I LOVE COLLEGE! (But not because of the drinking. Or the women. (Not that some of them aren't lovely people!))

Hello!! Today was my first day of classes, and it was “GRRR-RREAT!” as Tony [the excellent frosted flakes] tiger used to say. I think part of the reason I’ve been so giddy with un-ironic excitement all day (there may have been some random dance steps on the trips between classes, and lots of wide smiles) is partly just that I’m only taking subjects I’m interested in for the first time in quite a while (With the possible exception of French. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m very interested in knowing French. But learning it? Eh. Less interesting.). Also, I’m surrounded by people that all (or at least mostly all) care about learning, because why else would they go to this teeny-tiny community-service-and-global-citizenship-and-hard-work-based school?

Anyway, all of my classes have been lovely. I got up early this morning and went down to breakfast, where I carefully ate a LOT (even though the dorm food was depressingly bland), because I knew my next meal wouldn’t be coming until after one o’clock. Then I dashed up to my room, grabbed a thermos of tea (thank you so much for my adorable little thermos, Mom!) and went off to Art History. As you can probably see from my rather enthusiastic earlier post, Art History was quite encouragingly awesome for a first day. Our professor’s real focus is archaeology, so she’s sweetly scatter-brained, but clearly very intelligent and knowledgeable.

After that, I had a little break where I worked on course readings, and then I headed off for my “Advanced Expression” French class. J’ai eu peur quand j’ai entré la classe, mais c’était pour rien! Ma prof est très sympathique (en les sens français et américains) et je pourrais comprendre tout qu’elle a dit. (Je connais que ma grammaire française est terrible, mais peut-être je deviendrai plus bon dans cette class!)

Next was Chemistry, which looks very exciting! My professor is very friendly and down-to-earth, but also pretty strict. She’s the kind who doesn’t accept slackerlyness, but if you try in class, you don’t have to be terrified to go to her office hours when you don’t get stuff. Also, one of my new nerdfighter friends is in the class, so we can sit near each other and have a buddy for homework help, which is excellent. Nerdfighters for the win!

After that I had a lovely free gap, where I did some homework and watched some Buffy. On the ASU Barrett facebook page, there’s something called “Only at Barrett…” where people post things that they think are cool and/or unique about the college. Mostly it seems to relate to nerdiness (Can you believe that Microsoft Word didn’t have the word “nerdiness” in their spell-check dictionary?? I actually had to add it!), which is clearly not limited to the ASU honors college! But there really are some pretty crazy things here at Mac, so I’ve decided to start a thing called “Only at Mac…” I have several for you today.
1.Only at Mac…can you witness a group of twenty-somethings having an all-out war with foam swords and shields on the campus lawns.
2.Only at Mac…can your study break in your room be interrupted by the sound of a bagpipe band practicing outside.
3.Only at Mac…are there not two, not three, but four milk machines in the cafeteria. Four!!

My last class was Theater and Performance, where we first “broke-in the room” (which has been newly renovated) by jogging around it in a group several times, then took an hour to go over the syllabus, and finally spent the last hour-and-a-half in an excited and (at times) fascinating discussion of the first three acts of Hamlet. It was very exciting and engaging and stimulating, even when I thought my professor was wrong in her interpretations, because I got to argue with myself in my head about why she was wrong. It was so stimulating and excellent! Also we were fed clementines. Also Hamlet is a great play (Has anyone ever said that before?? I feel like someone said that to me once…) and I can’t wait to see my first live performance of it on Friday night!!

Finally:

DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT LINES:

Dear Sir:

We suffered a major set-back today in our war against the freshman fifteen when we discovered the frozen yogurt machine stealthily concealed in the back corner of the cafeteria. We are not giving up hope as of yet, however, and plan to counter with our continued goal of always using the stairs. Please report back with advice on how to oppose this brilliant, strategical move on the part of the enemy.

We remain your faithful soldiers.

Toodles, all!