FRIDAYYY

OH DEAR I am so behind on this!!!

Today was my first day of chemistry, linguistics, and math. The chemistry class seems really nice because it's an intro to chem, which is good because I didn't take chemistry in high school. I felt kind of stupid at first for taking the class but I feel a lot better about it now. The class is right next to our dorm building, so all I have to do is roll out of bed and walk over there :) . My next class (back to back) is LIGN 7, which is a class discussing the culture and history of sign language. It seems SO interesting. We're learning how a society creates a language, and exploring how language was created. It seems really cool. I kind of want to learn how to do sign language now. I'm really slacking with the pictures these last couple of days because I've been overwhelmed!! Then I had math, which was pretty much review today of what we did in AP Calc last year. It doesn't seem like it's going to be too hard. So overall, I believe my workload this quarter will be possible to maintain. During the day I took a loooong nap, which was much needed. We ate dinner somewhere in that time too- I just don't really remember the order of things lol. After all this we went to get soft serve ice cream at a dining hall and it was SO delicious!!! I will be going there a lot. We keep having foot races whenever we're out late at night. I don't really know why? But its fun. This time it was me char and liz i think that ran across the bridge to OVT. good times. good times. So we came back home and put on our headbands and took pictures with random people in the suites lol. That was entertaining. I think we creeped a lot of people out. Then we had a sleep overr at our lounge and everyone came to watch a movie. It was a good day.

see ya next time!

SOOOOOOOOOO today was my first day of school and it reminded me of when my mom used to take pictures of me and my siblings on our first days of school in elementary school. So Liz took this picture. I had a seminar first which was surprisingly enjoyable. It was the evolution, creation, intelligent design seminar and I don't think I have any debates to fear for this course. After the seminar I had a couple hours of free time and then I had to go to my Human Development class where we found out how the quarter would be. Basically we have guest speakers coming in every class to tell us of the very different aspects of Human Development.

After my classes I basically stayed at Argo the rest of the day except for dinner when we got food at Sierra Summit. I saw my friend Hana Lee from rchs and we got to talk about how everything is going. Yeah, I miss Mrs. Nguyen's class. :( BUT! I must go off to sleep now. Love You!

Laundry Day AND Unolympics?! WOW!!

I'm still trying to understand the layout issues of this website. So the pictures with the text usually is random. Sorry!! I'll get it down one day. But today was a lovely day. It started with a trip to the laundry room where Liz and I did our laundry. 75 cents for a wash and 50 cents for the dryer. We took this picture as a Tide commercial. (kidding) Hopefully we'll get some endorsements in order to pay for college. But there are a LOT of things to do while waiting for laundry to be done. Reading is one of those activities... and the other activities... well, I guess we'll get into that the next time we do laundry. So every year at UCSD there is an event called Unolympics where each of the 6 colleges compete through games, relays, cheers, and performance in order to win the coveted golden shoe trophy. Revelle college made a valiant effort, but unfortunately, we lost to Eleanor Rooseelt College. But I got some pretty sweet photos in while we were practicing the dance for the performance aspect. The theme was kind of a Mystery/Spy theme because someone had stolen the golden shoe. We had to dance to theme songs from Scooby Doo, Pink Panther, Austin Powers, and Inspector Gadget. Too bad we didn't take the gold. This is Roger Revelle, the man who started UCSD and the man after whom my college is named. Here is a little history on him: (wikipedia) Roger Randall Dougan Revelle (March 7, 1909 — July 15, 1991) was a scientist and scholar who was instrumental in the formative years of the University of California, San Diego and was one of the first scientists to study global warming and the movement of Earth's tectonic plates. The six-foot-four (193 cm) Revelle was often referred to as a "scientific giant," both literally and figuratively.^{[citation needed]} UC San Diego's first college is named Revelle College in his honor.

So at the Unolympics, they needed someone to be in the relay team. So I volunteered and was part of a 20 person group who competed in this huge relay. My teammate and I had to do a three legged race, blindfolded wheel barrow, and finally a tire obstacle course. It was extremely challenging and HOT. So after all this activity I was super sweaty and needed to clean up before doing any other activity. I was getting ready to eat lunch with my friends when I remembered that I was supposed to call the tutoring place to set up a second interview!!! So I ran back to my dorm (ok, I walked really fast) and called her and got an appointment for next Thursday at 3. I really hope I get this job!! After this, I decided to hang out with my buddies upstairs because Liz was up there. While we were there we baked a cake for my suite-mate Charlaine for her birthday. I got really hungry and decided to go to Panda Express for some chow mein and broccoli beef at Price Center and saw some amazing sights on the way. This soccer field had the sprinklers on, and the picture doesn't do it justice, but there was a mist coming off of the sprinklers that was beautiful in the sunset. I tried to get a good picture but failed. :( I got a picture of the fountain leading down to Price Center, and one of the Geisel Library with the Silent Tree in the foreground. That tree is made of metal and is a sculpture that has many different interpretations. So I went back to the lounge at Argo 5 and we decided to make a music video of us doing the song "In The Jungle" from The Lion King. That was incredibly entertaining. Everyone got hungry so we went down to Argo 2, presented the birthday cake, ate it, then set out for the journey to find a place to eat. The dining hall right by us closes at 8, so we had to search around campus and ended up in Sixth college at Foodworks (after being led down a monstrous canyon by Patrick haha) On the way back from Foodworks we had a couple foot races just because we had like a second wind of energy that came from no where!! So we were all just racing, and finally we got back to our dorms and I said good night to my group because they went to the last dance of welcome week (I think it's the last dance?) But I have classes tomorrow morning starting at 8 so I need to get some rest. It was an excellent day today. Hopefully tomorrow will be even better! Bye guys!

glow sticks. but it was NOT a rave.

why hello!

It's Tuesday now! Well, actually Tuesday is almost over, but anyways...

Today I had to go to the new student Biology Orientation. Once there, I received a handbook and found out about all the different resources the biology department has to offer. There are a plethora of research opportunities, and even places where you can publish your own research. I'm finding that this university is HEAVILY centered around research. And it dawned on me that I have no idea what research really is!! So I stayed after the orientation to ask a few questions. I have a little bit of a better understanding, but the whole idea of doing ground-breaking research in a real field is mind-boggling right now. I can't believe we're going to be learning things that we will actually need to use now! It's weird to go to a class to actually absorb material instead of just going to get a good grade. I've been thinking about that a lot today. Classes start in 2 days. Its insane. I have no idea what to expect, but I will find out soon! One of the advisors today told us that its very scary to think about succeeding, but once you have enough victories under your belt, success doesn't seem so intimidating anymore. I think I really needed to hear that.

There was also a BBQ in Revelle Plaza, but the line was 50 miles long, and I heard that they ran out of patties, so they started giving just the buns away. HAHA! I ate a PB&J sandwich instead. Which was delicious and held me over until dinner.

After all that excitement, it was time to prepare for the career fair!! I got there a little early and talked to some ladies about a tutoring opportunity that would accept my work study! $12 and hour, but limited hours because of my schedule. Another job I was interested in was a clercal job at the aquarium so I need to email her my resume. I would love to work at either location, but they both have their pros and cons.

After the career fair, I had a little time to check out the RIMAC gym. I still don't know what RIMAC stands for, but the gym is HUMONGOUS and a little intimidating if you ask me!! There are weight rooms, dance rooms, ping pong rooms, anything you can think of... its there!! I cycled for 5 miles and then jogged back to my dorm to get ready for the walk to the cliffs. I thought it would be the perfect kodak moment when we were waiting to leave.

Now, on the way to the cliffs, we kept hearing this rumor that the trip was a senior prank because the cliffs overlook Black's Beach (a nude beach), but we saw no naked people while we were there... just a beautiful sunset and Ron Berkle's mansion on the cliff. They say this is the place to go when you need to clear your head. (the cliffs, not the mansion)

So we took all our pictures and whatnot and then had to rush back because they were trying to close the gates. This is such a beautiful place. Can't wait to come back. After this adventure there was an event called Revelle Royale which was pumped up to be this huge event like a carnival/fair almost, but we only stayed for a little while. They DID have glow sticks though, which was pretty cool. A bunch of us watched House Md. And then I came back to my dorm, made some tea and ramen, read a little, and met some more new people. Tomorrow is Charlaine's birthday so I made her a sign and hung it up in the suite lounge outside my dorm. Hope it doesn't fall. I'm off to sleep. have an awesome day.

9-22-08

DAY 3!

So it was a bit difficult to wake up this morning after a VERY long night with my suite mates. We stayed up a little bit too late (bad choice). I woke up and ate some Cocoa Pebbles in my suite lounge. Today there was this huge pep rally thing called Triton Power Hour where we got to know more about the RIMAC arena and they gave away a wetsuit and a surfboard. There were 2 alumni speakers who were successful in their fields and they gave us more advice. They said don't be nervous if the dream you leave this university isn't the dream that you started out with today. They told us to persevere and give your heart into everything you do and you will be successful, no matter where you end up. It is amazing how much people accomplish here. I can't imagine being able to do the things you do, btu at the same time I realize that there are so many people who are here to help me do that. It is a bit overwhelming.

So this is one of the trees I pass everyday. I just wanted to take a picture of it because I think it looks cool.








This is the bridge leading to Ocean View Terrace (OVT)- the best dining hall in UCSD. They have smoothies and soft serve ice cream open until 1 am. so I'll probably be going over there with my suite girls to get some soft serve!!







And here is a picture of King Triton. He was outside of RIMAC after the power hour and I had to jump at the opportunity!!! I also signed up at the Triathalon table to see if I can handle it, and I grabbed a flyer for the acapella group The Beat. I'll see if it's something I'll like to do. I'm still on the fence about the acapella group.



We got our mailboxes this day... and mom and dad I got your card. I loved it. Thank you so much. It took a while for me to be able to open the mailbox- hence my face in this picture as i am surrounded by mailboxes.


Tonight there was this thing called "A Twilight Affair" and it was packed with performances of groups on campus and a hypnotist. There was this girl dance group who did a hip hop performance. Then a martial arts group did there thing. It was really cool and the hypnotist really worked. these kids were KNOCKED out!!! and at one point he said that they were in a movie theater and the air conditioner was broken, and some of the people got so hot that they took their sweaters and shirts off!! haha This guy was so funny, he kept cuddling up to the girl next to him and was really into each of the things the hypnotist asked them to do.



Finally, we had a Heroes premiere party. The tv show Heroes had its season premiere and we all got some carne asada fries (provided by our RA Edgar) and headed over to the conference room. We all got couches or sat on the floor and watched it on a huge LCD projector. It was pretty radical. Here is a picture of some RA's serving us the asada fries! Thos were so stinkin good. They came from a mex restaurant called Lolita's I think. not sure about the name though. But shortly after this, I retired to my room and went to sleep promptly at 11:30. I LOVE this place. and I LOVE you guys too!!! have an awesome day!

BYEEEEEEEEEE
-erin

September 21 part dos.

This is the convocatino ceremony that they put on for all the freshman. It was SO hot waiting to be seated so my suite mate Giana got creative and made a hat. haha. There were a few speakers who gave us advice and inspired us to go out and change the world while we are here. I think everyone really like the speech by Steven Schick. It was a great speech. He claimed that he is very envious of us for being able to experience all we willexperience while we are here. At one point in his speech he said "Listen to this moment" an the whole place fell silent. It will probably be remembered by everyone there because awkward moments are always easiest to remember. I think that was a genius way to make the speech memorable. After the ceremony they released us to hundreds of tables and free food. After the dinner people were carrying boxes or pita wraps and chinese food. I saw some guy hauling a couple 6 packs of sodas! You find that in college, anytime there is free food offered, it is best to take as much of it along with you to your dorm as possible.
This is Charlaine and I. She's 2 rooms down from me and Liz. This was like a blooper pic... Emily didn't stick around long enough for the camera to take the picture hehe!












AND we watched the sun set during our little picnic. It got SO COLD when the sun went down, so we power walked back to our college and got ready for the night. All my suitemates went to the school-wide dance, but I stayed behind and uploadedmore pictures and made some phone calls. I still need to make so many phone calls. yikes.



Then we had a really long night last night sitting in the lounge and talking. It was so much fun though!! I love my suite mates. This year is going to be so incredible!! I'll be back tonight to update y'all. LOVE YOU!!

Do something everyday that scares you.

-Eleanor Roosevelt.

Sep. 21 part one.

ALRIGHT Day 2 on campus and I'm already behind on the blogging activity. Yesterday was a blur. I woke up hungry!! But the plaza cafe was closed due to new employee training so the trek for breakfast began. I had to follow the yellow hallway through Price Center which reminds me of being in the star tours at disneyland. I bought some bread and milk for sandwiches and cereal. I'm trying to stay away from the cafeteria by our dorms. But today I'm eating lunch at Oceanview Terrace at Eleanor Roosevelt College to check it out. I've heard really great things about that dining hall.








The next picture is part of the Stuart Art Collection on campus. It's called the "velvet v's" or something. I guess the artist who made them had a dream one night that the giraffes from the San Diego Zoo had escaped and ate all the Eucalyptus Trees at UCSD. So these blue fences are to keep all of the hungry rabid girrafes out of our Eucalyptus Forests.





Here is a picture of Price Center, named after the same man who is responsible for Cosco (formerly Price Club) This is where the food court is located. Also the site of the bookstore and Ballroom. This is like the downtown mall of our UCSD city. I swear we have so many people living here!! It is incredible.






Here is a picture of the Revelle Plaza from a walkway coming from Price Center. This fountain isn't always turned on, but its nice to look at. It has a banner that reads " Welcome To Revelle College"


And here is our suite's lounge where all the hanging outage takes place. It is a bit bland, SO we are in the process of decoration. It is going to be the coolest suite in this place!! :)

So after my journey to Price Center and the Sunshine Market, I came back to my room and made a chicken salad sandwich. Which made me think about all the times I ate those kinds of sanwiches with my friend Valerie. I had to wash my dishes in the common lounge area which has a full blown kitchen in it, by the way, and when I came back to my room I had a horrible time trying to open the door. Our lock is really really damaged. We had the RA take a look at it and he said in a sense "Ok, yeah, that's not normal." So we have to get maintenance to come fix the lock. So I spent about 10 minutes trying to unlock my dorm door! haha! And we had a floor meeting in front of CLICS which is the computer library. We all had to say our name and say one thing we expect from college, or what do you fear about college, or what do you want to accomplish or change about your life while you're in college. They gave us free ice cream and I answered that I'm scared I'm going to run out of money. But I know everything will work out in the end. After this meeting we had anther meeting for our whole Revelle college. They introduced us again to all the deans and psychologists and student leaders and there were skits and they had coreographed dances and whatnot. We had a lot of fun taking pictures while we were there. Finally they gave us lapel pins for Revelle College and we had to repeat this pledge that says "With Truth and Vision, one will have Purpose. With Purpose and Vision, one will find the Truth. With Purpose and Truth, one can guide Vision. With Purpose, Truth and Vision, one takes a step toward understanding oneself."