Homes, Sweet Homes

“I’m going home, to the place where I belong, where your love has always been enough for me.”

Daughtry has been stuck in my head this past week, and rightfully so – tomorrow I get to go back to my house, my town, all the familiar things I’ve left behind after coming here, and I could not be more excited (I mean, we are ignoring the fact that I’ve already been home for a weekend, so it’s not going to be me reacquainting myself the way I thought it would be in August, but still). The semester has gone by in the blink of an eye, and I’ve eaten, slept, socialized, worked, and Netflixed my way through it (but not necessarily in that order). An experience that I thought would feel like a year passing went by in about a week of wonderful times. Proudly I can say I’ve enjoyed every minute.

But I just really can’t wait to go home.

Home – that inherently comfortable place that houses your favorite comfy couch, that place where friendly faces are omnipresent, even if it’s just your sibling’s or pet’s, that place with the magical kitchen in which only your mom can make that special dish you love. That place where you can truly be yourself, where you can express all of your quirks, that place where you feel needed and loved and also need and love others.

Home is where my house is. However, if you take another look at what I just said (and tweak it a little), my home isn’t just my house.

Ever since I decided to go back and visit while I’m on break this week, the more I think about it, my home contains that perfect after-class study spot, the people that I’ve grown up with over the years, the snack bar that made the best cookies ever (until I came here and had a West cookie). My home was the place that molded me over the years, where I learned to be more of myself and develop some really close bonds with teachers and students.

Home is where my high school is. But wait, there’s more.

Over the course of this semester, my home has manifested itself in the comfy couches of the GLOBE lounge, in the many people I have the pleasure of seeing during the course of my day, in the solace of Redifer’s French toast sticks. Here, I’ve learned to say the things that are on my mind, to act how I feel, to already form some great friendships which I really hope last at least for the time I’m here.

Home, to me, is where the heart is. And my heart spreads itself across multiple locations, all which have the same exact feelings. The idea of home can’t be tied down to a specific place because it represents so much more than that. Home is a sense of comfort, of love, of growth. Home is a sense of family, of friends, of community. Home is exactly where you want it to be.

So today I’m at home, but tomorrow I’m going home. When I go home, I’ll still end up visiting home. And I eagerly look forward to the day I’ll be coming back home. But no matter where I travel, you can probably guess what song I’ll be listening to on the way.

 

Halloweekend…. No. Just No.

So this rant comes a little delayed, seeing as Halloween was more than one week ago. However, the inflamed response it sparks in me is year-round, so get ready to hear me rant. Note: I’m really only harping against a specific bracket, so if you know this doesn’t apply to you (or if it does), understand that I currently am not looking at the bigger picture.

I firmly believe that Halloween is one of the best holidays of all time. On Halloween, it’s perfectly justified to dress up in a ridiculous or clever costume, go around to different strangers’ houses and beg for candy, and then sit and stuff your face with said candy while watching a scary movie. That is Halloween. It’s about celebrating the weird and the crazy and the scary and the fun. And the candy. Always the candy. Halloween was the holiday I most looked forward to throughout my childhood.

Halloween at Hogwarts… Now this is what I wished my childhood was like.

Coming to college, I was well-aware of what “Halloween” meant for a good number of students. But I also figured that it gets cold in October, and hibernating with candy > parading around town in next to nothing. Oops, guess I was mistaken. This may be one of the stereotypes of college life that actually hold true, and may be worse in person (just because I really don’t want to see you squeezed into clothes a size too small and call it some random “costume”).

I’m sorry, but can someone please tell me what the point of dressing promiscuously on Halloween is?

Like, shouldn’t a Halloween costume be relatively faithful to the person/thing it’s based on? Ladies, take note: a cat is not a minidress and 5-inch heels. Cats are fully covered (unless they’re those hairless ones, but that’s a different story). Furthermore, do not debase popular children’s characters. For every “sexy minion” I have seen, I have wanted to vomit. That’s honestly just not okay. Sure, minions are short. That does not mean your clothes have to be shorter. That being said, at least you all get a point for trying to go in costume. All the girls who wear just plain white shirts and socks, it’s only Tom Cruise in Risky Business if men do it (as bad as it is to perpetuate gender roles, etc). When y’all do it, you look like you just came from somebody’s apartment the morning after drinking a little too much.

And how on Earth are you able to wear your skimpy clothing outside? I have nothing against going out; in fact, it’s a lot of fun sometimes. That being said, last Thursday, it was raining. As in cold water falling from the sky. As in it’s Snuggie and hot chocolate weather. I understand that in a matter of minutes you’ll be warmed up enough to not feel anything, but still, is it really all that fun? Why would you want to starve yourself and contract hypothermia when instead you could be EATING CHOCOLATE. I don’t know about you, but I see a clear winner here.

Halloweekend can be a meaningful experience if you take the time to make it one. So for that, I thank all of those contributors who are helping to keep my childhood intact. I thank the HUB for playing The Conjuring that weekend, inspiring people to get in the spooky Halloween spirit.  I thank all of those people who wore decent costumes, the Cady Herons of Penn State. I salute your efforts to show that having fun and being comfortable trumps fitting into the slutty stereotype. I thank the clubs who put on haunted houses and the few random people who walked around as Slenderman, the Grim Reaper, and any other freaky characters to remind us that Halloween’s true purpose is to scare the living daylights out of you.

Pro tip: the best time to buy candy is right after Halloween, when all the Halloween candy is on sale. Hit up the local drugstores and grocery stores, and if you have any extra, you know where to find me 😉

Candy. Enough said.

Time… Just What Am I Supposed to Do With It?

To Do List:

  • Laundry
  • Clean room
  • Email professors
  • Wash dishes
  • Read and take notes for bio GET ON THAT
  • Go shopping for Halloween costume/accessories/CANDY
  • Go to lab
  • Edit lab notebook
  • Finish stat homework don’t need to do it today!
  • Go to club meeting

Now that you’ve had a glimpse into my life here (and probably noticed the fact that I leave notes to myself… I mean, what are you talking about? I don’t talk to myself.. pshh, crazy), you may be realizing that your workload looks pretty similar, if not worse. That definitely seems like a hectic schedule.
Oddly enough, I’ve still been able to accomplish at least half of a list like this and still get a good amount of sleep… is that weird? The fact is, I can’t even call it time management, because I have absolutely no sense of that. Those of you who have heard me rant about my life, you know the one thing I can’t resist is Netflix.

No further explanation needed.

Getting back to my point, I guess the reason that all of this tends to work out splendidly sometimes is because free time here is both a curse and blessing: if you know when to seize it, you can truly accomplish everything you need to.

I can almost guarantee that at some point, every entering college student has been under the mentality that free time is abundant – in fact, there are probably more than 24 hours in a day at college, because how else can students have so much time to socialize and do fun things? I was definitely one of those people, especially after seeing my fall schedule (1 class Tuesdays and none on Thursdays, success!). I was ready for a life of leisure, to relax and enjoy my spare time.

Hahahahahahahahahaha…. no.

It hits you after a month just how much there actually is to do in order to maintain a balanced life. I’m sure everyone’s heard of the college life triangle – academics, social life, sleep – and how it’s only possible to ever have two of the three without going insane. While I firmly believe that the triangle needs to be a rectangle to account for extracurricular activities, I’ve actually found it to be true, and unless you set 8 hours a day for each of those components (and stick to it), there’s really no way to experience everything without giving up anything.

But fear not – that doesn’t mean you can’t complete everything you need to! I’ve learned that throughout the week, the above-mentioned three (or four) sided shape actually turns equilateral. There actually is plenty of time to do all your academic work, see your friends, and get enough sleep. It doesn’t feel like that when you shun the world and stay up till 4:00 in the morning studying for an exam, and it may not feel like that when you go out on Friday night or sleep past noon on a Sunday, regretting wasting so much of your day. What I’ve learned, though, is that by looking carefully at due dates and gaps of time in my schedule, I can decide when to do each thing that I need. It helps to multitask too – cleaning your room while waiting for laundry, working on homework with friends… if only I could get things done while I was sleeping… And not that I’m encouraging this (or have done this at any time), but skipping a class to get other things done is actually a smart idea sometimes (especially if you fall asleep in said class).

There really are only 24 hours in a day, and we need to figure out how to get the 2348763345678 things on our checklist accomplished in that time. Small things like multitasking, keeping your phone calendar up to date, or even just waking up a bit earlier in your free mornings can really make a difference. Free time can easily be whisked away by napping or Netflix; it’s up to us to harness its potential and make the most of it. Time really does fly.

Wait a minute… is this time management? Huh. Who would have thought? I guess this means I’m finally growing up… Oooh look, new episodes of 30 Rock on Netflix? Never mind that…

——

Note: this post does not talk about procrastination, and therefore is not an ideal representation of my life, because let’s be honest, procrastination is really what drives the entire balance of our lives

Selling Ourselves for Money… FTK

Hey, you. Yeah you. You with the face. It’s a canning weekend. Do you want to spend a leisurely, enjoyable weekend taking delicious fruits and vegetables and preserve them? You do?

Then you need to go to a different school.

But wait, I’m confused…. Don’t students go canning here?

The thing that about a quarter of the campus does, the thing that Penn Staters call canning, is in fact a way to fundraise for THON. It involves driving out to neighborhoods across Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, and other students’ hometowns, and literally parading street corners holding a metal can in the hopes that passersby will donate money.

I remember driving places on Saturdays and Sundays back home, where I would see a Penn State student at every corner I passed, wearing signs, sometimes tutus, trying their hardest to get our attention. I remember being mildly annoyed that I couldn’t drive peacefully without feeling guilty for not donating and harassed because I was broke and couldn’t spare money (or so I thought until I stopped at Wawa). I never expected to put myself in their shoes, knowing that they were raising money for charity but not feeling the same sense of passion. Also, I didn’t for the life of me know what “FTK” meant… I actually thought it was some sort of fraternity.

Is that what you just did when you read this? Yeah I probably deserved that…

Coming here, it wasn’t even until I started attending club meetings that I realized why people went canning. I learned about each club’s family, those precious people who put on a brave face against cancer. I wanted to help them, to try and provide some relief.

So I signed up to go canning (with Science LionPride… it was definitely an interesting experience… meaning that they’re slightly crazier than they come off in weekly meetings). And it was an unbelievable weekend.

The process is simple: you and your fellow club members carpool to a member’s house, where you will be sleeping and eating (but not showering – there’s no time for that/that’s a lot of water). You wake up early on Saturday morning and head out to your registered intersection and commence canning.

There is nothing quite like the feeling of standing outside for hours, pacing up and down the block during red lights, singing, dancing, trying to make (or avoid) awkward eye contact with people without actually soliciting money. There are times when you want to just sit down and stop and stare at the callousness of people who walk by without dropping a couple coins in (especially you Penn State alumni… we know you know about this, we know you probably went through this experience, and we know you have a couple cents to spare…). It is most definitely hard work, and there are times during the day when you don’t feel rewarded.

Time to give up?

But seeing people put in a $10 bill instead of just a dollar, smiling at you, telling you what a wonderful job you’re doing and to keep up the good work, stopping traffic for a couple of seconds to give you money, it truly makes the experience worth it. The appreciation and gratitude you feel completely overshadows everything else, and in that moment, you know exactly why you’re doing this. Every little happy moment, even the sheer sight of a driver reaching for his or her wallet, fills you with adrenaline and joy, powering you to keep going. You go back and count up the day’s total with a smile, knowing that every penny you earned is going to a child who deserves it.

Canning – bringing emotion into the hearts of everyone, no exceptions.

So if you’re reading this and you haven’t yet gone on a canning trip, I highly encourage you to do so. If what I’ve written hasn’t motivated you so far, then this is what you need to know: home-cooked food, carpet under your feet, two-ply toilet paper – luxuries you don’t realize you miss until you have them again (shameless plug – the house I went to had a puppy that I got to play with, maybe that could be you too). If you have gone, what were your favorite/least favorite moments? What did you expect going into the trip that you found to be true or untrue?

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

 

The Secret Life of the Penn State Faculty

I think this post became warranted as I was walking to one of my classes and passed a man going in the opposite direction. This man had wild white hair and a long white beard, a brownish tweed jacket (most likely with elbow patches), and I believe he was carrying a briefcase, all of which I noticed as he was rushing by, walking faster than I was (that’s definitely saying something… for those of you who don’t know, I am an apt speedwalker). Immediately the first conclusion that jumped into my mind was, Oh he’s obviously a faculty member running late for his next class. And why isn’t that a valid assumption? We’ve all seen the stereotypes of college professors on television – boring, nerdy old men and women who make us simultaneously laugh and cringe with their eccentricity. The first reaction that came into my mind? I wonder why none of my professors are like that…

Faculty at Penn State comprise so many diverse personalities and backgrounds, obviously not unlike the students, and sometimes we tend to take that for granted. We make assumptions about certain people in certain positions and don’t bother to think twice about why. It was only last week, two months after coming here, that I learned that the professor of the class I fall asleep in (he has the most soporific voice known to man, I swear… or I’m just really tired in the morning) actually is pretty important in his department. Finding that out amazed me – how could anybody teaching a basic lecture class be someone important? Or even when we reverse that: I needed to send my statistics teacher an email, and I spent about 10 minutes wondering how to address her (Professor, Doctor – doesn’t have a doctorate, never mind – etc). Frustrated, I gave up, only to realize that she prefers to go by Mrs. But you don’t call teachers in college Mr. or Mrs., that’s not correct… is it? It struck me as so fundamentally odd that we could do that here. I always thought that every single teacher was a Doctor or a Professor or somebody intimidating. Honestly, my stat teacher just got a lot more approachable.

And now let’s talk about Ph.D. people… those faculty members who you know have a solid postgraduate degree. They’re honestly like snowflakes – no two are alike. There are those who flaunt their accomplishments, professors who spend class lecturing you on their research projects. They make you want t0 tear your hair out and leave the room, but you can’t because you’re honestly a little nervous to talk to them. Yet I also have teachers who are inherently cool – one has a British accent and an earring, the other is my English teacher so I can’t really say anything else (just kidding, he’s actually pretty down-to-earth). You would really never suspect that they were doctorates based on the stereotypes of apparel and affectations.

I think the best part, something that I never really brought to the forefront of my mind, is that everyone who teaches at a university loves what they do wholeheartedly. Whether they’re tenured or desperately seeking better pay, whether they teach a lecture that puts people to sleep or a small discussion-based seminar, whether they perform research or not, they love their subject. I expected all of my professors to be detached from their students, and yet every week, at least one teacher encourages the class to come to office hours or stays back to have a conversation with a student. Obviously there are some professors who fit that negative stereotype we have, but they’re not the only professors on campus.

So instead of asking you readers some questions, I have a request – maybe you have a teacher who you think is beyond interesting, or one whose class you dread attending. Take some time to learn a little bit about them. Maybe not just where they went to school, but what they’ve done, where they want to go. I promise that you will be awestruck at some of the things you discover.

Miss (Sort of) Independent

Before I start writing, let’s take a moment to reflect on the fact that we’re halfway through our first semester of freshman year. Can you believe time has actually gone by that fast?

This entire week, I struggled to think of a topic worth writing about… Overall, it’s been pretty mundane, no new earth-shattering epiphanies that caused me to reevaluate my college experience.

But wait a minute, that’s just it.

The fact that this week finally felt more or less normal, a bit boring even, is really not something I expected. Yes, I had events to go to, homework to do, friends to hang out with; I was indeed busy this week, relying heavily on my phone calendar and homework agenda to figure out just how much I could procrastinate. However, not once did I feel green or new or freshman-y. Everything sort of sank in and weighted me down into reality from where my head was in the clouds of freshman confusion.

The first few weeks here, I never wanted to be alone. In college, you were supposed to be social, right? So I would sacrifice getting homework done early for social time (I still do, but I’m getting better as I’m currently writing this blog post alone in my room), I would always want someone to eat with, and I felt left out when I wasn’t included in people’s plans. For me it became an inherent, routine command – make friends, be outgoing, broaden my social horizons.

I think the biggest thing that sparked my reality shock was probably the fact that I didn’t try to actively seek out my friends – I mean, I did text them to walk to class with me, I hung out with them in the lounge, and I had a wonderful Panera breakfast with a couple girls from my floor… Okay so I basically didn’t change a single part of my social routine, but I never felt compelled to make those plans: I did what I could. And this week, what with classes, extracurriculars, Distinguished Honors Faculty Program events, Netflix, and lab work, I really didn’t have time to actually look for people to do things with. I may or may not have positioned myself specifically at strategic locations (I think I frequent the GLOBE lounge more than some people who actually live in the GLOBE), and I shifted around my homework schedule to work in spending time with people, but overall I let whatever happen, happen.
Most of my meals I’ve been eating alone in my room, trying to finish all the food my parents brought before it spoils (1. I’ve sorely missed food with actual flavor and spice, 2. For an accurate representation of this image, see my GIF from my last post); I’ve actually enjoyed the solitude, something I never expected to happen. It is a pleasant feeling to sit in one’s room, immersed in a favorite Pandora station, and getting caught up on life, whatever that needs to be at the time.

The best part of being “alone” and independent in college is that when you do decide to be social, people are always there to join you. In high school, if you didn’t talk to/Facebook/text your friends for a few days, things were a little tense. Here, people understand that busy lives need to be led, and friendship can be picked up right where it left off, because there’s always going to be time to catch up.

So I guess the moral of the story is that I’ve finally realized it: I’m in college now. I’m here to work, to learn, to grow, and to have fun. This is my life, not just some fun summer camp where I can live in a utopia and then go home. And that means I need to be myself – I need to be the social side of myself, making and keeping hopefully life-long friends, but I also need to be independent, to do what I need to get done even if I have to do it alone. This is the start of learning how to survive in the real world, keeping that balance in order to be a well-rounded person.

Wow, I think this is definitely a good concept for our halfway point.

I promise at some point, all of your awesome comments and responses will be given the attention they deserve in a future blog post, but for now: do you feel you’ve hit the point where college is a real thing? Most of us have had exams by now, and that’s usually a hard-hitting introduction to actually being in college and having to work (especially if grades haven’t been stellar). Are you finding it hard or easy to keep a good balance between working and socializing?

 

The Freshman 15… 50… 5000.

A College Student’s Day Through Food:

Breakfast: Usually a granola bar or some fruit, cereal or coffee and a bagel if you don’t oversleep

Lunch: Varies from day to day, but more often than not, you’re too hungry from “breakfast” to not eat. You race to the dining hall or the HUB and grab takeout so you can finish the homework you didn’t do the night before

Dinner: Buffet. Preferably at Pollock or West. So many choices, so little time.

LateNight (or Fourth Meal): You know  you shouldn’t go… But there’s French toast sticks.

Please raise your hand if that sounds like your typical day (Yeah, all your hands just went up in the air so fast). Coming to Penn State, I was honestly scared of a lot of things, but the biggest one was getting fat. The food here is miles better than what people scare you into thinking, as we learned during our tour sessions from complimentary lunches at the all-you-can-eat dining halls. There are endless options on campus – five different dining halls and fast food at the HUB – and off campus – McDonald’s, Chipotle, Kiwi, Taco Bell, to name but a few.  Also, I think merely looking at Berkey Creamery ice cream may add 10 pounds to your figure… With that in mind, I may or may not have spent my entire summer eating to prepare my stomach to handle the copious amounts of food I’d be consuming.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you… the real me.

Within the first week of classes, I noticed the plethora of options, the convenience of obtaining food from any place at any time, the ridiculous amount of fun that exists in piling a tray with food and just hanging out with friends. Friends, I might add, who are also freshmen and get just as much as you do. Yet after a particularly fattening day, one in which I happened to glance at my remaining balance, I was shocked. In this case, I have never felt so wrong to have judged so right…

THE FRESHMAN 15 EXISTS, GUYS. IT’S REAL AND IT’S SCARY AND IT WILL SLOWLY SNEAK UP BEHIND YOU AND GET YOU WHEN YOU’RE NOT LOOKING. AND THE WORST PART IS, IT TAKES MEAL POINTS.

The cause of its existence comes mainly from our ignorance. We, as busy students, go on with our daily routine, brainwashed into believing that spending meal points at the buffet is cheaper than a lot of other dining options. We see the variety of entrees, sides, salads, soups, and desserts, and we feel empowered to make choices we never got to make at home. We know everyone else feels the way we do, and so we let go a little, not worried about what other people might say when they see us struggling under the weight of our tray.

Story of our lives

We don’t question what is literally being fed to us, and just exactly the price we pay. For example, did anyone else realize that the most common meals we eat at the dining halls – dinner, LateNight, and brunch – are the most expensive? It becomes ridiculously easy to deplete meal points that way. Same goes for eating anywhere that doesn’t give students a 65% discount, like the HUB. Furthermore, have we ever really stopped to think just how healthy our food is? Like sure, we can pile a plate with veggies and lean protein and get a side of fruit, but is it entirely healthy that our veggies are cooked to the point of limp, flavorless non-nutrition, our meat (or vegetarian alternative) is still either cooked in oil or coated in cheese, and sometimes our fruit comes from a can? It still tastes good, but honestly, after six weeks of being here, I just really miss eating fiber… Even the salad leaves aren’t crisp. The food here doesn’t fill us up, which is why we don’t feel any remorse in eating a lot at every meal.

But now that we know our enemy is real, we can formulate a plan to beat it without investing money in a gym membership (which is probably what Penn State’s plan is all along, so they can take even more money from our parents). We can eat a little more cautiously (see my survival guide to the dining halls), we can change our habits to save money (heavy breakfast and lunch, or a la carte at Redifer, instead of heavy dinner and LateNight). Together, we can overcome.

Yet as I sit here typing, thinking about the massive quantity of takeout mac and cheese I consumed an hour earlier, wearing athletic shorts to feel like less of a couch potato, I guess I can’t really give the best advice. On the bright side, at least it only stops with the freshman fifteen?

~ Where perception is, there also are pain and pleasure, and where these are, there, of necessity, is desire. – Aristotle ~

Questions for my wonderful readers: Do you see yourself slowly falling into the trap of the Freshman 15? Are there any tips, tricks, or trends you’ve noticed in the dining halls? Besides getting a gym membership, what solutions do you feel are good to implement?

Why Didn’t I Get Season Football Tickets?

Watching sports is one of my secret loves. I don’t have a favorite sports team (although I’m a teensy bit partial to the San Diego Chargers and slightly sort of the Phillies thanks to hometown nostalgia and peer pressure), but there’s nothing like the joy of watching sports, especially because I’m fortunate enough to have a working knowledge of how most sports are played (yeah that’s right, I can hold my own during a football game. Thank you, Mom and Dad :D). My mode of viewing was always through the television though, so it was an interesting but oftentimes blasé affair. Obviously coming to Penn State meant being actively involved in the football culture, something I wasn’t sure I wanted to do because I didn’t know just how much school spirit I had. I admired how pumped everyone else got, but I was in no rush to buy season tickets because I totally believed I wouldn’t even go to any of the games. Boy, was I so mistaken.

While I have realized since coming here that the Penn State community really does feel like one united force, seeing people walk through the HUB didn’t really resonate the way that my first tailgate did. It was a beautiful day, and thousands of people milled about, laughing, eating, drinking, and just having a fantastic time. Nothing amazed me more than the sense of friendliness and community that pervaded the air and instilled Penn State pride into everyone. Pride for the team, pride for the school, pride in themselves. I could now fully appreciate just why people came back year after year to be a part of this cultural staple. I didn’t have a game ticket though, so I trudged back to Simmons and watched the game on the TV. Back to my usual routine. Yet that tailgate was an amazing experience, leaving me hungry for more.

Through more peer pressure, I was finally convinced coerced encouraged to buy a football ticket for last Saturday’s game against Kent State. This time, I was going to pass the intimidating metal stadium gates and understand what took place inside. The day had dawned eerily foggy and wavered between pouring rain and misty drizzle. While the number of people outside the stadium had certainly decreased, the buzz of energy was the same if not more – these were the true Penn State football fans. Furthermore, it was the annual Blue Out game in support against child abuse – everyone, parents and students alike, all wore blue to show solidarity. It was a legitimate sea of Penn State pride. We filed into the student section in time to see the football team doing their warm-up stretches; we were pumped and now they were getting pumped too. The stadium played a medley of popular music and Penn State fight songs, getting everyone to sing and dance and clap along. Kickoff followed the Alma Mater, and the next few hours were a frenzy of passes, rushes, and touchdowns (all by us, of course). We alternately sang “Fight on State” and booed the opposing team. The pouring rain only made the experience that much more enjoyable because we had determination, persistence, and resilience. For someone who’s normally not the most outgoing, by the end I was probably louder than everyone around me. Our 34-0 shutout made the entire experience all the more meaningful.

Coming back from the game that night, too tired to do anything else but reflect (and eat Chipotle), I realized that as hyped as football is at Penn State, it’s entirely deserving of that. The point of football games isn’t just to see athletes tackle each other and run back and forth across the field – it’s about the atmosphere and the sense of community it builds. It’s about being with people as crazy as you are and expressing it openly, doing whatever they can to show their pride, support, and love for a school that means so much to them. A couple of days ago, one of my friends told me that this game was the first in which they played “Sweet Caroline” after the Sandusky incident. That one act brought so much to the spirit of the game, though I didn’t realize it at the time, especially since it was the Blue Out. It’s rare that an experience I deemed so commonplace can really make me change the way I see my world, but this was definitely one of them.

And you know what? I’m excited to finally have a team to cheer for.

PS- Just bought a Michigan ticket!! I’m sure it’s going to be well worth the ridiculous amount of money I paid…

It’s (Not Really) My Party, and I’ll Party if I Want To

Am I opening up a whole can of worms with my first post? Yup.

But let’s be honest: when people hear of Penn State (when I first heard of Penn State), they know of one thing for sure. Those wild and crazy parties. Parties where the alcohol is never-ending, the people are very good-looking, and everybody has a damn good time. At Penn State, weekends start with Thirsty Thursdays and usually end in Oh-So-Hungover Sundays. Fridays and Saturdays are a blur, if one is lucky enough to remember them. Since I’m that relatively awkward wallflower at parties who would much rather talk with friends than go crazy, I was beyond worried that I would feel like a loser for not following the crowd.

Looks like a fun time.

Thankfully though, after a month (Holy cow, it’s already been that long?) of being here, I have come to a slightly better understanding of just what goes down on these crazy weekends. Penn State has redeemed itself in my eyes (well, to some extent) because not every party is like that. What I learned from my various experiences… Oh wait, hold up. To any family members, teachers, or legal authorities who may be reading this, I need to clarify that yes, I went out to the above-mentioned parties, but no, I did not drink or do anything else to tarnish myself, my dignity, or my reputation. There, now I can continue with a clean conscience. As I was saying, what I learned from my various experiences is that a Penn State party is what you make of it. You can be who you want to be and socialize accordingly without fear of judgment. A sliding scale of party activity exists, reflecting the diverse population of students and personalities.

This scale ranges from the wild and crazy to the innocently tame, but it manages to encompass just about every type of party you can think of. In the time that I’ve been here, I’ve seen a frat, a couple of apartment parties, student club-sponsored “socials”, and LateNight, so I really do feel that I can give an objective viewpoint. If you would like the full delineation, direct the pointer of your mouse here and click.

Overall, I have been relatively surprised that the “partying” culture is not as hardcore as I expected. Yes, the people whose dorms/apartments overlook downtown State College will argue against that, using as proof the drunken yells and hordes of stumbling people walking through the town, not to mention the ridiculously long lines at Canyon Pizza and D.P. Dough’s. And yes, the majority of the people on campus are absent on Friday and Saturday nights, instead scouring the town for the next crazy party. But there’s no pressure to do the same. It’s relieving to know that you can go somewhere, confidently say, “No thanks, I’m not drinking tonight,” and not be judged by the rest of the party-goers. I’ve gotten a little better at moving my limbs to music to mimic dancing (and hey, I can rock that Cupid Shuffle and the Cha Cha Slide), and I really have opened up to this kind of socialization, something I did not expect. While I don’t understand the concept of partying, it makes me feel much safer and more comfortable in knowing that I can spend time with my friends in a setting like this, taking in the atmosphere but not feeling any of the peer pressure I expected to feel.

Of course, I will still ridicule anyone who does stupid things while under the influence simply because I can.

So you’ve probably scrolled down to this point, eagerly awaiting my sign-off, but no such luck exists for you! I want to take this last paragraph to reach out to you all and get your opinion on this form of entertainment, because I just don’t get it:

Why do you think parties are fun (or not fun)? Why has drinking and partying become such a staple of the stereotypical college experience? Is it really the key to having a good night? For my fellow life scientists, does knowing what you’re putting into your body and the effects it can have change the way you feel about drinking?

~What we perceive is not limited to what we see with our eyes alone~

The Penn State Party Scale

The real reason for this post is simply because I couldn’t bear to let you all suffer through what would have been inevitably a one thousand word post. Yes, I will take your round of applause and gracious affirmations of thanks at this time 😛 I also wanted to go in more depth about my observations, providing anyone who hasn’t seen all of what I’ve seen with a better look at these weekend happenings.

This is a rather basic scale – it ranges from 1, the innocent non-party, to 10, the R-rated, cute-fluffy-animals-will-die-in-there ragers. I know that I can’t cover all the nuances, but I shall try to do my best.

On the extreme end of the spectrum, probably sitting between an 8 and 10 on the scale, we have frat parties. These magnificent specimens of both supreme glorification and ultimate ridicule have actually met and exceeded my (disparagingly low) expectations. If you have been consuming more than your fair share of alcoholic beverages, a fraternity is a mansion inundated with hot guys, gorgeous girls, awesome dancing music, and plenty of beer. Everybody just wants to dance and have a good time. However, if you choose to not drink, that so-called mansion is a grimy house full of sweaty, drunk people who are most definitely not dancing, but in fact “dancing”. My only further elaboration on that particular subject is, “Whatever happened to doing the sprinkler?” Ew.

Moving down the scale, ranging anywhere from a 2 to a 7, are apartment and house parties. These, depending on the atmosphere, can either be boring or pretty fun. Partially it does depend on how much you drink, but these parties are a bit more casual – the music is loud, the drinks are a little better, there aren’t always as many sweaty people. Dancing, whether the real version or the 21st century teenager version, is not expected, taking the pressure off someone who would rather not get that close to creepy guys. Basically, these are the parties you go to with a group of friends so you are in a comfortable atmosphere. Heck, you might end up bringing the party to the party.

Within this section I’ll throw in club “socials”, which are merely a way of saying “we’re having a party” on the listserv without getting in trouble. These normally have a cover charge for members to reimburse the club for the cost of “supplies”, but the price is actually worth it. This gathering is much more comfortable, because it’s a group of like-minded people hanging out and not trying to do anything entirely ridiculous. These are the parties that you should aim to go to, not only to have a good time, but to meet more club members and make more friends.

And coming down to the University’s favorite, registering at the other end of the scale, LateNight at the HUB. Just because you go to LateNight does not make you an uncool person. They actually have some freaking awesome crafts, there’s discounts on the fast food, and they always play a recent movie (heads up – this weekend is Iron Man 3). It’s the perfect way to de-stress, to hang out with your friends in sweats and eat junk food. There’s no pressure to do anything that makes you uncomfortable, and that’s exactly what some people look for in their weekend activities.

And of course, you could score a zero on this scale if you choose to sit in your room and watch Netflix. Trust me, I’m not judging – Netflix and I may or may not be in a committed relationship. But don’t get too clingy…

I hope this sheds some light on the diversity Penn State consistently continues to offer in every aspect of campus life. Hopefully you can better navigate your Friday and Saturday nights. Be safe, be smart, and have fun!