fresh and hot

I have survived the first week of graduate school! I must say that I'm proud of myself, even if it is only the first week. But given my plan to just take it one day at a time, it's completely appropriate to celebrate the first week.

Wednesday night I had my second class, Student Affairs Admin. I was anxious to finally get a look at my advisor, the elusive Dr. Duffy. He didn't look as I had imagined him. He was much shorter, stooped over, and he really is old as dirt. I don't really care about his looks (although it might be appropriate to be concerned about his health) as long as his mind still works. I don't think there will be much concern in that respect, and he seems like he'll be a great professor and someone I'll get along with just fine. The class went well. He went over the syllabus and explained about the class, then lectured a little bit. We also did a small group activity. It was a good first class. I think I'll really enjoy it. My only concern is that there's a 3-5 page paper due every class, but I don't think it'll really be a big deal.


Thursday afternoon before class I ran into Mongkol. I had a little while before class started so I sat down and talked with him. Sarah, another Higher Ed person, joined us a little bit later. We were talking about how hard our Tuesday class was going to be. I hadn't really thought about it until then, so she was making me kind of nervous. But by then it was time for class. My third class was Interpretation and Evaluation of Research. This class is taught by Octavio, who is 'not quite a professor' because he hasn't finished his dissertation. As he was explaining this to the class, I couldn't help but think of Octavius, one of my favorite professors from CNU (even though I never actually had a class with him) who is in the same dissertation limbo (and has been for some time.) Anyway, after Octavio talked about himself and the class, we spent most of the class doing an icebreaker. I am not a fan of icebreakers. We had to say our name, what program we are in, and when we'll graduate, then describe ourselves using words beginning with our initials. I said (E) eclectic, because of my very diverse array of interests; (A) Acid House, because it's a book by my favorite author Irvine Welsh; and (P) plumbing, as I was able to attend BC because I spent 8 months selling plumbing supplies (and added that I didn't recommend it.) Finally that was over, and he lectured a little, then we had an activity. That class won't be bad at all, but the professor is a total space cadet. He didn't seem to have it all together and I'm worried his lectures won't be coherent. As soon as that class was over I darted for the door. I was on my way out when Matt, a guy in my program, stopped me to say hi. He told me that Mongkol was "singing my praises earlier" and that he really likes my laugh. That made me smile. A lot.

Thursday night there was a Culture Night sponsored by GISA. Everyone kept asking me if I was going, and of course I was--there was free food! I was late because of class, but I met up with Brent and Mongkol and some other cool people. I saw the roomies, who were already eating, so I just waved at them. There was mostly Jamaican food, which was interesting. It was really good, except that I put some fried plantains on my plate forgetting that they are pretty much like bananas, which I don't like. But everything else was really good. After we ate there were two performers. One girl sang a couple songs, then the next girl sang and bellydanced a little. They were both really good. Afterward I just hung out and chatted with everyone. At one point I was talking to some girls and they asked me what year I was. I said I was a first-year, and Mongkol said "Yeah, fresh and hot." At first I was kind of shocked, but then I said "Actually, I think you might be right." After a while things started dying down, so a bunch of us left and walked home. I walked with Brent for a little while, and it was good to get to talk to him.

I don't have class on Fridays so it was nice not having much to do. Friday morning I decided to take a trip to Allston to go to a liquor store. I had heard the prices were pretty reasonable, unlike the one closest to my house which is outrageous. I think I assumed the prices would be better here because of the competition, but the prices in Virginia are so much better! But the store I went to actually had decent prices, so I picked up some Jack, triple sec, and Bacardi.


That afternoon there was yet another BBQ at the grad student center. I went over there with Meghan and Devlin right when it was starting. No one was there, so we went inside. There were some econ people playing ping pong so we hung around inside until finally people started showing up. We went outside and got food and talked for a while. Brent came by to ask us a question for the grad student newsletter--something we did over the summer that we never thought we'd do. Of course I said selling plumbing supplies, even though riding the Griffon would have been a much better answer. Pretty soon the roomies had to leave to go study. I got up to walk around and saw Sandra who I had met at the last BBQ. I couldn't remember her name but thankfully she recognized me. I sat and talked with her for a while, and her friends Stephanie and Tammy came over too. They're really cool girls. Then I saw Brent and Mongkol being crazy, so I had to go over there. Brent had sunglasses on the back of his head and had turned his shirt backwards, and Mongkol was taking pictures of it. Very strange. I hung out with them for a bit, but then things started winding down, so I headed home.

On Sunday I went to church at First Parish in Brookline. It was the first regular service after the summer, so a lot more people were there. I saw quite a few people that I had met over the summer and a lot of them recognized me and remembered my name. I met a lot of other people too. There was a water ceremony before the service started. People brought water from places they traveled over the summer and put it in pitchers of the direction they traveled. After that we went in for the service. They did a skit about a girl that got shipwrecked and taken prisoner and had all sorts of bad stuff happen to her, but in the end her life ended up working out because of all the things she had learned every time something bad happened to her. It was a really great, entertaining service. And I felt the people there are so much friendlier than the church in Cambridge. So I'm pretty sure that's the church I'm going to join. It's awesome to start feeling spiritually settled!