this is so fucking long
I am broadcasting live from Ole Miss!
I'll give you the shortest version possible, so let's start with the drive up. It was hellacious. For starters, it's a six hour drive and I've never driven more than an hour before so I wasn't used to that. Not only that, but this is the longest I've ever traveled. Ever. In my entire life. Originally I was going to drive Mom home and then I passed through Jackson and I thought I was going to piss myself (I might have - I held my pee for most of the trip.) I have never seen such traffic in the wee hours of the morn :| Fucking 18-wheelers, why do you like to be so large and scary.
We arrived in Oxford at around 5:00-ish in the morning. We found Ole Miss, first and foremost, and I drove around the front part of the campus, squealing, except it was still dark and I couldn't see anything. So then Mom and I went to get food at IHOP and then sat in the Wal-Mart parking lot for a few, just resting and I walked around and tried to take pictures of the humongous hills in the distance. (You should see the hills here, it's unbelievable. Even on campus, there are hills that are almost impossible to walk up.)
So...then came orientation. We got there early, at around 7:30 or thereabouts. We were escorted into an auditorium-type building and were made to wait FOREVER until the presentation started. Now, in my mind, I was thinking it would be a guy speaking for a few minutes and then we'd be let go to take care of our business. Uhh...yeah, no. First a guy actually did speak, then the room FLOODED with these orientation helper people and then got on stage and fucking DANCED. I shit you not: they danced. I was so embarrassed. Then the same guy spoke some more. Then another guy spoke. Then the orientation people led us to the buildings where we would hear more about our majors. Since I changed majors, I just went ahead and went to with the education guys, even though my tag said journalism.
The education presentation was fairly brief: the man was nice and I was given a paper that said which classes I should take and whatnot. There wasn't much I didn't know before and to be honest, I can't remember much from it :| But like I said, I wasn't new to a lot of it so it was all right. Then we were released for lunch and it's at this point I should tell you something incredibly TMI: I have hemorrhoids. Bad ones. That flare up a lot. And I was having a terrible, terrible flare up during this entire thing. I couldn't walk, it felt like someone was stabbing me in my stomach every time I took a step. So I had to walk back to the cafeteria like this and I managed to eat something but I was in such pain that nothing tasted good.
After that, I had to take care of my Phi Theta Kappa scholarship issue so we headed over to financial aid. By the time I was called, it was past time for me to go to my adviser meeting so I left my name and number and hoped they'd get back soon. Then we got lost. We read the map wrong and ended up on the opposite place we were supposed to be. Yeah. It was 1:40 and I had needed to be there by 1:15 and I was FREAKING THE FUCK OUT. Like...having a total meltdown. By some miracle, we found the building and I FLEW IN, hoping that everyone would still be there.
I was the last one but everyone was still making schedules and talking with advisers and I was shaking like a leaf because I was so convinced no one would be there. Right off the bat, my adviser started loading me down with classes rapid fire, hardly asking me what I wanted to take or even giving me a choice in anything. I was like...um. Um. I have...a minor...I want to arrange. And the lady was like, "Oh, well...we don't have minors in education." OH GOD MY HEART. I felt that strange feeling of fear I get when my teeth hurt and my ears start buzzing and I started to PANIC. I was like, "B-bu-but I came here because I had specific classes I wanted to take in addition to my major and oh my God."
The lady must have seen that I was on the verge of breaking down and she was like, "Oh, well, what classes?" Then she explained that the reason she did everything so quickly and tried to shove classes on me was that 90% of everyone wants to get out in two years and they want to take as much as quickly as possible. And...I'm not like that. I ain't rushing shit. I mean, I'm not going to be one of those people who have been pursuing a bachelor's for like seven years but I'm not going to take as much as possible just to get out. I want to enjoy this. I want to take as many Japanese classes as I can. So I explained this to her and she was like, "Oh! In that case, what do you want to take?"
This is my schedule, for now. The classes in bold are ones I am waitlasted on, which basically means I'm not technically in but when someone drops, I'll be added. I am told that there is a 100% chance at getting into waitlisted classes. Here's to hoping because ha ha, I need 12 hours to get financial aid!
Monday
Japanese 101
9:00-9:50
Introduction to Music
12:00-12:50
Tuesday
Japanese 103
9:30-10:45
Survey of Brit Lit since Romantic Period
11:00-11:50
Education, Society, and the K-12 Learner
2:00-3:15
Wednesday
Survey of Brit Lit since Romantic Period
8:00-8:50
Japanese 101
9:00-9:50
Introduction to Music
12:00-12:50
Thursday
Survey of Brit Lit since Romantic Period
11:00-11:50
Education, Society, and the K-12 Learner
2:00-3:15
Friday
Japanese 101
9:00-9:50
Introduction to Music
12:00-12:50
I have been instructed to attend the waitlisted classes as if I am actually attending them and give the professor my name at the end. So fingers crossed. But I am pretty certain I'm in. Also, that Japanese class is probably way too simple for me? So I may be allowed to take a higher level course. I'll have to speak with the instructor. If not, I could stay there and perhaps move up next semester? I know that might be viable.
Also, see that one at 2:00? Yeah, that's an actual course for my major. Holy shitsnacks, I'm taking courses for my fucking major. It's happening, bros. Also, I am not sure how I am going to manage to get across campus to in ten minutes to get to these classes unless I park in one central-ish spot and just...walk? Maybe? I DON'T EVEN KNOW THE BUILDINGS THESE ARE IN. So I'm going around tomorrow to see and scout things out and actual find a less complicated route back to my dorm.
So anyway! I believe that's when Mom and I went to the hotel. Maybe we did something else. I don't think we did. I had fully intended to go swimming at the hotel but my ass was killing me and I fell asleep watching Food Network, ooops. Then I got woke up by Mom sobbing a few hours later because she was basically stranded in Oxford and she said she'd seen me sleeping and thought of me as a baby and oh, Mom ;___; (She actually started crying in Zaxby's today telling me this. I FELT TERRIBLE FOR ASKING.) And the hotel wasn't nearly as bad as the reviews had led me to believe. It was pretty decent but not worth the $93 we paid for the damn thing.
After we left the hotel, we went over to Wal-Mart to pick up some supplies/get breakfast at Subway/psych ourselves up for going back over to the campus :| While we were seeing if Wal-Mart carried mace, I got a call from financial aid and they were like, "We don't see Phi Theta Kappa on your transcript." And I was like AW HELL NO. It's actually right there under honors graduated or graduated honors or what the fuck ever and the girl was like...oh. Oh. YEAH, YOU'RE RIGHT "OH." So it was added. All of my happy tears ;___; I eventually added it to my awards. I have enough financial aid, more happy tears ;___;
We finally got up the courage to make it back over to the campus. It was move-in day but I actually did not have a dorm to move into! See, this whole time, I knew I didn't have a dorm assignment because I missed the day to get mine. So I was thinking that I wasn't going to get a room and I'd have to withdraw for the semester and drink myself to death. At first the lady on the phone gave me a fucking heart attack by saying I didn't have a room but then reassured me very quickly that I could get an assignment after I started going, "WAIT WHAT WHAT."
It took us an hour to find the building. No one knew exactly where the housing office was located because the building it's usually in is being renovated so it's shoved into this one building on the steepest fucking hill that Oxford has to offer. Mom and I missed it twice because the hill was so steep that you could not see the building from the sidewalk. I asked for the cheapest dormitory and was assigned room 1013 in Crosby Hall. I was like...whatever. If I have a bed, I'm all right.
Part of me is sort of regretting asking for the cheapest? The cheapskate in me is happy but the person who has to ride the rickety elevator up to floor 10 is screaming. This dorm looks like a high rise industrial building from far off. I would never have known it was a dormitory from looking at it, for reals. And floor 10. FLOOR 10. I cannot even look out my door window without feeling faint. I CAN SEE FOREVER. This is not necessarily a good thing. Also about the dorm: there is one central place to shower for so many girls (I'm not sure the whole number here but I don't think it's the whole floor?) There's a fairly large area to shower and then a smaller place to dry off and change. It was...an experience for me. I forgot I had a pad in my shower caddy and I almost soaked the fucking thing. Then I didn't close the curtain and I got water EVERYWHERE. But the dry off area is large enough that I can get dressed but I got my...pants leg...wet so...I won't do that next time :|
At the moment, I don't have a roommate. This is subject to change and I don't exactly care either way. It would be nice not to be holed up in this tiny room all alone but...it would also be nice to be holed up in this tiny room all alone. At least if I'm alone I can fart and be naked all I like and spread my things all over the place. But who knows, I might be thinking differently come tomorrow.
So, after the horrifying move-in and saying tearful goodbyes in the Applebee's parking lot, here I am. I'm not going to lie: I sobbed on the way back here from who fucking knows what. I am just full of so many emotions right now. I'm scared, I'm excited, I'm worried that I won't get into my waitlisted classes, I'm confused. I'm just...trying to sort everything out right now. This is such a new experience for me that I'm not sure where to turn next. But hopefully this will be a good experience.
Video tour L M A O
And pictures, just because.
And now I have to go find out how to activate this phone.
I'll give you the shortest version possible, so let's start with the drive up. It was hellacious. For starters, it's a six hour drive and I've never driven more than an hour before so I wasn't used to that. Not only that, but this is the longest I've ever traveled. Ever. In my entire life. Originally I was going to drive Mom home and then I passed through Jackson and I thought I was going to piss myself (I might have - I held my pee for most of the trip.) I have never seen such traffic in the wee hours of the morn :| Fucking 18-wheelers, why do you like to be so large and scary.
We arrived in Oxford at around 5:00-ish in the morning. We found Ole Miss, first and foremost, and I drove around the front part of the campus, squealing, except it was still dark and I couldn't see anything. So then Mom and I went to get food at IHOP and then sat in the Wal-Mart parking lot for a few, just resting and I walked around and tried to take pictures of the humongous hills in the distance. (You should see the hills here, it's unbelievable. Even on campus, there are hills that are almost impossible to walk up.)
So...then came orientation. We got there early, at around 7:30 or thereabouts. We were escorted into an auditorium-type building and were made to wait FOREVER until the presentation started. Now, in my mind, I was thinking it would be a guy speaking for a few minutes and then we'd be let go to take care of our business. Uhh...yeah, no. First a guy actually did speak, then the room FLOODED with these orientation helper people and then got on stage and fucking DANCED. I shit you not: they danced. I was so embarrassed. Then the same guy spoke some more. Then another guy spoke. Then the orientation people led us to the buildings where we would hear more about our majors. Since I changed majors, I just went ahead and went to with the education guys, even though my tag said journalism.
The education presentation was fairly brief: the man was nice and I was given a paper that said which classes I should take and whatnot. There wasn't much I didn't know before and to be honest, I can't remember much from it :| But like I said, I wasn't new to a lot of it so it was all right. Then we were released for lunch and it's at this point I should tell you something incredibly TMI: I have hemorrhoids. Bad ones. That flare up a lot. And I was having a terrible, terrible flare up during this entire thing. I couldn't walk, it felt like someone was stabbing me in my stomach every time I took a step. So I had to walk back to the cafeteria like this and I managed to eat something but I was in such pain that nothing tasted good.
After that, I had to take care of my Phi Theta Kappa scholarship issue so we headed over to financial aid. By the time I was called, it was past time for me to go to my adviser meeting so I left my name and number and hoped they'd get back soon. Then we got lost. We read the map wrong and ended up on the opposite place we were supposed to be. Yeah. It was 1:40 and I had needed to be there by 1:15 and I was FREAKING THE FUCK OUT. Like...having a total meltdown. By some miracle, we found the building and I FLEW IN, hoping that everyone would still be there.
I was the last one but everyone was still making schedules and talking with advisers and I was shaking like a leaf because I was so convinced no one would be there. Right off the bat, my adviser started loading me down with classes rapid fire, hardly asking me what I wanted to take or even giving me a choice in anything. I was like...um. Um. I have...a minor...I want to arrange. And the lady was like, "Oh, well...we don't have minors in education." OH GOD MY HEART. I felt that strange feeling of fear I get when my teeth hurt and my ears start buzzing and I started to PANIC. I was like, "B-bu-but I came here because I had specific classes I wanted to take in addition to my major and oh my God."
The lady must have seen that I was on the verge of breaking down and she was like, "Oh, well, what classes?" Then she explained that the reason she did everything so quickly and tried to shove classes on me was that 90% of everyone wants to get out in two years and they want to take as much as quickly as possible. And...I'm not like that. I ain't rushing shit. I mean, I'm not going to be one of those people who have been pursuing a bachelor's for like seven years but I'm not going to take as much as possible just to get out. I want to enjoy this. I want to take as many Japanese classes as I can. So I explained this to her and she was like, "Oh! In that case, what do you want to take?"
This is my schedule, for now. The classes in bold are ones I am waitlasted on, which basically means I'm not technically in but when someone drops, I'll be added. I am told that there is a 100% chance at getting into waitlisted classes. Here's to hoping because ha ha, I need 12 hours to get financial aid!
Monday
Japanese 101
9:00-9:50
Introduction to Music
12:00-12:50
Tuesday
Japanese 103
9:30-10:45
Survey of Brit Lit since Romantic Period
11:00-11:50
Education, Society, and the K-12 Learner
2:00-3:15
Wednesday
Survey of Brit Lit since Romantic Period
8:00-8:50
Japanese 101
9:00-9:50
Introduction to Music
12:00-12:50
Thursday
Survey of Brit Lit since Romantic Period
11:00-11:50
Education, Society, and the K-12 Learner
2:00-3:15
Friday
Japanese 101
9:00-9:50
Introduction to Music
12:00-12:50
I have been instructed to attend the waitlisted classes as if I am actually attending them and give the professor my name at the end. So fingers crossed. But I am pretty certain I'm in. Also, that Japanese class is probably way too simple for me? So I may be allowed to take a higher level course. I'll have to speak with the instructor. If not, I could stay there and perhaps move up next semester? I know that might be viable.
Also, see that one at 2:00? Yeah, that's an actual course for my major. Holy shitsnacks, I'm taking courses for my fucking major. It's happening, bros. Also, I am not sure how I am going to manage to get across campus to in ten minutes to get to these classes unless I park in one central-ish spot and just...walk? Maybe? I DON'T EVEN KNOW THE BUILDINGS THESE ARE IN. So I'm going around tomorrow to see and scout things out and actual find a less complicated route back to my dorm.
So anyway! I believe that's when Mom and I went to the hotel. Maybe we did something else. I don't think we did. I had fully intended to go swimming at the hotel but my ass was killing me and I fell asleep watching Food Network, ooops. Then I got woke up by Mom sobbing a few hours later because she was basically stranded in Oxford and she said she'd seen me sleeping and thought of me as a baby and oh, Mom ;___; (She actually started crying in Zaxby's today telling me this. I FELT TERRIBLE FOR ASKING.) And the hotel wasn't nearly as bad as the reviews had led me to believe. It was pretty decent but not worth the $93 we paid for the damn thing.
After we left the hotel, we went over to Wal-Mart to pick up some supplies/get breakfast at Subway/psych ourselves up for going back over to the campus :| While we were seeing if Wal-Mart carried mace, I got a call from financial aid and they were like, "We don't see Phi Theta Kappa on your transcript." And I was like AW HELL NO. It's actually right there under honors graduated or graduated honors or what the fuck ever and the girl was like...oh. Oh. YEAH, YOU'RE RIGHT "OH." So it was added. All of my happy tears ;___; I eventually added it to my awards. I have enough financial aid, more happy tears ;___;
We finally got up the courage to make it back over to the campus. It was move-in day but I actually did not have a dorm to move into! See, this whole time, I knew I didn't have a dorm assignment because I missed the day to get mine. So I was thinking that I wasn't going to get a room and I'd have to withdraw for the semester and drink myself to death. At first the lady on the phone gave me a fucking heart attack by saying I didn't have a room but then reassured me very quickly that I could get an assignment after I started going, "WAIT WHAT WHAT."
It took us an hour to find the building. No one knew exactly where the housing office was located because the building it's usually in is being renovated so it's shoved into this one building on the steepest fucking hill that Oxford has to offer. Mom and I missed it twice because the hill was so steep that you could not see the building from the sidewalk. I asked for the cheapest dormitory and was assigned room 1013 in Crosby Hall. I was like...whatever. If I have a bed, I'm all right.
Part of me is sort of regretting asking for the cheapest? The cheapskate in me is happy but the person who has to ride the rickety elevator up to floor 10 is screaming. This dorm looks like a high rise industrial building from far off. I would never have known it was a dormitory from looking at it, for reals. And floor 10. FLOOR 10. I cannot even look out my door window without feeling faint. I CAN SEE FOREVER. This is not necessarily a good thing. Also about the dorm: there is one central place to shower for so many girls (I'm not sure the whole number here but I don't think it's the whole floor?) There's a fairly large area to shower and then a smaller place to dry off and change. It was...an experience for me. I forgot I had a pad in my shower caddy and I almost soaked the fucking thing. Then I didn't close the curtain and I got water EVERYWHERE. But the dry off area is large enough that I can get dressed but I got my...pants leg...wet so...I won't do that next time :|
At the moment, I don't have a roommate. This is subject to change and I don't exactly care either way. It would be nice not to be holed up in this tiny room all alone but...it would also be nice to be holed up in this tiny room all alone. At least if I'm alone I can fart and be naked all I like and spread my things all over the place. But who knows, I might be thinking differently come tomorrow.
So, after the horrifying move-in and saying tearful goodbyes in the Applebee's parking lot, here I am. I'm not going to lie: I sobbed on the way back here from who fucking knows what. I am just full of so many emotions right now. I'm scared, I'm excited, I'm worried that I won't get into my waitlisted classes, I'm confused. I'm just...trying to sort everything out right now. This is such a new experience for me that I'm not sure where to turn next. But hopefully this will be a good experience.
Click to viewVideo tour L M A O
And pictures, just because.
And now I have to go find out how to activate this phone.