One Month Down

I know I've only been at SMC for five weeks, but I'm already calling it home. After tomorrow, I'll have survived a month of classes – not as easy of a feat as I'd thought. It's so tempting to come to college thinking “wow, 13 hours of class a week, I have so much free time.” Ha. Well, I'm free to choose which class to study for first...

Transitioning to college work has been difficult for me in many ways. At Da Vinci, every class had some element of technology, and we never took notes. There were no lectures, just powerpoints we'd later receive copies of. I think I had one essay my senior year; it was around three pages long. Turns out college isn't quite like that, my school especially – none of my teachers use powerpoints for their lectures. There are chalkboards in the classroom, and teachers either outline their lecture on the board, or in handouts. Luckily I come prepared to take copious notes, and try to look like I've done this before.

I had three tests and a paper this past week, only one of which I've gotten back. I guess I exaggerate when I say three tests; one of those was an indoor rowing test for crew. That didn't make it any less stressful, though! Speaking of which, rowing's been great. A few weeks ago the team went to run at Jog for Jill, a fundraiser for finding a lung cancer cure.

From left: Me, Stacey, and Maryann after jogging for Jill

Next weekend, SMC will compete at our first race of the fall season: Head of the Port, at my old home course! I can't wait to race, and to see all my old teammates as well. It'll be fun to visit the old boathouse and say hi – and to row on familiar waters. Briones is beautiful, but I still don't know the difference between the 1000m mark and the 4000m.

I'm really having fun at school. The students are great, my professors have been very helpful, the crew team is amazing, and to top it all off, I'm learning a lot. Just look at this blog post and maybe you'll notice that this paragraph sounds oddly like a conclusion. That's what happens in college, I guess.