Back at Camp

The past weekend was a whirlwind as the majority of campus finally trickled back to Camp Trin.  Since I've been here for three weeks now, playing in the woods and braving hurricanes, I didn't have to deal with the stress of moving in and getting ready for school this past weekend.  Instead, my Quest buddies and I celebrated in true TrinColl fashion, and welcomed back old friends and swarms of freshmen alike.
The first weekend back at school before classes start is a magical thing.  No one has any excuse for not going out, so every night is packed.  The weather was perfect, so even when Campus Safety decided to shut down frats (seeing one of them in the basement at late night is a weird feeling) we could still carry on outside.  There were no responsibilities except classy trips to WalMart for dorm stuff and snacks.  My roommates and I set a decorating budget and managed to snag some great stuff for our common room and bathroom, including a "peeking frogs" shower curtain that really brings the homey-ness to a new level.

While heading to Target and WalMart during Labor Day can be a Trin reunion in itself, the real purpose of the weekend is to reunite with all those folks you haven't seen since the stressful day of May finals.  While I know Trin kids love to take New England road trips and hang out together on the Cape together all summer, that wasn't an option for all of us.  I hadn't seen anyone all summer, so seeing everyone all at once was both overwhelming and much needed.  There are several kinds of back-to-school reunions: meetings in Mather or on the Long Walk; when your roommates finally arrive and you help them move in; treks across campus to see your neighbors from last year; and the fabulous screaming, running, hugging, drunken reunions of those you may or may not be best friends with in the daylight.

Then there are those people you may not be super excited to see-- a lot of drama may have gone down last spring, you went home with someone you regret, or you grow apart from your freshman year besties.  Since it's nearly impossible to avoid anyone on this campus, may as well suck it up.  Chances are when you see that dreaded person in Mather for the first time and decide to just grin and bear it, differences will be dropped.  Summer is a long time, and most people don't spend it brooding on all the people they "hated" last semester.  Starting off on a good foot with everyone is the best way to have a drama-free semester.

On a more scholastic note (that's why we're here), today was finally the first day of school.  After over a week on campus with nothing to do, I was ready for some intellectual stimulation.  With no fancy internship or summer research project, it's been awhile since my brain has had anything productive to do.  Sophomore Success attempted to jump-start my brain, but it really takes a good lit discussion or essay to get me going.  We've hopefully all got a little bit of start-of-the-year motivation, but it's always a struggle to hold on to.  I'm all gung-ho about getting more involved this year: in the newspaper, mentoring, the writing center, whatever it may be.  I managed to miss the activities fair yesterday, though, so that's a great start.  The one essay I got assigned before school started remains in introduction-only lingo, despite having nothing to do for the past week.  But as we all get settled into a routine, the library will become home again and my brain will hopefully remember how to do its job.

And now, Shakespeare is calling me.  Here's to a good year of working hard and playing hard, which is what Trinity does best.

Things I've Been Doing Besides Blogging

Well, hello again.  My long (eight days?) absence is come to an end, and I'm sure you're all rejoicing.  I've been home for about, well, eight days now, and I've been pretty busy doing things that are not internet related.  This may have something to do with the fact that my house no longer has wifi (shocking--yes, I'm at a desktop) or maybe something to do with the fact that it's been 65-75 degrees EVERY SINGLE DAY so far this summer, and I'm taking advantage of that.  Never know when the weather's gonna change and become last summer. (45 straight days of rain, anyone?)

Anyway, summer's the time to get outside and all that jazz, so I won't be spending as much time online.  Probably also because I can't use my laptop in bed anymore.  This is what I've been up to since being home the last week or so.

Working:  Well duh, gotta make that cash moneys.  I'm lucky that my job lets me call them up every time I'm in town and puts me on the schedule pretty much whenever.  For those of you who don't know, I work at the delicious Great Harvest Bakery, where free bread is always an option.  I get sick of it though, so you're welcome to come visit me and bring other delicious things.  I'll give you bread in return.  I love the girls I've been working with all through high school, but some of our newer employees are questionable.  I guess that's why they're always so willing to hire me back.  To supplement my bakery income I'm babysitting too.  Flashback to middle school much?  Oh well, it pays well, is tax free, and not that awful.  Especially when you can take the kids to Bouncin Bears and have an excuse to play too.

Swimming, Biking, Running, a little hiking:  I may have mentioned that my workout-obsessed mother signed me up for some races upon my return.  This includes a 12k run, a sprint triathlon, and a half marathon, all in the next three weeks.  So I've been trying to get my act together, as well as erase that freshman 15 once and for all.  At least the weather's been good so that riding my bike to work, going to track practices with my mom, and returning to my club swim team doesn't seem too terrible.  We'll see if any of it pays off on race day...race days, I should say.

Seeing old friends:  Isn't that the point of coming home for the summer?  That, and rent-free living, I guess.  My friends and I have frequented all the classic hangouts:  Kaladi Brothers, Perfect Cup, the Service frolf course, Rabbit Creek playgroud.  I still haven't hit up Moose's Tooth...who wants to join me?  Seeing old friends is bittersweet because you're having so much fun but missing all your new friends.  I, for one, keep seeing or doing things that I wish my Trin friends could experince too.  When are you guys gonna visit already?!  But old friends are also so easy to spend time with...the same activities and locations happen with hardly any effort.  It's so natural for us to just gather in the Taco Bell parking lot at 10pm....we're classy, I know. 

Tweeting:  #obsessed.  I made a Twitter a few months ago but waited so long to write my first Tweet that I was afraid nothing would be good enough to be my first one.  Well, I squashed that fear and finally posted, and now I can't stop.  I know I said I was staying away from the internet, but Twitter is on my phone so it doesn't count, right?  Follow me @aklovin14.  I've had a lot of ideas for clever tweets, but I don't want to overpost right away, so hopefully I won't forget them when I actually do choose to post.  I guess we've all #beenthere.  Some of my favorites that I follow: @azizansari, @thoughtcatalog, the popular @whitegrlproblem and the extremely clever spinoff @tringirlproblem.  tweet tweet.

Reading:  Of course, I've been staying intellectually stimulated by reading great works of literature.  This includes Chelsea Handler's My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands, John Stewart's Naked Pictures of Famous People, Glamour and Cosmo, and of course the entire series of Harry Potter.  It's a summer tradition to read every book, cover to cover, as quickly as possible.  Gotta prep for the final installment in July!

Finally, I've been Missing TrinColl!  Can't wait to see all of you.