Pros and Cons of having a job in college

I’ve talking about my job a lot this semester, because it’s the first time I’ve had to balance school and work since high school. Deciding whether or not to work during school will be an extremely important decision you will need to make once you get here, and I thought I might give you the low-down on my experience so you might have an easier time.

After working consistently from the time I was 15 until two weeks before beginning college, I decided not to work my first two years at Transy. I feel that this was probably one of the best decisions I made for myself, as it allowed me to really be present on campus, get involved, volunteer, and focus on my academics. I didn’t qualify for work study, but having a work study job doesn’t interfere with school and campus activities perhaps as much as an outside job. I would probably recommend taking work-study if you qualify, but I can honestly say that I don’t think I would have been able to integrate into the Transy community as well had I taken a significant part-time job off-campus my first year especially.

That being said, I understand that some of you will have to take a job for financial reasons, and while I would be lying if I said it were easy, it’s doable. My job this year at The Reading Room, a speech and language pathologists’ office specializing in dyslexia, as a tutor in a special reading and spelling program has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my life, and I wouldn’t trade it. I have, however, had to learn to say ‘no’ to some of my on-campus activities; I have had to miss fun outings with my friends; I have had to learn to go without a couple hours of sleep here and there to get my school work done, but it has taught me a great deal of responsibility, accountability, and time management and has opened my eyes to an important field with which I had no previous experience.

Do I regret missing out on some of the fun of college this year? Having to cut down on my campus involvement? Yes. But do I regret taking a job? No, but this is probably due to the fact that I found a job I was passionate about and found internally rewarding. I’d say the first step to take if you need to find a job once you arrive at Transy is to visit our Career Development Center and have them help you find a job you can look forward to going to every day. Because let’s face it—school is stressful enough, who wants to leave a stressful day at school to go to a job you hate?

How people at Transy have helped me learn to make the best of a bad situation

Hi there!

I know, I know. I’ve been missing for a while. In the past two weeks I have tackled a 15 page research paper, drafted my Psychology study proposal, read over 300 pages, and studied for 2 tests, worked 8 days at my job, and volunteered with one of my campus organizations. Needless to say, with homework, a job, and other on-campus commitments, it’s hard to find time for a lot of fun and relaxation.

I was determined, though, to find one night of it, though, because one of my really close friends is about to graduate and leave me. I bought us two tickets to see a concert in Chicago on December 1st as his going-away present, and everything was set to go for our last hoorah before he ships off to law school. The plan was for him to fly us there (he’s a pilot and his dad owns a plane), but at the last minute, we found out that his Dad needed the plane to get to a business meeting. I was devastated. Not only would it have allowed me to spend some quality time with him before he left, but also it would have given me a temporary break from the stresses of school and work. It was probably for the best, because we both had a substantial amount of work due the next day, but I was still pretty down.

Seeing my disappointment, my Transy friends stepped up to help me make the best of this bad situation. One of my best friends, whom I never would have met had I not chosen to come here, decided we should have a fake concert anyways. We made a playlist that included a set for each of the bands that would have played at the real concert. We printed out fake setlists. We air-guitared, danced, and sang our hearts out in my apartment for an hour and a half, completely forgetting stress and let-downs, pending loss and life-worries. Though losing $120 for the tickets was tough to swallow as a poor college student, it was almost completely worth it to know that at Transy I have made friends who intuitively sense when I need them most and will be my light when the rest of life seems characterized by darkness.

Me holding one of the tickets that would have gotten us into the actual concert.

Me dancing and obviously having a blast if only for an hour or two before getting back to work.

Swine flu TOTALLY SUCKS

Hello, friends!

Well, it happened. I got the dreaded swine flu, and it succeeded in putting me so far behind that I didn’t think I’d ever be able to catch up. It happened 2 Saturdays ago during family weekend. My sorority had its annual family and alumni dinner to raise money for Children’s Miracle Network. SO many people showed up, and we ended up raising an impressive amount of money! The food was good, too. My obnoxious coughing, however, was not. It seriously sounded like I had been smoking a pack a day for thirty years—but at that point I thought it was just allergies. I usually get a pretty bad cough this time of year, so I just decided to go home early and take a nap to sleep it off. When I woke up, though, I was in complete agony. My fever blazed at 102, my body hurt all over, I couldn’t stop coughing, and all the urgent care centers were closed. I had to suffer through the night, but the next morning I was able to get to the UTC to figure out what was wrong with me.
Funny story—after waiting in the UTC for 2 hours, they finally gave me the flu test (it was the most painful test ever! It was like shoving a small mascara brush up my nasal passages! OUCH). Then they sent me back out to wait some more. After about 10 more minute, though, this guy comes out with this obscenely huge mask and tells me I have to put it on. Then I got to wait there for another 45 minutes while everyone stared at me wondering why I had what looked like a diaper on my face. At least it added some humor to the situation. Needless to say, it was the swine flu, and they ordered me to be out of class for the whole week.
Now, that’s some of the scariest news a Transy student can get—having to miss a whole week of class. Our professors keep us pretty busy around here, and that means a pretty hefty work load. Also, classes are very heavily focused on discussion, so you miss out a lot when you have to stay home. Let’s just say that I did not worried as much about my health when I first got my diagnosis as I worried about how much work I would have to make up. Luckily, I had professors that talked some sense into me—telling me that I would never get better if I stressed myself out, and to take as much time as I needed to get better and make things up. I was able to make a fairly speedy recovery with their help, as I was able to actually rest and not worry so much about school for a few days. And, after 2 weeks, I’m fully caught up and back on track!
In college, you will get sick. It’s inevitable, especially if you live on campus (and, hey, I don’t even live on campus anymore, so I guess it’s just plain ‘ol inevitable). Fortunately, the Professors on campus will do everything in their power to help you in your recovery process. Not to mention, we have an incredible campus nurse who’ll take care of you if you get sick during the week! =D

Why being single your first semester of college TOTALLY ROCKS!

Okay, I’m feeling a little controversial today, so I’ve decided to let you in on a bit of information that I wish had registered with me before coming to college. Coming into Transy, I had been in a relationship for two years, and like any good girlfriend might, I instantly refuted everyone who told me, “It’s never going to last.” Now, this post is not going to be telling you that you’re never going to make it, but rather, hopefully serve to help reassure you (using my own personal story) if you’re entering college as a bachelor(ette), or find your relationship on the rocks a few months after you arrive here.

Like I said, I was firm in my belief that my boyfriend at the time and I would be able to last, because we had the advantage of closeness—he only lived 20 minutes away. But, the nature of Transy made that 20 minutes seem like 200, and it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. When I arrived here, there were -so- many people eager to begin new friendships with me, hang out with me, explore the town with me, but having to drive 20 minutes away every day for hours severely limited my ability to get to know my new family (because, seriously, you’ll start to think of some of your fellow Transy students as such). I found myself slowly falling further and further behind all my other peers in building relationships with my new classmates; I missed out on all kinds of campus events, missed chances to join organizations and do community service. It’s no secret that the further you are from Transy’s campus, the less integrated you become in the close community—and it didn’t help that my boyfriend didn’t go here and didn’t understand.

So this distancing continued to happen until finally, after 2 ½ years together, we called it quits due to some rather unfortunate circumstances, but also because we were on different paths—I wanted to be involved with the university I had fallen in love with, and, because he attended a different college, he didn’t understand and resented me for sometimes “choosing school over him.” Of course, I was devastated at first, but my Transy community picked me right back up.

Now I’m not saying that this will happen to you. Indeed, I have some close friends that are in my class (juniors) and are still with their high school sweethearts. You may be one of those rare couples who are so close that nothing could get in the way of your relationship, but if you find yourself in my situation, or if you’re concerned about coming to college all alone, here are just a few reasons why being single in college can TOTALLY ROCK:

More time for organizations and community service (neighborhood cleanup!)

More visits to family!

More time for world travel!

More fun to have with your roommate!

More time to take action!

More time to spend getting to know your sisters (if you choose to become Greek)!

Why my May Term is going to TOTALLY ROCK:

Hi folks!

I’m going to be updating lots in the next couple of days because of my slight slacking. The demands of my Job, school work, and extracurricular activities have weighed on me the past couple of weeks and have prevented me from doing much in the way of blogging. I will always make up for it, though! I swear!

Anyway, I just wanted to share some exciting news with you! If you have read my blog before, you might remember that I took a travel course to China for May Term my freshman year. Guess what? I just found out that I get to go on my second travel course, and this one is pretty much the most exciting I could ever possibly imagine!

The course title is officially, “Race, Identity, and Representation in the Guianas,” a History/Anthropology course that will look at how race and cultural identity and representations of both have changed over time. We will travel to Suriname, French Guyane, and Guyana, trek through the jungle, hang out with natives, and explore cities with two wicked awesome professors. While I could have chosen to go on a biking trip to France, or on a trip to study Dickens and theatre in England, or on any of the other 7 trips, I felt that this would literally be a once in a lifetime kind of experience. I mean, when I get older, I can go to Europe whenever I want, but when am I going to get to actually go hang out with the natives and explore the jungle in three territories in South America that are not tourist areas?

Got this when I image searched "Suriname." This is fully what I expect out of my trip!

I’m slightly nervous, as I’m terrified of certain bugs and I’ve never done anything quite like this before, but I’m so happy that Transy provides these kinds of unique opportunities so I can constantly expand my knowledge of the world and my relationship to it.

Why General Education requirements TOTALLY ROCK

I was just listening to some sound files for my Music Appreciation class, when it dawned on me—those GE requirements that a lot of people complain about at other schools TOTALLY ROCK. Now, it’s no real secret to my friends that my brain is wired for the humanities with a pinch of science. Needless to say, I have next to no artistic abilities whatsoever and have pretty much stayed away from the Fine Arts here at Transy (not that I don’t appreciate them, oh no! I love love love them).

You know that scene in Napoleon Dynamite where Napoleon draws a portrait of his lady—yeah that’s about the extent of my artistic abilities, so when my advisor suggested I take Drawing for my Fine Arts GE, I got really embarrassed and suggested a compromise—music. Now, I sang for nearly all my childhood in various choirs and played trumpet for a couple of years, but it had been a solid 6 years since I had any formal musical training. While I wasn’t completely new to the subject, I came in pretty blind, not knowing what to expect.

My Professor has exposed us to so many various kinds of music and has taught us how to hear all the layers and complexities in music in ways that we musically inexperienced people can understand. One day, when listening to J.S. Bach’s “Ach Golgotha,” we had to get up and take steps to the rhythm of certain layers to create a “dance.” When we did our dance in circles, it created an image kind of like gears, which ended up being vital in understanding the piece of music. The fact that our Professor had come up with a way to illustrate this aspect of the music both visually and interactively TOTALLY ROCKS, and I’m so glad that Transy requires me to take classes outside my comfort zone to get a well-rounded education.

Transy Does Trayless Thursdays!

Hello all!

One of the columns I put together for The Rambler, our student newspaper, is called “Transy Says.” I basically just go out and ask random Transy students to give their brief opinions about certain topics and publish those on my Opinion page. I write another column too, but I’m not allowed to tell you which one. Maybe you can figure it out if you visit campus and take a look at the paper ;)
Anyways. This week’s “Transy Says” focused on a new thing Transy is doing to promote sustainability on campus (WOOHOO!)—Trayless Thursdays! As I was interviewing people, I realized how cool this would be to blog about, since I am so proud of this step that we have taken. Basically, a number of schools across the nation have eliminated trays from their dining halls to find that doing so reduced food, energy AND water waste by a significant amount. When you think about it, it makes sense—sure trays are convenient, but they encourage people to take more than they will eat and they create extra dishes to wash.
In light of these findings, Transy has decided to go trayless one day a week. I know that some people might be thinking, “Man, that must be an inconvenience.” Trust me, it’s not! Transy is so small that you will not have to worry about having to stand in monstrous lines if you have to make a second trip for something that wouldn’t fit on your plate. And you get a little bit of exercise too! Okay, that may be pushing it, but seriously; this is a step in the right direction. It’s a sign that Transy is really answering the call to become more sustainable in a world where environmental crisis doesn’t seem all that distant. While I would love to see Transy eventually go completely trayless, Trayless Thursdays still make me proud that I attend a college that tries to do its best to reduce its environmental impact!

Home

So, I had a bad day today. One of those days that you just don’t know what’s wrong, or rather, you know that’s a complete lie, but you try really really hard to convince yourself it doesn’t bother you. Anyone that knows me can tell you that this is rare for me. I’m pretty upbeat all the time—obnoxiously so if you happen to ask a certain few. Even still, these days happen to everyone. I came home to my apartment after work, hours of studying ahead, and a stressful week looming with papers and tests and lots of reading, not knowing what to do to shake this “blah.”

So I took a walk. I walked down Broadway a little ways, past the loud construction (it’ll be over soon!), past the cars filled with people frustrated with traffic and just wanting to get home. Home. That’s what I was missing. Someone who can tell when I’m wearing myself thin. Someone to tell me, “Amanda. Take a nap. Take an hour to do nothing school related and chill OUT.” Don’t get me wrong. Living by myself has been good; it has already improved my focus, and yet, there I was walking, searching for some solace. I turned by the Beck Center and walked through campus and somehow ended up in Haupt Plaza surrounded by empty buildings, advertisements for clubs flapping away on the bulletin board, and a breeze getting chillier by the minute. Classes had been over for a while, so I just sat there alone for a couple minutes to gather myself. When I got up to leave, I saw someone walking back from the parking lot behind our Fine Arts building. I didn’t know them, but I said “Hi! How are you?” just like most people always do at Transy. That’s when something funny happened. This person that I didn’t know—and still don’t—avoided the obvious response of “good” and gave me an honest answer. The conversation went something like this:

“Overwhelmed. I’m always running. I don’t know how to stop sometimes.”

“I know exactly how you feel.”

“It’s hard when you care so much.”

“Exactly! Good luck with everything.”

“You too.”

It was as simple as that, but as I walked back to my apartment, I thought, “My God! I am home.” I know I’ve said it before in passing, “Transy is my home.” And I know it’s an abstraction—even more so now that I’m about to be leaving in another couple of years. I just can’t help but to feel like I’ve found something more than a college here. I’ve found a community where all members are bound by passion, by involvement, but more importantly by an ability to recognize this connection they have with every other member, and maybe just maybe by the ability to unknowingly reverse a stranger’s bad day by being completely honest and letting her know she is never alone here. Ever.

Hello! It occurred to me that I didn’t share an INCREDIBLE experience with you from a couple of weeks ago! Every year, Transy invites internationally known musicians to perform at our school. Last year, one of those musical groups was Chanticleer (an a capella group that was face-meltingly good!) So of course, when I heard that Transy had landed a performance by another internationally acclaimed group, I knew I would not be disappointed! I managed to get tickets because I’m currently in Music Appreciation (take this class!) and the performance was an option for one of our reports. I would have gone anyways, of course!
Anyways, the band, Barrage, which was composed of mostly sting players (violins, guitar, bass), melded music, dance, and audience participation to create one of the most memorable performances I’ve ever seen! I was so thankful that I was able to attend! About halfway through, I even had to stop taking notes for class because I got so lost in their performance (and their colorful costumes, and maybe a bit in the really cute violin player). At intermission, they even brought up middle school, high school, and college string students to perform with them! They promoted musical education, while putting on an unbelievable show, and because of that, they gained many fans here in Lexington, Kentucky.
Next Friday another fun band is headed Transy’s way—Tiempo Libre! I’m not sure yet if I’ll be able to go to that one, but I’ll keep you posted! There’s certainly no shortage of exposure to incredible artists here—from theatre to instrumental and vocal performance to the visual arts, Transy keeps you well rounded by offering you tons of chances to improve your knowledge and enjoyment of the arts! Until next time, check out one of Barrage’s songs!

Another Year, Another Recruitment

Sorry this post is a few days late! It was that time of year again. This past weekend, the sororities of Transylvania held their recruitment and swept up some wonderful new members! It’s no secret that Transy’s Greek community is prominent on campus—around 60% of students will join a Greek organization. I know it may sound scary with all the typical images of Greek life with which the media bombards us—the toga parties, the drunken debauchery, the drama, the exclusivity and pompousness—but I’m here to tell you that Transylvania is different.

Had I attended any other University, I would have never even considered going Greek. I’m way too concerned about my academic endeavors. At Transy, though, academics come first no matter what Greek organization you join. In fact, one of the most coveted awards at Greek awards every spring is the “highest GPA” award. Sounds different from what you’d expect right? Imagine Greek communities competing over how much service they can complete, how involved on campus they can be, and how high their grades can soar instead of competing over who looks the prettiest or who can party the hardest. That’s Transy’s Greek system. It’s ranked in the top 10 Greek colleges in the nation for a reason, and I am SO proud to be a part of it. It has facilitated so many of my accomplishments these past couple of years, and no doubt will continue to do so!

Here are a couple pictures from the weekend!


Getting our New members

The Sophomore Class

First Night of Recruitment

The Rambler

Hi folks!

I have just successfully completed my first week of my Junior year (that gets scarier every time I say it—junior year—junior year. Ahhh!) While I’m already loaded down with reading and research, Junior year means I’m finally into my upper level classes for my majors; basically, I’m completely overloaded with work, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world because I love the topics so much. But I don’t want to talk about classes just yet. Instead, I want to highlight something I feel like I kind of just left out last year.

Last year, the Opinion/Editorial editor for our school newspaper “The Rambler” decided to quit, and having submitted a couple of articles to the paper as a contributing writer, was approached about the position. Because I knew they were in a bind, I decided to “fill in for a couple weeks” and then I watched that couple weeks turn into a few months and here I am still. It turned out that working for the paper was a blast (not without its ups and downs, of course), and I decided to stay. As Op/Ed editor, I get to collect and read about the student body’s different perspectives on things happening around campus, around the country, and around the world. I get to write editorials representing the collective views of the The Rambler staff, and occasionally I make appearances on other pages.

Me, working on a story for the first issue this year in the student publications office

I have always been a creative writer. I write poems, not news. The Rambler, however, has given me an opportunity to learn about a whole different area of writing and begin developing skills, which I will no doubt be able to put to use across the street on academic side and in my future career, whatever that may be. Our advisor, Terri McLean, a self proclaimed “nerd,” not only oversees our production, but educates us about journalism, professionalism, and time management, and deserves some sort of award for putting up with our hodgepodge of personalities. (One day during workshop this year, we found a nickname generator online while trying to come up with an alias for our advice columnist--chaos (fun) ensued.)

Me and the Sports Editor, Carlos working, and not goofing off AT ALL (for a change).

The Rambler has had a rocky history, but over the past couple years, it has emerged as a professional student publication, and we’re super excited for what this year will bring! Check out The Rambler online! http://transyrambler.wordpress.com/

Until Next Week!

Hi there! Whoever you are, and for whatever reason you’re reading this (whether you are an incoming first year or are looking at applying at Transy next year), I hope you have had a fun and restful summer! It’s been a while, but I was just thinking about how much I’ve missed these weekly updates. So how about a little summer recap before school starts, eh?
For starters, I decided I couldn’t get enough of school, so at the beginning of summer I decided to take a summer class here at Transy with one of my favorite professors. Summer session is a lot different than normal semesters, but if you really love to learn and benefit from lots of interaction, then summer is a perfect time to take classes. I mean, I had three people in my Industrial/Organizational Psychology class, and it was *wonderful*. Even though the class pretty much solidified my notion that my mind was not made for the corporate world (even though I did pretty well in the class), the small setting made me learn the material in such a way that it’ll probably stick around a while anyways. Overall, it was extremely enjoyable and left plenty of summer to relax, read (The Idiot by Dostoevsky was *spectacular!*), get back in shape (I’m training for my first 5k!) and catch up with old friends (and make some new ones!)
I have had several exciting things happen this summer, and if you think you can handle a little raving, I’ll tell you all about it! First, I am writing this blog from my new apartment! I moved in on Wednesday, so I will be writing this year from the perspective of an off-campus resident (even though my apartment is closer to campus than one of the dorm buildings here on campus; I mean, I’m pretty much still on campus). This year is just going to be particularly hard for me, as it is for lots of juniors especially, and I felt like having my own private space that’s slightly (only very slightly, like I said) removed from the Transy social scene, would benefit me academically in the end. Of course, Transy has some great private rooms as well, if you find yourself in my same situation at some point, but I felt okay with getting this apartment because it was still so close.
Also, last week, I landed the most amazing job for the school year. I’m going to be working for The Reading Room, a speech and language pathology office here in Lexington. They are training me in a special reading and spelling system to essentially reprogram the brains of children with dyslexia. So basically, I’m getting to put my two areas of interest to use—I get to promote literacy, and use what I have learned in my psychology classes to motivate my students to want to learn. I am going to be paid to do something I am passionate about and, in all honesty, would have probably done for free. SO EXCITED!
Lastly, I’m gonna take it back a bit. On July 25th, I jumped in a car with one of my oldest friends and started off for Atlanta to have the best night I’ve had in a long time—I got to see my favorite band, dredg, in concert after I had tried for 6 years to see them. They’re a small (pretty unknown, so I completely understand if your eyes kinda glaze over here =P) band from Los Gatos, California, so they don’t tour that often. Each time they had in the past 6 years, though, I had some other commitment that kept me from attending. That’s why this time, I promised myself that if they came within 6 hours of Kentucky, I’d be there. Well, they decided to come to Atlanta (exactly 6 hours, coincidentally), and I would not have missed it for the world. Here are some pictures of the concert and a couple of others from the summer so far!
I can’t wait for the new school year to start! I’m super excited about my classes and can’t wait to start updating you (whoever you are) once more!

Ciao!I have frequented the lake this summer, kayaking and going out on the boat!

I baked a lot this summer! This is a cake I made for a friend who loves Nikola Tesla (look him up...it's delightfully nerdy).

Baking party!

DREDG! This is Drew, the bassist

DREDG! This is Gavin! He writes all their beautiful lyrics!

May Term 2008: CHINA!

As I think I might have mentioned in a previous post, many classes go abroad during May Term, which is especially nice for those of us who might not be able to go abroad for an entire semester.

A year ago almost to the day, I was sitting on a plane for 14 hours, desperately trying (but failing) to sleep on my way to China as part of my May Term class. Before we left, we spent 2 weeks studying the art of early China, and then set off to see it in person!

I’m gonna keep this explanation pretty short so I can tell the story in pictures! We spent our time touring Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou, Yiixing, and Xian. We visited unbelievable art museums, toured streets full of independent artists, saw famous Yiixing teapots being made, hiked on the Great Wall, visited Buddhist temples, and toured the site of Terracotta Warriors among other things. So without further ado: Pictures!

Me on the Great Wall!

Me with a Terracotta Warrior in Xian!

Big Wild Goose Pagoda!

Artist making a Yiixing teapot!

Lion Forest Garden in Suzhou!

Me with Two Buddhist Statues in the Shanghai Art Museum!

Yu Garden in Shanghai!

Class in the woods!

Hello all! Transy is right in the midst of May Term right now, and it has certainly been something!

First of all, I am in one of the best classes I have had so far in my college career right now. It’s called Culture of Nature! Though I leave every day feeling utterly confused as we look at all the contradictions in our society in the way we view nature, it’s one of the most enlightening classes ever. Not to mention, we get to have class in the woods! Last week, we went to McConnell Springs park here in Lexington, which epitomized the contradictions we had been analyzing—it was a beautiful park located right in the middle of one of the most industrial parts of Lexington. Next week, we’re going to Raven Run, a nature preserve in Lexington! This girl is obviously pumped.

The Blue Hole at McConnell Springs!

Along with amazing classes, the warmer weather gives students a chance get together outside and socialize, study, or play games. During the day I love taking my books out to Haupt Plaza and stretch out on a bench in the sun and read. Not that I get much reading done, as people keep coming up to talk to me, but it’s a great feeling being able to be outside again. The other night, after we had finished our homework, of course, some of my friends got together in Back Circle to play games, listen to music and just relax. The crowd grew and grew and before we knew it, Back Circle was filled with students chatting and playing volleyball, wiffle ball, and corn hole.
Although our classes still challenge us, May Term tends to be glorious fun and a welcome break from the typical strenuous semesters. More May Term updates to come! Look out!

Hi, friends! It is a Monday, and I am sitting on my comfy couch at home wrapped up in a big blanket with my dog, Dasher and listening to Ray Lamontagne (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LWpw3CMCEg )—that’s right. No class! It’s May Term break! That means that on Wednesday Transy will be starting its May Term, about 4 weeks where all students take just one class for 2 hours everyday. It’s a time where a lot of the professors offer special topics courses and you get an opportunity to take classes that are a little different from those you might normally take. It’s interesting and relaxed, though not necessarily easy.
I just got my books for my class today, and I’m super excited. I’m taking “Culture of Nature,” in which we’ll look at how people’s views of nature are shaped by literature, film, etc. Apparently we will even get to go on nature walks as part of our class, which makes my outdoorsy side very happy. I’ll write more about it later as May Term gets started, but something else exciting happened this week! MY BIRTHDAY!
On Sunday, I turned 20 (I can no longer chalk up mistakes to teenage stupidity). Since it was May Term break, I was able to go down to Knoxville with some of my friends to hang out—they threw me a little dance party and even made me a cake. It was a blast! Then I came home to spend some time with my family. Coolest [nerdiest] birthday present by far this year: a copy of Jane Eyre (one of my favorite books) from the early 1900s! I wish I had a picture of my reaction when I opened it.
Anyways! It’s back to campus tomorrow, and I will be sure to document May Term for you! I’m sure lots of exciting things will happen once it warms up around here. Until then…

UK Library!

Hello, friends! I am sorry it’s been a couple of weeks, I got way behind in school after my grandfather’s funeral, so I figured I better catch up before I posted another blog. I’ll all caught up now, though!

Right now, I’m listening to “Tea for Two” by Pink Martini (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TP7uB0uM0_s go listen! It’s jazzy and amazing and perfect studying music!), working on my final presentation for one of my psychology classes, and writing you from the William T. Young Library at UK. Why, you ask? William T Young contributed heavily to both schools in Lexington, so we have this wicked sweet reciprocity going on—Transy students are allowed to check out books from UK and UK students are allowed to check out books from us. We also get to take advantage of the 5 floors of study space, which has definitely come in handy this round of finals! While I love Transy’s library, and think it’s cozy and super quiet, sometimes you just have to get away. I find that during finals week, it’s better to go somewhere where I won’t run into many people that I know (even though, I think people are starting to catch on, because as I look around right now I see 17 Transy students here with me!)

UK library has helped me get through a paper on “The Role of Race and Male Presence in Defining Southern Women in Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom,” the history of Social Psychology, and “Examining the Discourse of the Ecological Crisis in Haiti 1940-2000” this week, for sure! It’s not home (Transy), but it sure is a nice get away.

This is just a quick one—a break from finals to say hello! Hope all is well!

Dealing with Death: R.I.P Jerry Allen Holt Sr.

Last night, I received one of the hardest calls anyone can ever receive—one of my family members had passed away unexpectedly. Naturally, the first thing I worried about was my family, followed by school—I had a large assignment due and tons of reading—then I remembered that I have some of the most wonderful professors imaginable.

All I had to do was shoot them a quick email explaining my situation, and they made me feel so much better. Each of them wanted to do anything they could to help me out—they actually cared about my loss, worried about me.

Let me tell you—you don’t get that everywhere. In fact, you probably don’t get that most anywhere. That’s something that I found that’s unique to Transy, and is one of my favorite things about going here.

I know this is a short post, but I don’t feel up to much more at the moment, forgive me! Just wanted to give you another example of sheer awesomeness that Transy’s professors exude on a daily basis.

Embracing Different Cultures: Drag Comes to Transy

One of the things that I like about Transy is its openness to all perspectives. On Wednesday night, for example, the campus lined up out the door to get into Transy’s first ever drag show. There’s a bit of a story behind how we got the pleasure of hosting some nationally renowned drag queens on our campus, so I’ll start at the beginning.

About a month ago, I attended an academic affairs presentation (that’s where professors present their recent research). My literature professor this semester and an art professor had teamed up to photograph and obtain oral histories from members of the Lexington drag community, a previously voiceless and misunderstood community. The photographs were displayed in Morlan Art Gallery (and they were beautiful!) and some of the audio clips of the interviews were played for us. It really shed some light on a facet of society I didn’t fully understand, and I was extremely impressed with the strength these women exude in the face of intolerance. The women were so appreciative of the project that they offered to give Transy “the best drag show Lexington has ever seen,” and that’s just what they did!

On Wednesday, the lovely women came out to our Carrick Theatre and performed numbers, ranging from country to pop to industrial rock and beyond. It was amazing to see how enthusiastically they were embraced by the Transylvania community, which demonstrated its overwhelming open-mindedness when over 50 students had to be turned away because the theatre was filled to capacity. I had a blast. Not only did I enjoy some mind-blowing entertainment, I also learned about a community that people often forget about. Yet another amazing Transy experience!

Intense Writing!

Hello, folks! This weeks post will be kind of short, because I have to squeeze it in between reading William Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom for Literary Interpretation, doing research on Motivation and Emotion as it relates to health, and writing a 15 page paper on the discourse of the environmental destruction of Haiti for Latin Civilization II. So, because it’s on my mind, I thought I would talk a little bit about my opinion on one of Transy’s most notorious requirements—“writing intensive” classes. The phrase itself sounds borderline horrifying and reeks of the stress it will undoubtedly cause a lot of students—“writing intensive,” BUT, let me explain why this was a huge selling point for me on Transylvania University and why it’s not so bad after all.

Every leadership conference and career fair I’ve attended and every job description I’ve looked at has emphasized “effective communication,” and this is the greatest benefit that I have drawn from Transy’s writing intensive class requirement so far. I know that sounds tired, like a cop-out explanation of a scary-sounding requirement: “That’s what everyone says!” you’re probably saying, and you’re right, it is what everyone says, but at Transy, it’s the truth. From freshman year, Transylvania recognizes the fact that not every incoming student had the good fortune of attending a school that emphasized and taught the writing process effectively, so everyone starts over. The Foundations of Liberal arts I and II required classes help students prepare for college level critical reading, writing and research skills. As a student who entered college as a pretty strong writer, even I saw my writing skills improve significantly through this program, as I perfected the techniques of producing effective and eloquent arguments that I will carry with me the rest of my academic and professional career. And these techniques keep improving with every writing intensive class I take!

It kind of threw me off when I was writing papers for math classes (2 of them in calc II), but I quickly came to learn that if I could write a paper explaining how to use a Taylor series to solve a real life problem (I’m not a math person, for the record), I could pretty much communicate anything I wanted to anyone. As much as it stresses me out at times to know that I have multiple 15 page papers looming in the near future, nothing makes me feel more accomplished and nothing assures me that I will be more than prepared to continue my education or pursue nearly any career I want. Not to mention, we have an amazing writing center and wicked awesome professors who are always willing to help!

Spring Break 2009

Spring break is always an exciting time in college. Whether you just go home and relax or head down south to the beach or up north to the big cities, everyone seems to enjoy this week more than any other week of the semester. Maybe it’s the fact that you can work on your school work at your own pace, or maybe it’s sleeping in until noon, or maybe it’s hanging out for extended periods of time with your friends, but whatever it is that Spring Break entails, it always seems to bring immense amounts of joy. For me, I had never actually gone anywhere other than home on any Spring Break in my life (which is fine, I love hanging out with my family. Last year, since it snowed, we all went sledding!) This year, though, I packed up my bathing suit and beach towels and headed down to Florida with 6 of my best friends for the week.

Spring Break 2008 at home! Snow storm!

It was glorious! 80 degrees, a cloudless blue Florida sky, board games, dancing, naps, good books and beaches led to a week of solid relaxation, something that everyone seems to have needed. We stayed in a friend’s condo at Cocoa Beach, woke up every day around 9 and headed to the pool and either read, listened to music or napped in the sun until it was time to come inside. We took walks on the beach in the afternoon and either played mini-golf, went out to eat, watched movies or played board games at night. It was totally worth the 14 hour road trip!

Spring Break 2009! Cocoa Beach!

Even though I’m recovering from a mild bought of sun poisoning (fair skin + hours in the sun even with sunscreen = Not a good idea), I know that this week is exactly what I needed to refresh me and get me ready for the last few weeks of this semester—2 15 page papers, 2 8 page papers and finals better look out!

Powershift 2009

Hello everyone! I just got back from Spring break and I have a couple of exciting things to share with you! I’ll start where I left off a couple of weeks ago!

On the night of Thursday February 27th, nearly 50 Transylvania students, myself included, endured a 10 hour night commute to converge with 170 other young Kentuckians and nearly 12,000 other American youth for Powershift ’09 in Washington D.C.

Me at the Rally!

Organized by the Energy Action Coalition, a coalition of environmental organizations from across the country, Powershift ’09, allowed young people concerned with reversing climate change to educate themselves about environmental issues, rally on Capitol Hill, and participate in lobbying to convince their legislators to support climate change legislation. Gathering at the Washington Convention Center in the heart of Washington D.C., we got to choose from nearly 200 workshops and panel discussions to attend such as, “Trash, Incinerators, and other dirty stuff,” “Creative Activism,” “The Story of Coal, Past, Present and Future” and “Green Building: Energy Efficiency.” We also heard keynote speakers such as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, “Green-Collar Economy” pioneers Van Jones and Majora Carter and important student activists including Transylvania’s own Marcie Smith. Also, Santigold and The Roots played concerts on Friday and Saturday, which was completely rad.

At the Rally!

After receiving 2 days of issues education and training in the techniques of lobbying, Powershift’s 12,000 attendees, donning green hardhats to symbolize support for a green-collar workforce, trekked through the 4 inches of snow, which had fallen the night before, to the Capitol for a historic rally in support of a clean energy economy. After the rally, the green hardhats flooded congressional buildings, and students met in groups with their local representatives and senators to lobby for climate change legislation. Powershifters collectively called for such things as the implementation of 5 million new green jobs, an 80-95% reduction of carbon emissions by 2050, and a moratorium on new coal fired power plants.

Having attended Powershift in 2007 as well, I was so thrilled that Transylvania would help support our going again this year. All my professors completely understood my missing class, and even encouraged it, as this event was so monumental. Talking to some of the other Kentucky schools who had loads of difficulty finding funding and getting people to participate reiterated my appreciation of Transy, a school that continually finds ways to support its students in any way it can!

TransyLEAD

Earlier I mentioned another leadership conference that was coming up soon. Well, that happened yesterday, and it was phenomenal! First of all, we had an unbelievable keynote speaker—David Coleman, the real life “Hitch.” He is the “Dating Doctor” that the movie was based on, and he’s incredible. I have never laughed so hard during a speaker at a leadership conference. Conferences are kind of notorious for being long and boring, but Transy’s Student Government Association, Panhellenic and Student Activities Board really did a good job at making this one both beneficial and entertaining.

My first workshop was kind of a repeat of some of the information I had heard at my leadership conference in Michigan earlier in the month, but my next one gave me a completely different perspective on leadership and getting involved—it was a panel of professors at Transy giving their spiel about what it should mean to be a leader and how involved they think students should become. They pointed out that students too often over extend themselves simply to build their resume. They said that it’s okay to just lead in the classroom or lead just a single organization—they stressed passion over resume padding and told students that they would exude more effective leadership if they dedicated their time to fewer activities. This provided a look at leadership that I don’t often hear. As a campus leader myself, I have always pushed myself to get involved in any way I can, but I completely believe what they said, and I plan to make some cuts in my activities so I can become a more effective leader in the one or two organizations that I’m extremely passionate about.

My last workshop involved us in a discussion with a Transy Alum and now Kentucky State Representative. We talked about the process of getting elected to public office, responsibilities it entails, and how becoming a leader earlier in life sometimes leads almost naturally to serving in office. While I’m not interested necessarily in becoming an elected official, I found it interesting hearing the kinds of leadership roles she had taken prior to becoming elected and how it helped her build the relationships and responsibility necessary to win an election.

The conference concluded with another program by David Coleman—his “Dating Doctor” spiel (www.datingdoctor.com). He was honest—brutally honest—about relationships and everything involved in relationships. He had us belly laughing, interacting with each other, asking completely open questions, and questioning every relationship we have ever been in. Overall, it was wonderful. I could have listened to him talk all day, probably. I took away so much from the day, and I’m SO proud that my school hosts something like this every year =).

Facing Fears--Open Mic Night

As you have probably gathered from my blog so far, I’m completely in love with literature, and more specifically poetry. It reminds me to celebrate living—all aspects of living, even the hard times, and I can’t imagine having ever grown up not reading it. A reader of poetry from an early age (I wanted to marry Shel Silverstein when I was a really little girl, and to this day remember when I heard on the radio that he had died on my way to elementary school one day), I began attempting to write some of my own. While I go back and laugh at my early poems now, I have persisted in my pursuit of it ever since.

In high school, I was president of my creative writing club. I organized many coffee houses for student to come and present their works of creative writing, so when I heard that Transy’s literary magazine, The Transylvanian, was holding one of these open-mic nights, I became extremely excited. I, however, had grown incredibly self-conscious about my writing since entering into college. It’s that culture shock—you go from high school and being known for being really good at something, to coming to college and knowing there are countless people who have far greater ability than you. This is fine. I have loved reading some of the incredible poems and works of fiction written by my fellow students, but they nonetheless made me highly critical of my own work. So, the thought of getting up in front of a bunch of the best creative writers in the school, and my poetry professor and academic advisor, made me quite uncomfortable.

The poem I read, I wrote about this picture,

which I took in Shanghai, China during my May Term trip last year!

I realized, though, when the night rolled around, that this was my passion. My skills might not equal some of those who have studied it longer or practice more often, but writing my poems has brought contentment and clarity to my life, and I thought them worth sharing. My legs shook a little while performing them, but afterward, I felt an incredible sense of relief and satisfaction that reminded me how much sharing my love of poetry means to me. It’s so cool that Transy offers so many ways to express your passions—no matter what you’re passionate about, something will come along that will give you the opportunity to share it with others, and believe me, there’s no feeling comparable to the feeling you get after doing it.

Top 5 things I liked, (strike that), LOVED about Transy as a prospective student!

5.) Holding Doors
I think I have mentioned this before, but one of the coolest phenomena I noticed at Transy as a prospective student was the incredible concern every student seemed to have about holding doors for one another. I know this sounds like a really silly thing to focus on, but it really showed me the closeness of the students on this campus and the general kindness that runs rampant here. Listen, when I say people hold doors here, I mean they hold doors like it’s their job. As a prospective student, I once saw someone neglect to look behind them until a door was already beginning to close on someone behind them, RUN back to catch the door before it closed and hold it open. Since I’ve been a student, I have caught myself doing the same thing without thinking.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Like any community, there are factions—I’m not trying to say that everyone loves everyone and there are never any conflicts—that would be silly, but the fact that even these factions and quarrelling parties can put aside their differences to uphold such common courtesy as holding doors proved that Transy and the community here was different, and I wanted to be a part of it.

4.) Greek Life

My high school classmates would have laughed if I told them that I wanted to be in a sorority—I’m just not the usual “type,” you know…the “type?” Anyways…the last thing I thought I would fall in love with at a college would be their Greek system. I loved how Transy did not have Greek houses, which I thought offered a lot more regulation and proved a greater emphasis on solidarity within the Greek community and a greater focus on academics and service. Also, some of the women I met here (from ALL the sororities, mind you) were women I looked up to--strong women, women who took school and service seriously. I loved that. It was just different. You could tell that members of greek life had their priorities in line here, unlike on a lot of campuses, and it was something I genuinely saw building up my life and enhancing my academic and philanthropic performance rather than hindering (not something I saw from other greek systems). I guess that’s why Transy is ranked among the top Greek Schools in the nation. That’s a pretty big deal, folks, and I think it becomes apparent WHY as soon as you stay on campus for a night or two!

3.) Location, Location, Location

Lexington is wicked sweet. I love this place. I love attending a small school in a relatively large town. That way, when I want to get lost, and not see anyone from my campus for a little while, I can do it! Not to mention, Lexington is spread out. It’s not so overly crowded that you can’t still see trees and grass and open spaces between buildings. It’s not SO spread out, though, that you always have to drive to get where you want to be. I can, for example, walk to 3 coffee shops, the public library, countless restaurants, the opera house, numerous art galleries, the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning, Rupp Arena and tons of places to volunteer from campus if I so choose. I honestly couldn’t ask for a better location.

2.) Professors

I remember sitting in on classes when I came here for my overnight visit and thinking, WOW, this is not what I imagined, but it’s exactly what I want. I remember the first thing that the professors did when I walked in to sit in on their class was come up to me, shake my hand, introduce themselves and tell me when they would be in their office if I wanted to talk to them one-on-one. This kind of threw me off, because I was still under the impression that professors walked in the room, lectured, and walked out. This definitely doesn’t happen here. Every professor I have had so far derives great pleasure in helping their students. They are driven to help their students succeed and want that one-on-one interaction. I can’t tell you how many times a professor has saved me by sitting down with me in their office and listening to me talk out the problems I’m having with an assignment. Most of the time, just them sitting there and listening helps me talk the solution out to myself, but when I have been truly stuck, they don’t hesitate to offer up suggestions and encouragement (and sometimes even tea and cookies!) to help me along. They’re great and I don’t know that I have ever appreciated a group of people more than the faculty at Transylvania.

1.) Liberal Arts Education

One of the things I asked our University President, Dr. Shearer, when I came for my scholarship interview was, “Why is a private liberal arts education more valuable than, say, an education at a state school?” Well, I don’t really remember what he said, but it honestly doesn’t really matter what he said, because while I was at Transy, I lived the answer. During my visit, I sat in on a Foundations of Liberal Arts class, a Chemistry class, and an English class, and the common thing I noticed in each was the tendency to make reference to or use other academic fields to explain concepts in their own field. It was amazing to me how in the English class I heard a reference to a psychological phenomenon to question the believability of a character’s behavior, and what’s more—everyone understood what that student was talking about. I just saw countless examples of how a liberal arts education allows you to integrate ideas from across the academic spectrum to develop a more complete knowledge of the subject you choose to focus on here. It’s incredible, and it’s not something I think you could readily find at a larger institution. But don’t take my word for it! Come visit us and see for yourself!