2007 September Archive at Ben, ‘11

Archive for September, 2007

Parents Weekend (without parents)

September 30, 2007

Just a quick word of advice to Prospective Students: As you apply, please do not rule out the University of Richmond because of it’s high price tag. We have a nice endowment and many of my friends and I have chosen to come here because of the financial aid. Simply apply here if you like it, even a little, and see how things fall in the end. If you want to know anything about applications, send me an e-mail and I’ll get back to you. I was in your same position last year and know how you feel.

Alright everyone, another week has flown by and it’s time to recap it. It is 4:30 AM on September 30^th and this has been my past week:

-This weekend has been Parents Weekend. I was amazed at how many parents came. Alas, mine did not make the trek from Wisconsin. I knew that I would not see them until Christmas when I came out here, but it was still sad seeing everyone else with their parents and siblings. Several other “orphans” and me had some good times though. There was a mentalist who came in and he was amazing. He guessed the currency and the serial number of it, levitated a table, and read audience members’ minds. It was really funny seeing some of my friends get up there and participate with him. I don’t know how he did it, but it was a great time. I will definitely go again next year. My hall was dead on Saturday because everyone had left with their parents. I tried to do homework with the quiet, but failed. I was adopted by one of my friends from InterVarsity and she brought me and five other “orphans” for a nice dinner. It was a good time. Thanks Lauren!

The “Orphan Dinner”

-Like I wrote previously, I am running for Class Chair for Student Government. I’ve joined forces with three others and have worked very hard making posters and other publicity things. The main theme of my campaign is “Man Law”. I follow up man laws, such as “A man purse is still a purse” with another Man Law “Vote for Ben”. The campaign officially started at 12:01 AM on Wednesday and there were people out at that exact time going door to door. Most of my posters have been ripped down, which is frustrating, but I’m hoping people at least know my name now. A major complication has been the destruction of my printer. On Thursday, it simply refused to start and begin printing. My campaign has taken a hit, but I need to resolve this problem quickly. It is a major inconvenience. I don’t know what my odds of winning are, probably slim, but I’m trying my best. The elections are Tuesday. Wish me luck.

Me and my running mates

This was one of my most used campaign photos. I think it’s really funny.

- I have been faithfully following my Green Bay Packers and Wisconsin Badgers, both of which are unbeaten at the time of this post. Brett Favre is on a roll and I hope that it doesn’t stop anytime soon. Our Richmond Spiders have also been off to a great start. They are 3-1 and were ranked 25^th in the nation for Division 1 AA. However, we just beat a highly seeded New Hampshire team today in a great game and should move up quite a bit. I tried to go to the game, but I could not find a ride since everyone was out with their parents. I can’t wait until we build an on-campus stadium in a few years. We should be very competitive this year. I listened to the game on the radio and wished I was there almost every minute. I will be at the next home game, you can be sure of that.

- There have been a lot of activities going on here for us to enjoy. For example, “Shrek the Third” played at the Pier, there was a band playing at the amphitheater on Thursday, and there was a pep rally for the football team. I didn’t attend any sadly, but I would have liked to. I did attend a worship service with InterVarsity at the Greek Amphitheater and it was a very nice event. The amphitheater is a cool place and I look forward to more events there.

InterVarsity service in the Greek Amphitheater

- I discovered a website with all of the archived TV shows from years past and spend most of Thursday watching them. I watched “House”, “Prison Break”, “Kid Nation”, and “The Office”. It was nice to take a break, but a bad idea since it put me behind with homework.

- I did another town run on Monday and found $100 worth of campaign supplies, food, and random necessities for the room. I should take a break soon, or I else I will be broke shortly. It is sometimes difficult to get off campus, but if you have a connection, it isn’t too bad. My roommate has a car and it helps a lot. Thanks John! I try to reward him with treats that I get for us. This weeks stash includes: popcorn, juice, beef jerky, chips, butter, pasta, milk, coffee, coffee creamer, etc… You know, important stuff.

Pizza also keeps my life going and consumes part of my budget

-My roommate has discovered the secret to a successful life here: NAPS. He takes several a day and swears they are great. I don’t disagree, but I often find it difficult to find time to nap. So, he has a lot and I don’t have any. As a whole, our room naps the right amount. I have been told to get more sleep on several occasions. I have a bad tendency to fall asleep doing homework in awkward positions, which weirds people out. So, a lesson to everyone reading: Get your sleep. Going consistently to an 8:15 class on four hours sleep does not cut it. However, the fact that I am writing this at 5 AM might seem a bit hypocritical.

- I am a member of the InterVarsity intramural volleyball team. For those that don’t know, intramurals are teams within the school that play each other. They are pretty big here at Richmond. We had our first games and it was a blast. I don’t get to working out much, so that made me feel slightly better. We lost our first game 15-12 but came back 15-11 and 15-12 to win the match. We worked so well together and had a lot of fun. I am looking forward to the rest of the season.

My InterVarsity Intramural Volleyball Team

- Tonight, I got together with some other friends from InterVarsity and decided to have a game night. We played Apples to Apples and Taboo and just relaxed after a busy week. It’s nice to just laugh and make some new friends.

According to Apples to Apples, I’m casual, honorable, lovable, fresh, and friendly. Not too bad.

- Finally, a brief summary of school:

I got my first test back and did alright. In Spanish, I make a lot of stupid errors on the quizzes and tests, possibly a result of sleep deprivation, and should be doing better than I am. I do have a presentation coming up soon and my composition was well received by my teacher. Maybe Spanish will now look favorably upon me.

My first Public Policy test is this week and I have no clue what it is even on. I am really enjoying the book on the Death Tax, but am sadly 200 pages behind.

CORE has a paper due this week and we are now reading “Tao Te Ching”. It is a very insightful book and I have now begun to understand it.

If you can’t tell already, this week will be busy with papers, tests, presentations, elections, sports, and organizations. I shall keep you informed and should now get some sleep before getting up in four hours for church. Another long post I see. Oh well, maybe I shall adopt a new style soon and be more efficient.

Thought to Ponder: Why is it that if someone tells you that there are 1 billion stars in the universe you will believe them, but if they tell you a wall has wet paint you will have to touch it to be sure?

Quote of the Week: “The art of leadership is saying no, not yes. It is very easy to say yes.” – Tony Blair

Shout Outs: Lauren and her family for the “Orphans’ Dinner”, Eric for always listening when I need it most

Published on September 30, 2007 in Intramural, Student Government and Breaks. 0 Comments

Run, Ben, Run (for Student Government)

September 22, 2007

Hey everyone! I’m back and have had yet another busy week. Here are the main highlights from this week. I have been trying to put in a lot of pictures since I think that they do a better job of telling the story of my life here at UR:

- The major event of this week is my decision to run for Student Government. I attended the candidate meeting and decided that it was something that I wanted to do. Even though my parents told me to not get over-involved, I regretted not doing it in high school, so I’m giving it a try here. I have formed a coalition with some other people who I believe are quality candidates and I’m excited about our possibilities. I think that we have some really good ideas. I am running for Chair of the Freshmen class and I don’t know how many others are running, but twenty-eight other freshmen are eligible to run for Senator or Chair. I won’t spend any more time on this right now because campaigning won’t start for a few more days. More to come soon.

- Last Friday night, I attended the men’s soccer game against the Binghamton Bearcats. It was one of the top games I’ve seen in my life, even though it was raining and pretty miserable. It was scoreless and went into overtime. However, with ten seconds left in OT, we kicked it into play. With three seconds left, we shot it and bounced it off of the top crossbar. With one second left in OT, we shot the ball and we scored. It was such a thrill. Only my friend, Sarah, and me stayed the whole game, but we proved that we are superfans. The fan base at Richmond is not very good and there were only a few die-hard fans at the game. Just as a word of advice: do not come to Richmond if you are solely looking for a top-notch sports school that has a ton of school spirit.

Cheering the men’s soccer team on to victory with Alex

- I attended Fall Festival out on one of the greens this afternoon. It was a nice day and the Student Government provided barbecue and bands. It listened to groups that I had not been able to hear yet, such as our acappella group and UMOJA (our gospel choir). After attending the festival, I played some beach volleyball with my friends instead of studying. I’m finally settling into this college student mode of having fun now and doing homework late Sunday night.

UMOJA (our gospel choir) at Fall Festivus

- On Saturday night, I attended “Diavolo”. Diavolo is a group of dancers/acrobats who put on a very good show. The University provides lots of free events for students, which are $32 for other people. This one was $8 for me, but totally worth it. It was a really cool performance to see. It’s hard to explain what they did, so here is a link to a video of them:

Download Diavolo

Me, Tim, and Katie at Diavolo

- I was able to run into town on Monday and get lots of supplies that I needed. Actually, that’s a lie. I hardly got anything that I needed, but I got lots of food. $100 later, I was set for a while. I spent the rest of the night watching the Eagles play the Redskins on Monday Night Football, since those two teams are very well represented here. Football is definitely dominant on the weekends and I have unfortunately fallen into the trend of watching many games during the weekends.

The results of my shopping spree

- I met with my advisor on Wednesday and ran down my classes and what I had been up to. I have already begun planning for next semester’s classes.

- Just in general, the nights here are pretty exciting. Obviously, sleep is of little priority to college students, but each night goes until 3 AM. The other night, we had an altercation in our hallway, which spiced up the night. It was a simple disagreement between someone from our hall and an entire other hall, but it was resolved peacefully (thanks in part to a Resident Assistant threatening to call 911). Also, pizza is a must for most people late at night. It is perfect for that 2AM hunger craving.

- Friday night was Man Night for InterVarsity. This meant that all of the guys got together and grilled out and played Wii and then played volleyball. We had planned to watch the 3 disk set of Gladiator, but that fell through. I had bought a hair trimmer on my town run and the rest of Friday night was spent buzzing my head and my friends’ heads. I have lived with a buzzed head for my entire life and had no desire to spend $15 on a haircut. We did a pretty good job for having never done it before. The next morning, a lot of my InterVarsity friends got up at 3:30 AM to go to Virginia Beach to watch the sunrise over the ocean with InterVarsity. However, I could not go because I had a 2-hour class on Saturday teaching me all about the bad effects of alcohol. Unfortunately, I knew everything they tried to teach us.

It was finally time for a haircut

-Tonight (Saturday), I attended New Faces, which is a bunch of skits and songs performed by freshman and other new students. I went with twelve of my friends and we had a great time. The actors had a ton of talent and the plays were incredibly funny. I plan to keep going to a lot of events at the Modlin Center since almost all of them are free and they are bringing in some really good shows.

Me and my friends went to see Kelly (center) perform in New Faces

- The last thing I will comment on is a wager between my roommate (John) and one of my friends (Alex). The short version of the contract (which I signed as witness) is that if Alex dyes his hair purple and keeps it for one month, then John must grow his facial hair for two months and then shave it into handlebars. The first step is complete and Alex is now walking around with pinkish hair. I’m pretty sure he’s the only person on campus with dyed hair, other than blonde.

The “Hair Contract”

Alex getting his hair dyed purple (which actually looks pink)

I will briefly touch on each of my classes now:

Economics: This class is pretty easy and I’m enjoying the class and the teacher.

CORE: I have finished “Phaedo” by Plato and am now working on “On Evolution” by Darwin. We had an interesting discussion about religion since my teacher is from Turkey and is Muslim. We discussed the similarities between religions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It’s a fairly easy class and I have had nothing due yet, but I do have an essay due in a week.

Spanish: I had my first test and I feel fairly good about it. I also had a composition due about an important event in my life. Other than this, I’m enjoying the class and haven’t been overwhelmed by this six credit course.

Public Policy: This class has been a lot more fun lately. We have been discussing Social Security and tax codes and the class discussions have been interesting. The teacher is very accessible and I actually stayed after class and talked with her for twenty minutes about tax laws. It may sound very uninteresting, but I thought that it was pretty cool in class. Currently, we have started our first book and it’s about the death/estate tax. I never knew anything about the death tax, but I’ve found the book to actually be a good read and it has piqued my interest.

That is all for tonight. I’m sorry for the long entry again, but I’ve come to the sad realization that my life is just too busy and complex to sum up briefly.

I spent an hour trying to help him get a good Facebook picture

Thought to Ponder: Why do we say “heads up” when we actually mean “duck”?

Quote of the Week: “Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn’t.” – Erica Jong

Published on September 22, 2007 in Sports Games, Campus Events, Artsy Performances, InterVarsity and Student Government. 0 Comments

CARE PACKAGE!!!

September 14, 2007

It’s another Friday and this week has flown by. I would like to say that I am getting into a groove, but I won’t make it official for another week. With that said, however, a lot has happened this week. Here are the highlights:

On Monday, I had a great class and a not-so-great class. My Spanish practice met outside and the teacher arrived a few minutes late. As soon as she got there, she said she had nothing to go over and she let us go after a two-minute class. That was really nice. However, I had to take a Library Skills course, another mandatory freshman course, and that was rather boring.

Tuesday was a rather relaxing day. I had little homework so I was finally able to go into town using my roommate’s car and get some supplies that I’ve needed. If you do come here, a word of advice about cars: Parents say that cars aren’t necessary, and they are partially right, but it is definitely convenient to have your own. I know a few people with cars and I am having to always bug them to go someplace. That’s my two cents. I also had Bible Study that night. The best part of the day, however, is said in two words: CARE PACKAGE. Yes, I got my very first care package today. It had so much more food than I had expected. It also had goggles that I had forgotten for swimming as well as a banner. I had made the banner for my parents, but decided that I needed it more. It was one of my 4-H projects and is of the Richmond crest. It is proudly hanging above my bed now. Thanks Mom and Dad . As a side note, my town had its first frost of the season tonight and I am sitting here with a low of 64 degrees tonight.

My First Care Package !!!!

The Bounty of Goodness in My Care Package

Remembering September 11th on Campus

Wednesday was umm… forgettable obviously. I had InterVarsity that night and spoke about my experience at the Fall Retreat this past weekend. I also met three other people from Wisconsin, all of whom were also freshman. I was so excited because there are only eight Wisconsites in the whole school. After InterVarsity, one of my friends, Kelly, came over to hang out. She ended up doing our dishes as well as our suite mates and hall mates. I don’t remember exactly how it happened, but it was a lot of fun just hanging out. On a side note, everyone is getting sick here. Kelly had scarlet fever, my room mate has a sore throat and entire halls of some freshman dorms have been sick too. I’ll see how long I can last.

My InterVarsity friends, Whit and David, demonstrating how to properly do an “awkward hug”

Kelly washing my entire hall’s dishes

Thursday was another quiet day. I had my first presentation today. It was in Spanish and was about La Tomatina, a giant tomato fight in Spain. I worked with a partner and stayed up until 3 AM finishing it. As the only two freshman in the Spanish class, my partner and I did fairly well. It was supposed to be five minutes, but I think we were a little short. I also had my Men’s Health class. I’m halfway through it and it’s a very boring class. It’s required, though, so I tolerate it. Other than that, I am proud to say that I finally went running. I had a free night and so a friend of mine, Alex, and I decided to run around the lake a few times. Let me first say that I am not a runner and that Alex is. I hadn’t been running since last November. It showed, but Alex who is a cross-country hero in my book, actually stayed back with me and we had quite a run. It felt somewhat good to finally get out and do something productive.

However, the running made me very tired, which leads me to my bad Friday. I woke up to the sound of my new alarm clock’s radio. It was a good song, however, I realized that it was 8:50. My first class is at 8:15. Yes, I missed my first ever class due to oversleeping. I’ll try not to let it happen again. I have adjusted my alarm’s volume and I don’t anticipate further problems. I don’t have too much homework this weekend, so I’m hoping to wrap up some unfinished business and watch a fair amount of football while recovering some sleep. I’m excited for this weekend and it’s free time.

General side notes:
1. In case you didn’t know, I know how to sew and the banner I received was my own handiwork. My mom left me a sewing kit to use in case of.. well, I don’t know. Anyways, I have already been asked to repair two things: Kelly’s sweater and another friend’s stuffed moose. I guess that that may be my new fame.

My unique talents do come into play every once in a while

The banner that I made for 4-H

2. I said earlier that I didn’t like CORE. Well, I take that back partially. We started reading a new book “The Trial and Death of Socrates” by Plato. Sounds interesting, I know. Well, I was surprised to find how much I liked it. The straightforward, moral thoughts and discussion of the Theory of Forms is quite fascinating. I am now beginning “Phaedo” by him and don’t enjoy it as much. However, our class had a very good discussion regarding the book and the theory that “an unexamined life is not worth living for men”.

3. The campus is beautiful. The lake is full of disgusting algae. However, my main complaint is about all of the hills. Because it’s a lake, everything goes downhill to it. My calves are now sore from going down the hill just to go back up the other side. I stand at the bottom of the hill leading to my dorm and dread it. It’s not that bad, but doing it ten or so times a day is annoying. Sometimes, I just stop at the Post Office halfway up the hill just because I don’t want to go all the way up. It sounds like I’m lazy (I am now sore from running), but it’s my one rant for this blog.

4. I turned in my first Economics homework and thought the Extra Credit question “Why do refrigerators have lights, but freezers of the same unit do not?” was meant for creative responses and free points. So, I answered about how bacteria like the light and we like to see them get angry over being deprived of it. Also, the light’s warmth affects the food. I went on and on with some crazy answer. In reality, there was an economic principle behind it and I looked like a fool. I got a smiley face next to my answer, but no points.

5. I have been contemplating running for Student Government. I would really like to do it, but campaigning takes a lot of time that I don’t necessarily have. I’m keeping my options open and will decide next week. I guess I’d be pulling a Fred Thompson by jumping in late, since others have already formed Facebook groups and have petitions circulating. More to come on this.

6. My cell phone woes continue and I have very poor service still. I have been going through hoops and still haven’t gotten anything resolved. I hope to have better luck next week.

My roommate’s side of the room after several weeks

My side of the room after several weeks with my new banner over the bed

My life is busy and I write too much, but I hope you are enjoying reading these. Life is continuing to keep going quickly and I still haven’t had any essays due. All that I have had is a bunch of online assignment and lots of reading. I must sign off until later and go attend a soccer game. I hope you’ve decided to keep the University of Richmond on your list and ask me any questions about UR, it seems that all my friends do anyways.

Weekly Thought to Ponder: What was the best thing before sliced bread?
Quote of the Week: “A word to the wise ain’t necessary—it’s the stupid ones that need the advice”. – Bill Cosby
Shout Outs: My parents for the care package.