Reflecting and analyzing first impressions

This blog got me through the first semester. 

On Mount Washington during the Honors Program orientation

I always knew that I had people at home reading and supporting me. I always knew that I had somewhere to put my thoughts and feelings down and get them out of my head. Sometimes, quiet is violent. I don't like keeping quiet. My friends know this. I wasn't as consistent this semester and on one hand, I apologize. On another, I don't. When I set out to create a blog, I did so to remember things. I did so to vent frustrations and share feelings with whoever stumbled upon this. The first semester was a crazy one with a lot of changes and the second was the busiest time of my life, hence my lack in posts these past couple months. I want to go back and now compare my first impressions with college that I wrote in this blog. 

Welcome: 

"I don't know what the next year, or even four years for that matter, will hold for me, but I am looking forward to all that Pittsburgh has to offer. This blog is a chance for me to vent my thoughts, talk about my day, and keep people at home updated on my life. I will post as often as possible. I don't know if that is daily, bi-daily, weekly or even monthly. Whenever I get a moment to write, I will. I am not setting specific guidelines or a schedule for me to post to avoid creating pressure and stress of what should be a stress relieving hobby.

My grammar and spelling may not be perfect here, you may not like what useless information empties from my "fountain of useless information" of a brain, as my dad calls it.

It should not be perfect. I am not perfect. This is simply a medium to empty my thoughts and inform anyone who is interested about what happens to me in the coming months.

So enjoy - if you can, follow - if you care and share - if you must." 

This comes from my "Welcome" post. Accurate, I think. My fountain of useless information definitely expanded this year. Here's your random fact of the day: Grantland Rice was a sportswriter who became the first to do live play-by-play for a World Series game in 1921. He also called the first complete WS game in 1922. Rice is the one credited with the quote, "It's not whether you won or lost but how you played the game." I could go on for days. End tangent. 

I'm ready:

"A part of me doesn't want to leave home. That's natural. Butler will always be home for me. (Video: "Always Home") Home sickness will kick in eventually and I'm prepared for that. That's why I will have friends, homework and reporting to do in Pittsburgh."

I'm not sure that home sickness ever actually kicked in. I missed my family and friends, sure. But I never got to the point where I was dying to go home. I was busy. FOMO (Fear of missing out) is a very real thing in college and I had that way more than home sickness. 

"I've been in touch with my roommate. He seems really cool, and not a jerk. That's good. Really good.

I've made some connections with classmates through orientation and social media that I'm looking forward to expanding."

My roommate, Alex, was really cool. He was probably the best roommate that I could have honestly asked for my freshman year. I'm not rooming with him next year and I'm actually really upset about that. He's living off campus and I was hoping to be an RA so it didn't work out (I'm not going to be an RA). He was definitely not a jerk. Some of those "connections" I made before I came to school helped a lot and I'm still friends with them today. 

"I'm ready to find out if I received an apprenticeship with U-VIEW (The PPU broadcast studio). I sent a resume, cover letter and portfolio. That was time consuming. I'm itching to find out if I got a position. It's a paid position with flexible hours doing what I love. I'm at a disadvantage, however, because I am just a freshman.

Just a freshman.

I'm sure I'll hear that this year. I want to be judged by what I produce, not my age."

- I did not receive the apprenticeship the first time around. Or the second time around. I just applied for a different apprenticeship for the third time. Hopefully the third time is a charm.

- "Just a freshman." Holy crap was that accurate. If I had a dollar for every time I was told or heard that this year, I wouldn't have college debt. I am starting to be judged by what I've produced, at least I hope. I actually found that as the year progressed, "Just a freshman" became something of a positive instead of a negative. 

People became surprised when they learned I was "just a freshman." Sometimes it worked in my favor, sometimes it didn't. It happens. Next year, I'll be "just a sophomore." 

"I'm going to miss Jack a lot more than I realize. I only realized today that in a week, he won't be spoiled by daily walks anymore. Unless, of course, my brother gets away from X-Box long enough to take him out. It won't be the same.

I realized today that I won't get to wrestle with him and play tug of war every day.

He's not cuddly, he's not quiet but he is a man's best friend.

I'll miss my friends and I'll miss my family. I expected that. I didn't expect to think that I'd miss my 
buddy who defines unconditional love and doesn't ask questions when I talk to him."

I nailed that one right on the head. I cried a couple times at school wishing I had my dog. The first couple times that I came home, he didn't act like he missed me. That's the weirdo that he is. But one time he was so excited and he couldn't control himself and that made me incredibly happy. Jake got away from the X-Box a couple times to walk him, at least I think he did. I just walked him yesterday, actually. That dude is everything home means to me. 

Exploration: 

"I've been here for two days and have done almost as much in two days than I have in the past two months at home, and I was busy at home.

I've explored up and down the city and up and down buildings on campus. I've walked 9 miles around town today, according to google maps."

Calm down, skippy. Yeah, I walked a lot those first couple days. That all seems normal now, which is weird to think about. 

"The people on my floor are alright. The neighbors to my right couldn't be nicer. There are a lot of athletes on my floor who don't talk to anyone besides themselves besides the occasional girl who smiles at them.

...The men's restroom is directly across the hall from my room, accessible only by a key - one of two keys I was given. The other key is the key to my room. Three separate ways of getting into three doors within three feet of each other."

The people on my floor turned out to be my absolute best friends, my neighbors to my right included. Most of the athletes transferred after the first semester and the rest were real chill. 

The men's restroom was the most disgusting thing that I've ever experienced and I won't miss that at all. Having it directly across the hall from my room was such a blessing. The door stopped working halfway through the year and I only needed a key to get in my room, not the bathroom. Another blessing. 

"My blinds don't work. That's terrible. I'm living in a fish bowl for now. I need to put a work order in apparently to get them fixed. I currently have a blue fleece blanket as a makeshift curtain."

It took a while for that to get fixed. I was laughed at for my blue blanket and we still looked back and laughed at that. I never really touched me new blinds because I didn't want another accident. 

I go on to describe the different dorm halls. I am so happy that I did end up in Thayer and not Lawrence. It's all in personal preference, but I prefer Thayer. 

"I have yet to eat in the cafeteria. It's nerve racking and I haven't found anybody to eat with yet so I had a Pop tart for dinner with intentions of getting free food at the bookstore opening."

Listen. Eating in the dining hall for the first time was terrifying. I had no idea what to do. I never actually got the free food at the bookstore opening. I adapted and eventually got to eating well, but man I remember how scary that was. I had friends to eat with most of the time first semester, but largely got food to go the second semester because of our and my schedules. 

"Point State Park is so peaceful and relaxing. It's amazing. We then walked back to campus for lunch and met up with more commuters and went to Market Square (I told you I'd be broke soon if they let me out). I stopped at Subway and only had a 6 inch to save money. I'm cheap like that."

The Point is my second favorite place to chill in Pittsburgh, second to the North Shore. It really is relaxing. Those commuter friends that I met up with ended up being two or three of my best friends. I eventually controlled my Market Square urges. When I went to Subway in the future, I would get a footlong and eat half now, half later. It worked. 

"I talked for a while to another broadcast major who is actually the sports editor of the Globe this year (the PPU Newspaper). I'm now the unofficial assistant sports editor / columnist for the globe. Yay for connections."

Okay, I did talk to said person, but the latter sentence was complete crap. Just joking around. I want to slap August Josh for that uneducated/overzealous sentence, but whatever.

"I don't know how I'm going to learn all of these names."

Accurate.

"Walking in rush hour is easier than any other time of day that I've walked. Weird, right? With more people to walk with in the streets, I guess that's what makes it easier."

Please stop. No. It is not easier to walk in rush hour. I don't know what I was saying. That is not true. No no no no. 

Rain Never Felt So Good:

"Amanda, Alex, Emily and I all had a night to remember for the rest of our lives, and it could have been terrible. We made the best of it and enjoyed ourselves. You have to in life. Turn the bad moments into great ones. I love college so far, yes. I also love these people. Except a good number of the jocks. They're the only ones making this still feel like high school.

I love this school and I haven't even started classes yet. That comes Monday.

For now, I'll enjoy the free time, the new friends and the fantastic new, spontaneous memories."

That Emily eventually transferred, but she was a good friend the first semester. Alex, Amanda and I still look back on this night as one of the best that we had. I encourage you to read the entire post from that night.

Day 1 - Part 1

"The professor is really relaxed and "teaching City & University Life as a favor to the president." He does not care. He's so relaxed though, honestly. So relaxed that I don't know how I'll stay awake during the 8:00 classes."

I never stayed past 8:30 and he was really cool actually. Everyone got an A for existing. 

"My Journalism 150 prof was the opposite. He is precise, articulate and crazy. A good crazy. He reminds me so much of my journalism teacher in high school. He's from Cleveland and talked Brown's football for a while. The class is a lot of writing and hard work. He thought class ended at 11:00 so he let us go early. It actually ends at 11:10. I wonder how long that will last."

I ended up having David Grande for the first and second semester. He didn't realize class ended at 11:10 until there was about a month left. We were let out at 10:45 a lot because that's when he thought it ended midway through the semester. He was an interesting teacher to say the least. 

"My neighbor Justine, also a broadcast major and who is turning into a really good friend of mine, is also in the class."

Justine actually changed her major to Advertising/Public Relations midway through the year. She was one of, if not my best friend at Point Park. I'm sure she'll come up later. 

" I understand how the freshman 15 happens. All you can eat food every time you go to the dining hall. It's actually good food. I enjoy it. There was cheesecake as one of the many deserts today. I enjoy cheesecake. I enjoy food."

First of all, the freshman 15 is real. More for some than others. I gained exactly 15 points from start to finish, but whatever. It's fine. 

"It's actually good food. I enjoy it." 

I really want to know what they served that first week. Maybe I just was super excited to eat. It was NOT at all "actually good." But whatever.

I went on to talk about my English teacher. He was good, but I'm glad his class is done and I never have to write another paper for him ever again. 

"I then booked it for the neighboring building for the activities fair, which had every club on campus crammed into the Lawrence Hall lobby. You couldn't move in there. I gave my contact info to U-View TV, WPPJ Radio and the USG (United Student Gvt). I got yet another free T-Shirt from WPPJ... I then ran up 6 [actually 7] flights of stairs to go to the first Globe (newspaper) meeting. Before I knew it, I was being assigned to be the beat writer for the Point Park Rugby Football Club."

What a wild ride that was. I never did anything with USG, but did with everyone else there. The Rugby beat was the best thing that happened to me during the first semester besides my trip to San Diego. I owe a lot to those guys on the rugby team.

Day 1 - Part 2

"The overall class [Mass Communications - JOUR 101] seems so overwhelming. I already have homework in that class too. It is a 20 point online quiz that goes along with a reading from my text book. I have to purchase my sociology and MC book tomorrow with bookstore credit that I have. The money won't be available until tomorrow."

Mass Comm was the worst thing ever. I never used my sociology book. 

"We ended about a half hour early so I went back to the mailroom to look into another empty mailbox. There, a girl who I met at convocation was struggling pushing a cart with 6 packages that her parents had sent her. With time to kill, I helped her get all of her packages across the street and into her dorm in Thayer."

I'm not sure if she remembers this or not. We still talk today and she's a very nice person.

"I also joined The Center for Sports Media and Marketing which brings notable media and marketing figures to PPU to speak to students and host events. This link will show you everybody that they've brought in so far."

Thank you, August self, for doing this. Best decision of my freshman year. 

Finally:

"Wow can people dance here. My dad dance moves don't compare with people getting scholarships to go here to dance. It's obviously a dance school, and I can't dance. It was still a blast."

Extremely accurate. 

"I'm in Sociology 150 now. The professor I have may possibly cause me to break up with sociology. He can't stay on topic and goes all over the place. He is unorganized, unprepared and his lectures are made up as he goes along. I hate it."

Yeah, extremely accurate. 

"I never realized until this week how much Mr. Robbins (BTTV) and Mr. Thompson (Skyliner Newspaper) prepared me for college."

OH YES. Very extremely accurate. Those guys prepared me for so much that I didn't even know I would need. (Insert tip of cap here)

"There are a lot of seniors [at U-View]. That's a good thing. They're all graduating in either December or May. There are lots of shoes to fill and they don't know who is going to step up. Enter me."

Yeah, that's starting to happen. Accurate.

"I'm already involved with so many things, I don't know if I will be able to handle it all. That's what I thought in high school too. I never wanted to have to think back on my career in school and wish that I had done more. I don't think I'll have to do that in college either. I'm finally starting to get my foot in the door and can't wait to bust it down and jump right in."

When I look back on it, first semester wasn't that busy. I handled it. Which is why I'm taking on even more next semester! ... deep breathes. 

Solid:

"I hate makeup. It's too much of a hassle. I don't know how girls do it. I had my neighbor and another girl on my floor do my makeup for me. It was weird."

It's weird because I don't hate makeup anymore. I still don't know how girls do it. The other girl on my floor, Alexa, did my makeup for the whole first semester. I did my own the second semester. 

"When I was done, I was met with an unexpected applause...I got so many compliments on my voice and my delivery. It was such a great feeling. I'm exhausted now but I feel so accomplished and can't wait to see the finished product. Walking out, I ran into the gentleman in charge of the studio. He asked me if I was on air for the show. One of the juniors came around the corner and said, "You bet he was." He started to tell me the importance of being well rounded. The junior said, "Don't worry, he already is. He's a keeper." 

This makes me smile and chuckle. The applause was fun and it shows what I learned this year at U-View. We all root for each other. Sure, we're competing for jobs and trying to do our best. But we support and root for each other. U-View became my family. I still remember that junior saying I was a keeper. A fond memory. I hate watching my first appearance on Sideline though after everything else I did this year.

Dark Horse:

" I will have the opportunity to meet with a foreign student for one hour every week and just talk to him to familiarize him with the English language. His name is Fahad Alshmari. I am planning on meeting with him for the first time today."

Fahad and I met only once. It didn't work out. His attendance was spotty and commitment to the program was weak. I have not seen him since. I wish him the best. 

"I was put on a [flag football] team with all junior and seniors, the one I swear could crush me if he touched me with his pinkie finger but has the heart of a teddy bear.

I caught the game's first touchdown pass and then intercepted the first pass from the other team and ran it back for a touchdown. That's when they noticed me and gave me the nickname "Dark Horse." I embraced the nickname and contributed to our team's dominating first win of the season."

I loved playing flag with those guys. I was called "Dark Horse" on and off the field all season. It was a great feeling. 

..................................................................................................

Looking back at my first few posts from the beginning of the year, I was such a freshman. Expectedly. Some of my first impressions and judgments were accurate, some were not. This is why I started the blog: to go back and re-live memories and reflect. My first year was amazing, and it's all thanks to what I did in my first semester. 

Because, why not?

Josh