Category Archive for ‘Intramural’ at Ben, ‘11

Archive for the 'Intramural' Category

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

Since summer has turned into a rather repetitive cycle of work and game nights and working out for me, I’d like to break out of that rut and try to keep my blog, as some might say, “fresh” and “real”. With that said, I’d like to bring you my Top 10 list for favorite things about the University of Richmond. Hopefully, this will also be of some help to all of the prospective students. So, without further ado, here are my “Top 10 Favorite Things About the University of Richmond”:

1. Financial Aid- For me, the financial aid package that the University gave me is the reason that I am here. I think that is the case for a lot of the students at UR. One in 13 students is here on a full-ride and those who are not on merit scholarships have very generous grants and loans. Even though we are in the Top 5 schools in the country as far as tuition and it costs $50,000 a year to go here, the school tries really hard to make it affordable. The perks that come with the scholarships are amazing as well. I was able to have a weekend vacation to Chicago as well as receive some other great perks all because of the financial aid.

2. Opportunities for Research/Study Abroad/Internships- I didn’t have a very good idea of what I wanted to do with my life when I came here. I hadn’t decided on a major and I knew that I wanted to travel somewhere in the world. Well, Richmond has given me so many opportunities to explore my options right off the bat. They have Lakeview, which is the new residence hall that houses some academic programs. So, I’m exploring Political Science through the Campaigns 2008 program. I’m also exploring my interest in Mathematics by doing paid math research this summer, even though I’m not planning to major in math. Further, some of my friends are exploring other great opportunities, such as working at the Virginia Capitol for Virginia’s Attorney General, studying global health in Peru, or interning at an investment bank in Asia. All of these students just completed their first year at Richmond. With that said, there are incredible study abroad options for after your freshman year. I’m continually amazed at all of the options that we have here. I like to say that Richmond is an undergraduate school that has the opportunities of a graduate school.

3. President Ayers- What can I say about President Ayers? I, along with the rest of the student body, love him. He’s only been here a year, but he is so kind, attentive, and simply amazing. He’s a constant presence on campus and you’ll see him at so many of the events. He leads the cheers at our sports games and attends all the cultural performances as well as gives lectures and teaches an evening history class at his home where he cooks dinner for his students. Since I’m on Student Government, I’ve gotten to know him even more and he is so open to what the students have to say. I could go on and on, but I’d better stop soon. I’m just really excited for the future that he has here.

4. Professors/Small Classes- All of the professors here are great. They have met with me outside of their office hours so many times that I can’t even count anymore. Most of the times that I need help, I’ll just randomly stop by and they’ll drop whatever they’re doing and help me. It’s really great. Plus, they bring their classes to their home and cook dinner for them. The classes are also great because they are so small. The largest class I have had has been 24 students. The entire class gets to know each other really well and I still keep in touch with a lot of my classmates.

5. Fitness Center- Our Fitness Center is only one year old and it is incredible. I successfully avoided it most of the year because I thought I didn’t like working out at the gym. Man, was I wrong. I finally went and I’ve kept on going. I wouldn’t say that I enjoy working out, but the Weinstein Center makes it so easy. The facilities are simply amazing. Everything is free for us and state-of-the-art. Also, they provide great opportunities such as our ropes course and fitness classes. If you don’t want to miss your favorite TV show, like me, then you can either watch it on the TV attached directly to your equipment or on the wall of TVs at the front of the room. It’s really remarkable. Plus, the staff is so nice. I’m currently working with them to bring a disc golf course to campus and they have been very helpful. In short, there’s no reason that someone should get the Freshman 15 at our school.

6. Construction- Most people really hate construction, but I’m really excited about it here. We just completed building a new residence hall this past year. Now, we are renovating a different residence hall. We are also moving the football stadium on-campus, expanding our Business School, expanding the Westhampton Dean’s office, and building a new Center for International Education within the next few years. I also believe we will be renovating our Student Commons in the next year. So, our campus is going to have so many new things to offer that are really exciting.

7. Food- Usually, college food is very limited and not very good. That is definitely not the case at Richmond. We have so many options and all of the food is amazing, especially the desserts. I keep stumbling upon new favorite dishes each week. This week, my new favorite food that I create is a tuna melt. I have yet to get sick of the food here. We also have a Freshens Smoothie place, a Starbucks coffee shop, and our own bar and grill called The Cellar that are part of our meal plan. I love to go to the Cellar on the weekends with my friends and eat their great food as well.

8. Lunch Ladies/Paper Man- We have so many people who work here, but there are a few that can make my day. We have a dining center cashier named Ethel and a paper delivery man from the Richmond Times-Dispatch who are always smiling. Ethel calls everyone “darling” or “baby” or has some fun saying. She can really brighten your day when you walk in for breakfast after a long night of studying. The paper delivery man always says “Have a blessed day” whenever he sees someone and is one of the nicest people you will ever meet.

9. Intramural Sports- I always like to play sports, but was never good enough to continue into college, so I started to play intramurals. I formed a team with my friends from InterVarsity and played football and volleyball. There are some really competitive games, but they are all really fun. My team managed to win the volleyball championship and playing intramurals was definitely one of the highlights of my year.

10. Modlin Center- The Modlin Center is our home for artistic performances on-campus. The tickets are so cheap for students that there is no reason that students can’t go. I saw Broadway superstars, Arlo Guthrie, Bobby McFerrin, professional acting groups, Second City comedy group, and so many more. Each ticket was only $8. The schedule for the next academic year has been released and there are some really exciting performers that will be coming in the fall.

Honorable Mentions: Alumni, Movies at the Pier, the City of Richmond, Wide Variety of Organizations, The continuous calendar of student events that are free, B1 in the Library (Quiet Studying Floor)

Quote of the Week: “We do not quit playing because we grow old, we grow old because we quite playing.” -Oliver Wendell Holmes
Thought to Ponder: Why is there a South Carolina law prohibiting anyone under the age of 18 from playing a pinball machine? Aren’t those the only people that usually play it?
Shout Outs: Any prospective students
YouTube Video of the Week:

This was just really amazing

Published on June 6, 2008 in Intramural, Campus Events and Artsy Performances. 0 Comments

The Semester In Review

December 27th, 2007

Now that I have had one semester of college under my belt, I figure that it would be good to give all of my readers a brief summary of what I have done. I have had a lot of posts, but the purpose of this one is to combine everything and make it very concise. I think that the best way to do that is through pictures, so here it goes.

I began my college adventure from Hudson, WI and traveled 1,500 miles with my parents and younger brother and sister. We stayed in a pop-up camper and it was an intensive trip. We enjoyed the Little League World Series, Kelly Island State Park in Lake Erie, Gettysburg, and Washington D.C. Finally, after a stressful week of traveling, we arrived at the University of Richmond.

We left Wisconsin at 5:00 AM and had quite a trip

The first day was spent unpacking and getting settled into our rooms. My roommate and I had a difficult time with furniture, but we finally got it. After unpacking everything, we had a few days of Orientation. I didn’t care for Orientation, but it was required. It was a lot of speeches, but I did meet new people.

Getting settled on move-in day

After a month of improvements, this is what my living space looks like

I was ready for classes to begin and the first few weeks went fairly well. I wasn’t overwhelmed and I was happy. Some classes interested me more than others, but that’s the way it goes. I took Microeconomics, Introduction to Public Policy, Intensive Intermediate Spanish, and CORE (a required Freshmen course). That gave me 15 credits my first semester. As the semester went along, I fell behind in some areas (which was my fault), but managed to bring everything back up at the end. I had two long papers (8 pages) and several shorter ones for CORE, but I was able to get everything done without having to pull an all-nighter (although I did try, but fell asleep). Now that my finals are taken and my grades have been posted, I am very pleased with what I have been able to accomplish my first semester.

These were all of the books that I read during my first semester

If my friends and I needed a late-night break from homework, we went to Sheetz

Two weeks into classes, I went on a retreat with InterVarsity (the non-denominational religious group on campus). We went to the border of West Virginia and spent the weekend getting to know each other and having deep discussions. It was a great time to make new friends and get a break from school.

We found this disgusting pond on a hike and decided to go swimming

The Freshmen Guys of InterVarsity

As the semester progressed, I ended up doing a lot of events with InterVarsity. I did a grill out, scavenger hunt, karaoke night, capture the flag, Man Night, dance party, NFL Kickoff Party, Dollar Burger Night, and a lot more. Of course, we also had our weekly Wednesday night worship services. I also got plugged into a freshmen guys Bible study that meets on Tuesday nights. InterVarsity is probably the biggest consumer of my extracurricular time.

The campus-wide Scavenger Hunt was my favorite InterVarsity event

Also through InterVarsity, I participated in intramural sports. I joined the InterVarsity football and volleyball team. I have very little football talent, yet I still had a good time. Our volleyball team was a different story. We were very competitive and very talented. We ended up winning the championship and getting cool Intramural Champions t-shirts. Intramural volleyball was definitely one of my favorite events of the semester.

Our Intramural Champion volleyball team

On a final religious note, I found a home church in Richmond and they are awesome. It took me months, but I settled on River Road United Methodist Church. I’ve made new friends there and also celebrated Christmas with them before I left for break.

The UR students and church leaders of River Road UMC at Bottoms Up Pizza

Besides InterVarsity, I attended a ton of extracurricular events through the Modlin Center. I went to see many cultural, musical, and artistic performances, and most of them were free. I attended Diavolo (an amazing acrobatic dance group), 1984 the play performed by a professional touring group, Macbeth performed by fellow students, New Faces (a hodgepodge of comedy sketches and music performed by UR students), an Eastern European Jewish klezmer band, Lionheart (an a cappella Gregorian chant group), an Indonesian music and dance festival performed by students and community members, and an electroacoustic music festival. Some were not very exciting, but others were quite entertaining.

The Electroacoustic Music Festival

The Indonesian Gamelon Festival

On the same note, I have fallen in love with a cappella music. We have four great groups on campus and I have attended half a dozen of their concerts. Plus, I’ve already bought a CD by one of them. They’re very talented.

Chouer de Roi, one of our a cappella groups, performs

There are also lots of on-campus activities that are not through the Modlin Center. Our Campus Activities Board brought Robert Randolph and the Family Band to campus for a concert. They also play weekly movies that are fresh out of the theaters, such as Superbad, the Bourne Ultimatum, Knocked Up, and many others. All of these things were fun.

Robert Randolph and the Family Band

Additionally, a lot of the student groups put on socials or fun events. I’ve attended an Arabian Night, a Multicultural Dinner, a Senior Citizens Prom, and many other events that I randomly see. Most of them are well done and have great food.

The Senior Citizen’s Prom sponsored by one of our fraternities

Along with all of this great food at the events comes great food at D-Hall. I am nowhere near sick of the food and I am eating well. Unfortunately, I also add a fourth meal somedays as late-night pizza has become a staple of our diet. When you stay up until 2:00 or 3:00 AM each night, you get pretty hungry, so the local pizza place is already in my cell phone’s phonebook. As a result of me going to our amazing athletic center nowhere near as often as our amazing dining center, I have put on some weight. However, I have changed my ways late in the semester and am now on my way to being back on track.

My first meal at D-Hall. This is pretty standard.

2:00 AM Pizza

At this point, I should begin to mention breaks from school. We don’t labor for months on end as it may seem. We had Parent’s Weekend, a four day Fall Break, and a five day Thanksgiving Break. Unlike many other students, I did not go home or see my family once. It wasn’t worth it for my parents to make the long trek from Wisconsin for Parent’s Weekend, so I was an orphan. Fortunately, one of my friends’ family adopted several of us orphan students and provided a nice dinner at their home.

The Parents Weekend Orphan Dinner

Likewise, it simply wasn’t worth it for me to go home during the short period of Fall Break. I stayed on campus and accomplished next to nothing. But it was nice to finally get some peace and quiet. For Thanksgiving Break, I also didn’t go home. I had made it three months without seeing my family, so I figured I could make it a few more weeks. I went to New York City to meet up with my best friend from high school who was attending the Coast Guard Academy. We both could have used some fun and a nice break. So, we spent four days exploring Manhattan, attending the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, visiting all of the famous landmarks, and relaxing. It was a good time.

Me and my friend in NYC

Visiting the Statue of Liberty

Our Thanksgiving Dinner

Since I hadn’t been home in so long, it was nice to get care packages every once in a while. Also, I had frequent communication with my family via phone and e-mail. Finally, D-Hall made some of my favorite recipes that my mom submitted for Home for the Holidays. Still, it was nice to get back to Wisconsin, except for the frigid weather.

My first care package from home

At one point, I was fairly close to home. My scholarship group went on a trip to Chicago in October. We went to see a ballet and WICKED the musical. WICKED was awesome. We also went to a comedy club, Millennium Park, the Art Institute of Chicago, and Navy Pier. Our group stayed in a 4 star hotel and were flown there for free. All of this was paid by our scholarship family. We estimated that it cost roughly $1000 for each person. It was an amazing trip and I made some new friends. I can’t wait to see where we go next year.

Millennium Park in Chicago. This was really cool.

Seeing WICKED in Chicago was one of my favorite events of the semester

I have to mention my involvement with Student Government. I decided to run for Class Chair and didn’t know if I had any chance of winning. In the end, I was elected by four votes and I added another activity to my busy schedule. It’s been a great way to meet new people and stay involved. I surveyed the freshmen guys and tried to find out what they wanted changed. Also, I helped put together all of the Homecoming activities

My good friend, Buddy, helped me campaign and was one of the main reasons that I won

As Class Chair, I plan events for the freshmen guys. We’ve only have had one event so far, but it went very well. My Cabinet and I held FreshMan night and we played poker, ate pizza, and watched a James Bond film. We are already busy planning next semester’s events.

FreshMan Night

I must also mention my participation in sports games. I am attending as many of the basketball games as I can and was thrilled by our football team. We had the best team in school history and made the Division 1 AA playoffs. We made it all the way to the National Semifinals where we lost to Appalachian State, who later won the Championship. I traveled to Boone, NC to watch the game and, though we lost in a heartbreaker, had a great time. I had some of the most school spirit that I’ve ever had. Plus, I think I was on ESPN 2.

My friend and I cheer for Richmond at the National Semifinals

Naturally, I am a college student so I do my fair share of hanging out with friends and having fun. We play board games, video games, and do whatever comes to mind.

Playing Apples to Apples with my friends. I’m Honorable, Lovable, Fresh, and Friendly

Hanging out after everyone returns from Fall Break

As you may have seen, I am, once again, not very concise. But, I’ve had a very busy semester. I would say that I am much more active than the average student, but that’s how I like it. I don’t know what second semester has in store for me, but you’ll have to keep checking back to find out. Best of luck wrapping up your college applications and beginning the long wait. Feel free to ask me any questions. I’m pretty bored since it’s Christmas Break. This is Ben, signing off on first semester. Over and out.

Quote of the Semester: “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” -Sir Isaac Newton
Thought to Ponder: Why do we sing “Take me out to the ballgame” if we are already there?
Shout Outs: My family and friends back home along with all of the new friends that I have made. Also, YOU, my faithful readers

Published on December 26, 2007 in Campus Events, Intramural, Sports Games, Class Cabinet, Artsy Performances, InterVarsity, Breaks, Community Activities, Football, Student Government and Miscellaneous. 0 Comments

Busy Busy Me

October 12, 2007

This will be a relatively short post. Not because I don’t care anymore, but because I have already written this post… but it has been erased from my computer and I can no longer find it. This week has been very busy, probably the busiest since I’ve arrived, which means that there are many events to go ever. Although not very in depth, this should give you a good feeling about what an average day entails for me. Here are the major events of this week… again:

- The Dean of Richmond College and several other important staff members visited Gray Court (my residence hall) and talked to us about what has been going on in our lives. They also provided free pizza.

- I had Diversity Training for Student Government for three hours on Saturday. It was a rather long ordeal, but it was probably good for our group. The room was freezing, but it did keep us awake at 10 AM on a Saturday.

- InterVarsity sponsored a Dance Party at their apartments on Saturday Night. I got my groove on and it was a really fun time. It was really packed, but we made do. We had a lot of random people wander through in and join us in dancing and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

InterVarsity Dance Party!!!!

My friends and I relaxed from a long night of dancing

-I helped to throw a surprise birthday dinner for my friend, Kelly. We all met in D-Hall and one of my friends made her a cake. Due to limited resources, the cake was made out of waffles, strawberry jam, strawberries, and sprinkles from D-Hall. It was very impressive.

Kelly and her “cake”

- Sunday brought the Intramural volleyball playoffs. Our team was the highest seed and made it to the Championship game after one victory. After a tough match, our InterVarsity team won the Championship! There were only five teams, but it was still an awesome time. It has been one of my favorite memories of college thus far.

Our InterVarsity Champion Volleyball Team

- I began another Spanish presentation and had to create a TV show. We decided to make a comic version of Jeopardy, similar to some of the SNL skits. It wasn’t a lot of work and we all got a good grade!

- On Monday night, the current President and some of the other leaders of Student Government invited the newly elected Freshmen officials to go to Capital Ale House with them for Dollar Burger Night. Good times and cheap food. What could be better?

- I hosted two prospective students on Monday. Dominik and Jamal were my two prospectives from NYC and I showed them around campus and what a typical college night was like. I plan to continue being an overnight host and I may end up being yours if you come to campus. I also am applying to be a Tour Guide. If I end up being your tour guide, feel free to say hi to me.

- Finally, on Monday, I had a CORE paper due. I didn’t like it a lot and thought I could have done a lot better, but I had to call it good. My teacher had postponed it from Friday to Monday and it was due at midnight. Me, being the typical college student, finished the paper and e-mailed it to her at 11:52 PM.

As can be seen, I work late at night, but sometimes fall asleep doing it

- 1984 was performed by a professional acting group from Los Angeles on campus on Tuesday night. Eight of my friends and I went to go see it. Since I hadn’t read the book, I thought this would be a cheating way to know what it was all about. UR does a great job of bringing a wide variety of acts to campus and most of them are free to students. However, I did not really enjoy this particular performance. Since it was free, though, I guess I can’t complain.

- Also on Tuesday night, I had my first committee meeting for Student Government. All Freshmen guys are on the Programming Committee and we discussed the plans for Homecoming in a few weeks. More details shall come shortly, but it looks to be a fun time.

-There was a Leadership Dinner for Richmond College on Wednesday night. Many of the leaders of different groups on campus were there and gave details on what they had done and planned to do. It was also a pretty good meal.

- After the dinner, I had my first Richmond College Student Government Association (RCSGA) meeting. It was fairly simple and we looked at approving some groups for donations as well as listened to important student concerns. However, since I am Class Chair and cannot vote, I was not allowed to be in the room for the most important part of the meeting.

- My CORE teacher is in Norway and so we did not have class this week. Instead, we had two online chats. They worked quite well and I didn’t have to waste time walking across campus to go to class. My CORE class is getting more fun and all that we do is discuss the books that we read. I have some papers coming up soon for a Midterm, but life seems to be going well.

Some students in my online chat had fun on the White Board

- I had my second Spanish test. I think that it went quite well and I am hoping for a good grade. Most of it is still review from high school, but each test or quiz is an important part of your grade. The teacher is very nice and she seems to like me too. Just like high school, it is always nice to be in a teacher’s good graces.

- My Economics Midterm came back and I got a B-. With a curve, however, I ended up with a B+. I’m happy with that since that was the Midterm that I didn’t study for. I’m hoping that I can keep up the grades in this class since it isn’t too much work.

- I have slipped very far behind in Public Policy. It’s so easy to let this happen since you don’t meet every day and you just keep pushing the reading off to another night. I wrapped up the section on the death tax and found this very interesting. I found an interest in tax law, possibly, and find the numbers aspect of the political process to be the most interesting. The health care aspect is not exciting me, and the reading is very dry, but I’ll get through it.

- I received my second care package from home on Friday. It had a lot of food that is not healthy for me as well as Christmas lights, which always add a nice touch to a dorm room. Amazingly, I am not home sick. Fall Break is coming up and everyone is going home, yet I will stay here once again. I won’t see my family from mid-August until mid-December. I am so busy here and have constant contact with friends that I don’t really seem to notice. Everyone here seems to be busy too. Most of us were this busy in high school and we would probably be very bored if we weren’t always working on something.

My 2nd Care Package from Home

The contents of my care package

Thought to Ponder: Why don’t you ever see the headline “Psychic Wins Lottery”?
Quote of the Week: “I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.”- Galileo Galilei
Shout Outs: Dominik and Jamal, my prospective students; my family for the care package