorm. So, I wandered over to the Student Center in pursuit of snacks. The center was open, but the convenient store and the bookstore were closed. I couldn't help but wonder what exactly was the point of having the center open if nothing inside it was open. From there I headed toward the library intent on raiding the student-card-accepting vending machines, as well as checking out some movies for my history class. Then I sat down here, logged into Facebook and Blogger, and started this post, more than happy to be interrupted by the flashing tab that told me Jemma had sent me a message on Facebook.
For all I love this campus and love studying, I've come to realize with each weekend that consists of my friends going home, I miss my own home. I miss my cats, my dog, my horse. If I had a car up here, I absolutely would've gone home this weekend. I had planned on doing that even when I couldn't bring my car up (the brakes died two days before I left for school), but it takes two days to get home cheaply and I don't have the money to fly. Two days to get home and two days to come back means I'd be spending more time in Union Station in Chicago or on a bus than I would be at home, which rather defeats the point. So, next semester, I'm absolutely bringing my car up so I have a chance to go home.
10 October 2010
20 September 2010
I should be starting those papers, but...
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| Courtesy of Kate Sexton |
Something I completely failed to mention Saturday is that I was in a parade! Members of the equestrian club marched in the Festival of the Forks parade. The Festival of the Forks refers to the fact that the Kalamazoo River forks in Albion. Beyond that, I don't know why they celebrate this fact, but it was a fun time. Last weekend (not this just past, but the weekend before), Greer, Alyssa, Kate, and I watched Monty Python and The Holy Grail. Naturally, that gave us clever girls (I think Greer gets most of the credit) the idea of getting coconuts and banging them together while marching in the parade, since we weren't bringing actual horses. It was fun. I'm glad we did it, though carving out coconuts is a tedious task. I think we were quite the hit, because we got our picture in the Jackson Citizen Patriot. I tried to find the picture online so I could post a link to the article here, but apparently it only exists in print. Sorry.
The other thing I didn't say is that I have a job. I'm going to be tutoring at the local elementary/middle/high school. I went to the first training session yesterday, and I'm supposed to start sometime this week. I'm both looking forward to it and feeling a little nervous. High School--real high school--is new to me. It will be good to have money again, though, especially with all the show clothes I still need.
Now I really need to get off the computer and do homework. I'll do my best to report on my very long Tuesday tomorrow.
18 September 2010
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.)
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.)
07 September 2010
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.
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.
03 September 2010
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!
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.
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.
01 September 2010
The complications posed by time and new anime
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| The stairs for the Library Stacks: six tiers of books squished into three floors. |
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!
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