hey, Bible major, remember? the Bible never says it was an apple… don’t make me hi-jack this thread with a discussion of “things people say are in the Bible that aren’t”… I might get a little fiesty.
how did i miss the bestbookbuys.com post? I don’t think i’ve looked there, but my sister has been using halfpricebooks.com and a couple others for hers… anybody had experience with both?
I might have been confusing Snow White with Adam and Eve. I have no clue why:)
Oh, I forgot the bad side of #6: less acuity of posts (both in terms of factual accuracy and grammar and all such things as fade with fatigue).
eh, it’s a commonly made mistake. if you took a poll, most people would say the fruit in question was an apple (hence, the term ‘Adam’s apple’), but the text actually just says fruit. many scholars think it was… a mango, I think it was. or was it a pomegranate? no, no, i think it was a mango… or papaya? something along those lines. I’m sure I’ll run across it in one of my classes soon enough.
fiesty - the spanglish word defined as: the state of being in the mood for a fiesta…
of course, what I might get is feisty.
I’ve got to quit taking detours in my own thread… but it’s MINE durn it! I can do what i want with it!
so… bravely we march back to the OP…
I dunno if it’s been said yet (and if it has it bears repeating again):
Take advantage of free services where you go. Movies, meals, books, whatever. “Meet Joe Everyman, who will be giving a lecture on subatomic hypertronic plasmamodifiers”. Sounds fantastically boring and complicated, right?
Just go:)
I’m not sure if you are driving or flying (my computer’s Reeeeeaaalllyyy slow today, so I didn’t read everything) but my best advice would be to make friends with someone who has a car and knows their way around the city. If you don’t have a car, find a map of the bus system ASAP. You’ll need food, and the stores around campus are heinously expensive. I would advise you not to buy very many things for your room. I’ve lived in a dorm for a while now, and I can tell you that you should get a good look at the room first. You may not even be able to fit all your new stuff in there, of you may need something that you didn’t anticipate (like shelving). BUY EVERYTHING CHEAP!!! If you need can openers and plates, for example, buy the cheapest ones possible. If you have to go all the way back to seattle, you may have to throw some things away because of lack of room. They may as well be cheap things. If you have a lot of stuff, find a UHAUL place - they rent dollies for dirt cheap. Oh, and make friends with someone who’s been there a while. And go to class BEFORE you buy your books!!! Okay, that’s all I got for now… I think I may have contributed to bringing your thread back on track. Good Luck!
thanks xanadu! we are flying to Oklahoma City and after a couple of days there driving a rental to Arkansas… I’m trying to to gather too much stuff before I even get there! no car for me, but thank goodness for a suitemate with one and a full meal plan in the caf, nasty food aside.
I think I will be all about lectures on weird topics by random people! thanks for the suggestion punha (does everyone always bold everyone’s name? or rather, should I? though I’ve been reading for a long time, that’s not a detail i took note of)
anyone have ideas for what to do with the stuff I do bring, since the built-in beds only have 10" underneath, only accessible by removing the mattress, and we aren’t allowed to put up shelves?
Welcome, Life! Enjoy college! I think everyone’s covered mostly everything about college that I could say, but I have to get in another word. 
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Be prepared for doubts about your religion/the Bible. I’m not saying you will have any, and be glad if you don’t. Just be prepared. Make sure you have friends that you can hang out with if you suddenly become an atheist, friends that don’t care what religion you are. It’s good for moral support to have the vast majority of your friends be Christian, but keep a few non-Christian pals around just in case. (Sorry, it’s a personal experience thing…ignore as you please!)
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Have an alternate plan in case you don’t have a serious relationship at all in college or don’t get married by age 25. It seems that in my experience, conservative Christian women tended to get married fairly young (I shouldn’t stereotype, I know), and a single woman at age 25 was a fairly rare creature. (Again, personal experience. By the time I was 21, most of my conservative Christian female buddies from college were married and had moved on in life.) What if you’re single at 25, then what?
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Conservative U mindset: wear big tops and roomy pants (or if you have to wear skirts, long skirts). That help?
Have fun and study hard!
hi, lel! I’d never really consciously thought “i’d better keep some friends that’ll love me no matter what” but the principle make perfect sense to me. I definitely don’t plan on incurring any doubts, I’m certain that my faith is “my own” and not my parents, but that rule applies to lots besides religion, and to doctrinal differences in religion as well. unfortunately there are enough bigots out there that will break up a relationship over non-salvation issues (sorry if i’m using too much jargon here), but hopefully I will be friends with people that aren’t jerks in that regard
I’m not worried about if I’m not worried by 25. I’ll be ok if I don’t - I can have a life outside a family, and though I might grow lonely at times, I could deal. I’m just guessing I will be. Maybe not, I’ve been known to be wrong and I would much rather marry later or not at all than marry unwisely!
I do have a little backup plan though… saw one of my best (male) friends for the last time before both of us leave (he’s going to a different conservative Christian school, in Nebraska - somehow, we’re both going to areas very very different from the Northwest). if neither of us is married when I turn 30, we’re going for it!
I’m very glad to report that we don’t ever have to wear skirts (though I usually do on Sundays, but that’s just a personal thing and not a requirement that anyone has put on me), though if we want to wear anything above the knee to class or before 2pm on weekdays, it has to be a skirt (and right above the knee is as short as is allowed)… I don’t mind the dress code so much, just i know i’m going to swelter as i’m not used to the heat nor the humidity there. I’ll stock up on cheap capris when i get down there I guess.
lel, did you go to a school like mine? or have you just had enough friends and experiences to know the sort of people and situations I might encounter?
Here’s some advice from someone 32 hrs away from college graduation.
Some good things to pack are basic tools, like hammer, plyers, screwdrivers- sounds weird, but my aunt made me take a tool box with me and I actually made many friends by loaning them out. A coffee pot- even if you don’t drink coffee it is handy to be able to make hot water for hot chocolate, ramen noodles, cup-o-soup, etc. A cordless phone- so you can take your calls in the hallway and not bug your roommate. ** Quarters**- i cannot emphasize this enough. As said before quarters are gold in college.
My tips are: 1-Go to class! Sounds simple and obvious, but it may be harder to do than you think. 2-Trade phone numbers with someone in your class, so you will have a backup in case you miss class for some reason. Also, you may end up making friends this way. 3-As far as book buying goes, there are two sides to the dilema. If you buy books early, you may end up buying books you don’t need. Because even though they say they are required, they often aren’t used. If you wait to buy books until class starts, the used ones may all get taken and you end up buying new ones at twice the price. Also, this gives you less time to order from online bookstores. Personally, I usually wait until after classes start to buy my books, but I’m a procrastinator.
4-- This one is hard, but have a general idea of what classes you will need to take for your degree and mix the easy classes in with the hard ones. (This is where my anecdote comes in.) I basically had a list of required classes for my major. I went down this list, taking whatever fit in my schedule. Now that I’m close to graduating I realized that I have taken almost no electives yet. I’m going to have to take an entire semester (15hrs) of upper level electives. This means 15 hrs of whatever upper lvl classes I can get into that don’t require pre-reqs. Upper level-- so they won’t be easy A’s-- and they probably won’t be classes that I’m even interested in.
Finally, don’t worry too much about making friends. When I went to college I was terrified because I had lived in the same tiny town my entire life. Growing up I was “that Smith* girl-- you know, Joe’s* kid. They’re good people.” I met my best friend in second grade and hadn’t had to worry about making friends since then. On top of that, I was pretty shy. If I could make friends (and I did, easily) then anyone can. The most important thing is to keep your mind open.
*Names have, obviously, been changed.
I am glad to hear you are steady in your faith now, Life. The first thing I wish I had had emphasized when I was going to college was to be strong in the faith. It’s a difficult place to maintain one’s faith. (Mini-anecdote: For a few years, I went to a college church group that was made up of about half students from a local Christian university and half students from a local secular university. It amazed me, one of the secular university students, to hear the Christian university students talk about spiritual life at their school. It wasn’t all that different from the secular school.)
If you are married by 25, that’s great! If you are not, that’s great! Loneliness would probably depend on the structures you had around you at that time – they can vary such a great deal by 25. Keep up social structures as well as you can would be my recommendation.
Oh yeah, I began college as a conservative Christian at a large secular university. I graduated from that school, but by the time I had finished my faith had been quite the worse for wear.
My last post was just my own personal screw-ups, but I honestly can recommend a few things that I couldn’t have done without, regardless of my "idiocy.:
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I second the can opener. Get a decent one, though. They tend to break in half.
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A hamper or laundry basket. You’ll want to put the dirty stuff in something, to avoid wearing something only to find out when you’re fully awake that you stink. Laundry baskets are good for storing “stuff” as well.
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An umbrella. Trust me.
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Duct tape. You’ll find ways to use it.
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If you’re going to have dishes, get a drainer. Even if you’ll be washing them in the bathroom sink, you’ll want a place to keep them.
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Take your own laundry detergent. It will be insanely over-priced on campus and in laundrymats.
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Rubber/plastic sandals to wear in the shower or locker room. Athlete’s Foot and Plantar’s Warts SUCK(s).
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Those lockable trunks you see at Walmart, etc. are highly recommended. Keep your food in there, with a padlock. Your roomies might be nice, but their friends might not be. Keep any money you aren’t carrying around with you in there too.
A few cautions:
Your roomies might seem great at first, but don’t lend them anything you can’t afford to lose.
If a roomate is moving out, BE THERE. Make sure your stuff doesn’t move out too.
Don’t be too nice. If your roomies eat the food, make sure they buy some too, or stop sharing.
DO NOT GET A JOINT TELEPHONE BILL.
Call your parents and tell them the truth if you’re in trouble. I wish I had.
I’m going into my second undergrad year in a few weeks. Here’s a few things that worked for me (and didn’t).
-Don’t be a jerk. It’s the first rule of the SDMB. Also the first rule of dorm life. You’ll be living with these folks for a year. Don’t poison the well without good reason.
-On the same token, be friendly! On the whole, folks are nice people that get grumpy every once in a while. Don’t take it personally if your comrades get angry at you. Everyone has bad days. I always remember that I need a reason to not be nice to someone. If I can’t think of anything, I’m kind to them.
-On the other hand, be aware, but not paranoid. Know where your things are at all times. Dorms have a strange way of hiding things of yours.
-Go to class. Go to class. Go to class.
-Get on a set schedule. Get up at roughly the same time, and go to bed at roughly the same time (at least on weekdays.) Getting your body into a rhythm will certainly help you not feel groggy all of the time.
-Exercise. It sharpens the mind, improves the health, and generally is a Good Idea.
-Eat balanced meals. This, too, makes you feel better. Take vitamins too.
-Try new things. This opportunity is rare.
-Practice good hygiene. Yes, if you have redeye classes, you can roll out of bed. But generally, it is a good idea to take showers every day, brush and floss 'da teeth, wear clean clothes, comb/brush hair, and so on. I know it’s a cliche, but people treat you how you look, and you feel how you look. You don’t have to wear suits every day, but don’t wear dirty tee-shirts and sweatpants everyday as your normal wardrobe. Find a middle ground.
-Bring an umbrella, laundry basket, random tools, and shower sandals. You will need them.
-A sleeping bag might be good to bring. You never know when a friend might want to crash in your room, or if you will want to crash at someone else’s place. An extra place to sleep is always welcome.
-Remember that college is an opportunity, not a burden. You now have the chance to learn stuff all the time, from professors excited about their fields, with a vast variety of wonderful and intriguing people (roughly your age,) stay up as late or go to bed as early as you want, have a rockin’ good time, and find out what your passion is, all in the prime of your life. Enjoy it! It’s fun! Just always remember how freaking neato your life is, even when it’s no fun. It sure got me through a lot of sleepless nights of thinking too much instead of going to sleep.
-Last piece of advice. Call home every week or so. Most likely, this is the first time that you will not reside in your parents’ house. They will be worried about you. It’s their job. Put them at ease by telling them what you’re up to. They’ll thank you for it. (Also, you may get them to send you home-made baked goods. Makes you very popular in the hall, let me tell you!)
I hope that wasn’t too long. Take what you will. If you actively disagree with something, or it just doesn’t suit you, than don’t do it. Everyone’s different.
One more thing! (I’m so hopeless.) When I did dishes or laundry, I made sure that my roommates were out of the room, so I could sing loudly. It makes the time go by.
I went to a woman’s college, but we had pretty liberal vistation policies. Men could stay until late on the weekends–and by the time I left they were allowed to stay overnight.
I strongly recommend you socialize in groups. Actually, a lot of Christian colleges encourage this anyway. There’s less pressure when it’s a big group of guys and girls going out. And being in a group can make even lame things fun. Bowling, putt-putt golf, etc. can be a blast when you’re with friends.
Hey! I went to Arkansas Tech, which is in the same sports league as Harding, or was when I went there, anyway. I know from personal experience that the conservative christian colleges aren’t that much different than secular institutions in the state, B-O-R-I-N-G, with the exception of U of A, which is as wild as just about any college. Having said that, it still means it’s rather provincial there, to put it nicely.
But Searcy is only 50 miles from Little Rock, so you can at least find some semlance, however small, of culture there. Since you seem to like conservative christianity, you’ll be right at home in Arkansas. If you want to be immersed in bible belt zealotry, you’re in for a treat. I found it stifling and counter to my worldview, so I split.
…semblance, even!:smack:
I’d also like to add that despite my philosophical differences with much of the population there, many folks in Arkansas are the nicest, friendliest people you’ll ever meet. You’ll have no trouble making friends, I assure you.
My advice is, use whatever technology you have at your disposal. If you have a computer, use the calendar software like Outlook (or, if it doesn’t have calendar software, Yahoo! has it for free, and it’s not bad.) to keep yourself organized. Some classes have a lot of work, others not so much, but having a calendar where you can look at all of it at once is helpful in planning your time.
Also, learn to use the word-processing software your school prefers. Learn it well. Take a class if you need to. Knowing software helps out so much, because you can make your papers and stuff look really spectacular. You can also save stuff like bibliographies as a template and make it much easier on yourself.
Finally, take a “fun” class each semester, even if it doesn’t fulfill any of your requirements (except elective) or advance your career goals in any way. Having a class to look forward to can keep a lousy semester moving fast!
Robin
NO! Don’t bring the original!!!
Bring a notarized copy. Things have a habit of disappearing in dorm rooms.
Other Items: given that it sounds like you have very little storage, I wouldn’t bring the sleeping bag. Too big & bulky for the amount of time that you plan to use it.
Your college is quite small, so you’ll really not have trouble getting around, but the bike could be a good thing.
Also, because of the small size, I would advise against getting into any serious bf/gf relationships your first year. For one thing, if you jump into something serious and then it doesn’t last, you’re going to keep having this person in all your classses, for another it can do exactly what you predicted, keep you from joiing other activities. Besides, you’re there for your BA, not your Mrs, right?
You sound like your head is basically on straight. Most of the things that cause trouble don’t sound like they’re really present at your school and you don’t sound the type to go in for that sort of thing anyhow. You’ll do fine.
My cousin lives in Centreville and just graduated this year… maybe she was in your roommate’s class. If you want I could ask about her, maybe get you some info about what to expect. Just email me.