Until Next Year

It's a little hard to believe, but freshman year is coming to a close. It's not everyday that a kid from New Jersey gets the opportunity to further his education while living in a completely different area of the country, but the experiences and lessons that I have learned for next year and beyond, are invaluable. A lot of this is owed to my participation in the Journalism Living and Learning Community. Going to college in an area that I'm not used to, regardless of how much I wanted it for myself, is a difficult thing to get used to at times. But when you're able to live on the same floor as other students that have similar majors and interests as you, and be able to get to know them by taking some of the same classes, it makes things a little easier. As much as I wanted something completely different in my college years than what I grew up with, it is nice to be able to ease into the situation. The living and learning community gave me a platform from which to meet new people, get involved in a multitude of on and off campus activities, and feel comfortable at a large university. There is no doubt that this year has been an eye opening experience and has taught me a lot about myself and others, but that's exactly what I was looking for. Until next year.

Living & Learning Community Advantages

My freshman year could not have been better. By participating in the Journalism Living and Learning community, my transition from high school to college was nearly perfect. Most of my floormates have similar majors to mine, so we all had at least two classes together (University 101 and Journalism 201). We all bonded immediately and formed a family- to this day we still share a facebook official mother! Coming from a very sheltered home, it was fun to be able to experience the college social life and know that I have a group of friends to make sure I'm safe. I have to say, one of the biggest perks besides gaining these AWESOME life-long friends is you never have to worry about eating alone. Also, my academic advisor is one of my teachers and we got to meet the heads of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications. I can not even explain how awesome of an experience it has been to live in the Journalism Living and Learning Community. To all of the future participants, I wish you so much luck and hope you have as great of a time as we all did.

~Genelle Williams

Relay 4 Life!

This past Friday was USC's Relay for Life held at Blatt Field. Even though I signed up through the Student Media team, I spent most of the time hanging with the 9th floor and our new friend, Buddy. I didn't expect to stay all 12 hours but it went by so quickly, I hardly noticed...until the next morning.

This was my first time participating in Relay for Life and I had a blast. For the most part, we walked around the track (which honestly could have been positioned better so there would have been more room to walk but anyway) and took turns manning the tent. Watching the step show with Sally (I see you, Larry!), dancing around with Bernice and Colin and watching Pat fist pump like a champ were definitely some highlights of the evening and morning.

Even though I had a great time, it was really moving to hear about some of the victims and survivors of cancer. One participants mom passed away only a few weeks ago from cancer and his team was one of the top fundraisers. I was glad to see our entire University support a cause that effects so many people and their families. Can't wait till next year!

Today's Forecast

After we returned from Spring Break we have had the most amazing weather. It has been at least 75 degrees outside more than a few times the last few weeks. I officially have a new perspective of the saying "spring fever". When it is this beautiful outside the last place I want to be is in class. The weather makes me want summer to get here more than ever, especially with a predicted forecast of weather over 80 this Thursday and Friday. The weather has made me decide to make a very elementary count down to summer to run across the top of my dorm room. If your curious there are only 36 more days til summer and 27 days til the last day of classes!!

A Walk in the Woods

I have found myself very busy this semester. It seems like I have been buried in 'to-do' lists for the past few weeks. While I enjoy my commitments, this past weekend I was ready for something new. It was time to get off campus and do something fun. I have always enjoyed getting out and going for a hike, so I looked in to places in the Columbia area to have such an adventure. After not much research I found Congaree National Park. Last Saturday morning, Emily, Genelle, Pat, Sally, and I loaded into my car and drove down to the park. It was a beautiful day to be outside (which is ironic as it snowed 8 inches the weekend before). We spent 2 and a half hours enjoying the parks trails and boardwalks, and by hiked about four and a half miles. The park is only about a 25 minute drive from campus, so we were even able to make it back to Russell House for lunch. All in all it was a nice break. I look forward to going back more this spring.

Congaree National Park

Multiple Once in a Lifetime Experiences

It has been an exciting past couple of weeks here in Columbia. Starting on Tuesday of last week, I had the opportunity to experience a few once in a lifetime events. The Men's basketball team faced off against Kentucky, the #1 team and the country, and gave them their first loss of the season. This is the kind of thing I watched on television, maybe three or four times in my life, and wished I could have been there to experience it. Well, this time around I had the chance and I took advantage of it. I joined the mob of fans on the court and celebrated the victory with my fellow classmates. 

If that wasn't enough, I found out on Monday afternoon of the next week that John Mayer was practicing for his upcoming tour, at the Coliseum. Even though I'm not a huge fan, this was still something to get pretty excited for. The excitement only grew when I found out the next day that he was giving a free concert for a small group of students. I wasn't able to get one of the 150 tickets, but I waited with a few friends and about two hundred strangers for about an hour and twenty minutes until the security guards finally let us in. The concert was a very cool experience and something that not many people get to see. 

Although these events were awesome and unexpected, there is one event coming up this Saturday that I have been preparing for, for almost a year. On Saturday, February 6, at 8:30 in the morning, on the campus of NC State, I will be participating in the famous Krispy Kreme Challenge. I love to run and I love to eat, so why not combine the two. My task will be to run two miles to the KK, eat a dozen classic glazed doughnuts, and run the two miles back without seeing the doughnuts again and do it in under an hour. Hopefully all goes according to plan. 

Second Semester

It's already February and second semester is going great. With tougher classes, an internship opportunity, and student organizations, I believe that I am more involved this semester. Although there is a lot more work and a tad bit more stress, I think it's all worth it. These experiences will teach me to work better under pressure later on in life. I'm also learning how to multitask this semester. I really should have acquired that skill before I got to college, but better late than never! Aside from academic and extracurricular activities, my social life is fantastic. All of us on the floor still go out together like the big family we are and I absolutely love it!!

Family Dinner

Back again for a second semester and not much has changed in the realm of Pi Kappa 9th floor. Everyone had great breaks but I think it's safe to say we missed our absurd and bizarre occurrences that happen here in Cola Hall and everyone is really happy to be back and doing their own thing again. For me personally I feel like I've picked up on more stuff to start off my second semester, getting more involved at the Daily Gamecock and charity stuff with Alpha Chi. What I really like about this semester though is the new family dinners we have started on sunday nights for residence on the ninth floor.  We kicked off the first week with a delicious pasta meal and following that we had frozen pizza (my weakness). It's a really nice way to kind of kick back and just enjoy yourself with all your friends on the floor. Things are really looking up for a great second semester, and beginning each week with a nice family dinner makes everything that much better.