Cory's Blog

One of the most difficult parts about coming to USC was brought to my attention the other day in a comment from Emily. She asked me what you should and should not bring to school. I know that I had the same questions, especially coming from so far out of state. I definitely had a tough time figuring out what to bring. So I am going to give it my best shot to look back at what I thought was good, bad, and what I wish I had brought. First off, the most important piece of advice on what you should bring is a good attitude (wow, that comment was smothered and stuffed with cheese!). In all seriousness though, when you come for move in day, things can get a little hectic, and having the right attitude can go a long way in getting through the first hours. And a good attitude: let me tell you that will help you all four years here. Anyways, as far as actual “Stuff” to bring, there are some essentials you need to have. First off, some bedding accessories (sheets comforter mattress pad etc.) Depending on your residence hall, you will need twin, or twin xl sheets, but that information will be in the move in guide you receive during orientation. Also towels are a must, and a bringing a couple extras is never a bad idea. A couple more general items to bring may be some disposable silverware. You may or may not have a sink in your room, and even if you do, there is definitely not a lot of room for doing dishes, so the less you have to wash and dry the better, and disposable makes life easier. Believe it or not, a great item to throw in your car is some Febreeze. Odds are those cleaning supplies (bring those too!) may collect dust, and to keep your room habitable (especially for us gross guys out there), some sprays from the bottle of Febreeze will do the trick. Something else you will want to do is get in touch with your roommate, who you will find out during the summer. Their contact info will be on VIP under the “personal” section. Find out who’s brining the microwave, minifridge (although some residence halls have minifridges in them already), and of course the all-important TV and video game systems. I mean you wouldn’t want two Wii’s and no X-Box or Playstation? So let’s say you have all of your possessions in your room at home, ready to get packed away for the trip to USC. How is all this “stuff” going to fit in your car? Won’t all your clothes and sheets and pillows take up a ton of room? They will, but if there is one product I swear by: I use the vacuum seal bags you can pick up and Bed Bath and Beyond. They really increase the amount you store while decreasing the amount of space it all takes up. Whenever it is time to move out for me, everything I can, I fit into those bags. All right, time for stuff you don’t want to bring or do. First and foremost remember that you are moving into a space that is probably smaller than your room, so packing everything that you own into a trailer and trying to cram it into your room probably wont work. Not to mention it will probably irritate your roommate when all your worldly goods are sneaking across the room into their space. So try and limit the amount of items you bring. Also something I cannot stress enough is to remember that there are Targets, Wal-Marts and grocery stores here. So while bringing that 100 pack of ramen down from New Jersey in your sedan seems like a good idea, save the space in your car for the trip on move in day and get the ramen and all those other items when you are here, moved in, and have space in your car. I personally made the mistake of pre-buying all of my linens, school supplies, and cleaning supplies in Hilton Head before driving up here. Call it a rookie mistake, but it certainly made packing all of my other necessities much more difficult. The basic idea is just don’t overdo it. Now, on to the things I wish I had brought. Really there was one valuable item that ironically, as a pharmacy student, I didn’t have. I know that when I got pneumonia, I would have loved some Robutussin or at least Tylenol. Well, I didn’t pack any medicine! How could I forget something so simple? I just know it came back to haunt me in a bad way. So it is very important to bring a first aid kit with band aides, pain relievers, and some sort of cold or allergy medicine. Don’t make the same mistake I did. Lucky for me I had some very kind friends to help me out in my time of need. One more handy piece of equipment is an “all in one” tool. You know the kind that is pliers, a screwdriver, a can opener and however many other cool things they can fit in. You never know when you will need a screwdriver, or have to grab something with a pair of pliers. With that little gadget, all your tools are in one place! So, that is my effort at getting you to start to think about what you will bring to school. Trust me, I am sure I left some important stuff out, and if you have questions about something I left off, put on the list, or are just curious about bringing, please let me know and keep those comments coming! I love hearing from you as much as you love reading my blogs. Also, I am going to put a website at the bottom here that will take you to this past year’s move in guide, and the University’s recommendation on what to bring. Take care! http://www.housing.sc.edu/pdf/movingin/MoveInGuide2007.pdf

Posted by Cory at 11:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The sound of squeaking sneakers, balls bouncing, and whistles in the Blatt and Strom can only mean one thing: it is intramural basketball time again at USC. Our men’s team, AC/GC, is the defending champion and we started our quest for a repeat Sunday. The team has been together since freshman year, and the main four of my roommate Nick, Brad, Sean, and myself have been on the team all three years. This year we lost a two of guys from the squad last year, but we also were able to pick up a couple more to replace them and we feel pretty good about their additions. It may sound like I am taking intramurals a little too seriously, but for us mere mortals; intramurals is as close as we can get to living out our hoop (or any of the many other sports) dreams. Anyways, back to the game. We started off pretty cold, and were only up 13-11 with about ten minutes left in the first half against a team that we should not have been having any problems against. Then we turned it up a notch on the defensive end of the court. After several steals and a few blocks from the big man Nick inside, and we had ourselves a comfortable halftime lead of 33-11. In case you were wondering, that is a 20-0 run to end the first half. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. The second half was a replay of the final ten minutes of the first: lots of defense, forced turnovers, and easy points for us. At one point we had to intentionally miss shots so as to not induce the mercy rule so we could play longer. In the end, we could only back off so much, and finally put them away by 35 with about 3 minutes left. The first “W” of the season! In case you were wondering why I left out any personal stats, I wanted to make it very clear that we are a team, and the outcome and how great the team played needed to be talked about before me (there is no “me” in AC/GC” after all). About me though, I didn’t play great, I had a few points, a nice three point play on a foul, and the “acting” award for getting a foul called thanks to me yelling out and falling to the ground after a light tap from the guy playing defense on me. It wasn’t my best game, but I gave it my best effort as always. Most importantly is that I played HARD and played good DEFENSE. Even if the shots aren’t falling (and they usually don’t for me) I can help us by stopping the other team. All of us agree this wasn’t our best game despite the winning outcome, but in the coming weeks, we will play more together and hopefully can only get better. If we can keep improving, a back-to-back championship isn’t out of the question. We just need to remember some famous basketball words: “defense wins championships.” Take care!

Posted by Cory at 03:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Typically if I want to find a stud, I can just look in the mirror. That is easy enough, unless I am putting up some sort of shelving unit, in which case I just use a regular old stud finder. The latter of the two methods came into play this weekend when I visited my Aunt and Uncle down in Hilton Head. I hadn’t seen them since fall break, , and I wanted to take a little weekend trip. So Friday I packed up my Sunfire, and after a couple hours on the highway, I was greeted by Uncle Bob, Aunt Lois, some good home cooking! Back to this stud business though. Since I was down there, they had some “muscle” (in the form of my Blatt and Strom sculpted arms) to help them put up some shelves in their garage which required finding the studs in the wall. While I am not the handiest guy around the house, I can operate a hammer and a screwdriver. With all the shelf parts picked up from the Home Depot, we were ready to get cracking on those shelves. There was just one little problem: it didn’t come with directions! Not having directions didn’t slow us down to start because I am a guy, and as such would NEVER actually have to read directions to get anything done. The shelves were going up pretty well to start as I said: we found the studs in the walls, got the base put on, and just had to snap on the metal shelves. No biggie right? This was going to take no time at all! Not so fast. There was a quirky way they were supposed to fit, which required much more precision than we had planned on, and it took another hour and half of frustration before they were finally up. Despite the extra time and effort, it was still an impressive job in my book, and now my Aunt and Uncle have some of their garage floors pace back. I related this story mostly so I could slip in the “Stud” joke at the beginning. Well, that and to relate a funny little story this about the weekend, but even more importantly to remind you that should you want to leave campus for a weekend, Columbia is right in the middle of several destinations that are no more than a three to three and half hour drive away. From the beaches in Charleston to the big cities in Charlotte or Atlanta, an adventure is just a car drive away. That is if you can find time to get away from the fun in Columbia. That is all I can type for now. I sort nicked a couple of my fingers with a hammer (very “unstud” like I know), and all this typing is starting to get a little uncomfortable, but don’t worry, I will be back soon to write on! Take care!

Posted by Cory at 04:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I bet you have heard stories about college professors. Awful, no good terrible stories about professors who held classes on Friday nights, gave pop quizzes worth 70% of your grade and who spoke in an ancient German accent that only he and his miserable family could understand. He refuses to answer questions, won’t slow down his lecture for you, and a study guide? Ya, don’t even bother unless you want to be publicly humiliated in front of the whole class. Oh, and what happens if your first test falls the day after a major national event like, say the Superbowl, then for sure there would be no change. Well my loyal readers, I would like to welcome you to the real world that the students at USC live in. We live in a world where professors have hearts, compassion, and are most importantly, football fans! What I am about to tell you doesn’t apply to all professors, especially freshman year when I had TWO tests post Superbowl, but we hit the jackpot this year in our Pathophysiology class. As you may surmise, our first exam lands on the Monday after the upcoming Super Bowl. Needless to say I, along with most of our class, was pretty bummed when we saw that date in the syllabus. However, our instructor is going to be out of town the week prior to the Monday test, and so he thought it would be best to move the test back a day. The result: an extra review session in class, and the chance to actually ENJOY the Superbowl. Although the Superbowl wasn’t his main selling point for moving the test, he did mention that it would allow us to conveniently enjoy the big game without worrying about an exam awaiting us the next morning. Good for us! His attitude is similar to many professors here: that being they show understanding when extenuating circumstances get in the way of student success. I experienced this firsthand freshman year when I came down with pneumonia. All of my professors were very good about meeting with me to help make up notes I missed and answer any questions I had. The key to getting help is communication. Let your professor know through email if you are sick, have a family emergency, or any extenuating circumstance that will cause you to miss class. Also, if you need to be out of town for a student organization or other event, the sooner you let your instructor know the better they are at accommodating you. For now though, I think I am going to have to do a little “touchdown” dance of my own to celebrate the chance to watch the biggest game of the year. Don’t worry though; I will be studying before then. Did you think I would just slack off? The chance of that is about as good as the commercials not being funny, the pregame show lasting way too long, or me not stuffing my face for four quarters. Take care!

Posted by Cory at 06:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This is a special message for all of my future pharmacists out there, but even if you are not, pay attention you may just decide you want to be one too. So, you think you want to be a pharmacy major? Well, I am here to give you the skinny of what you need to do. Will it be easy? Not at all. Will it be fun? It won’t be a constant party, but it has its moments. Will it be rewarding? Absolutely. To begin, if you are still a couple of years away from coming here to USC and doing the whole pharmacy thing, there are a few things you should be doing in high school to prepare you and help you see if pharmacy is really what you want to do. First I would be sure to take some science classes like chemistry and biology to see if you enjoy, or at least can handle all of what will be thrown at you here. If you have the chance to get some done with AP classes, even better. Another important point is to talk to a pharmacist, or better yet, several. Remember that there is way more to pharmacy than dishing out pills at your local drug store. This was something that took me a while to learn, but the number of different opportunities out there for pharmacists is amazing. I’ll bet you didn’t know that the Gamecock football team had their own pharmacist. How’s that for a sweet gig? Besides being the pharmacist for the football team, there are jobs in industry creating new drugs, in hospitals, and in academia if you think teaching is up your alley. If you have the opportunity, you should definitely try and shadow a pharmacist to get an idea of what a day in the life is like and to pick their brain to get an idea of what they like, dislike, and what is was like for them coming up and getting through pharmacy school. You could even take it a step further and get a job as a pharmacy tech to get some real life experience as well as spending money. As the day you start at USC approaches, it is important to remember that the curriculum that faces you in the upcoming few years is very difficult and you have to be prepared to put in a little, ok, a lot of work. Make sure you are honing your study habits while you can, and prepare to put in a lot of hours in the library. Don’t be afraid, it is not as bad as some make it out to be. My biggest advice will be to get off to a good start because your first three semesters of GPA are what get looked at for admission to the College of Pharmacy and it is much easier to maintain a good GPA than to try and bring up a poor one. There you kiddos, my insider hints, tips, and advice on how to be a pharmacy major. Could I go on for a much longer time and bore you with information that won’t make any sense to you for a couple of years? Absolutely, but this is the most pertinent information in a short amount of time I can give you. However, if I failed to mention something that you are just itching to know, just drop a comment and I will be sure to get back to you. Take care and good luck my future pharmacy “phriends!”

Posted by Cory at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Wow, this writer’s strike is really starting to get to me. I mean, I don’t watch a ton of TV, but my Thursday night lineup has really taken a hit. For the record, I am NOT talking about Grey’s Anatomy, I speak of the one, the only, The Office! Although season three on DVD has sustained me for a while, I am in dire need of new episodes. My breaking point came this Thursday when I needed some new entertainment. Lucky for me, the Russell House offers free movies on the weekend starting Thursday, and lucky for you I am not a part of the writer’s guild, so I can freely continue to churn out blogs for your reading pleasure. In honor of my movie night this Thursday, I have decided to do a movie review from a little different angle, and I hope you all enjoy! Now as I mentioned previously, at the Russell House, Carolina Productions puts out fairly new movies in the theater. This particular Thursday, “3:10 to Yuma” was playing, and since I had missed out on a chance to see it in theaters, I was more than excited to see it playing right here on campus. So let’s start with the venue: The Russell House Theater. A full sized theater screen and comfortable chairs made the viewing experience a pleasure. Parking wasn’t a problem since, you know, it is right here on campus. The staff was friendly and the movie even had a few previews of new movies coming out in the next few weeks. My rating: Excellent. Next I speak of an issue that most of us battle with when we head to the movies: cost. Even with student discounts in numerous theaters around Columbia, the price of tickets plus popcorn and drinks can easily take a bite out of your wallet. So it was nice when the price of the movie was free. Just show your student ID and they let you right in. Of course what would a movie be sans popcorn and a drink? Surely these would run me a pretty penny. No such thing! Fresh popped popcorn and sodas were on the house as well. What a deal! My rating: A frugal students friend. What about show times? What if I have a test Friday, does that mean I am out of luck if I study during the Thursday show? Absolutely not. Thursday through Sunday is your chance to see the movie playing. There are always two movies playing as well. The early show at six, and a different movie at 9. So you really have eight chances to see the movie of your choice. My rating: The time is always right! Now you are probably wondering, “Cory, all of this information on the fantastic free movies every weekend, but you said you were doing a movie review, and you haven’t mentioned even one little scene from 3:10 to Yuma.” Very true, and I guess I will tell you that the movie appealed to me since it is sort of set in my home state. Even with the included Arizona bias, I found it to be exciting, entertaining, and they even mixed in some humor. Mix in a couple cameos from Luke Wilson and the guy who played “Steve the Pirate” from Dodgeball, and you are looking at one rootin’ tootin’ Western my friends. If you like action, Westerns, and/or Russell Crow, you will love this movie! My rating: 4 and a half cowboy hats out of 5. There you have it, even if this writer’s strike continues when you get here to USC, or if you are just looking for something to do on the weekend, the movies at Russell House are always there to keep you on the edge of your seat. As for me, I need to get out and see some more movies to review for y’all. Take care!

Posted by Cory at 06:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There has been a tangible increase in the number of people at Strom and Blatt. I think a lot of it has to do with some of those New Years resolutions to “get in shape.” Personally, I think it is great that people are trying to get in shape and take care of themselves. Most of the students new to working out are taking it easy at first: walking around the track, lifting lighter weights, and that approach is important when you are starting something new and different. “Cory, and the point of telling us about the New Years exercisers is…?” Ah, yes, of course, the “point”, I suppose I should stop wasting your time and just get to it. You see, a new semester has just started, and with it comes a few new classes, and on top of that, I haven’t exactly been “breaking a mental sweat” over the last month while hanging at home on vacation. The consequence? Much like someone starting a new workout routine, I must ease my way back into school and the work it entails while finding my own personal routine that I find comfortable. I know you must think I’m crazy, “easing” into school, but I have learned that while getting off to a solid start is crucial, going full bore from day one is not always the best either. I mean, if you went to sprint without stretching, you could pull a hammy, and I definitely don’t want to pull the mental equivalent of a hammy. My theory is this: it takes a couple of class periods to get a feel for a new teacher, how they lecture, and what the best approach is. You could spend your first week of school feverishly recopying everything the professor said in class and from their required reading, but that is not always the smartest way to go about it. A better option could be to do your best to take good notes, and if you are still struggling to grasp what is going on after a couple of days, ask them how you should approach the material. Most professors here are very good at helping you get on the right track, and I have taken advantage of this numerous times in my career. While I give you this advice, sometimes even I, the great blogger extraordinaire Cory, struggle with the adjustment to a new professor. With one look at the syllabus, I f start playing the “what if” game and even worry with how hard it looks. However, like I mentioned earlier, within a couple of classes I find my routine of studying and what works best for me. So when you get here next fall and that intro biology course looks near impossible, just take a step back, relax, and try and find your “groove” to get comfortable with the class. Anyways, there you have it, if you are going for a run, stretch, if you are starting a new workout plan, easy into it, and when starting a new semester, get a feeling for what is expected before wasting time and falling into panic mode. Besides, there will be plenty of time for that during finals! Take care!

Posted by Cory at 08:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Last I left you all, I was getting ready for my first (let the record show that this day began two whole business days before the rest of USC) day of class for the spring semester as well as preparing to work my final two days of orientation. Well, as I said I got most of my things put away and ready for the Thursday, and was ready to get sleep…or so I thought. Unfortunately, my typical “night before” jitters got to me and just could not fall asleep. So instead of a nice 8 hours of restful slumber, I got more like 4 or 5 restless hours. Not to worry, because my alarm was still able to steal me from my dreams of vacation and I woke up on time to the tune of “Jump” by Van Halen. I was up and raring to go, it was time to go and learn, time to grab the semester by its metaphorical horns and take charge! Except since I had gotten in past the time the Copy Shop on Gervais had closed, I was unable to pick up my class notes. Quite a bummer indeed, but I tried my best to pay attention and take my own notes. However, I noticed today looking back over my notes that I wrote my first yawn of the semester officially came five minutes into the first class. Not the best start, but like I said, I did my best to get as much as I could out of class. At least class was done by 11, so I could go back and relax the day away? Of course not, I got to head over to the Russell House and do my best as Team Leader for transfer student orientation. I really didn’t mind at all though because as I have mentioned before, working with orientation has been one of the most fun jobs of my life, and it was great to get to see the staff for one last go round as well. Friday was much like Thursday: wake, class, and work. Only this was no regular day of work, it was my last working orientation…ever! The reason being I worked two years ago as a regular orientation leader but was then able to return in a higher position as a team leader. Once you are done as a team leader, that is it. So it was bittersweet at the end of the day as I cleaned out my box in the Orientation and Testing office, but with that, the torch was passed to this year’s team leaders, one of which is my current roommate and pharmacy school student, Nick. When you come to orientation this summer, you wont be able to miss him, he’s 6’ 7” tall! Make sure to say hey! Anyways, those were my “bonus” days of class and work. Not too bad, in fact I had a lot of fun seeing my classmates and working my last gig at orientation. Monday, though, is when the “big show” starts and the whole campus “springs” (pun on spring semester anone?) back into action. That is all I have for ya now folks, but take care, and stay tuned for who knows what will come in the next four months? Take care!

Posted by Cory at 09:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Holiday season, that leftover pizza, the flavor in a piece Juicy Fruit, and Winter break. What do all of these have in common? They are all good things that must, for lack of a better cliché, come to an end. For me, the “good thing” that was winter break finished for me today. Unfortunately my winter break ended a little bit before the rest of campus. The reason for this premature return to school was the object of much scorn on the part of our classroom of pharmacy students. The University goes back on Monday, but us in the College of Pharmacy get the pleasure of two extra days, so we had to start today, Thursday, which really ends up feeling like an extra four days when you factor in the weekend. Also, when you are flying out from, say, across the country in Arizona, any change in travel plans makes life much more difficult. Factor in typical winter delays, and I could have been staring trouble in the face. Lucky for old Cory, I had a little ace in the hole. You see, I had to work orientation for transfers and new freshman today and Friday, so my flight already had me arriving yesterday. Would a little more time to mentally prepare for class have been nice? Absolutely, but instead I had about 13 hours from the time my plane touched down in the Columbia Airport yesterday until the first class. So, after Nick and Melisa picked me up, it was a mad dash to unpack, put away, tidy up, oh, and get all of my school materials ready and rarin’ to go. While I couldn’t quite get everything done, I had prepared enough for a nice 8 AM class, followed by, that’s right, a full day of work at orientation! I am going to leave you hanging to see how my “bonus” days of class went because I am getting kind of tired. Take care!

Posted by Cory at 11:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I remember it was three years ago, and I was playing the waiting game. To be more specific, I was playing several waiting games. I was waiting for my senior baseball season to start. I was waiting for winter to end, and I was waiting to graduate. Along with those “waits” I had another one, and I was reminded of it thanks to a comment in from Sarah. Sarah is from Columbia, and, like myself three years ago, is anxiously awaiting the coveted acceptance letter from USC. She was wondering when she could expect to get that all-important piece of mail. Here is the scoop: if you applied by the early application deadline, you should already know my now. However, if not, acceptance letters should be heading out sometime in early March. Now I know what you all are thinking. “Cory, I can’t wait that long. I want to know now, not tomorrow, not in five minutes, but now!” To that I say that you must be patient. I know waiting is no fun, and can be very difficult, especially when you are trying to choose a school or make plans for the upcoming years. Unfortunately, thanks to such a high volume of qualified applicants and interest in USC, it takes a while to process all of your fantastic applications. So, my advice to you all as you sweat out waiting for your letter is to just do your best to be patient, take care of your schoolwork in this last semester (as a future pharmacist, I have no prescription to give you for any type of “senioritis” you may claim to suffer from) and most importantly keep that worrying to minimum and have some fun! It is your last semester of high school, the home stretch, the final lap, or any other lame analogy you can think of (which undoubtedly will be better than all of mine). Alright, I must go for now, but until next time, make sure you know that those letters will be coming in March, so you can stop harassing your mail man, at least until then! Take care and remember patience is a virtue!

Posted by Cory at 05:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I can still remember that fateful night just four short years ago during my junior year of high school. I was returning home from a football game with my friends when something hit us: it was an extreme case of hunger. We needed sustenance, and we needed it fast and delicious. As we were traveling north on Oracle road (one of the main drags here in Tucson) we spotted the sign for Nico’s Taco Shop, and since we all enjoyed mexcian food, decided to stop in to quell this hunger. It was then I got my first bite of their delicious Carne Asada Burrito. I was hooked. From then on, whenever a quick meal was needed, it was Nico’s time. After school, before baseball practice, after baseball practice, late at night, well, you get the idea. I really liked it. Being as my time at home comes after long intervals of being away at school, oftentimes the first place I stop once I get back in Tucson is at the good old reliable Nico’s. In fact, when the semester starts to wear on me a bit, and home starts becoming a reality on that horizon, my first thoughts go to that culinary creation wrapped up in a hot tasty tortilla. I explain my love affair with this eatery if only to show my remorse, and possible guilt, as the spot in my heart and my stomach may just have been replaced by a similar, yet dare I say better and more convenient restaurant, El Potosino. Yes, just the other day on a whim I needed dinner in hurry. El Potosino has sit conveniently two minutes away from my house here in Tucson for a few years now, but I always assumed nothing could top Nico’s. How wrong I was. Just a few bits into their Colorado Burrito, and that soft spot in my tummy for Nico’s was dethroned. El Potosino is my new go to place for fast and delicious Mexican food. I told you all of this to show the importance of breaking “out of the norm” and trying something new. A lot of us get into ruts or routines; I will be the first to admit that it happens to me at USC sometimes as well. However, just a small change or new experience can break you out of any “funk” and open your eyes to something you may really enjoy. Be it going to a new club or organization, sitting next to someone new in class, or trying a new intramural sport, the simplest change can have a big impact. As the old adage goes, variety is the spice of life, or in my case at with my Mexican food change, variety is the “spiciness” of life. I hope that as you we move towards the new year you can think about making a change, if even just a small one, from your normal routine, even though it may feel “safe.” The great part about making a change at Carolina is that with nearly 300 organizations, and a large student population, breaking out of the norm is not too difficult. As for me, all this talk of Mexican food is making me kind of hungry, so I think it is time to get out of here and get something to eat. Take care!

Posted by Cory at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)