First Week of School

Well, last week was the first official week of school for me. Sunday night, Monday all day, Tuesday all day, and Wednesday morning were taken up by orientation. It wasn't a bad way to start off the year. A little boring, but at the same time it was nice to meet some new people and get to know our two campuses a little better. On Sunday night, we kicked off orientation by having dinner with the girls in our groups. It was a little awkward, since no one knew each other, but the food was good. Monday morning we met with our Johnnie group and then proceeded to spend the rest of the day at St. Ben's. We toured the campus and did various activities... nothing too exciting. Tuesday was essentially the same, but it took place at St. John's. During these two days we toured each campus, talked to a professor, went to a "show" on discrimination and one on drug/alcohol abuse, ate lunch together outside, took a short survey, walked some paths, played lots of birdie on a perch, and just got to know each other. Every night, we went back to our own campuses for dinner with our small group and then rejoined the boys for a dance. The dances were fun, but a little bit weird. Wednesday morning, we all went to an hour long convocation, and then started classes.

I have two classes each day, one at St. Ben's and one at St. John's. My earliest class is Theology at 8:00 on odd days, and my latest class is Math at 1:00 on even days. My schedule is very nice, especially since on odd days I get done at 11:00 for the day. So far I like all of my classes. I'm taking Theology, which is just studying the Bible, French 211, First Year Seminar, in which my topic is Power of the Individual v. Power of the State (I think. We're not really sure on that one.), and Math, which is proof writing for me this semester. My favorite class right now is FYS because we do a lot of class discussion, and the book we are reading is very interesting to me. However, I think I'm really going to love my Theology class as well. Today we discussed the Dogmatic Constitution from the second Vatican Council, and the class discussion was lively. My professor for that class is a Benedictine nun, and she has a degree in Theology. I think she's really going to make us think about things, which is really exciting. Math is math is math is math, which means I love it. To be in my "home" building taking classes again is wonderful, even though I miss my fellow UMTYMPers. I'm really excited about this course because I'm finally going to learn how to write a good proof, which is something that has been missing from my toolbox for the past five years. My last class, French, is exciting just because I am very eager to become fluent in another language.

Aside from my classes at St. Ben's, I am also enrolling in Wind Ensemble at St. Cloud State for the year and I am really excited to be back with my friends from last year making music.

As for extracurriculars, I am taking both flute and piano lessons again, joining an intramural volleyball team, taking two aerobics classes a week, and getting as much sleep as possible. Things are really busy right now, and I'm looking forward to it all calming down. On the plus side, the activities have been fun and I've been getting to hang out with my Collegebound friends a lot, which is awesome. We all eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner with at least one person from the trip almost every day, and it's great to be able to do so. We're also all making new friends that continue to join our group. Some of the things we've done include going to a concert, hanging out in Regina basement, seeing Iron Man outside on the Mall, going to Valleyfair, eating together constantly, hanging out at St. John's, stargazing, and going to church. I love it!

I'm so excited about everything that's going on in my life right now, and I really can't wait to see what the next four years will bring.