Ben, ‘11

April 25, 2008

Classes are now officially done for the year. It’s unfathomable to me that this year is already done. All I have left is three finals and then I am no longer a freshman. I’m already done with CORE and Sculpture. I just finished my harp and it turned out really well. Because it’s Sculpture, it’d be impossible to have an in-class final. I had a take-home final for CORE and started that right away. I just submitted it and am now free from CORE for the first time all year. Now, all I have left is a tough Leadership final and manageable Math and Economics finals on Monday and Tuesday.

My portfolio of work in Sculpture

My harp that I made

The stress level around campus is steadily rising and everyone is ready for summer. With stress rising, I got a care package from home courtesy of the Residence Hall Association. It has popcorn, trail mix, and other nice snacks for while I’m studying. I think it’s meant to simply help us realize that we still have a family and that they ware subtly reminding us to take a break from the library and go eat. Well, maybe not that extreme, but I have seen people in the library for a full day. It is now the busiest that I have ever seen it. Looks like some people put off some projects for a bit too long.

A care package for finals week!

The weather has been amazing and people just want to relax and have a good time in the sun.

Our lake on an amazing day

University of Richmond’s tower on a sunny day

I don’t blame people for wanting to get outside. I was outside for several hours on Saturday and had a great time. Student Government was given the chance to break in our new high ropes course, so six of us went through the whole thing. It was a ton of fun. It was challenging at times and I did fall a few times (mainly because of my partners, of course), but it was a great way to spend part of the weekend. The last thing that any of us had on our minds were our papers and finals and tests coming up. I’m so excited because they’re opening it up again this weekend and so five of my friends and I are going to do it again.

Our awesome group that tackled the ropes course

We were slow to learn and not very trusting at first

“I think I’m horizontal”

Our group at its finest

The zip line to get to the ground

Because Relay for Life was rained out the previous weekend, we held our luminaria ceremony on-campus. It had been raining for several days and was still raining, so it was held inside. It was very short, but it capped our Relay for Life. We raised $25,000 in all, I believe.

One of my family’s luminaria at the ceremony

Relay for Life Luminaria Ceremony

Because stress is starting to increase, the new group that I am in, Council for Christian Unity, decided to give out free Popsicles to everyone who was passing through the commons. So, I helped for a short while. Everyone really seemed to appreciate them. Groups regularly do this and it’s a nice touch. I’ve seen brownies, Blow-Pops, Popsicles, cookies, hot chocolate, freezies, and other fun things being given out.

Another event dealing with the increasing stress and frenziness was Subject to Change on the quad. Subject to Chance is our improv comedy group on campus and so they did a performance and got us to lighten up and remember to laugh. It was well attended and a much-needed break.

One predominant theme, though, that has tied this week together has been burgers. I went to the Cellar (our on-campus restaurant) after the ropes course on Saturday. I also went to Capital Ale House on Monday for Dollar Burger Night.

Jimmy and his friend at Dollar Burger Night

Then, our Cabinet held a giant cookout for the Freshman class. My Cabinet partnered with the Westhampton Freshmen Cabinet and did a nice barbecue on the Westhmapton Green. We had hamburgers and hot dogs (which us guys grilled), as well as chips, cookies, lemonade, iced tea and other fun snacks. We had about 200 people attend and were forced to do an emergency store run to get more supplies. It was a great success and a nice way to end the year. I think everyone had a good time hanging out, playing Ultimate Frisbee, and eating food.

We didn’t really know what we were doing at first
Our master grillers from my Cabinet

Two of my friends working the grill

Cooking up some burgers

An amazing day and an amazing turnout- 200 people!

On a side note, I found out this week that I was accepted to be on leadership for CDRT next year. So, I will be planning the trip to New Orleans for Spring Break. I don’t know how it happens, but it seems like every organization I am a member of, I am also on leadership for. I’m hoping that I’m not stretching myself too thin. I’ll soon find out.

That’s all for my last week of classes. I’m ready to move on and will need to see what finals have in store. I’m not too worried, but it’ll be a relief to have them done. One of them accounts for 40% of my grade, so it’s pretty important. I’ll let you know how everything turns out once I’m done and then I’ll try to do a Semester in Review again just to reflect on everything. Good luck to all of the prospective students if you have not made your decision yet.

Quote of the Week: “A conclusion is simply the place where someone got tired of thinking” -Arthur Block (in honor of ending classes; the quote wasn’t meant in this way, but I thought it was a humorous connection)
Thought to Ponder: Who gets to keep the pennies in the wishing wells?
Shout Outs: Anyone I’ve neglected all year
YouTube Video of the Week:

In honor of finals week (This would never happen here. We have much smaller classes and the teachers immediately know who we are)