Ok so it's Thursday night, the party night at college campuses. I've never understood this, most people have classes on Friday so why would you party the night before? I guess if it works for them. Anyway, while everyone's out clubbing and drinking, I'm in my dorm working on homework and doing some laundry. I learned my lesson the hard way that Sunday evenings is probably the worst possible time to do laundry ever. On Thursdays though, the laundry room is empty so I'm taking advantage of this. I'm not a partier anyway so I'm not missing out on anything. All of my roommates are gone so it's kinda nice to have the room by myself particularly after this week. I have probably averaged about 4 to 5 hours per night this week and I'm definitely experiencing some symptoms that point towards sleep deprivation. Maybe that's why I'm finding this blog so hard to write. I wonder if sleep deprivation really leads to hallucinations? Well before I find out, I think I'll just finish my homework, take a shower and go to bed. Sorry, my blog wasn't that interesting... maybe next time.

Chem Lab

Ok, so I got back from my Chem 102 lab little more than an hour ago. I have taken chem lab before so I kinda knew what to expect and how everything would work. So all of the chem 101 and 102 kids are piled into chapman211 and we are all trying to size up the TA's to see who looks friendly, praying that we get someone nice and that he/she can speak english. Then, as a group, we read all of the lab policies and you can see everyone getting nervous at that point. Because the lab policies basically say that from that point on, you are responsible for everything that goes wrong during or concerning chem lab. Let's say you go to use your beaker next lab and you realize that it has a crack in it. Well, if you missed this little detail during check in, you have to pay for it. If you break something during an experiment, you pay for it. If you don't do your learning device before you enter the lab, you will receive a zero and not be allowed to participate. The most concerning policy is the one that talks about computers. Let me just say that technology pretty much hates me. Well, we have to upload our lab reports so that we can turn them in online. But apparently, you have to make sure that they are in the right format. So even if you turn them in before the due date but they are not in the right format, it will be considered a late lab which automatically comes with a 10 point deduction if you manage to turn in a hard copy to the director before noon the next day. O and they made it clear that they really don't care if your computer crashes...

I know that we have to be responsible during the lab but all of the policies and warnings take all the fun out of lab. We don't get to blow anything up in the first place so lab isn't the most exciting. And to make all the students paranoid isn't helping anything. Labs should be somewhat enjoyable. You would hope you could spend 4 hours on something that it interesting.

Here's something else I found ridiculous this week. My roommate got a zero on her statistics homework. She's been doing really well and she would have done well on this assignment but she apparently committed an academic sin by not stapling her paper though she had her name on both pages. The crazy thing is, they put the grade she would have received at the top in big numbers (which would have been a good grade) and then they put "please staple-- 0." The TA must have been having a REALLY bad day...

Folk Belief

I am doing salt on bee stings... sounds painful to me but my friend stands by it

Inauguration Day

Considering the huge celebration on Franklin Street after Obama was elected president, I was quite surprised that more people were not watching the inauguration. In fact, there were only two people in the study lounge- me and my suitemate. Several people came in but when they saw that the inauguration was on, they left. I don't know, maybe they were more concerned about the snow...

It was nice to have my suitemate with me though. We kept commenting on Obama's face which seemed so solemn. He kept clenching his jaw, maybe realizing the responsibility that he took from ex-president Bush after his oath. He definitely held himself together better than I ever could though, I would be freaking out. Though I did not vote for him, I have to say that he did not let the people down with his speech; he managed to stay his usual charismatic self under all of the watchful eyes and the pressure. I was quite disappointed with the poet's delivery of her poem; she shouldn't have gone after Obama.

I couldn't help but think that I would never trade positions with the president. It is not a glorious job and I would not want to have the responsibility of the country upon my shoulders. Obama has to live up to even more expectations because he has been seen as the savior of the United States. That bothers me. I personally am not looking for a savior, I already have one. As Obama proved by his oath and Bush has proved by his mispronunciations, the president is just a man, not a god and he shouldn't be treated like one. I just want a president who will do his job to the best of his abilities, love his country, take care of his people and to be a good person. I also don't want a celebrity within the White House, a president shouldn't be associated with the Hollywood scene; the celebrities definitely shouldn't be given more influence.

I wish Obama well. What kind of Americans would we be if we wanted our president to mess up so we could stomp him into the ground? The president should have respect whether you are Democratic, Republican or Independent. I also hope George Bush is able to go back to his ranch in Texas and carry out the rest of his life stress free. In my personal opinion, he has been treated horribly over the years and yet, he has still managed to keep a smile on his face... that deserves respect in itself

Leave the drama for the stage

Ok, so I'm not one who likes confrontation and I definitely don't like it when I have to confront someone. I prefer to just ignore the drama or better yet, avoid it all together. So you can imagine that I would rather do anything else than have to confront my roommate. Don't get me wrong, she's nice enough, I can sleep with both of my eyes closed at night but she has no clue about the manners and courtesy of living with another person.

It wasn't that bad last semester. She would party ALOT but she wouldn't bring it back to our dorm. I don't mind if she doesn't come in til 3:30 AM as long as she doesn't wake me up. I don't mind if she sleeps through her classes as long as she lets me get enough sleep at night so I won't miss mine. But this semester... her philosophy has changed. She keeps saying she wants to clean up her life yet she is still coming in at 3:00 in the morning but she is waking me up in the process by turning on all the lights and slamming the door.

But here's the major problem... instead of going out to socialize with her friends, she is bringing them to the dorm. I went home for the three day weekend and she had some friends over (and her boyfriend). They were supposed to be gone by Monday but they ended up staying the night. Well, I came walking in the door monday and the room was not in the best condition. Suitcases and pizza boxes were all over the room and on my bed. My desk had been moved around, my sodas in the fridge had suddenly disappeared and someone obviously slept in my bed. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to in front of her company (they are still here as I'm writing this blog by the way). And I do have an 8:00 class on Tuesdays so I didn't appreciate the movie in the background til about 2:00 in the morning.

I just want some respect, is that too much to ask for? I would definitely appreciate some advice on this one... how do I get that respect without her getting angry and offended?

Since everyone is introducing themselves, I will not break the trend. My name is Bailey Green and I live in Cliffside, North Carolina. I'm sure noone has ever heard of it, it is a small town in the foothills but maybe someone has heard of Shelby. I am 18 years old and I am a freshman. I am thinking about majoring in Biology and becoming either a zoological veterinarian (lions, tigers and bears... o my!) or a doctor in pathology. I have never blogged or read any blogs before so this is definitely a new experience...

Let me just say, I really enjoy three day weekends. It gives me a chance to visit friends and family, sleep and just relax. So this weekend, I went home with some of my friends from N.C. State. It was nice to see my family and to spend some time with my boyfriend (he goes to State and was nice enough to give me a ride). I know it's only been a week into this semester but my family is very important to me and I wanted to see them before our long semester with very few three day weekends. The only problem about going home is that I feel like a visitor. It's weird seeing my room all cleaned and my bed made up. Everyone keeps asking when I have to go back to college. It definitely is strange being a visitor in your own house but I guess it's a sign that we really are growing up...