Time really flies in college…In the blink of an eye, it’s already mid-April and the last round of midterm exams are over. Three weeks from now, I’ll be done with my finals and preparing to move out of beloved Packer Hall. It sounds cliche, but it feels like just yesterday I was carrying my bags up to see my room for the first time. As much as time has flown, the past 8 months of my freshman year have been chock full of memories, experiences, and lessons. Since the last 14 blog posts have been an insight on all of my memories and experiences, it’s only fitting that my final post reflects on the lessons I’ve learned throughout the past year that have helped me grow into a better student and a more responsible, independent person.

The biggest lesson I learned this year is to plan ahead. Quickly, I realized that in college, you get a lot more free time and freedom in what you do with it. However, along with this excess free time comes much more coursework and responsibilities. In most of my classes, there was a weekly assignment due that overviewed the material from recent lectures. Each week, the size of these assignments varied for each class. During my first few weeks on campus, my assignments were easy to complete quickly, so I spent a lot of time roaming campus and enjoying my free time. I got used to managing my schoolwork like this, so when a busy week with heavier assignments came up, I was caught off guard, missed a deadline, and stayed up extremely late finishing the assignment. From that point on, I started planning ahead with my assignments and spent time working ahead on them each day. Instead of waiting to do an assignment until the day it is due, I learned that chipping away slowly at it is a much more effective way to complete assignments on time, especially when they’re larger and more difficult than expected.

Another important lesson that my first year of college has taught me is to make the most of my time at Penn State. After talking to my older brother and other upperclassmen this year, everyone mentioned how fast college flies by. They told me that before you know it, you’re graduating and going into the real world, so while you’re here, you can’t waste it. Hearing this motivated me to treat my college experience like the once-in-a-lifetime experience that it is, and I hope to make the most of it by getting involved with clubs and connecting with the people around me. Next semester when we are more likely to have in-person events, I’m excited to continue doing this with in-person classes and clubs. Oh, and of course, be a part of that crazy student section at football games.

I could go on forever about new things I’ve learned since stepping on campus, but I find these two lessons to be the most important. Freshman year was just the start for me, and after seeing how much I’ve grown in just a short 8 months, I’m so excited to see where I’ll be by the end of my time in college.

When I became a student at Penn State, one of the things I was most excited for was THON. We had a Mini-THON at my high school, and I joined a committee every year. When I accepted my offer to Penn State, I couldn’t wait to continue my involvement with THON at a larger scale, so I made sure to join a committee when it opened up during my first semester.

I joined a Hospitality committee, so we are in charge of food-related aspects of THON. Throughout the past 6 months, we had weekly meetings on Zoom and organized various fundraisers to contribute to the overall total. On a normal THON weekend, we would be working shifts in the food stands throughout the Bryce Jordan Center; however, since THON was not in-person this year, our role was minimized. Regardless, I still spent a lot of THON weekend watching the livestream, hanging out with my committee on Zoom, and in general, supporting the cause as best as I could. My committee even pulled an all-nighter to watch the sunrise on Sunday morning, and after not seeing any of them in-person for the past 6 months, it was a really cool way to make the weekend special.

In addition, my cousin was dancing for THON this year, meaning he stayed up for all 46 hours of the event. Even though he wasn’t in the BJC like normal years, he danced in different houses around campus, so I was able to visit him one of the nights. This was another cool experience for me because for the first time, I got to witness first-hand the support that the dancers get during THON weekend. Each place he danced was filled friends, teammates, and members of THON helping to keep him energized. When I walked in the room, I felt such a contagious positive spirit coming from everybody, and it helped me even further realize how great of an organization THON is. Everybody’s passion for the cause shined through because despite the circumstances and smaller scale this year, they were still dedicating their weekend to supporting the dancers and making THON weekend the best it could be.

On Sunday afternoon, they raised the numbers to show the total amount of money raised as a culmination of every committee’s
efforts. This number was an astounding $10.6 million. To achieve this during a year of crazy circumstances and extensive fundraising restrictions simply shows how great of an organization THON is. Penn State students have so much passion for the cause, and that makes me want to continue volunteering for THON more than anything. It may not have been a normal THON this year, but overall, my first year experience was the best it could have been. Hopefully, next year will be in-person, but regardless, I will definitely continue to be involved with THON. If you aren’t, I would definitely recommend it!

I’m excited to say that this will be my last blog post from home! I’m moving in this Friday and resuming my on-campus college experience after a nearly 3 month winter break. One of the best parts about being home is having a kitchen, and I’ve taken advantage of it during the past few months to learn how to cook more meals. Before this break my cooking skills were subpar at best, but staying at home has helped me sharpen my skills in the kitchen. I have added a few more dishes to my repertoire that are a fairly healthy and cheaper alternative to eating out, and honestly, they’re really fun to cook, too. I only have enough words to describe a couple, so I’ll just give you my favorites.

The first dish is a breakfast bowl, or as I call it, a Beckfast Bowl. Although it’s a simple recipe, it’s a delicious and filling meal to energize me for the day. I start by pan frying pre-sliced potatoes (sorry, hand-slicing takes way too long). While they are cooking, I scramble 3 eggs in a separate pan and put a few slices of bacon or sausage in the microwave. Once the eggs and potatoes are done cooking, I combine them into one pan and shred colby jack cheese on top. Once the cheese is mixed in and melted, I crumble the microwave bacon and add it to the pan, along with salt and pepper. It only takes 15 minutes, tastes amazing, and the clean-up is fast, so it’s a perfect way to start the morning! Unfortunately, however, Packer Hall does not have a kitchen, so I’ll sadly have to take a break from this breakfast tradition while I’m on campus. If you do have access to a kitchen, though, it’s definitely something worth trying, especially if you have more ideas for ingredients.

For lunch, I’ve started making wraps using our sliced lunch meat. The process is really easy; in fact, it’s quick enough to do during my 15 minute break before English class. To start, I heat up a couple slices of ham and/or turkey on a pan for about 20 seconds. Then, I set them aside and heat up a tortilla on the pan. Once it’s warm, I add 2 slices of cheese and the ham/turkey, and spread some salsa on top. After that, I take two spatulas and use them to fold in 3 sides of the wrap (otherwise all of the juices spill out of the back). As the finishing touch, I press the bottom and top of the folded wrap on to the pan for about 20 seconds each. In about 5 minutes, the wrap is ready to eat, so it’s a quick and easy lunch for between classes.

(Unfortunately, I never took a picture of one and now we’re out of lunch meats, so a similar picture online will have to suffice).

I’m still a work-in-progress, but cheffing in the kitchen is definitely a hobby I’m going to stick with whenever I’m at home or when I have a kitchen next semester. I know I’ll miss it for the next few months while I’m at Packer Hall.

These first few blog posts for this semester are going to be tricky. When I’m on campus, it’s easy to find new experiences and perspectives to write about as I integrate into the college life during my freshman year. At home, however, everything is familiar and mundane, so my topic ideas are a little bit more limited. Until I go back next Friday, I’ll simply have to be a little creative about aspects of my freshman year at home that make it memorable and exciting. Compared to the constant social hub of Penn State, taking classes at home in an empty house while my parents are at work can get lonely and boring sometimes. Although my homework and other activities keep my busy, I’m thankful to have my dog, Willow, to keep me company throughout the day, so I’m going to dedicate this blog post to talking about her. Plus, I just love talking about her.

Willow is a 2-year-old, 145 pound Great Dane, so in terms of dogs, she’s about as close as you can get to a human roommate. Trust me when I say the pictures don’t do it justice…she is massive. When we brought her home a couple years ago, she was just a cute little 10 pound puppy. Within a year, she had already grown to the size she is today. People always wonder what it’s like having a dog that’s the size of a small horse walking around your house, and honestly, it’s awesome, especially when she’s as calm-tempered and chill as she is. To me, it honestly feels like having a roommate to hang out with while going about my day, so it makes the days seem less monotonous.

Most mornings, I wake up to her laying on the ground outside of my bedroom door, taking up nearly the entire hallway. Then, she follows me downstairs to see what I’m making for breakfast. If I’m cooking eggs, she always makes sure I know that she wants some by staring right at the frying pan, which is easily at eye-level for her. While I’m doing my work or taking classes for most of the day, she either lies down next to me or sleeps on the couch, aside from occasionally walking over to me and hitting me with her paw to show me she wants to be pet or go outside to run around. Besides that, she does her own thing. Simply stated, her day pretty much consists begging for my food, playing outside, sleeping, and walking from one sleeping spot to another: a chill schedule for a chill dog. 

During the week when I have classes, I love having an easy-going dog like Willow because she barely adds any stress to my schedule. In fact, she makes the weeks at home alone so much better by keeping me company and improving the long, repetitive college schedule. It may not be as fun as being on Penn State’s campus, but she sure makes home a lot more enjoyable.

 

It’s a new semester, and therefore a new semester of talking about my new and exciting experiences at Penn State! Well, not yet actually. I’m stuck at home for a few weeks longer than expected…but that’s okay. Instead of spending my first blog post complaining about how Covid is keeping me away from Penn State’s beautiful campus, I’ll talk about the things that make being home great.

First of all, winter break was awesome. After a long semester of getting used to the amped up college workload, it felt great having a month to come home and relax. With the extra free time and the change of setting, I started to rediscover some old habits. The gyms in my area reopened, so I restarted my gym routine. My friends all came back in town, so we returned to the basketball courts where we used to play before everybody left for college. I had more time and privacy to play guitar, so I learned a bunch of new songs. Overall, it was just a rejuvenating and nostalgic break, and filling my free time with these hobbies made it exciting and rewarding.

In addition, some of my new Christmas gifts have kept me occupied while staying at home; my favorite of which being a Scarlett audio interface. By plugging a guitar, an electric, or a microphone into the device, I’m able to play and have it directly recorded to my computer, where the sound is clean and I can add any effects that I want. This gave me a nearly endless array of new sounds to play with, and that’s exactly what I did. It gave me the power to change my acoustic guitar sound to the sound of nearly any other guitar or amp, even distortion electric, and from there I was able to customize everything from levels of reverb to strength of tone and fullness of sound. My friend and I spent hours sifting through the different sounds and making riffs of our own, and with the extra few weeks at home, I’m excited to keep exploring what the Scarlett has to offer.

My favorite part of winter break was, without a doubt, my trip to North Carolina. After Christmas, 7 of my friends and I rented acheap Air BNB in the southern stretch of the Outer Banks. The area was deserted out-of-season, and therefore Covid-safe and private, making it the perfect spot for a quick winter vacation! We stayed on one of the narrowest parts of the island, so we had beautiful ocean on both sides of our house. In addition, we were only a short walk from the beach, so we took advantage of that for sunsets, sunrises, and even a fire on the beach. Along with being a fun week with my friends, it was a nice change of scenery compared to Pennsylvania in the winter.

All in all, being home is pleasant. It’s good to settle back into old routines, hang out with old friends, and live in the area you know best. However, even though I’ve made the most of my time at home, I sure can’t wait to get back on campus.

Even though it was just a short 3 months ago, it feels like ages ago that I was saying bye to my parents from my dorm room. Now, after 12 weeks of taking classes, meeting people, and making memories, I find myself back in my hometown. As much as I’ll miss Penn State, coming back home is, in its own way, just as exciting as being on campus. Between living with my family, seeing my dog everyday, reuniting with my old friends, and simply being in an area I’m familiar with, being back home is a great change of scenery from the college lifestyle. However, along with this transition back into life at home came readjustments that I was naïve to.

The first is living in my old bedroom. As small and old as my room was in Packer Hall, I grew accustomed to living there quickly, so coming back home and living in my old bedroom has been a drastic change. It certainly has it’s advantages, like a larger bed, a ceiling fan, and a one-person bathroom right down the hall; however, I’ve already grown to miss certain aspects of my dorm room since being home, like the decorations, lights, and most of all, my roommate. As nice as it is having privacy, I loved having a roommate during the first semester to hang out with or work on homework alongside. Without him, doing homework in my room has become a lot more lonely and boring. I will say, though, that his presence is compensated for by my dog, who has started hanging out in my room while I’m doing homework and makes the rigorous work days more tolerable.

The next adjustment is having my car again. After walking or Ubering everywhere for the past few months, coming home and having my own car again is a big change. As much as I love walking around on Penn State’s campus, having my car back and driving around on the familiar roads of my hometown is a luxury that I forgot about. With my own car, everything is a short drive away: restaurants, stores, gyms, soccer fields, friends houses, and basically anything else I could want. On Black Friday, I even took a road trip with my friend to go shopping. Since coming home, I’ve been putting my car to frequent use. It has been a change adjusting back to life as a driver instead of a walker, but the luxury of being able to drive virtually anywhere is a change I can get used to.

The last adjustment is returning to my gym routine. Like I discussed in my previous posts, I had a hard time working out routinely at a gym in State College due to Covid restrictions. When I came home, I immediately renewed my gym membership and started to return to my old lifting routine. After not being able to lift for months, it feels great being able to go back to my old weekly lifting schedule. It’s taken time for my body to get used to it, but being able to readjust to my old gym schedule makes coming home even more worth it.

Overall, even though I miss life at Penn State, it’s great to be home. Between settling back into old routines, living in my old bedroom, and being back in the area I know best, there’s a lot to get used to, but I’m sure that I’ll be used to it in no time.

If you had told me this summer that I would be at Penn State until late November, I would have called you crazy. It seemed unlikely that we would be on campus for any of this semester, let alone 3 months of it. But here we are 13 weeks later packing our bags to go home for Thanksgiving, not for Covid, and I’m extremely thankful for that. My first semester on campus was as good as it could be with the circumstances. Even though classes are not over, there are a lot of aspects of living on campus that I will miss while I’m at home for the next two months.

The first being the new friends I’ve made these past few months. One of my main reasons for coming to a big school like Penn State was to meet lots of new people, and as much as Covid has complicated that this semester, I still was able to meet plenty of new friends on my dorm floor, in my classes and clubs, and around campus. Penn State students come from all around the world, so I’ve had the chance to meet friends from places that I would never been able to if I had been home for the semester. Whether they come from a different place in Pennsylvania, a different state, or a different country altogether, they have different perspectives and personalities than my friends in my hometown, so it’s interesting getting to know people who are different. As my friends have started to head home this week, it’s starting to set in that we really are going home and will no longer be in the small community that Penn State’s campus has given us for these past few months. I’m going to miss hanging out with my Penn State friends, but it’s good to know that my time here with them has just started. 2 months from now, we can pick back up where we left off for another semester of memories.

In addition to my friends, I will miss the campus itself while I’m home over break. Nothing beats walking through the Penn State campus on a nice day and seeing all of the beautiful buildings and scenery spread throughout every portion of the campus. Fall is my favorite time of year, and to be honest, it’s even better at Penn State than in my hometown. Watching all of the trees on campus turn from green to orange was one of my favorite parts about being here this semester. Also, I’m a cold-weather person, so I was in heaven during the crisp fall days on campus. When I’m back at home, not many places are within walking distance, so  I won’t be able to spend as much time walking around as I have this semester. Sometimes on stressful days, walking through the campus and enjoying the weather is enough to turn my day around, so that’s definitely something I’m going to miss while I’m at home.

Overall, it was a great first semester on campus. Even with the circumstances, I was still able to meet new friends, make memories, and gain an appreciation for the campus that I’ll call home for the next few years. Although I’m excited to be at home with my family and hometown friends, there are some irreplaceable aspects of Penn State that I will undoubtedly miss.

 

Something that I’ve realized through my first semester here is that some weeks are just hell. As my classes close in on Thanksgiving Break, they have all slightly ramped up the workload, assigning either a large assignment or scheduling an exam this week. So personally, I’m drowning in work this week, and I’m struggling to find a great topic to write about that’s directly related to the Life of a 2020 Penn State Freshman. Instead, I’m going to use this week’s blog to tell you something about myself because this tiring week has drained me of my inspiration and time to think of a relevant topic. With that in mind, I’m going to use the rest of this blog to describe a topic I can write about effortlessly: breakfast. No matter when I wake up, I always make sure to eat some sort of breakfast. It’s my favorite meal of the day, so when it comes to breakfast, I’m an expert. Since arriving at Penn State, I have had time to figure out my favorite breakfast foods

The first of which is cereal. Despite its widespread popularity, I don’t believe cereal is eaten often enough by college students, especially freshmen. Often times, my friends skip eating breakfast to get an extra 20 minutes of sleep before their first class. Personally, skipping breakfast doesn’t work for me, so I always make sure I’m stocked on milk and cereal during the week for a quick breakfast during a busy morning in the dorm. Of the cereals I’ve bought so far in college, my favorites have been Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Frosted Flakes. Although it’s not the most healthy food to start to the day, I find eating cereal to be a much better option than skipping breakfast altogether.

In addition to cereal, one of my common breakfasts was an açaí bowl from Findlay Commons. The reason I say “was” and not “is” is because I don’t eat them anymore after an incident a few weeks ago. One time, I got food poisoning from eating an açaí bowl and was throwing up for 4 hours straight from it, so since then, I’ve given the açaí bowls a break. However, before that, they used to be one of my favorite breakfast options because it was a refreshing serving of fruit to start the day. Being a short walk from the dorm, its a great way to start the morning if time allows for it. 

Lastly, my absolute favorite breakfast is making homemade egg sandwiches with my friend in the kitchen of his dorm. Some weekend mornings, we buy eggs, cheese, bacon, and bagels from the market and take the time to cook up breakfast sandwiches for ourselves. Obviously, this is time consuming so we usually only do it on Saturday or Sunday mornings, but its a great way to spend the weekend morning and get a good, home-made breakfast.

This might not have been my most interesting blog post, but in a way it epitomizes the life of a Penn State freshman. This week is a hard week for me, so I needed an easy topic to write about for this blog. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed hearing about my favorite breakfast foods because I sure enjoyed writing about them.

Although the student body is here and class is in session, the Penn State campus is not nearly at its full potential. As we all know, many buildings are either closed or contain guidelines for max capacity and social distancing. For a freshman, I believe the most detrimental closure of these buildings is the I.M. building. With the intramural leagues cancelled and the gym only available though a competitive sign-up system, finding ways to get exercise this year can be tough. However, as I’ve lived here this semester, I have found various ways to stay active despite the closure of the I.M. facility.

During the first few weeks, my roommate and I (and nearly the entire freshman class) were eagerly waiting for the I.M. building, along with its extensive weight room, to reopen. Eventually, it reopened in late September; however, due to Covid, it was only open for online sign-up’s. Although it may seem like no big deal to sign-up for time slots, it was nearly impossible to consistently find times to go when competing with thousands of other freshman looking to work out. After attempting to sign-up multiple weeks in a row with no success, I gave up on the I.M. building altogether, so I had to find another way to get exercise. One way that my roommate and I have achieved that is by using our dorm as the gym, doing pushups and sit-ups in the middle of the room when we feel like working out. Also, we have found out that our heavy wooden chairs work well as a “bicep curl machine”, as we pile textbooks and other heavy objects on the underside for added weight. It’s not ideal, but it’s better than nothing while Covid makes finding a gym much more difficult.

Despite the gym partially reopening, the intramural leagues have remained closed this semester, making it hard to find organized sports. However, living at East Halls with loads of other athletes looking to play, you can quickly find a group of people willing to play pickup. In my first week here, I made a group chat with a few of my soccer teammates from high school that are at Penn State. As we each met more soccer players around East Halls, we started adding to the group chat, and eventually we had a group of 20 soccer players who all were willing to play. This group chat has stayed active throughout the semester, as we organize small sided 5v5 or 4v4 games nearly every week with those who can make it. This has been a great way for me to stay in shape, getting around 2 hours of soccer each week regardless of the intramural league’s cancelation this year. 

In addition to playing soccer, a great way to get exercise is playing Spikeball. When it’s nice outside, there are always multiple Spikeball nets set up throughout the lawns of East Halls with duos battling it out. Before coming to Penn State, I rarely ever played Spikeball, but it has started to become one of my favorite outdoor games. Even though my roommate and I don’t own a net, most duos are looking for a new matchup, and asking to join them is not only a great way to meet them but also a fun way to get active.

During this first semester, staying active has been difficult with the gym limited and the intramural league closed. Regardless, it has caused me to be creative in finding ways to get exercise. Even when working out becomes easier after Covid, I’m excited to continue playing pickup soccer and Spikeball whenever I can.

With my mom and dad both being Penn State alumni, I have been going to game days at PSU and cheering for the football team since before I can remember. When I decided to go to Penn State this year, I couldn’t wait to be a part of game days as a student, getting rowdy alongside my friends in the student section and celebrating big wins together. However, as we all know, Covid has altered the game day experience for everyone this year, and most fans are not allowed in the stadium or in large gatherings to tailgate. Regardless, Penn State football is on, so the students are going to watch and support them. 

When I rolled out of bed on Saturday morning, the feeling of game day was in the air. Music was blasting in the bathroom as Itook my shower, everyone was friendly and awake, and the sidewalks of East Halls were filled with the blue and white colors of Penn State gear. Quickly, I threw on my brand new Penn State jersey that I received for Christmas this year and made my way down to Findlay Commons for breakfast. After our 12:00 pm “breakfast”, my roommate and I made our way downtown to my friend’s apartment to watch the game. Even though we weren’t in the stadium, it still felt much more engaging watching Penn State play as a student. In a school where I’m constantly cheering for different NFL, NBA, and professional soccer teams than my friends, it’s a nice change cheering alongside them on the Saturdays for a common Penn State team. Being a student, there’s a new level of investment to the team and a new level of energy that I felt with every play. When Penn State would make a good play, we would erupt with excitement, even just being a small group of friends rather than the ocean of students that are usually in the student section. On the contrary, when plays did not go well, everyone would be grouchy and frustrated. 

 

It was a fun rollercoaster of a game to be a watching for my first game day as a student, but unfortunately, we lost, and to a team that we should not be losing to. When the whistle blew and Penn State lost in a 35-36 heartbreaker, the mood of the entire town changed. As my roommate and I were walking downtown after the game, everybody seemed deflated and enraged. Everywhere I went, people would talk to me about the last play or the missed field goal. I even heard a car drive by blasting “I Fall Apart” by Post Malone. Even though everyone was unhappy, I loved seeing the passion of the student body for the football team because it made me excited to see everybody after a big win.

My first game day was filled with ups and downs, but overall, it was a good one. I hated seeing us lose and not being in the student section, but regardless, I was happy to be watching Penn State play, something I was unsure that we would have this year. With the white out against Ohio State this upcoming weekend, I couldn’t be more excited to get back in my jersey and watch us get a big win.