August 24, 2008
I’m back in Virginia. After only three weeks at home, I return to Richmond to start my sophomore year. However, before I left, I managed to find incredible deals on suit jackets, dress pants, dress shirts, and so much other stuff. I believe I got around fifteen new articles of clothing. It was incredible. Now, I can actually have a diversity of formal wear to wear to all my Student Government meetings and everything else. You don’t have to dress preppy here, but it is the standard to at least dress nice. Maybe I’ve been converted a little
All packed up and ready to go back
These first few days have been fairly hectic. I had to move-in early, go through training for two organizations, get my classes in order, and take care of everything else before classes start on Monday. I’ve accomplished most things, but have been quite stressed in the process.
Moving in was definitely a challenge. I have a roommate now, if you weren’t aware. It was quite an ordeal and an unusual situation, but it happened. I arrived in Richmond late on Tuesday evening and my friend’s mom was absolutely amazing. She picked me up from the airport and drove me to campus along with all of the stuff that I put in storage at their house for the summer. It took a lot of work, but I finally got everything into my room. The weather was hot and the air conditioning was not yet working for our room. So, I sweated into the early hours of the morning and, before I knew it, it was 8:00 AM and I had pulled my first all-nighter of the year… and class hadn’t even started yet. I just wanted to get everything else settled into place. I did manage to get one hour of sleep later that day. Now, I’m thrilled with the room. I’ll post pictures and video in a short while once everything is officially in place.
The disaster that is created by moving-in
After I moved in, I helped some others move in as well, both freshmen and upperclassmen. A lot of Saturday was spent helping my friend, Jimmy, who lives down the hall. He and Buddy, my good friends from last year, are also in the same program and residence hall as me. At the end of the day, we decided to stack up all of the empty cardboard boxes and have Buddy “bowl” through them with his scooter. It was somewhat amusing, but not as much as we had hoped. I posted the video (sorry, it’s sideways).
The “infamous” pile of boxes
Buddy crashing through the boxes
Most of the rest of my free time was spent with InterVarsity or Student Government or a myriad of Orientation events. I attended lots of socials for InterVarsity to recruit the freshmen since I’m on the committee of New Student Outreach and I planned our whole social calendar for the fall. We’ve had a great response thus far. One of the events was an ice cream social at the Pier.
The InterVarsity Dessert Reception
Through Student Government, I also attended the President’s Welcome and President’s Reception, and lots of other Orientation events. Yet, we still had meetings to discuss what we wanted to get done for the year. I was happily surprised to find it quite productive.
The final thing I’ll mention is something called Lip Sync. It occurs every year during Orientation. On-campus groups get together and have their students do crazy dances to ridiculous songs. The women’s student government wanted to partner with us, so we agreed. The male interest level was quite low, but there were still a few of us. However, I was the only male to show up for practice… along with eight females. Then, I found out that the theme for our music was “Shoes”. I was a bit outnumbered, so I couldn’t protest. We played “Air Force Ones”, “These Boots are Made for Walking”, and several others. Somehow, I wound up doing ridiculous choreography in front of the incoming freshman class. I couldn’t even look at myself in the dance room’s mirror when we were practicing. The theme of shoes played into it so that we had several “shoe changes”. Starting with sneakers then moving to boots and then stilletos. Somehow, I still have yet to figure out how, I wound up dancing in light-up silver stilletos with three-inch heels. That part didn’t last very long, but I have a new respect for whoever can wear them. It was a crazy event, but still fun.
Practicing hard for LipSync
The start of our performance
Yeah for LipSync. You can see all of our shoes on the floor.
Hopefully classes go well this week. I’ll make sure to update you on everything that I’m involved with after the first week is done.
Quote of the Week: “If there were no schools to take the children away from home part of the time, the insane asylums would be filled with mothers.” -Edgar W. Howe
Thought to Ponder: How is it that Charlie Chaplin took third-place once in a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest?
Shout Outs: All of the new Spiders
YouTube Video of the Week:
Don’t try this at home
