I have never been one for New Year's Resolutions, but I am willing to make more time to read. During a faculty meeting, we were asked to compile a list of 15 books that we plan to read in 2015. I tried to have a good balance of fiction and nonfiction works. Here's to the new year!
Part 2: Don’t Be That Roommate (Quit Being a Stinky Mess of a Human)It is a scientific fact that one in every four people in any living arrangement will be obnoxious. It is also probable that each roommate will gossip about that same person behind his or her back. The trick is, don’t let that person be you. Here’s a tip: if you don’t know who that person is, it’s probably you.
Try to do dishes in a timely manner, especially if you plan on using someone else’s bowls and spoons to enjoy your Ramen. What is a timely manner, you ask? It’s not a week or two. Try washing that utensil you borrowed as soon as you are done with it and no one even has to know that your parents didn’t care enough to send you off on your own without so much as one set of silverware. Are you smelly? If the answer is anything other than a resounding “no,” then yes, you are probably a stinky person. Try doing laundry at least twice a month. Let us all accept the fact that you aren’t going to wash that towel or comforter until you go home for Christmas break. That much is a given, so don’t sweat it. Anyone who says otherwise is simply delusional. Someone should probably scrub the bathtub once in a while, but I know that doesn’t happen. You have other things to do, like watch Netflix or Twitter-stalk old high school classmates. Inevitably, living with others leads to problems. At some point, you will walk in on something you won’t be able to unsee, be forced to listen to one end of an awkward phone conversation, and suspect that your personal items were tampered with (because they probably were). How you handle these annoyances will ultimately determine your level of sanity throughout your first year on campus. Good luck. And if you start to suspect that you are that roommate who others cannot stand, embrace it and become the most obnoxiously smelly human you can be. Moving in? Here are some tips to help you avoid a potentially chaotic first semester living away from home.
Part 1: Checking In (Asserting Your Dominance Over Everyone) Fist, you’re going to want to claim the best room and/or living area. Arrive at check-in early enough to be the first person into your apartment or dorm. (If you have to camp outside the building the night prior, so be it.) Once you obtain your key, get in there and lay claim to the bed in the far corner of the room. You don’t want someone walking through your space every time they have to go to the bathroom. Dibs can be called with the strategic placement of the smallest of personal items. Simply placing a shoe on an unclaimed bed makes it yours. YOURS. Scenario: it’s check-in day and you’ve left a sock on your bed of choice, thus declaring that bed to be your property (just as our forefather’s intended). Exhausted from this task, you venture off to explore the campus. You later return to your room to find that your unseen roommate has moved said sock in complete disregard of dibs-etiquette. What do you do? Understand that it is perfectly acceptable to pick up that person’s trash and throw it on the lawn. You called that bed. It is yours. You wouldn’t let someone ride in the front seat if you called shotgun, would you? Of course not, you would throat-chop that fool. When introducing yourself to your roommates, be sure to assert yourself. They need to respect the fact that you are the alpha-dog. If possible, they should fear you. Prison lore says that you must fight the biggest, toughest guy on your first day. I think this sort of applies to living with your peers. Present the image that you are an unstable being (like a stray cat); they will think twice about touching your stuff. Advice to Reitz Seniors If you’re even in the least bit sentimental, you probably already realize this year contains many “lasts.”
After your last first day of school, there will be your last game at the Bowl, your last Turnabout, and your last Mashed Potato Day. That being said, it is incumbent upon you to (insert cliché about “making the most of your senior year” here). Let’s start with the now. Start applying for scholarships. There is free money out there with your name on it. You’ve heard the counselors at class day read each graduate’s name followed by the total amount of scholarship money offered. It’s almost unreal! And unless you want to spend your late 20s (Edit: early 30s) haunted by student loan debt, you should start applying. Switching gears, find something that interests you for your Senior Project. If you can, find a place to volunteer at that can provide you with some sort of occupational insight. That’s not always an option, but it’s something to consider. If you view your project as “another check in the box,” the hours you spend will seem pointless. Plus, you have to write a research paper that is connected (in some capacity) to your project. It would be wise to at least be partially interested in what you are doing. Let’s try not wait until January to start working on it either. Thanks. On to the mushy stuff. Go to the Bowl on Friday nights. Go watch the Splash Brothers rain 3s and try to make a postseason run. Go watch a softball game down at Barker. Hang on Adye’s every last word. Don’t skip prom because you think it’s lame. That’s kind of lame. I’m not saying you have to follow the herd. However, you don’t want to get to the end of your time at Reitz and feel like you missed out. Lastly, you have approximately 36 Mashed Potato Days left before graduation. |
Stephen
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