Peter Hendrickson, an associate professor of music at Augsburg College, started biking when he realized it was the quickest, easiest way to get to his Finnish language class at the University of Minnesota.
HEY. THIS DUDE IS MY CHOIR DIRECTOR.
Auggies Vote No
PEOPLE
My school is the best.
Like, I have literally never heard of an environment where I think people would be as welcoming as Augsburg.
I’m so close to tears… I can’t even.
(Sorry I haven’t posted in so long!)
Ahhhhh!
Guess where I am!
That’s right! I’m back at Augsuburg! After a week of running around and moving in and entertaining visiting cousins I have finally made it to the burg and it feels so so so good.
What was that?
Why, yes! I did say that I already had a cousin come up to visit me and school hasn’t even started yet. And let me tell you, it was a blast. She had never been to Minneapolis before so of course I wanted to take her on the town!
We visited MoA first because of the obligations of her being a tourist. And the next day we went to the State Fair. I had actually only been there once myself, so that was quite exciting. We spent about 3 hours talking about how we wanted to steal all the baby pigs and sheep and cows and bunnies. Then we had some deep fried pickle and some deep fried Oreos. And then we stopped by the Augsburg booth in the education building!
That night we went to the Cabooze to check out this band called Yellow Dubmarine. They’re a Beatles cover band, but all the songs are reggae. It sounds super weird but was actually really awesome (just take a second and think about what Dear Prudence sounds like, but now add the reggae guitar).
And for my cousin’s last day here we just walked around Uptown and Lake Calhoun for a few hours. It was really nice. Showing someone around a place that you’ve been countless times but they’ve never been to can create a new appreciation in you. Walking around with her made me want to spend more time there just walking around like we were and really taking my time in exploring the shops.
All in all, it’s been a fun and busy week! So now just a few more days until school starts. Are you ready?
I’m moving back in 2 days!
Oh man. I cannot even begin to explain the emotions that I’m feeling right now.
I mean, obviously I’m super excited about seeing everyone and being back in the city and settling back into my independent life. I’ve missed everyone more than I can really say.
But for some reason I’m also super nervous about the semester. I’ve always kind of had my one class that I sort of put to the side while I focus on really making the grade in others. I tell myself that this year will be different; that I’ll really put in the hours of studying and the effort. But what If I can’t change? What if it’s in my nature to just be lazy?
I don’t know. But my hopes will remain high nonetheless. So the next time I blog, I’ll be back in Minneapolis!
Looking to go Abroad
So I’m starting to think about making plans to go abroad in my second half of school. It’s something I always planned to do even before I made the decision to go to Augsburg.
I’ve already decided that I want to go to either London, Sydney or Melbourne-depending on which place has the best program for me. But therein lies the kicker. I’m not exactly sure what program I’d like to do because I’m not exactly sure what it is I want to do after I graduate.
The plan I came to school with was to go into music production: working with artists in the studio and actually creating a record with them and stuff like that.
But lately I’ve been thinking about a career in radio. Being a disc jokey or a host of radio show sounds appealing to me.
I dunno. I’ll have to talk with my adviser about it. Maybe I could do one of those things in a program abroad and one in an internship here. Then I could decide which I like better. We’ll see.
I’M COMING BACK
Tomorrow I’m hopping on a Megabus to Minneapolis. I’m coming back, people! I am super stoked.
The thing is, I really miss school. Ah! Scandal! I must be a total dork!
While I am a nerd, I don’t miss school for the reason many people immediately jump to in their brains. I don’t want to have to do homework or study or so projects. Yuck! But I do miss the community of school. Both outside and in the classrooms. School is the perfect place for wonderful conversations and silly (probably less than wise) shenanigans. There are bonds you form there that will not be broken easily.
So this week and a half that I’m back in Minneapolis will be amazing. Connections that are a big rusted but will easily come back to shine. And I cannot wait =)
Check it out, peeps. Colleges and probably some employers are looking at your social networking sites to see if you’re a good fit. Are you sure you want to post something about last night’s drunken tom foolery?
Last fall, I watched my friends nervously alter Facebook surnames, Twitter usernames, and blog URLs. Middle names replaced last names and blog links were suddenly missing a few letters.
The college application process is showing a steady decline in the separation between the Internet and the going-ons in the admission offices of X University, Y College, and Z Institute of Technology. Meaning, Google has become many admission officers’ best friend over the past couple years.
In the virtual world of today, your tweet about your overconsumption of alcohol last night can be on the screen of your admissions officer in less than the amount of time it takes for you to Google “how to cure a hangover.”
The ‘solution’ used to be the construction of Facebook security walls. By using strict privacy settings on your wall, your tagged photos, and your check-ins, it was easy to avert the Facebook search of college admission offices. However, protecting your Facebook is no longer the only precaution.
Twitter, Tumblr, and Google Plus+ are among the top ten most popular social networking websites, but not just by students. Colleges are utilizing these platforms with the intention of increasing advertisement and interaction with their applicants. Some include University of Florida, University of Chicago, and Bennington College.
Boston University liked one of my Tumblr posts.
While the intentions of the colleges may be beneficial (most colleges tend to use these platforms to answer questions an applicant may have, or to post information such as deadlines), there is a double-edged sword effect. Colleges tend to search the hashtags and the tags that relate to them (which explains how BU found my post) and can thereby, find your online profiles.
But do these profiles have an effect on your actual admission?
Out of the 6 colleges asked, half commented that online profiles have no direct leverage over admission statuses. The remaining three did not respond.
“We do not have the time or resources to look students up or try to match up our applicants with their Tumblrs/Twitter handles (it would take forever!),” reported the University of Chicago Tumblr operative staff.
However, the staff suggested that every college applicant try “to keep things savory on social media sites where they may be able to be identified by name.” Just because they do not use social networking websites as a part of their application doesn’t mean others do not.
“It is becoming increasingly common for other schools or potential employers to check public profiles during any application process,” they added.
Of course, it’s difficult to draw a consensus of how Internet profiles are viewed in the eyes of each admissions staff at every college in the United States.
Yet, at the same time, it does not seem far-fetched to believe an admissions officer might think twice about admitting a student whose email address contains the words “sexy,” “cute,” or “hot” and has a profile picture of themselves at a Justin Beiber concert.*
* Just kidding about the Beiber part - kind of.
The six colleges surveyed were asked the question, “Does [school] look into students’ online profiles after they’ve, say, reblogged a post or asked a question from this Tumblr? Does it affect a student’s admissions status if they’re a prospective student?”
The 3 Options for College Kids Who Go Home for the Summer
1. Get a job and be a productive member of society.
2. Start a new hobby or increase your dedication to one you already have, and thus improve your own life
3. Sit in your room reading, watching TV, and browsing the interwebs until your parent/guardian yells at you for being a bum.
…I’m still deciding between the three.
Heyyyy, world…
So it’s been a while. I know. I will tell you that I have been super busy lately. It’s no excuse really, but it’s true.
Anyway, my roommates are doing some Zumba right now while I sit on the couch, typing away. A little voice in my brain tells me that I should be ashamed for not joining them, but to be honest, I don’t feel that bad. Probably because I’m not feeling that stressed right now. Exercises, like Zumba, are really good for relieving stress and keeping stress away. And believe me, keeping stress away in college is a survival skill.
How do I do it? I watch RuPaul’s Drag Race. Everyone is different when it comes to that sort of thing.
That’s why it’s so important to put yourself out there. That way you’ll find what it is that takes away your stress. Try cooking! Try rock climbing! Try pottery! Whatever you can do to let yourself get away from the world.
Just remember not to get too distracted by whatever is you do! You don’t want your stress relief to become the source of your stress.
Ohhhh my.
So the other night I go out with a few friends to the club Too Much Love at First Ave. My girlfriend and I are hanging around Uptown because we are going to meet our friends at their apartment to prepare for the night. The friends are running a little late, so the gf and I decide to go into Magers & Quinn-this super great independent bookstore that sells discount new and used books.
We walk in and I geek out. We’re in there for about a minute and a half before I run without warning off to go explore. You see, sometimes it’s hard to read books for pleasure in college. There are just so many books you have to read for class! So suddenly being surrounded by these stacks of bound pages, I remembered how much one can get from reading.
So I’m scampering between bookshelves and I pause at the “Letters and Essays” section and I see this book that I had heard about on the radio a few years ago and I was so excited to go find it and read it. But I never did.
Well I pick up the book and I read the foreword and I get a couple pages into the first essay and I stop. These words sound seem so familiar. I think nothing of it and I flip the pages and I start to read the second essay and again I recognize the words. I have read this book already. The memory of anticipating the book overpowered the memory of actually reading the book.
Don’t get me wrong. “How To Be Alone” by Jonathan Frazen is not a forgettable book. It’s full of meaningful stories that I do remember now that had pulled at my heartstrings and made me reflect on my own life. I didn’t forget that i had read it because it an inferior work by any means. It was simply that I remembered being excited about reading it so much more.
I haven’t been that passionate about picking up a book in a while. And that makes me kind of sad. So I’m going to try and get back into it. There’s a lot of power in written words. And I have no problem letting that power take me over.
