Having spent a week and a half in classes, I could not let the past 3-day weekend go to waste!  My colleagues and I have been taking classes in the CLS building and while for some of the classes our professors are in our classroom, others are conducted via distance-ed learning with our partner campus at Charleston with the Medical University of South Carolina.   Sitting in the classroom, we listen and watch our professors teach us from Charleston, and we hope that neither one of the audio or visual go out.  Well, my fellow pharmacy colleague, Anthony, and I decided that we had had enough of Charleston via the AV system.  It was time for a CHUCKTOWN ROADTRIP!

One of our undergraduate pre-pharmacy friends, Kim, actually is in the Charleston campus right now.  She decided that she wanted to be in the lowcountry, so Anthony and I decided that the labor day weekend was the perfect time to go visit her!

Here's Charleston in pictures for y'all!

This is the College of Pharmacy building at MUSC.  Kim gave us a quick tour and showed us where the other half of our classes take place!

A quick lunch trip at Necter's in James Island was much enjoyed!  Anthony kind of ruined the picture, but we had a great time.  For great food, go visit this place.

Dinner at Downtown Charleston was fun.  I had a bucket of 3/4 pounds of peel 'n eat shrimp.  I could not believe that I finished it all!

Of course, Shawn was with us on the trip.  We had the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge in the background, but my camera's not good enough to capture it in the dark!

A trip to Charleston would not be complete without  a trip down to the beach.  Here's the pier at Folly Beach!

We might be counting pills for the rest of our lives but we sure do love to have fun too!  Pharmacy colleagues for life! 

Here's the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge by day!  It looks gorgeous.  The weekend weather held up as we enjoyed a day through Downtown Charleston.

Here's the picture of the Labor Day Weekend Crew!  We had to squat because we had to take the picture by timer.  Hehe!

The great thing about being in Carolina is that you make such great friends, and hey, they don't have to go away!  Anthony and Kim were my pre-pharm buds during my undergrad years and well now they're my pharmacy colleagues for life!  Hehehe!  Also, as I've blogged in the past, Columbia is such a great location for being in close proximity to anything and everything the state of South Carolina has to offer.  Charleston is only about an hour and a half to two hours tops!  With the rich history, shopping, and beaches of Charleston, there's so much to do for even just a quick day trip!  And, of course there is Lake Murray just about 20 minutes from campus, the mountains a bit up north about 2 hours away, and the beaches of the coast about 3 hours away to the east.  Not that football during the fall season won't keep you already busy, but weekend trips are definitely great options here in Columbia!

Well, until next time again folks!  Catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

About a month ago, my family and I went on vacation to Myrtle Beach and came back after five days to a garden with dry patches and some half-living vegetable plants.  My dad has quite the green thumb, and his garden is "HIS" place besides the garage.  We were quite concerned about what we had come home to because we had asked our neighbor to try to water our plants while we were gone, but it just didn't look like that was done.  However, before I send y'all in a path to diss my neighbor, we actually found out that he would have watered our plants but our whole area was put on water watch.  The drought had literally drained several water sources in our area, and we had to conserve our water.  To try and water your plants at night when no one could possibly be watching was also just as risky because your pretty and well-watered garden would simply just give you away.  Why am I telling y'all this sad story?  Well, because flash-forward a month to right now and the story is quite different!

A TORRENTIAL DOWNPOUR!

Yes, a surge of this crazy, heavy rain just came down over Columbia, and it was quite the cool light show with lightning just lighting up the entire horizon.  Now, let me just tell y'all that I don't quite do well with thunderstorms though.  First of all, I hate getting wet by the rain because I always just feel gross afterwards.  Secondly, I always feel lazy when it looks dark and gloomy outdoors.  All I want to do is cozy up in some old jammies and lay down on my bed!  And finally, I just don't like thunder...and lightning...it's just a tad scary!  Hahaha!  But putting all of that aside, my fellow executive board members of the Fil-Am Student Assoc and I were just way too hungry after our first board meeting of the year to let the remains of tropical thunderstorm Faye get in our way to some good ol' Chinese fast food!

It's that time of the year again; the beginning of the school year.  The syllabi have all been passed out and classes our in session, but it doesn't mean that all students need to go completely into study mode and abandon their hobbies, interests, and most importantly their social life!  Student organizations all over campus have executive board meetings going on practically every night this week, as every group tries to prepare and plan out the fall semester.  It's time to plan out interest meetings, community service projects, social nights, and all the FREE stuff because we all know that when you say "FREE" around a college campus, you're sure to have a hit!

So, yep.  I'm busy, busy, busy again this year.  I wouldn't be Kriska if I weren't.  And with that, off I go now, so that I can actually get some studying done!  Catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 09:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you could have any pet, what would it be and what would you name it?  Which political issue is most important to you during this election season? If you could be any famous couple together, what would your combined name be?

Apparently those are questions people ask these days during speed dating sessions.  Not to worry, however,  as I've not fully resorted to that for my love life.  (I don't think my boyfriend would appreciate it if I did anyway.)  This speed dating was actually more just for fun to get to know each other during a First-Year Scholars Retreat that I served as retreat team member on yesterday.  The activity was called 'paper plate dates.'  For those of you who have never played this ridiculously fun icebreaker (because way too many others are just super awkward), everyone gets a paper plate and then writes the number 1 through 12 to make a face of the clock.  Everyone gets about 5 minutes or so to get their dates scheduled by walking around the room and getting 12 different people to write their names next to the numbers.  Once everyone gets their dates scheduled, the announcer calls out what time it is and which date their supposed to be meeting.  It kind of takes a little bit of time to meet up with your date since you haven't formally met yet at that point, so this part was kind of fun with people yelling out names when they were being "stood up."  But eventually, once everyone finds each other and dates get paired up, the announcer throws out a question that you two are supposed to talk about.  It's pretty fun and interesting if good questions are prepared for the game.

But yeah, the First-Years Scholar Retreat was yesterday, and it was quite the long day because we had to meet up at 7:30 in the morning for the bus.  Basically, First-Years Scholars, or FYS for short, is a program for incoming freshmen who have been awarded the Carolina or McNairs Scholarship.  As I'm an upperclassman with the Carolina Scholarship, I have been on the retreat team now for 2 years running.  We just really take a day out of the first week that the scholars get to campus and try to give them a retreat where they can start to really get to know each other, work together, and also for some of the upperclassmen and staff to give them valuable information about campus life whether it'd be academic-related or just Columbia life in general.

Really, being a scholar here at USC, you are well taken care of.  You might be overwhelmed at first as a freshman coming on to such a large campus, but the staff and upperclassmen try to be as welcoming and helpful as possible.  I love that so much about USC.  I've never ever felt lost here because there is always someone that I know I could turn to who could help me figure things out or at least point me to the person or direction that could resolve issues further.  I'm not sure about other colleges and universities, but for Carolina being the huge university that it is, it never ceases to amaze me how close the personal attention given can be.  Isn't that a refreshing thought?

Well, as it is 11:23PM and I have an 8:00AM class tomorrow morning (can't y'all tell that I just love Mondays!), I should probably get going.  But before I do, let me share with you guys my ideal pet.  Everyone that I've talked to about it have said that it's virtually impossible for me to find such a pet to fit my preferred qualities, but maybe y'all can help me out.  My ideal pet would be a medium-sized dog that doesn't shed but is very fuzzy and hairy so that I can call it Chewbacca, or Chewy for short.  Right now, my family has a huge black lab that just will not quit shedding.  It's soooo ridiculous!  Hahaha!  I love him to death, but the hairballs just really get kind of gross.

And, well, on that note...I won't continue on a rant of nasty hairballs.  I'll just bid y'all adieu.  First game of the season is this Thursday...GET PUMPED!!!

Catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 09:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, welcome me back again folks, as I know I've been MIA again.  But I've been home for almost a week now, and this whole adjusting back to home-style living is just quite something to get around.  First of all, there are about a gazillion boxes and bags of things that have just been put in mounds and stacks all over my living room, my younger brother's room, and my room.  You don't ever realize how much stuff you accumulate over a period of one year until you have to move everything out and it's like you just ask yourself, "WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED?!?"  I feel like I've been going through all of my things for hours, and yet there are still more things to be sorted through.  Secondly, I've been back on the clock at CVS.  I started yesterday, and as much as I was worried about getting back into the groove of things, I surprised myself about how much I actually remembered from last summer.  And finally, as much as the familiarity is giving me the home-sweet-home vibe and mom's homemade cooking has been very much appreciated (she is basically cooking up every single one of my personal favorites ever since I got home), being back home is such a big change from being in Columbia and being on my own.  My parents are a bit more slack than I remember them being with me during my high school years, but there is something about their parental power that makes me feel like I can't quite do as much as I would like when I'm under their roof!

With all of that said, what exactly do I miss about Columbia?  I mean, I was pretty excited about getting out for the summer and going home.  As I said in the last few entries, I was pretty tired of the Russell House "cuisine."  I was also just plain over doing school work after such a grueling week of finals.  You would think that with those complaints that I'd be so happy to be away from Columbia!  But that is simply not the case!!!

Here are my top 3 reasons for missing Columbia, in no particular order of course:

1. The Vista, Harbison, oh the town of Columbia!

My friends and I usually take to the streets and enjoy some great dining in the Vista or some shopping down Harbison Boulevard when it comes to winding down the week.  With so many great restaurants lining the Vista downtown area of Columbia and so many stores all over Harbison, there's a lot to do on a Friday or Saturday night.  We also like to go to the shopping and dining area of Sandhills near Clemson Road (ironic to say Clemson, ain't it?) 

2.  The Horseshoe, the Russell House, oh the campus!

So, I probably don't miss the food of the Russell House, as y'all have read my whining and complaining and missing of my mom's cooking.  I do, however, miss the feeling of being on campus.  As much as I'd love to say that I have my own apartment or my own place, there's just something about the experience of being on campus.  I miss the hustle and bustle of Greene Street.  I miss the free movies and free concerts.  There's lots to miss about the Carolina campus.

3.  Lastly...but most definitely not the least: MY CAROLINA GAMECOCK FRIENDS!

My roommate sent me this bumper sticker from Facebook, and I couldn't agree more about how she felt.  The bumper sticker read: "We left our families to live with strangers, and now we left family to go home.  Miss you!"  It's so weird that my parents catch me referring to Columbia as "my home."  I'm always talking about how school was like this and like that and how I did this and that back "home."  I mean, home is still sweet, but I've just gotten so used to living on my own.  My friends are a great, big part of this home feel!  I'm going to enjoy my summer, but I will sorely be missing my friends as they all also spend their summers in their respective home cities!

And well...that's it for my top three!  What are y'alls top three things that you'll miss about being in school?  I know y'all probably can't wait to get out school, but I'm sure y'all will be missing hanging out with your friends.

Well, catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 08:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, for the past 2-3 weeks I have given much business to restaurants around campus.  On-campus dining services does offer a lot of great choices, and there are several dining facilities around here.  The problem is that right when you get close towards the end of the semesters, everything starts to get kind of old.  It might sound great to have so many choices, and mom's cooking might get old when you're at home but...The double cheeseburger, Whopper Jr. with cheese, and a double stacker from Burger King all start to taste the same.  Pizzas from Pizza Hut or Pandinis are great, but a person can only take so many pizzas at a time.  And when you want to finally start eating healthy but your only choices are a boring salad or fried chicken Fridays, you know what ends up happening!

With that said, lately I've been really having a great hankering for some good ol' white rice.  Whether that's because I'm just straight up Asian and I'm really just craving a good sticky rice or maybe I'm really just homesick because everyone around me seems to be packing up their dorms and going home, here's my 4-1-1 on great Chinese Fast Food Joint finds around Columbia.  I've got two great options for a quick fix to a good Asian meal!

1.  The Teapot:  Once you get to campus and you start setting up your desk, you'll probably find that there's a folded-up menu on your desk.  Complementary of the restaurant Teapot, an array of Americanized Chinese food awaits you.  If you decide to throw the menu away, don't worry.  When that late night hankering comes, you'll find that there are about a couple more stacks of the menus in your dorm lobby.  The Teapot is very attractive to students on campus because they DELIVER!  A great alternative to pizza night, students can make a call and have Chinese food within 15-20 minutes on a less-than busy night (even quicker than Domino's 30-minute promise.)  The food's not too expensive either, and so when you throw in the delivery charge and the tip, it's not bad.  You'll have quite the spread for your dinner.  My favorite dishes to order from them are Chicken with Garlic Sauce, Sweet and Sour Shrimp, and Ginger Chicken.

2. Bamboo House:  If you can somehow access a car (if you have one on campus or you can find a friend with one), the Bamboo House is another great Chinese Food option.  Of the two, I actually like this one better.  The only drawback is that this place can't deliver, and you'll have to go out into the highway to get to it.  But it's really not that far from campus.  About a 5-10 minute drive, the Bamboo House is off of the Bush River Road exit on I-26.  It's cheaper, and in my opinion, the food tastes even better.  My favorites are crab rangoon, fried baby shrimp, sweet and sour chicken, and egg drop soup!

Even my American boyfriend who used to only enjoy plain food--no onions, no peppers, no sauce, please!--even enjoys eating Chinese food with me.  This is not to rave about great Chinese food as if it were authentic, but hey, it hits the right spot when I'm craving and I can no longer go without my white rice.  I really want to go home soon.  I've already told my mother a list of Filipino food that I would dearly love of her to prepare for me for my first week back home!

Well, catch y'all later on the flipside and enjoy your mom's cooking (and appreciate her because Mothers' day is right around the corner!), Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 04:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm back.  I feel like I went on a really long vacation, except I didn't go to Hawaii or Disney or Paris.  Worse than being stuck in the airport waiting for a series of delayed flights, my long vacation that kept me away from blogging and keeping you guys updated was a hibernation to my desk.  And let me let it be known that that desk was not much of a happy place.  Piles of practice exams, binders of notes, and textbooks galore!  The crazy thing about it all was that I was only studying for two finals!  Finally, I was really lucky to have only two exams this semester, but the "exam gods" would just not let me have it my way.  My only two exams were back-to-back and scheduled for the first two days of exam week.  Although I am excited and thorougly happy to be done with worrying about exams, I sure would have appreciated a break and some time to study.  The 3-4 days right after lecture classes were just way too stressul! 

(A side note to my Anatomy and Physiology classmates and any individuals who may get this:  Thank the Lord that my cortisol levels were pretty good.  I know that my adrenal cortex was putting in some major hours making sure I had those glucocorticoid levels maintained....oooohhh those stress hormones!)

But don't let me get y'all started and worked up about college finals.  Just like the end of the year assessments, Advance Placement, and IB exams that y'all may be taking in the next month and a half...the key to avoiding any and all stress that I obviously got myself into is really just getting organized.  Study early.  No pain, no gain, right?  You really have to have your game on if you want to do well, especially if you are taking classes like Organic Chemistry and Anatomy and Physiology, yikes!  (As y'all may recall from a previous entry, games aren't just played in the courts and the fields.  They're also played in the classrooms, and you always have to have your A-game on if you want to win!  Here's the link, to those who may want to brush up on that!)

I was also always told that you also never really have to study very hard to do great in classes.  You just have to study WELL.  What's the difference?  It's not necessarily going to be the time that you put in to studying, as much as it's the quality of the work you do in that time that you spend.  It's insane because you don't know just how much time you can actually spend doing something that  may seem like a great study technique but results won't show the same.  Find the thing that works for you, and find it quick!  Notecards?  Practice exams?  Re-writing notes?  Re-doing homework?  Whatever it is, find it!

It truly is the finale of finals for me, and I'm sure glad that this is the case.  It is perhaps the first and only finale I have ever truly looked forward to.  (I'm still bitter about "Friends" being over!!!)

Well, good luck on y'alls finals.  Rest assured, I'll be blogging more often again!

Catch y'all on the flipside, gamecocks! 

Posted by Kriska at 03:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Drum roll please...

Here are the much-awaited answers to yesterday's quiz.  I hope that y'all got to try it out and that now y'all can see how you measure up to other Carolina students.  Make me proud guys!!!  The score to beat is 9 out of 15, so here it goes!

1. The score at last season's first home football game was a win against the LA-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns.  We beat them 28-14.  I remember being at the game, being actually quite worried that we weren't going to come out victorious.  It was an expected easy game that turned out to be a bit more challenging, but nevertheless, the Gamecocks had a win on their first game on home turf!

2.  So how many TV screens are there in the Barnes & Noble Bookstore in the Russell House?  If you've ever visited campus for a tour or just because you were in the neighborhood, chances are you've been inside the Student Union.  Surprisingly, a lot of students missed this question.  I don't know if it was because the choices were so close or those TVs by the magazine racks just look so big and we're generally too distracted by the latest Cosmo for the ladies or Maxim for the gents...but in total, there are 4 TV screens!

3.  Williams-Brice Stadium is probably one of my favorite places on campus!  So, what exactly is its official capacity?  A whopping 80,250.  Although, for the record, the WBS was able to hold about 85,000 during the rivalry game with Clemson back in 2001.  In the same year, we had about a hundred shy of that record for the Florida game at 84,900 spectators.  WBS can get pretty packed for those big games!

4.  Charlie Strong's 3-3-5 was the defensive formation when he became the Defensive Coordinator for USC's team.  Strong is quite a big name in the NCAA.

5. Tricky, tricky, tricky.  After reading the question, those who would know what the name of the Health Center would immediately go blank after they read the answers.  Is it with the "p" or without the "p"?  So, what do you guys think?!?  Dun, dun, DUN!!!  And the answer is:  WITHOUT THE P!!!  It is the Thomson Student Health Center!

6. The ever-unforgettable Carolina-Clemson Brawl.  Tsk, tsk!  See this link to the entry to a Wiki page about the Brawl.  Oh, and the answer is 2004!

7.  And so the question about meal plans!  You guys will get awfully familiar with this system and will probably do your best to work your ways around the times and the values and the Bonus Bucks to get the maximum value of your plan...You guys will figure it all out.  Don't you worry!  So, what's the breakfast retail amount?  A whopping three dollars and eighty-five cents!  Hooray!

8. So, back to that Brawl.  If you still didn't click on the link to find out about the Brawl, all you need to know was that it was bad, and it basically resulted in both the teams declining invitations to the bowl.  Naturally, team players were upset and more things happened...but yeah!  SIGH!

9.  Yet another tricky question.  Most people who have tried to communicate with the Housing Department through AIM would know that it's quite a pretty efficient way to get your questions asked about housing matters, but is it USCHOUSING or is it the one with an extra C?  Naturally, y'all probably wanted to pick the one with no extra C because it would only make sense, but that will leave you waiting for forever because the right answer is USCCHousing.  Why the extra C?  Personally, I don't know.  Maybe I should send a quick IM and find out why!  Hehe!

10.  Steve Spurrier had his days in the NFL, and boy were those some good days.  But 0-14 was probably not the good days I'm talking about.  Spurrier once played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and that 0-14 record...OOO-weee!

11.  You know, the result for this question was very intriguing to me.  Only about half of the students who took this trivia challenge knew the correct answer.  I'm not quite sure what it means because personally campaign and elections week was so huge around campus, and quite frankly there was no getting away from the politics of student government.  But for the winner of next school year's Student Body Treasurer....JONATHAN ANTONIO!

12.  Iron wall sounds kind of hard to break down.  Lock n' Load sounds pretty serious business.  Cock n' Fire sounds appropriate as we are Gamecocks and the whole gun-fire picture.  But nope.  None of those three are correct.  FIRE ANTS.  Darn, those fire ants and that's exactly what was the the nickname of our Gamecock defense back in 1984.

13.  So, what about that 2001 that plays to cheer on the entire team by the entire stadium going crazy and Cocky going nuts in his cage?  Thanks to Coach Joe Morrison, 2001 has become a Carolina tradition not just in football games but in other sports and Carolina events where Cocky makes his appearances!

14.  And the Gamecock's All-Time Leading Receiver Award goes to........STERLING SHARPE!

15.  So, this has screwed me up before.  I went to the mail room cutting it close to 5PM and found that I had a yellow slip in my mailbox.  Yellow slips bring joy to my day because this means that I've got a package!  But 5PM-shmishm, the mail room center is closed!  I decided that before I run late to my morning class the next day that I would rush to the basement first and pick up my package and start my day off great but of course I didn't check the time that they would be open.  My class was quite early that day, and so, I was at the basement by 8AM.  Oh, and I was the only one there!  I learned that day that the mail room center...they don't open until 9 in the morning!

So, how did y'all measure up to the test?  I hope you guys did well and enjoyed the lil trivia!

Catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 11:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So, I'm not sure if y'all are familiar about how the night at Relay for Life goes.  For those who don't, it's not your typical night of debauchery--although it is a lot of fun!  Basically, all the teams come together for one final push for fundraising, and each team puts up a site where they have all things from a bake sale, to hosting a cake-eating contest, to raffling off a bike, to setting up a TV and letting people play Guitar Hero...anything and everything to get people to donate more money for the American Cancer Society.  Since my team this year decided to go for a Tailgating Theme, we decided that for our fundraising activity on-site that we would host a Carolina Trivia Quiz.  A quiz to test your Everything-About-Being-A-Carolinian Trivia from football, to meal plans, to facts about the Russell House and more!  We had as a first prize a DVD player plus a DVD movie of "Radio" just to add to the whole football theme and for South Carolina pride!  As a second prize, we had a $10 gift card to Wal-Mart (who couldn't use another $10 for good ol' Wal-Mart!)

For an itty-bitty donation of 50 cents, students tested their Carolina Trivia Knowledge and competed to win for the two prizes...Overall, it didn't seem like our students really knew much about football.  Tsk tsk!  There were two guys who tied for first place with a score of 9 out of the 15 questions!!!

I wonder how YOU GUYS will fair my team's trivia quiz.  Check it out and see how much you know about good ol' Carolina.  We gave everyone who took the quiz about 5 minutes, but you know...I can't tell if you take any longer!  If you're brave, you can leave your answers as a comment...but either way.  I'll have the answers up by tomorrow.  I'll give y'all at least 24 hours to try out the Carolina Trivia Quiz! 

Good luck, and catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today's Social Psychology lecture was on Attraction, Liking, and Love.  Yes, m'dears.  We talked about the "L" word.

The world's greatest poets, philosophers, and great thinkers have left us with some of the most beautiful (and sometimes the cheesiest) thoughts about love.  Voltaire said, "Love is a canvas furnished by nature and embroidered by imagination."  Plato said, "At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet."  And then there's this quote I've heard but do not know who said it, "Love is like playing the piano.  First you must learn to play by the rules, then you must forget the rules and play from your heart."  I guess when it comes to love, we're all just a bunch of artists!!!

So, why am I blogging about this?  Surely one lecture about the "L" word does not make me a "Dear Abby"-esque expert nearly that fast.  Well, what I'm going to blog about is how the laws of attraction that applies to love (as the text says so because we all know that love is a textbook kind of thing) also applies to selecting college institutions.  Yes, guys.  The Laws of Attraction for College Institutions.

Follow me along with my textbook of Exploring Social Psychology with Dr. Myer: 

1.  "One powerful predictor of whether any two people are friends is sheer proximity."   Now let me rephrase:  One powerful predictor of whether a prospective student and a college institution is a good fit is sheer proximity.

Although many of you probably want to get away from your state and explore the wide open world, as I also found myself about 3 years ago, you might find it surprising how well your state institution might just be the best fit.  USC was just right for me, as it was away enough for me to be independent and truly experience the college lifestyle while still also close enough for me to enjoy the company of my family and old friends.  Trust me that you'll truly miss mommy's cooking and laundry!  This idea of proximity isn't only about geography but also about psychological closeness.  When you've also interacted with a certain school, the tendency to fall in love with it is greater....meaning: Use those senior days and visit schools that you're interested in.  Research them in great detail and get to know the kind of institution that particular college really is.  You'll most likely find out a lot of information that can definitely help you make your decision.  Also, you might find additional quirks about the school that the hundreds of brochures you received may not have.  You just might find that personal touch on your next school visit.

2.  "Physical Attractiveness: Good looks are a great asset."

DUH!  Need I say more...well, on behalf of USC, let me just let y'all in on some of the great features that USC's "physique" has to offer.

• Great facilities and amenities: Just check out the Strom Thurmond.
• Beautiful "park":  Have y'all seen the Horseshoe in the spring when the azaleas are in bloom?  What about a nice warm Columbia day on the Horseshoe?  Students put on their suits to lay out in the sun.  Some throw a frisbee or a football around.  It's like a day at the beach!
• Functional Student Union:  Oh, the good ol' Russell House.  With the student bookstore, the dining facilities, meeting rooms, and many other resources, student living is well-supported at the RuHo.  Being on campus has never been easier!

And last but not least...

 3.  "Equity: A condition in which the outcomes people receive from a relationship are proportional to what they contribute to it."  WHAT?!?  That was a mouthful, wasn't it?  Let's translate this:

What do YOU have to offer?  What do USC have to offer?  Plenty of things on both ends, I'm sure.  If and when you decided to come to USC, you'll be sure to find that what you put in to the university will be greatly matched and reciprocated if not doubled or tripled of your own investment.  The experts of love say that relationships are only satisfactory if both parties feel that the gains for the investment of both are proportional.  When you come to USC, the resources will be endless.  It will truly be up to you how you use them.  In return, USC just expects you to be an involved student.  As a speaker at one of the USC orientations I attended to said back in my freshman year, "Engage in the Carolina experience!"

Well, my dear Gamecock readers.  I may be no "Dear Abby" but I sure hope you found my little insight helpful!

Catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 11:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

At first I thought it was spring allergies or something.  With everything back into full bloom, everything seems to be green with pollen these days.  But something just told me it wasn't the fault of the Bradford pears.  I was in no severe conditions so I figured that I would just monitor how I was feeling and after closely following my symptoms, I finally came up with a great diagnosis.  I am in fact experiencing some kind of allergies--college student allergies.  To be more specific, I am experiencing spring breakitis manifested by some beachsickness (kind of like being homesick but of the beach), procrastination, and denial.  After a week of blogging about the glorious beaches of South Carolina and the gazillion tons of fun I had over spring break, karma has come after me as I find myself also drooling over the past week's adventures.  Being back to school is really cramping my style!  Hahaha!

An exam in Organic Chemistry was something to look forward to this week, and now that I've put that one to rest, I am just completely ecstatic!  Two "Orgo" exams down, two more to go.  I know it's not going to be a breeze, but heck...it's a step closer to the end!

I really wish I could be back at the beach dipping my feet in the cold water, feeling the sand in between my toes, picking shells, and taking a ton of pictures!  I'm so glad that this weekend is Easter.  I can at least go home and be with my family.  All this time away from them has actually gotten me a little bit homesick.  Man, do I miss my mommy's cooking!

Well, I hope y'all are doing great.  Another round of rain is around our area.  It's been raining cats and dogs for quite some time now.  Definitely not the beachy weather my friends and I got to enjoy!  Oh, well.  I guess I better stop being beach-bummed!  Gotta get right back into the groove and swing my way through my classes!

Catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 05:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Two exams this week, and yet I'm still excited.  Why?

Because Spring Break is only days away and not even two exams can damper on my getting-jiggy-with-it-Spring-Break-is-coming-dance!  (Okay, well, an exam or two can put a slight damper and some late nights and early mornings, but overall, the energy is still up and running!)

I'm really trying to keep my motivation level up so that I can focus on getting some great studying done for my exams.  Having Spring Break right around the corner is quite the distraction, I'm not going to lie, but with my great ninja-like skills with regards to studying, I'm still ready as ever for my tests.

So, what are these ninja-like skills, you ask?  Well, listen my little karate kids.  The sensei is ready to impart her knowledge!

1.)  As Mr. Miyagi once said, "Wax on, wax off!"

Silly right?  What wax?  What on or off?  Well, let's paint a scenario.  When you're notes don't seem to make sense or you just have way too much to study at one time, it can get really frustrating, right?  When you're feeling just completely overwhelmed, you start to feel anxious and you begin to worry.  When you're stuck with a Calculus or Chemistry problem (yikes!), you start to freak out.  Well, DON'T!!!   JUST BREATHE!  And that is exactly what "Wax on, wax off" is.  It is more like a breathing exercise.  Think calmly.  Think lightly. And, just relax.

2.)  Another Miyagi thought: "Go, find balance."

Before even attempting to "Banzai" your way into that pile of notes, books, flash cards, and all sorts of other acadamic paraphernalia, you must first find balance.  Like we all know, too much information can get really overwhelming.  Prevent getting in that situation by first finding the balance.  What notes will be on the test?  Which chapters from the book are relevant?  Do you have time to make flash cards that you can actually flash through?  Organize all of your notes and prioritize the material that you need to know.  If you're pressed for time, make sure you hit the material that you may have the most difficulty.  That way you can spend more time on them.  You might not even need to really study some of your notes because you already know them quite well.  You shouldn't waste your time on that material.  Prioritize and find the balance!

3.) And last but not least, my own personal insight: Take a break (once in a while)!

When you've sat down in the library for 3-4 hours and you've had your back hunch over your Mt. Everest notes, it can get really exhausting!  There's no sense in pushing yourself another hour if you've got no more brain power.  It's like trying to drive around the block when you know you're running on empty.  You're going to have to get out of that car and stressfully push it in neutral.  It won't get you very far and you've only exhausted yourself.  You need to gas back up and recharge!  Take a power-hour nap.  Take a break and maybe even watch a little bit of TV.  Whatever you do, step away and give yourself a break!  A brain that is fried is just as good as a brain that's raw.  Okay, maybe not exactly the picture that I wanted to paint, but you guys get the idea.

One exam down and one more to go.  Spring Break right around the corner...You bet that I'm ready to go!  But before I do, here's some parting words from Mr. Miyagi, "Lesson not just karate only. Lesson for whole life. Whole life have a balance. Everything be better. Understand?"

Catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 10:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yes, guys, y'all read it right.  It's election time and the ballots are waiting to be cast.  I know it's not yet November, nor have the candidates for either parties been officially chosen (although some may probably disagree), but I'm not lying.  It is election time.

For the past two weeks, Student Government candidates have been campaigning all over campus.  From promises of off-campus use of the Carolina Card to paying parking ticket fines on-line, from textbook vouchers to lowering of textbook prices, from better wireless technology to cheaper and healthier meal plan options...the platforms of our very diverse and much qualified candidates touch on many different topics that are major concerns of our student body.  The past week has been the hard push for most of the candidates.  They've had debates at the Russell House.  They've made speeches at many organizational meetings and even in some classes when professors would permit it.  Campaign materials are not limited to your high school homemade posters as our candidates go for the big bite and have professional banners, posters, and flyers all over campus, as well as T-shirts, stickers, pens, and many other freebies.

In high school, most students don't care to run for student government even if they want to make a difference in their schools because they feel that the student elections are just popularity contests.  It's better to just join an honor society, a booster club, or some volunteer organization, if you truly wanted to make a difference.   But this campaign season is no joke.  Every single candidate means serious business.  This is definitely the big boys and the big girls going for the big one.

For these candidates, campaigning is an experience to gain much knowledge from even if they do not win the office.  Like I said, they mean serious business.  Just like Obama and Clinton and all other presidential candidates, they have written letters, talked to businesses, and solicited money for their campaign.  (Freebies and posters don't come cheap!)  Their debates are well-organized and mediated much like the debates we've been seeing on CNN.  Running for Student Government is kind of like a preparation for those who may see themselves going in to law school or politics or some kind of social reform program.

Have you ever been a part of your school's student government?  Have you ever wanted to see some things happen in your school?  Have you ever felt the urge to make a difference? 

Maybe now is the time for change...Hope you guys are making a difference!

Catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 11:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, every once in a while Gamecock Connection sends an e-mail out to most students registered  to the network.  What is Gamecock Connection you ask?  Well it is exactly what the name stands for...a means for connecting all of us Gamecocks!

It's one of those networking sites, much like the MySpace and Facebook crazes, but this one is tailored to the best of the bests...the Gamecocks!  You can create your profile and get connected with several other proud Carolinians.  There are discussion boards to talk about anything and everything--from the Democratic Primary to your favorite top 5 bands, from winter break plans to tips on exercising, pretty much whatever floats your boat.  There is also a features page where you can find articles, videos, and other resources for many topics that college students are concerned about.  Whether it be about your concerns of exams or paying your bills, or concerns about politics and privacy, or even concerns about health and lifestyle, there are lots of things to browse through on this link.  There is also a place to find out what people are into--the favorites page.  You get to see what  things you may have in common with others and post those on your profile.  And many more.  These are just a few of the many things from that are available on the network.

I have created a profile myself and have gotten started.  If y'all want to get into this, y'all should visit www.gamecockconnection.org and get registered!  Y'all can look for my profile and add me as a friend.  My profile name is krissyka.

I write about the Gamecock Connection because I think it's such an innovative move on the part of Student Life Offices here at USC.  They are making every effort to bring such a huge university feel like a truly small and personal college experience.  There's no need to feel lost in Carolina because there are so many ways to get connected.  There are so many ways to get involved.  There are so many ways to be a part of a great community.

Well, I hope y'all check out the site.  I'd love to see you guys on there.  Just register and add me as a friend and introduce yourself to me!  I'd love to put a face to my readers!

Catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

P.S.  Stay connected!

Posted by Kriska at 01:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As y'all probably guessed from my last entry, I was a very happy person Sunday night.  All Giants fans, can I hear a "Yoo-hoo!!!"?  All I could think of in those last 2 minutes and some-30 odd seconds was I really hoped that my Eli could get a really good drive down the field and not lose the ball.  It wasn't much time, but I knew it was long enough for my favorite team to get the edge on the Patriots...and boy did they get it! 

So, with all the football talk going around from Super Bowl Sunday recaps, I got to thinking how school is much like a football season.  Let me give you guys a sample play-by-play...

It's been three weeks into the semester.  The notes are in the books.  Lecture time is over, and the professors have called you into the field...errr...I mean, they've called you in for the test.  It's exam time, GAME TIME!

Being a student is just like being an athlete, except it's more on the mental side of things as supposed to a physical one.  Class lectures are like meetings to go over the playbook and the game plan.  Classwork and homework is like practice--on the field with the rest of the team or a personal workout at the gym.  Quizzes are like scrimmages, while the tests and exams are your big season games.  And, of course, who can forget the big Super Bowl event of academia...YOUR FINALS?!?

College and NFL football seasons may be over, but the academic field turf is only beginning its call.   Like I said, being three weeks into the semester, professors are expecting a lot of their students with exams pretty much creeping on by.  It's just like practicing on the field those first couple of weeks into the season.  Before you know it,  your team's first game is right around the corner, and you better be ready!  Athletes pack their gym bags with their cleats, uniform, and helmet, while I pack my bookbag with my calculator, eraser, and definitely several #2 pencils!  (You can never have too many #2 pencils or extra lead.  Like I said, BE PREPARED!  The last thing you want is to have to get up and sharpen your pencil and disrupt the entire class! Oh, those horrible stares and glares!!!)

Now, y'all may not be as excited about tests, exams, and finals as you would be for those football games, but as a student you should always try to keep an optimistic and enthusiastic approach when these things make their way thru the calendar.  There's nothing worse than feeling completely bummed and discouraged about an exam.  I'm not saying that I cheer for when exam times come as I do with Gamecock and Giants football games, but I don't try to get too bogged down about them.  So, anyways, now that I've used up a good amount of time giving you my little blurb about classes and such...I should head out and get my studying on.  It's GAME TIME, baby!

Catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 09:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, I've been thinking about something clever to write about, since it seems like it's been several days now since I've last blogged.  I figured I could write about how my classes were going, but nothing too exciting going on there for right now so I'll skip that one.  I thought I could write about the movie my friends and I watched last night at the Russell House--30 Days of Night, but I don't really have much to say about a vampire movie.  And well, after much more thought, I have decided to just write about what y'all are probably going to care about today...

SUPER BOWL XLII!!!

Super Bowl Sunday is yet upon us, and so let's bring on the chips and dips, wings and pizza, and the good ol' couch for a great game and a ton of awesome commercials.  Oh, the classic American tradition!

We've heard it a thousand times over on every single ESPN channel: "both teams are about to make history."  With the Patriots seeking a perfect season all the way to the Super Bowl, they could possibly be the second team in American football history to complete such a feat.  With the Giants trying to prove that they're in it to win it, quaterback Eli Manning could get the most coveted Super Bowl ring and have the Manning name be back-to-back year winners.  Either way, it's going to be an amazing time for Brady, Manning, and of course their respective teams.

Personally, I am tired of hearing about the "perfect season," and I am really in love with Eli Manning.  So, I will most definitely be cheering for the Giants, no doubt!  Some friends of mine will be with me on this, while a couple are going for the team supported by the stats.  Even if the odds are against my team, I DO BELIEVE in ELI!  Hehehe! 

I have been looking forward to Super Bowl Sunday, and with all the hype over the past two weeks, I just cannot wait to see the two teams out there in Arizona.  Who wants it more?  I guess we'll soon see!

Hope y'all have a great Super Bowl Sunday, and catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 03:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Do y'all ever get tired of the three to five mainstream local radio stations that you may have that play the same 10 songs, seeming as if they have chosen those same 10 "hits" and have put them on loop for all day long?!?  And see, as much as you hate those annoying songs, they are just so catchy that not only are they playing over and over again on the radio but they are also just stuck in your head! 

For a poor college student that I am who cannot afford a fancy XM radio, Yahoo! music and YouTube are my on-line go-to's when my local radio stations have failed to entertain me.  When I'm stuck underneath my cave-a-loft with my books towering over me as they await to be read, music helps me get through the day and helps me get most of my work done.  I'm a girl that pretty much enjoys anything and everything--from Indy rock to hip hop, from the oldies to some rap, and some select (VERY SELECT) country to good ol' acoustics!  And well, speaking of acoustics...as I was in the Student Government Offices in the Russell House putting in my office hours for Carolina Service Council, I couldn't have had a better music station than this guy out in the Russell House lobby putting on a lunchtime show.  It was some pretty darn good acoustic mini-concert.  He played and sang musical renditions of some of John Legend's hits (who is one of my absolute favorites!)  He transitioned form Rihanna's "Umbrella" to a good ol' classic, "Killing Me Softly."  Oh, and he also amusingly played an acoustic version of the Electric Slide! 

R&B and Soul Artist, Rudy Currence is the first of a series of musical performances that Carolina Productions have put together for some select Mondays of the spring semester.  The series is called the "Multicultural Music Middays."  The performances are bound to really live up to the series' name as a diverse group has been carefully selected by CP.  Performances are set at about noon, and the performers booked for the semester range from jazz to soul to traditional folk and Gospel.

Events like this mini-concert help us students get through the daily grind.  We all know how school work can get so stressful sometimes.  These events are especially stress-relieving as they are very light on the budget--THEY ARE MOSTLY FREE!

Well, until the next beat comes by my way...I hope y'alls week has gotten off to a good start!  Happy Monday and catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 12:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ugg boots. Check.  Long-sleeve sweater.  Check.  Scarf and gloves.  Check.  Coat.  Check.

Oh, and class schedule.  Check.

It's great to be back in Cola, but man has it been cold.  Walking across the brick pathways from building to building between classes hasn't been much fun these past couple of days with the cold weather.  But I won't complain too much because last night we had quite the buzz around here on campus....IT SNOWED!!!

Yes, guys it snowed.  It didn't quite stick on the ground so we still had classes this morning, and that was pretty disappointing.  But last night, we had such a racket out on Preston Green that that bit of snow we got was still pretty darn awesome.  It was quite hilarious running around like little kids, and while most of my "northerner" friends on Facebook laugh at my status about the joy that the snow last night brought, those snowflakes were pretty darn big!  Haha!  I would probably classify last night as light snow fall but definitely not just snow flurries, okay?  Hehe!

But back unto classes, as I haven't given y'all an update about that.  My schedule this semester is no less busier than last semester, but I feel pretty good about it.  Except for my Anatomy and Physiology course with close to about 200 students, all of my other classes are not so large.  My other classes are no bigger than 50 students, which is good because I feel like there are more things that get done in those smaller classes.  There is generally more student-teacher interaction and dialogue in the smaller-sized classes, and I feel like I get more out of them.  But most teachers here in USC are pretty great, so even if the classes are big, they will still go out of their way to keep their office hours and offer their e-mail addresses to students who may have questions and need extra help.  No worries about being in a big university.  Around here, we like to feel like we are one big family!

I've still got lots of back-to-school business to take care off these next few days, but rest assured I'll be fitting in more time to catching you guys up about the happenings here in Cola.  It's been pretty hectic since I moved back in, so I apologize for not having blogged already!  But to make up for my lack of blogging, I will leave y'all with my snowfall party pictures...ENJOY!

And for some funnies...

Here's my pants post-football in the "snow."

Catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 03:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just wanted to share the great news with everyone:

The waiting game is finally over!!!  The verdict is up, and the grades have been posted on VIP!!!  And it's going to be quite a very merry Christmas, with my blooming grades!  Time to tell the parents and make 'em proud.

But before I go and cut this blog short, I'm not sure if y'all know much about VIP, yet...so here's my lil spiel about it.

The VIP I talk about is not your common layman's term of "Very Important Person."  VIP stands for "Visual Information Processing."  In addition to your e-mail and Blackboard account, VIP will be site assigned to USC students to access lots of very important information.  Using your Social Security number and a 4-digit number password, you can access the site for some secure and personal University data.  Once in the site, one can choose to activate a personal VIP ID.  This can be used in place of the Social Security number for security measure.

The site has 4 main page links within it: ACADEMICS, FINANCIAL, PERSONAL, and TECHNOLOGY.  Within the Academics page, you can access an unofficial transcript, ways to obtain an official transcript, your class and exam schedules, and a link to the Barnes & Noble University Bookstore.  You will also use the Academics page to schedule your classes during course sign-up.  Within the Financial page, you can view, edit, and pay for your tuition, dorm, and meal plan fees.  Whatever scholarships and loans you may have will show up within this page as well.  Under the Personal page, you can access lots of different information--personal data about yourself that you would like to make available on the University directory, your post office box number and combination, housing assignments, and many others.  Lastly, in the Technology page, you'll find all the different internet accounts that the University will give you access to--network names, passwords, wireless access, and software distribution.

Once on campus, you'll get to know your VIP account very well as you will definitely use it very often.  Within this past week, between checking for updated grades and finalizing my spring semester class schedule, it feels like I've visited VIP at least three times a day.  You'll almost use VIP quite "religiously."

Well, enough babble for now...time to get a-goin' and get chillin'!  Catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 01:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One...Two...Three...Everyone.......HOOOOOORAY!!!

Yes, please.  Everybody indulge me and join me in one big hooray for exams are finally over!!!  This morning, at 9AM, was my date time with good ol' Organic Chemistry exam, and although, we hit it off pretty well in the beginning, things got kind of rocky towards the end.  I felt pretty confident about the things I thought I knew about Orgo, but of course, not all dates are perfect!

Hehe!  Enough creepy thoughts about my exam!

I'm really just excited and relieved for all of my exams being done.  I'm ready to get on packing and get all my things together.  My parents are coming early tomorrow morning to pick me up and bring me on home!  Oh, home sweet home!

Well, have a great weekend everyone!  Catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As y'all may have guessed from the slacking in entries, exam week is getting to me.  Slightly worn down already, I have three down and three more to go.  My morning exam in PSYC 440 was actually not so bad.  It was a fairly easy exam, and I count on getting an A in the course.  It was my afternoon exam today, however, in BIOL 243 (Anatomy and Physiology) that has really sucked the life out of me!

I spent hours and hours going through about 60-70 pages worth of facts about the complexities of our bodies' inner workings, and as much as I am worried that my GPA might go down a bit because of today's final, I'm just quite glad that that ordeal is now over.  This is the incentive you get after taking an exam--the feeling that it's over!  There's really nothing that you can do anymore but just wait for the grades to be posted up on VIP.  In general, grades are supposed to be up within 72 hours of taking the finals, but not all professors will be able to do so.  The number of classes and number of students within each class can make the whole grading process a little longer.  Some professors will also have to coordinate with the class's Teaching Assistants (TA) for some of the students' grades.  This will be the case for practically all science classes.  Some non-science classes, like history and English, courses will have TA's too.  So there are definitely a lot of different things that go into putting all of the grades together.

It's not a fun game to wait around for the grades to come up on VIP, but thanks to the Holiday season, there's something to keep your mind off the anxiety.

Anyways...I'm just a bit tired now, so I'll get some rest.  There is still so much more to study for the last three exams.  Back in high school, our midterms were not scheduled until after Christmas break, so that wasn't very cool.  It did give more time for studying, but it was also more time to forget.  It also made the break a little less fun because we had to study during it.  Well, I hope y'all aren't in that situation.

Catch y'all later in the flipside, Gamecocks.

Posted by Kriska at 08:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One down...five more to go.

I know that it's not finals week yet, but today was my first final of the semester.  Y'all may have read from fellowblogger Cory's entry "The 'Final' Countdown" that some exams take place before exam week.  My Organic Chemistry Lab final was one of those.  I had it this afternoon around 12:30PM.  Pretty much last night and all day today was spent preparing for the final--up to the last minute I was holding on to those notes, scanning them fast as I could.  We had to basically know everything in the lab manual--all 156 pages!  It sure was a lot, but it was still somewhat doable--provided you do not wait for the last minute to get studying (yet again, another reference to procrastination my dear friends!)

As Cory wrote in that entry, there sure are some advantages and disadvantages to having exams prior to the finals week.  Having it so much earlier means that you'll have to do a lot of studying earlier than other students may, but once you have finished it then it's done!  Like I said, one down, five more to go.

I'm not really too excited about all of the exams coming up, but then again, there will be the winter break at the end of it all.  The end of another semester is just right around the corner.

Well, I best get cracking on some books.  Even if the rest of my finals won't start on Monday doesn't mean I shouldn't start hitting the books already!  Catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 03:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With the Gamecock Football Season at a stand-still (let's hope that at tonight's announcement of Bowls that our team gets a chance), the Saturday was spent a little differently than most Saturdays of this semester.  Shawn has decided that he can finally join me at a Service Saturday, and two other friends, Aaron and Marvin, were also with us.

This Service Saturday was the last of the semester...and the YEAR!  (I really can't believe that it's already December of 2007!!!)  The theme was Serving Disabled Individuals, and hundreds of students came out again for another Saturday to serve the different sites of a private, non-profit organization serving the State's disable population.  The Babcock Center is perhaps the largest non-profit in the state of South Carolina whose main target are those with disabilities--from mild mental retardation to Down's Syndrome to even accident-related injuries causing health issues.  My particular group was sent over to the Shop Road branch where it seems people with disabilities would go and join in activities and training as well as perform jobs like assembling parts and putting things together in hopes that this exercise and practice will get their skills up again.  Some people spent the afternoon mopping and cleaning, while others were organizing the facility's storage areas.  I was with some others who did lots of washing of cars.  They had lots of minivans, caravans, and goshvans that the center uses to transport the patients, and we had to give all of them a good scrubbing down.  It was quite fun actually!  I couldn't ever reach the tops of the vans (especially the gosh ones), so there was always a much taller guy who followed my trail and scrubbed the spots that I missed.  Hehehe!

After an afternoon of volunteering, Shawn and I returned to Preston to just hang out and chill.  We figured that after our good deed for the day that we deserved a good resting.  Come time 6PM, we met up with our other friends and watched one of the movies that Carolina Productions had showing for free at the Russell House Theater.  I had already seen Rush Hour 3, but everyone else hadn't seen it yet.  I loved the movie anyways so I didn't care too much that I was watching again.  I was actually pretty psyched.

Bourne Ultimatum was set to play at 9PM at the theater too, and we had planned to make a movie marathon out of the night, so we were going to watch that as well.  But soon after the opening credits had finished playing and the story was just beginning, the fire alarms at the Russell House went off.  I think someone had forgotten to turn a fryer off or something.  I don't really know what happened.  My friends and I were quite disappointed that we had to miss the movie and were also worried that we wouldn't have our on-campus dining facility, but all seemed well today as everything has been in full swing at the RuHo.  I enjoyed some grits for breakfast today at the Gimp!  As also on another good note, Ultimatum is playing again tonight!  Guess we'll be trying to catch the movie tonight....Second attempt is a go!

Well, hope y'all had a great weekend!  Sad to see that the once #6 Gamecocks couldn't have played at the SEC Championship yesterday, but I am happy that LSU won over Tennessee.  Something about that orange that really just gets to me...hehehe!!!

Catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 01:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, I know my last entry was me whining a little bit about last night, but I forgot to tell y'all that I did have a pretty good time (for a break) at this year's Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony!

This year's ceremony had the iconic speech of our dear president, Dr. Sorensen, along with a message from our student body president, Nick Payne.  One of the school's hit chorus groups--Cocktails--was also there to perform, and man were they good!  It was the first time I had ever heard the ladies sing, and I was just amazed.  They're supposed to have a concert next week, and I might just go and watch them as my break from studying for finals!!!  The Logan Leopard Singers from a local elementary school also came, and they were just so cute and adorable.  Made me remember my good ol' days back in chorus!  And well, of course, a party would not be a Carolina party if my favorite buddy of all time weren't there....COCKY!!!  As always, our friendly furry mascot was there to bring in the holiday spirit on campus!

I got to enjoy the evening of carols with my friends from FASA, and it was such a nice break from my mad cramming.  As I showed y'all pictures some entries ago, we had decorated some ornaments for the tree, and we all searched the towering tree for them.  (They're all there...guess we really are creative! Hehe!)

Well, I thought I'd post some pictures from the night's events.  I took pictures of some other ornaments that I decorated at the Carolina Service Council Holiday Party.  All the ornaments you'll see below are decorated by moi except for the Carolina one, which was decorated by my boyfriend, Shawn!

Dr. McNulty shows his school spirit with Cocky.  Dr. McNulty is FASA's faculty advisor! 

Well, catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

P.S.  Here is my early holiday greeting card for y'all!

Posted by Kriska at 03:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The home stretch is really kicking my booty right now.  The impending Anatomy quiz and Orgo exam is brooding over me, and I'm about to lose my mind!

Okay, a little dramatic, I know.  I'm just having one of those freak-out moments. Not to sound so discouraging or anything, it's just when the exam/quiz times roll along, they just happen to roll all at the same time.  As y'all saw on my schedule the other day, things are pretty hectic this week.  Actually, from the way my agenda looked like from Monday to what it looks like now, y'all just wouldn't believe it!  Pretty much, just imagine all the blank, empty spaces I had two days ago now being filled with "To-Do-Lists-For-the-Days."  There have been additional papers and the like to take care of, and it seems that I've been putting off my studying time for my two sciences.  So now I'm pretty much in cramming mode.

But not to fear, with my notecards and gazillions of notes in tow, I will face these two obstacles like Mr. Prince Charming with his sword and shield.  :-D  Well, I should leave y'all now and bid y'all adieu if I want to really make a killing!

Time to burrow in my desk and get my studying groove on.

Catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 10:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Now that I've probably packed on about an extra 10 more pounds from the turkey, ham, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and all the other goodies of Thanksgiving, you would think that I would be very well-equipped for the last three weeks of school.  Some last minute papers and reports, a few more quizzes for additional grades, and those squeezed-in exams before the last two weeks of finals are blinking bright blue lights like a cop chasing me, and man is that whole "objects in mirror are closer than they appear" is really applying to the dates on my agenda book.

It's that home stretch up ahead and boy am I really trying to get myself steering in the right course.  This week is going to be some week to get through as I've got an Anatomy quiz, an Organic Chemistry Exam, several movie review papers to write, and a research paper doubled with a group presentation to get cracking on!  Now, now, don't get too freaked out.  I perhaps should as the list of things to do may seem so daunting, but all will not be in complete disorder.  My handy-dandy agenda book may seem full and just plain hectic, but it's keeping me very organized and ready to go!

Tip #561 (Okay, I'm not really sure what tip number this is, but just go with me here.):

Get an agenda book! 

I pretty much survived all of my high school years without having to use one, and y'all may be doing just as well without it.  I know back in high school that at the beginning of each year, when my homeroom teacher would hand out that crip, new school handbook I would always resolve to use it so that all of my homework, extracurricular meetings, and other school events and such can be all written down.  I would always start off the year being very earnest in keeping tabs of things, but soon thereafter, I would forget to use the handbook and the only purpose it would serve was that it was my hall pass.  But trust me that it will really help you out in the long run if you get used to using an organizer. 

While  your high school teachers may constantly give y'all reminders of scheduled quizzes and exams and due dates for works, some college professors may find themselves in too busy of a schedule to remind y'all.  It's not that professors are just being mean and that they want to trip you up.  It's just that, as a college student, it will be your own responsibility to get things done and more importantly that they are done on time.  Granted that some professors may be willing to work some things out for some personal reasons, you shouldn't take the chance on just their good graces.

Anyways...the entire point is that when you start getting hectic weeks like this one that I'm having to go through right now, it helps to have everything mapped out so you know what needs to get done, especially what needs to be prioritized first.  Procrastination is my worst enemy.  Actually, my favorite quote from Ellen DeGeneres from one of her stand-up shows is that "Procrastination isn't the problem; it's the solution.  So procrastinate now, don't put it off!"  However much I like to procrastinate, however, I am trying to break these habits and keeping a list of things to do in my agenda book has been really helping me out in this endeavor!

Here's a little preview of the first half of this week:.

The feeling of checking off things as you get them done is also just another added bonus to making lists.  I feel that the day goes on more being productive when I can make that little check right next to a task.  As y'all can see, however, there are still some things left for today that have not been checked off.  I'm getting there.

So, bouncing out...catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 09:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

With several late nights and waking up to only 15 minutes in the morning to get ready and to get to class during these past few days, I've had to scrounge around quick for a scarf, for some socks, for some comfy long pants, for a coat...for anything!  The temperatures have been dropping here in Columbia, and it seems like I have used up all of my jeans and even my warm "bummy" pants because I've had to wear them all these past few days.  Also, as y'all probably saw in the pictures from the football game over the weekend, Megan and I hovered over a portable heater due to the dropping temperatures once the sun hit it low over the Fair Grounds.  Yep, y'all, it does get cold here down south in mighty Carolina.  Summer heats may be sweltering in Columbia, but the chill of the cold can get to the bones as well!  The fall season is indeed in the air, but today for a change...the sun came back! 

I was getting worried about not having anymore long pants to wear, but good ol' Mother Nature gave me a break today, and the sun shined all day long.  I think the reported high for the temperature was in the high 70s, getting close to 80 actually.  It was quite nice to be able to put the flipflops back on again!  As I was starting to get used to those furry, big, brown boots and big old coats all over campus, the skirts and the dresses made one more peek before the season of the summer clothing can be put to rest.

But then again, Mother Nature must be going through her time of the month or something, because I just checked Weather.com and it seems like tomorrow is going to be a morning filled with showers and temperatures ranging all over the 60s!  Then, Friday is supposed to be quite sunny, but the temperatures will be quite low--anywhere between 35-52 degrees.  Oh, what fun!

Well, just wanted to drop by and say hello.  I hope all y'all who were planning to apply for the Honors College, especially the top honors scholarship, have turned in your forms.  Tomorrow (November 15th) is the deadline!

Catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 11:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1 Crunch...2 Crunch...3 Crunch........4.

5 Crunch...6 Crunch..............

In an effort to gain those high school bods we used to have (as inspired by a T.V. informercial), Shawn, Megan, and I have embarked on a group effort to do ab workouts every night.  Well, every night is the plan for now.

Since we only started last night, we set 100 crunches as our goal.  "Baby steps" is what we're calling it--4 sets of 25 crunches.  The first two sets were no biggies, but as soon as we got to the third set...it seemed like we were dropping like flies.  I won't mention which of the three of us but one could barely pull themselves up past 60, while another could barely make the 75 mark...and well one made it victoriously to 100!  We decided to try some classic push-ups, too.  But that was a benchmark that might take some time.  I think I did about 14 total.  It's crazy because I used to top physical training in high school and beat out all the guys in our 2-minute heats of push-ups. My best all-time record was 75 push-ups in 2 minutes, and they weren't "girl push-ups" either!  I also used to do kickboxing back then and could pull off a good set of one-handed push-ups!  I was beastly back then...hehe! 

As I've already blogged about months ago, during freshman year, I managed to pack on an extra, unnecessary and most definitely unneeded and unwanted 12 pounds!!!  The first half of the summer was spent trying to lose the weight, as I knew I had a beach trip planned for the July 4th weekend.  May I say, I was actually quite successful in that endeavor.  But it seems that that college-weight-curse has struck again.  I don't even step on the scale anymore when I go home!

But don't fret!  Here are USC as long as you have the initiative and the motivation (which unfortunately I currently lack), there are two very fine health and fitness facilities on campus.

The Blatt P.E. Center is the older of the two but still very much accomodating to the needs of every college student seeking to lose weight, keep fit, and get them muscles!  With several work-out machines, different rooms for sports facilities, and even some studios for those dance lovers, there is plenty to do at the Blatt.  It is also fairly convenient in location.  It is about 5-6 minutes away from the Russell House.

The Strom is the state-of-the-art fitness facility we have here at Carolina.  Y'all know that picture of that big outdoor pool that always happen to make its way into the brochures y'all always see from USC???  That's Strom right there!  It is one of the campus's pride and joy!  I've spent some nights on the treadmill there or goofing around with my friends in the raquetball court.  But those nights were so long ago and far away!

To read more about these two facilities, y'all can visit the site of the Campus Rec.  Here's the link: http://campusrec.sc.edu/default.html  You can just work your way around the site and read more about what each facility has to offer!

Well, wish the three of us luck that we don't end up quitting on each other!  Catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sonic Man:  Welcome to Sonic!  What can I get for you tonight?

Me:  Can I get a SuperSonic Cheeseburger with everything but the cheese?

SM:  So you want a SuperSonic Cheeseburger but without the cheese?

Me:  Yes, sir.  A SuperSonic Cheeseburger without the cheese.

Okay, so that didn’t really happen, but on a late night mini-drive with Shawn and Megan to Assembly Street tonight to good ol’ Sonic (Your Ultimate Drink Stop!), we pondered on this scenario.  I mean, of course, I guess, Sonic would have to make the burger as you liked it, but it just sounded funny.  Oh, and I bring this up because on the menu of Sonic there is a Sonic Burger and a Sonic Cheeseburger, as well as a  SuperSonic Cheeseburger but no SuperSonic Burger.  Ridiculous, I know!

But really the point of my entry is not whether you can get a cheeseburger without the cheese.  It’s cheesier than that!  Today’s Kriska’s tidbit about college life is about sharing those moments with those you’ve come to know as all-time, great buds!   (I told you it was cheesy!)

A lot of people say you should make as many friends as you can make.  They say you should make as many acquaintances as possible and network!  But greater than those two advices, it’s very important to make those core friendships!  Once you get past high school and you grow out of that “high school scene” of cliques and dramas and stereotype-fulfilling scenarios, college becomes a great time to find those lifelong friends with whom you’ll end up wanting to send your kids to daycare together.  

I’m proud to say that I’ve made such friends.  From Preston Dining dinners to random walks to CVS for a late night snack, from SSBM GameCube championships to scary movie marathons, from drives into Columbia rush-hour traffic on Fridays to get to Harbison Boulevard to long walks along the railroad tracks to Williams-Brice Stadium…and so much more…my friends and I have so much fun here in Columbia.  We totally make the most out of what we’ve got here on campus.  No matter how simple or ridiculous they may be, we enjoy doing the kookie things we do as well as just the down time we spend in the room just watching TV.  Roadtrips are currently being planned, however, to add to the excitement (now that we’re getting even more grown up and our parents—well more like the parents of the girls of the group in this case—might just be letting our hands go so that we can really enjoy the college life!)

Really, it seems cheesy, and y’all may find it pretty girly and sentimental, but it’s true.  I know for all of you seniors, y’all just can’t wait to get out high school but at the same time y’all keep playing that song by Eve6 titled “Here’s to the Night.”  Well, make sure when y’all get to college that y’all keep living for those nights.  College is the time for academia, but it’s also the time to build yourself and with that comes finding those goobers for whom you’d stay up till the wee-hours of the night.

Catch y’all on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 11:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yes, you read it right.  Some good ol' lovin'!  This weekend was yet another blast.  My sister had decided that she would throw a fall party for family and friends, and so, Shawn and I packed our weekend bags for the second week in a row for another trip.  This time we headed up to the Upstate.  (Last weekend was down to the coast for his mom's 50th birthday!)

My sister had gone all out, and with Shawn, my younger brother, and myself as her helpers, we turned her house into a fall festival early Saturday morning.  Like the pilgrims back in the day, the boys worked outside in the yard, while my sister and I toiled over the hot kitchen stove.  Okay, okay...so not really that extreme.  Hehe!  But the boys did work out in the backyard and put together a 5-hole putt-putt course.  They put together a bowling lane using some pumpkins and gourds for bowling balls and pins.  We also had a checkerboard table set up in the back--and yes, with pumpkin and gourd pieces! Then, inside the house, my sister and I were baking away some sweet fall treats--cookies, cakes, and pies. 

My sister is just like me (or I guess I should say I am just like her as she is older.)  She had everything down to a T for this party.  Like I said, pumpkins and gourds for game pieces and even some scoring sheets for the putt-putt and bowling.  She had me cutting out pilgrim hats for a "Put-The-Hat-On-The-Turkey" game.  She had a jar of candy corn and a jar of indian corn for a "Guess-How-Many-in-the-Jar" game.  She also had several of us peeling a huge bag of candy caramel for melting for a caramel apple buffet--completed with sprinkles of all fall colors and M&Ms.  I mean, she really just WENT ALL OUT!

But the good ol' lovin' didn't stop there.  Really that was just the beginning.  Going home for me this weekend was re-living my childhood through the games and through spending time with my grandma!  Some good ol' lovin' and quality time with my "Nanay!"  I joked around with her and traded stories--I would tell her of my life here in Carolina as she would tell me of her life these past couple of years in the Philippines.  She also told me lots of my childhood stories, which was something I just really enjoyed.  All of my 14 cousins and I on my mother's side were taken care of by Nanay.  She was telling me how all 15 of us spent our first 2-3 years in her hands, and how of all of us, I was perhaps the loudest.  But adoringly she kissed me saying that in spite of my loud mouth as a child (which my parents vouched for is still existent at the moment), I have made up for it all with my accomplishments in school.  I always made sure to send her copies of my certificates and newspaper clippings as I received them ever since I moved here to America.

Perhaps my favorite moment of the weekend, however, would have to be as she watched the Carolina game Saturday night with the group.  Plopped down on the middle of the couch, Nanay had a pizza in one hand (the other was holding a blanket around her as she gets so cold so easily and is not so used to the cold weather).  She looked like she was intently watching the game.  I had explained to her that the guys with the "CAROLINA" on their shirts go to my school and that the game on TV was what we had been waiting for all day long.  She just sat there eating her pizza away and even tried a hot wing, which she quickly disposed off to me citing it was too hot.  How adorable that my very itty-bitty ol' Nanay was "getting Americanized."  Hehe!

I wish that the weekend could have gone on longer, but of course...Monday will always come!  I hope that y'all had a great weekend (even if the Gamecocks lost!)  We'll hopefully get it all together for our last two games.  I have lots of friends who go to both Florida and Clemson.  I'll never hear the end of it, if we don't pull it through!

Catch y'all on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 02:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As the clock ticked Halloween away...November came down on its own way! 

Yes, November is here, and how crazy is just that!  A couple of weeks will be Thanksgiving Break, and then, pretty soon it will be the end of this semester.  I just can't believe how time is simply flying.  This week was actually quite fast.  It seems like it was only Monday yesterday when I was trying to get back into the groove of studying after a weekend at the beach.  *Sigh!*

I just wanted to make a quick post today to remind y'all about the upcoming deadline for the South Carolina Honors College/Top Scholarship Application.  Starting today, y'all will have about two weeks to really get those things cranking, finished, and turned in.  The exact due date for the applications is November 15, 2007.

As I recall filling out this application during my senior year, I have to say that I was actually not aware that I was filling out an application for the Top Scholarships.  (Man, it was a good thing I got mine in on time!  Being a Carolina Scholar rocks!)  If y'all have not taken a look at the application and were not made aware of this separate process for applying to USC, click this link.  The link will bring you directly to the page about applying as a senior for the coming fall semester as a freshman.  I know that the application can be filled out on-line, but a paper copy can be requested by going to this page: click here!

So, like I said, I wasn't really quite aware of the fact that the application I was filling out for the SC Honors College was the same application that Admissions used to give out Top Scholarships.  Imagine my surprise when a letter came to say that I have been invited for an interview for one of the spots to be a Carolina Scholar.  Admissions,  however, have been doing a better job at advertising and explaining the process to prospective students now though, ever since the interest for the scholarships have just grown tremendously over the years.  The application really wasn't all too terrible as I recall it though.  Taking the time to answer all of those questions and really revealing the type of student and person that you are by answering the short and essay questions aren't really all that bad considering that an impressive application may yield several thousand-dollars worth of scholarship!  It really is worth taking the time!

Anyways, I hope that y'all are doing great.  I hope y'alls Halloween was a ton of fun.  Some friends stayed late into the night here at my place with my roommate and I as we watched Dawn of the Dead and surfed the T.V. for some good Halloween specials.

Catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 02:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Can y'all notice how busy I've been these past couple of weeks through the lack of my usual posts, or what?!?  Between exams, projects, research, extracurricular, and my down-time life, it seems like the 24-hour days are just not enough!

Even this year's Halloween, it seems as though I'll be more a-truckin' on the workload than trick-or-treatin' as today's schedule is just so packed!  But alas!  I'm here to take a few minutes off of my ever-so-busy "hump day" and just catch up with y'all again.

I've been listening to a lot of mainstream music again lately what with having to be in my cubbyhole of a desk underneath my loft studying and what not.  If I'm not out in class or at the Russell House for some meeting, it's pretty easy to find me on campus.  Just knock on my door, and you'll find me in my lil hub. 

So anyways, I thought I'd share what's been on my Yahoo! Music Viedo Playlist lately.  Ranging from Ally & Aj's Potential Breakup Song to Soulja Boy Tellem's Crank That to The Great Escape by Boys Like Girls and even Colbie Caillat's Bubbly, I've had several different songs playing in my head lately.  My friends tease me that I'm like a walking MP3 player because if my computer wasn't playing anything, I can be heard humming (or unluckily for them, actually singing) out the beats!  It's actually kind of funny because since I listen to music while I'm studying for my exams, I find myself actually hearing the music playing in my head while I'm taking the exam.  During my Organic Chemistry exam last week, Kiss Kiss by Chris Brown was ringing thru my head.  During my Anatomy exam, Cyclone by Baby Bash and Bartender by T-Pain took turns on repeat.  During my Survey of Personality exam, it was Hate That I Love You by Rihanna.

As you can tell, I'm pretty broad about my likes about music.  I used to say that I loved to listen to all types of music EXCEPT COUNTRY.  (So much for living in the south, eh?)  Well, actually, I've been corrected!  One of my friends heard me humming Keith Urban's Love Somebody Like You and Rascal Flatt's Life is a Highway.  I tried to defend myself saying that it was "pop music."  My friend was quick to point out that Keith Urban and Rascal Flatts are main music makers for CMT!!!  So, I guess I do like country, but it has to be more like POP country.

Well, y'all that's enough break time for me.  I've got another exam this week to study for.  (More music on repeat on Yahoo! Music Videos for me!)  If y'all have any suggestions for artists and songs that you've all been listening to lately, just drop me a comment!

Happy Halloween (and happy hump day!) 

Catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 03:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As high schoolers (especially the seniors) I'm sure that y'all are looking forward to moving out, going to college, living on your own, blah blah blah, etc. Basically looking forward to that moment when you get to finally get away from the parents and be "your own boss," right?

I hate to break it to you guys, though, but y'all will miss your parents!  I know some teens from the onset have trouble breaking the ties with their parents on that move-in day, but really it doesn't matter how close y'all were to begin with.  Even the most detached teens will miss the 'rents.  This usually is set off when they start running out off clean clothes, running out of pocket money, running out of sodas and chips...Yes, the trend of running out of things!

But don't fret!  Here at USC, a traditional event is Parents' Weekend, and this year it was over the past weekend.  Mostly a time for out-of-state parents to get reunited with their teens but also a good short visit for in-staters, lots of events are planned months in advance for this big weekend.  "Parent Packages" can be reserved for those who want to join in on all the activities--dinners, banquets, tours, and the featured football game of the weekend.  Unfortunately, the Gamecocks couldn't provide the parents this year with a good win, but like in my recent entry, I will again try to avoid that topic!

Since I am an in-state student with the chance to go home almost as often as my parents can visit me, my parents just opted to visit on Sunday.  It was also my birthday over the weekend and since I wasn't going home (because we had a home game, which again we lost but I will refrain from talking about ), it was a perfect time for them to visit.  Parents' Weekend actually turned into a family weekend for me, as all three of my siblings came as well.  In addition, my grandmother, who is visiting from the Philippines and whom I have not seen in such a long time, was also able to join the visit.  My grandma was so cute.  As she got out of the van to hug me, she questioned me in a shocked tone if Preston College were my house.  I had to quickly explain to her that it is indeed where I live but that it isn't my house because it is a dorm.  I had to explian why there were so many other people walkng in and out of the building!  Hehe!

We were going to join the Annual SC Honors College Picnic on the Horseshoe, but my oldest sister was craving pasta, so we went to eat at the Vista.  A nice mile-walk to get there from Preston was in order, and my 86-yr. old grandma was quick to defend her petite structure as soon as my sisters and I suggested taking the car.  What probably would have taken a 15-minute walk ended up being a 30-minute stroll through the campus and the gardens of the State Capitol, but it was very much enjoyed.  I still am quite impressed that my grandma did make the walk to the Vista and back as well to Preston.

I had quite a great time being with my family, especically getting to see my grandma since it had been so long since the last time I saw her.  Here's a picture of her and me at the corner of Pendleton and Sumter.

A piece of advise: Enjoy the time you get to spend with your family even if they do drive you nuts!  I'll leave y'all with a picture of my most beloved dad--the goofball that he is, by the way!

Catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 11:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, today was that much-dreaded-back-to-school-from-a-break-day, which of course with my luck was started off with Organic Chemistry at 9 in the morning.  The gang and I had had another scary movie night last night, and I think that I must have woken up 3 times throughout the night like some little girl because of scary nightmares.  Hehe!  Fortunately, they weren't too bad, and I was able to go right back to sleep without waking up my roommate.  It was just kind of annoying to wake up 3 times and have that broken up sleep.

About my classes this morning...My professors seemed to notice that we, the students, were all really not looking forward to being back to classes after the four-day fall break, and well, they were nice enough to take the classes to be more light.  That doesn't mean, however, that they cut the classes short.  They definitely took up every minute of their 50-minute slots.  They just didn't go into too much detail in their lectures today.  In my Survey of Abnormal Psychology class, we actually watched two videos that took up most of class time.

Anyways, as I get myself back into the groove of school, I have two exams, a quiz, and a lab to look forward to this week.  Not exactly too exciting, especially since no studying went on during the break.  I will definitely be pulling in some hours on my desk and possibly even the library.  If and when I do make it through this week, there will be the amazing weekend to be had--USC vs. Vandy game and my 20th birthday!  I'm having my countdown to Saturday!!!  (Seriously, I can't believe I'm going to be 20 in 5 days!!!!!)

So, I hope y'all are having a great start to your week.  Monday's don't usually get a good rep with most people!  Catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 03:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thank God for fall break coming up because it seems like the stampede of exams and quizzes have slowed down.  Well, at least for myself, that is the case.  I know that some professors like to get that mid-term right before fall break.  All five of my professors have gotten all the first round of exams out of their system.  They have assured the class, however, of the next upcoming round by the time we get back next week. 

But I'm not going to worry myself of what's to come ahead.  At least not yet, that is.  Today, I bask in the glory of having a short day.  Again, due to fall break, my Organic Chemistry lab for the week has been cancelled.  This basically opens up 3 hours of my afternoon today.  (Yes, org. chem. lab does take that long!)  I had two early morning classes out of the way this morning--an 8AM psychology class and a 9:30 anatomy class.  The only thing I have left on today's agenda is a Carolina Service Council - General Body Meeting.  A lot has been going on with CSC for me these days.  As the Director of Monthly Programs, my fall semester responsibility is to come up with a service opportunity for the month of October.  And yes, I am aware that this is the month of October already!!!  My committee and I are quite busy on getting all of the planning and logistics of the event, which is a Halloween-themed party for children at a housing facility in Downtown Columbia.  I'm pretty excited about this, but there's still a lot of work that needs to be done!  I'll definitely keep y'all updated on that.

As for now, while I await the late afternoon meeting, I think I'll keep enjoying my lunch--a nice and "healthy" roast beef wrap from the "Gimp," which is the Grand Marketplace in the Russell House for those of you who may not know.  I might try to throw in some TV time, as I have not been able to enjoy watching TV lately due to all the work that I've been having to do!  Can't be all work and no play.  That can only result in a fried, useless brain!

Well, catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Being a Prestonite has a lot of perks.  From tea parties to themed dinners and to all the different organizations/clubs within the residence, there's just so much to do around here.  We were able to take advantage of one of the perks of being a Prestonite last night, actually.  Preston has its own "Preston Blockbuster," and well, as the Thursday night game really just made the gang completely beat up and tired, we decided to just take Friday night pretty easy and just chill.  Kicking back in the apartment at Preston with some classic scary movies, the night turned into a fun movie night.

There aren't really very strict rules about borrowing from the Preston Blockbuster.  You sign the movie out on this list and just make sure that you return the movies after two days.  If you don't return the movie by two days, the Peer Coordinator in charge of the movies will notify you through an e-mail of the movie's due date.  Pretty high-tech, eh?  Hehe!  Preston's not really all that strict about the borrowing policies.  Of course, they know where you live since you're borrowing within the residential hall.  It's not likely that anyone can keep a movie and never return it.  They just don't want anyone to keep the movies too long, so that others will also have a chance to watch the movies.

So, the gang borrowed two "scary" movies--Night of the Living Dead and Psycho.  Actually, the movies weren't really all that scary, but they're the classics so we actually had a good time.  It's pretty interesting to see the differences between the movies from that time period and the scary movies we have now.  The effects and the general theme (*cough*explicit material*cough*) are definitely different!  Oh, how Hollywood has changed over the years!

Anyways, cheesy or not, the scary movie night turned out to be actually a lot of fun.  The gang has decided that we're going to that every once in a while.  I actually bought a couple of movies today--Exorcism of Emily Rose and Darkness.  I've already seen the Exorcism of Emily Rose, but no one else has.  I've never seen Darkness, however.  If y'all have any suggestions for some great scary movies, feel free to comment!  I'm pretty easy to scare, so definitely caution me on the movies.  Maybe do a 5-star rating of scariness.  I'll probably try to avoid the really scary ones...hehe!  Sometimes I get to being a really big chicken!

Well, I hope y'all are enjoying your weekend.  Clemson is getting beat by Virginia Tech.  YEA!  (Hehe!)  Don't you just love the Carolina-Clemson rivalry.  Well, catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 07:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

First rounds are done.  Rounds of what you say?  Rounds of exams!

After some late nights, a couple of early mornings, several cups o' joe, horrendous amounts of notes, I can finally say, "HOORAY!," for the first round of exams are done!  The anxiety of the unknown test format and material are behind me now, and in theory, I should be able to study better for other exams in the classes as I now know how tests will be like.  This, again, as I say is a theory!

Fortunately, all of the hard work has paid, and I can definitely say, "HOORAY!"  I managed to pull A's across the board on all of the exams.  Some were higher A's than others, but I can't say that I would complain about the lower ones.  For now, an A is an A, and a celebration is in order!  I'd love to share some studying tips for the moment though.  I know that fellow blogger, Cory, has shared some tips with you on his other blog entries.  Also, I just gave y'all some stress-relieving tips during exam week, well let me add unto the wealth, and let y'all in on a couple of the study tricks and secrets that obviously helped me do well on my exams from the past weeks.

If you're the kind of person that enjoys notes:

• ORGANIZE:  Make sure that you take good, neat, and organized notes.  There are different types of taking notes.  You can try out the Cornell method if that works for you, or just write down notes in bullet format.  Whatever works for you, as long as you can actually read and COMPREHEND the material that you have written down once you leave the lecture room, then you are in good hands!
• RE-WRITE or RE-TYPE:  Sometimes the second time around may just ensure that the material sticks to you.  For me, this works!  Of course, for others it might not, but if you have not done this, give it a shot.  It's that second time around acting as a reinforcement/repetition that just makes the material get into your brain!
• read, read, and READ:  Of course there's no point to writing down the material, especially the second time around, if you won't be reading it.  Take the time to look over your notes and really "reflect" on the material and see if you actually know it.  My Anatomy and Physiology professor likes to remind us that we should be able to almost teach the class once we have finished studying.  Unless we are at that point of "knowing the material" then, he said, we should keep on studying some more!

If you're not the notetaking-person but don't really mind writing:

• NOTECARDS: For my Organic Chemistry and Anatomy courses, this study skill is a gem.  Firstly, making the notecards is in itself a reinforcement as I have to read the material and write them down.  Secondly, running through the notecards repetitively makes it stick to my head over and over again.  Lastly, while walking to the Jones Building minutes away from exam time, I can still easily flip through the notecards and try to do some last minute cramming.  Hehehe!

Last thing I did this week that helped for those that don't like note-taking or notecard-flipping:

• practice, practice, PRACTICE:  I pretty much tried to get as much of the suggested problems done to get my practice time in and really get the hang of doing the Org. Chem. problems.  I guess this will really benefit those who are taking Math and Science-based classes, but it's a great tip anyways.  In a way, I kind of used this technique with my PSYC courses, too, actually.  Those scenarios of "If this person had this-and-that-symptoms and so-and-so who is a certain type of psychologist were to diagnose him, what would be the diagnosis?" could be practiced over and over again with different symptoms, different disciplines, and different persons like Freud, Jung, Adler, etc.

Anyways...I know that this has been kind of a long entry, but I hope y'all will find it useful.  I think I'm still in Supplemental Instruction (SI) Leader mode, which is why I'm finding myself sharing some "study skills" as the Student Success Center calls them.

Well, I hope y'all find these tips helpful!  Catch y'all later on the flipside Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 09:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Now that JT has brought sexy back, it's time the Gamecocks brought the spirit back.  It's homecoming week, and this time's theme is giving a throwback to all of the great Carolina traditions that alumnis, students, faculties, families, and friends have shared over the years.  Starting today, a series of events will be celebrated all week long with the Mississippi State game to look forward to on Saturday!

The Homecoming Committee chose the theme to really celebrate homecoming and all that it stands for--Carolina successes and traditions!  There are many events to enjoy this week starting with the Mural Competition wherein groups have been invited to enter a mural for display in the Davis Field by the Russell House, in front of the Thomas Cooper Library.  Carolina Productions provided organizations who wanted to participate with the wood on which to draw, and the organizations provide the creativity and art.  The murals are now lined up on the field for all to see.  I'll take some pictures and post them soon!

The Carolina Showcase started just an hour ago...8PM, Monday!  I had to miss it because I've got some exams lined up this week, and I just have to get some studying done!  I've actually got a couple of friends from the CSC Executive Board showcasing their talents to win the titles of Homecoming King and Homecoming Queen, as well as Prince and Princess!

Tomorrow will be Canned Creations, an event that Carolina Service Council puts together.  Organizations collect a minimum of 200 canned goods and bring them to Greene Street, in front of the Russell House, for some creative "can-sculpturing."  It's pretty cool what "sculptures" students come up with.  By the end of the day, all cans collected are donated to the Harvest Hope Food Bank here in Columbia.  On Wednesday, there will be a dance competition...the annual "SPURS AND STRUTS!"  All genres of music and dance are encouraged and entries for couples and groups can be made.  Gamecocks gettin jiggy with it...loads of fun!  Then on Thursday, a real traditional pep rally will be hosted, and of course, COCKY will be there to get everyone pumped up!  Carolina's very own Heisman Trophy winner, George Rogers will also be at the stadium during the pep rally to judge in the "Strike the Heisman Pose Contest!"  Then we get to Friday...The Greek Life will be hosting a Step Show!!!

There's so much to do, and the fact is, these are just the events hosted on campus for students and all around the campus.  There are still many events--dinners, galas, and parties--for alumnis, families, and friends!  Ohhhhh, how I LOVE BEING A GAMECOCK!

Well, once again 'tis all for now folks.  Like I said, I have some studying to do for some exams!  Catch y'all later on the flipside, GAMECOCKS!

Posted by Kriska at 07:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

PSYC 300 last week.  BIOL 243 two days ago.  PSYC 440 on Monday.  PSYC 410 on Wednesday.  Rounded out by...CHEM 331 on Friday.

What am I talking about?!?  I'm talking about the "first-exams-of-the-semester-stretch"--the much dreaded, much stressful time of the semester next to finals week.  You spend hours studying your notes, reading your book, checking Blackboard for a much-hoped-for study guide, and still you can't stop being restless because you're just so worried.  If only you can just get to the day of the exam to get it over with!  After that, the 2nd or 3rd exams can be pretty difficult too as the course material gets progressively harder, but at least you know what to finally anticipate when you walk into that class with the #2 pencil in tow.  It's that scary idea that you have no clue about your professor's style that makes that first exam just that much more stressful!

But don't fret!  Here are tips to overcome such worries and fears:

1.)  First and foremost, DON'T PANIC! If you do, you only get further behind.  You'll only lose valuable time worrying over a test than actually studying for it.

2.)  Try different methods of studying if you still have not found that #1-full-proof-will-always-work strategy for yourself.  For classes that have a lot of definitions, use flashcards!  For classes that have a lot of mathematical problems, use repetition and practice.  For language classes, try speaking in that language and get practice--just be considerate of those around you, especially your roommate!

3.)  Find a place to study.  Let me repeat that: FIND A PLACE TO STUDY.  Good places to study will probably be ones that lack a TV, internet, loud music, crowds, etc.  Anything that will get you easily distracted should be an automatic NO!

4.)  Studying in a crowd may be bad, but studying in a small group may be a good idea.  Y'all can ask each other questions or just work through the problems with each other.  Just remember not to get distracted and off-topic!

5.)  Have a power snack!  Peanuts, granola bars, and crackers are among some of the snacks that are found to be good for the body and mind.  After hours of staring at your notes, your body will have used up a lot of its nutrients, and you'll probably need some help!

6.)  Speaking of help...SEEK HELP!  If you are having trouble, make sure to contact your professor, TA, or for some people, your SI Leader or tutor.  If you can't get a hold of your professor and TA from class, visit the Student Success Center in the Thomas Cooper Library and get help there.  That is why the SI Leaders and tutors were hired--to help y'all!

7.)  Lastly..lucky number 7 tip is to...REST!  Studying over long periods of time can get very exhausting.  Make sure that you are getting plenty of rest!  Your brain can't function well, if you're not taking care of yourself!

Well, I hope this comes in handy some time for y'all.  I know I need to check myself in line sometimes with these tips too as I have the tendency to forget about them, regardless if it's my list.  Well, tis all for now folks!  I'll just catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

P.S.  College-level or not, I'm sure these tips will come in handy for any student!

Posted by Kriska at 03:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A grande caramel macchiato here.  A venti cafe au lait there.  A grande cafe mocha over there.  Oh, and another grande caramel macchiato, please!  Good ol' Starbucks has been getting quite the great business with myself these past couple of days what with the craziness this week has thrown me.  From back to back meetings, to SI sessions, then a couple of recitations, some quizzes, one of those "first exam jitters," and finally topped with a boring Organic Chemistry lab...this week has been definitely one of those weeks.

I felt quite the zombie this morning, dragging my feet across the brick pathway through the Horseshoe to Sloan, where my first exam of the semester was to take place at 8 in the morning!  Fortunately, I did manage to stay awake through the entire thing, and once I was out of the exam, I dragged my lil short legs along towards the Colloquium for a caffeine fix for the day.

Luckily for us Carolina college students, two Starbucks locations can be conveniently visited for that buzz that we so heavily rely on.  The Russell House is one of these great spots, where comfortable couches and coffee tables are accessible for students to plop down on with their lattes and fraps and a book in tow for that last minute cramming session.  The other location is in the Colloquium, which is in the "busy district" of the Business, English, and Humanities area.  The lines are usually long, but anything for coffee, right?  There are also other options for those who can't stand the "Starbucks Corporation" or those who cannot afford the long lines.  There are different coffee joint options in different buildings all over campus.  A couple of the academic buildings offer lobbies with a quick-stop cafe, as well as most of the cafeteria dining areas offer the easy house coffee dispensers.  Yep, Carolina definitely has everyone covered!  They understand our late-night-early-morning-needs around here!

As busy as this week has been, I'm almost sad to say that it's still not over.  I'm done with classes today, however, I do have an SI Session to hold for my CHEM 111 students tonight.  Tomorrow, I have three morning classes, but most definitely, as soon as my Abnormal Psychology ends and I am able to carry myself back to Preston...my head will probably hit my sweet, soft pillow.  You can hear from me again after this weekend's game against SC State!

Catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 12:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You'll advance your career now by doing what you promised, on time.  There will be no more excuses allowed, so don't even ask.

How's that for what the stars in the skies have to say about my work ethic!  Yep, astrology!  Flipping through the Daily Gamecock, I happened to glance over page 6 on the horoscopes section for my dear Libra reading.  Mind y'all, I don't believe much in horoscopes and in what the stars nor the lines of my hand have to say, but I do find the column sometimes fun to read.  Whenever it tells me that the love of my life will learn to appreciate me more because the stars and the moons have lined up perfectly, I find it the best time to point out to my boyfriend that it's perhaps the best time to take me out to dinner and a movie.  Hehe, just kidding!

All joking aside.  I'm citing the stars today because the advice does seem very useful.  I'm a pretty busy girl, and as y'all may have followed from recent posts, I am at an extracurricular overload right now.  I do, however, enjoy the "busy-ness" and find that being productive keeps me fairly satisfied.  But just as Howie Day sang in his hit single, "Even the best fall down some time," I have also found myself in numerous situations digging myself out of one of those procrastinator's holes!  Let this not be your case!!!  Try not to get behind.  That is perhaps one of the best piece of advice I can give all of you, especially all y'all freshman in college and seniors in high school.  Don't start getting behind freshies because there seems to be so much free time now that you're on your own, and all of you seniors, don't get too caught up into that bug called "senioritis."  Stay on top of things and avoid procrastination at all cost!  I'll try my best to stick to this as well and not have to stick my foot in my mouth later down the road...hehehe!

Well, that's enough for my soapbox.  Tis all for now folks.  Send your comments my way, especially with regards to how you freshman are adjusting to college, how the college applications are coming along for seniors, or even with just what you think about our football team this season.  I'd love to hear from y'all!

Catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 11:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, I've made it through the first-day-of-classes-routine.  All the syllabi are out.  The grading scales have been set.  Calendar schedules of projects, exams, and all other works have been discussed.  Oh, the academic year is definitely in the air!

As far as first impressions go, let me rate my classes with the 5-star rating system*:

Survey of Personality: ****  The professor seems very enthusiastic and knowledgeable in her area of study.  She is very open to class discussion and opinion.  She uses powerpoint with her lectures and is not dull at all.  The only reason for not receiving a 5-star rating is because the class has a lot of requirements as far as readings, assessments, and exams.  Overall, the class seems do-able.

Psychology of Human Sexuality:  ****  The professor makes the early class very manageable to stay awake through.  She is very interested in the study of human sexuality, which makes her class not awkward at all as I expected.  The class is in an auditorium, and there are probably over a hundred students in the class.  Again, this course does not get a 5-star rating in my book due to the amount of work to be done and because of the class size.

Anatomy and Physiology: ***  The professor is very interested in getting the students the help they need and seem very easy to talk to.  I only give this a class a 3-star rating, however, because the class size is huge compared to most classes I've taken.  Also, there is definitely a TON of work for this class that will need to be done if I expect to keep my GPA.

Organic Chemistry:  ***  I feel pretty much the same way with this class as I do with Anatomy.  The professor seems easygoing, and he really stressed his office hours and other ways to reach him for help.  I'm just not really looking forward to this class.  I'm not sure anyone really looks forward to Organic Chemistry, anyways!  This and Anatomy are probably the courses I'm really dreading for this and the next semester!!!

Abnormal Pscyhology:  ****  The professor is very nice.  Out of all the professors, she was the one who made the most effort on first day to really get to know students personally.  It does help though that it's my smallest class.  There are 60 students and that's still pretty big, but it's definitely smaller than the other four classes.  There will be lots of reading and such to be done as in the other pscyhology courses, but it doesn't look too daunting.

I guess, the trend is just that the two science classes I'm taking are just really hard and that the three psych classes will be a lot of reading and analysis.  With this and all of my extracurricular and SI Leader position, I'm sure there will be lots to blog about.  Be sure to be on the lookout this semester, and definitely stick around to find out more about USC life for busy, overachiever, Honors kids like me!

Well, catch y'all later on the flipside, GAMECOCKS!

*5-star rating system based on course's first impression.  Things I considered were the professor's attitude towards the class, their availability and interest in really helping the students, the amount of work required, the environment as far as classroom and other students, and the overall vibe I got simply based on first impressions.  Obviously, this will probably change as the semester goes.  I just hope it will be for the best and not a downhill progress.  I do not look forward to giving an end of the semester rating of a poor 1/2-stars on Ratemyprofessor.com.  Hehe!

Posted by Kriska at 05:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In about T-minus 7 hours and 43 minutes, when one of the three Psychology classes I signed up for begins at 8AM tomorrow morning, summer will officially end!  Where did the three months that I thought would be so long go?  It all just kind of flew by so fast, but then again, it is already the beginning of my second year of college!  WoW!  It seems all too crazy.

This semester is looking like it's going to be the most hectic.  I'm taking Anatomy (BIOL 243) and Organic Chemistry (CHEM 333) to meet the last couple of my pre-pharmacy requisites.  I also have to take a lab to go with the Organic Chemistry class.  To round off my full load, I am taking three different psychology classes.  One is a 300-level course, while the other two are 400-level courses.  These three courses should be bringing me closer to getting a minor in the discipline of Psychology.  By the end of the semester, I should only be one more class away from fulfilling all of the required hours.

Besides all of my classes, I've decided that I would like to be a part of the Student Success Initiative Program here at USC, and for one of the CHEM 111 classes, I will be a Supplemental Instruction Leader.  SI Leaders are assigned to classes that have been identified through historical and statistical studies as high-risk courses with the most number of students getting a D or F or having to withdraw before the semester ends.  I've actually been spending the past day and a half at training learning basically how to be like a "mini teacher" or a "big study group leader."   The SI Program is only one of the many different programs that the Student Success Center here at Carolina offers so that students can get help not only to get on track but to stay on track.  Y'all should visit this website: www.sa.sc.edu/ssc.  You can learn about all the programs that are being offered that are specifically geared to different groups, like out-of-state students, transfer students, sophomores, etc.  Whether you actually anticipate needing help due to anxiety or fear of struggling through your classes or you just want to check out different resources that are available to you, that website will be very handy!

So in actuality, I'll be going to 6 classes total, a lab, and 3 one-hour study sessions.  Of course, I still have the Executive Board position in the Carolina Service Council along with the vice president position in the Filipino-American Student Association.  Yes, I'm a true busy-body!

Well, let me not keep you guys much longer, as also I need to get going and get myself ready for tomorrow.  Well, that and also enjoy the last few hours that is left of my summer.  I might try to round up the gang for something or just end up bumming in the room.  Either way, the last hours will be savored!

Catch y'all later on the flipside, Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 03:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hey guys!  How are y'alls summer coming along?  I've been having a blast even if it's been a lot of working for me, as y'all may have noticed in my most recent entries.  I have been putting in some down time, especially over the past week.  My boyfriend and his mom came into town midweek, last week, so I got to spend some time with him.  It was a much needed visit  as we haven't seen each other in two months!  (Can y'all believe that I've been home for that long?!?  I sure can't!)  Then, I had some friends sleep over at my house for the weekend, and we got to hang out.  Over Sunday, I got to spend some time with relatives as it was Father's Day, and well rounded it all off with hanging out with my cousin shopping!  So, all in all, it's been fairly good here in the good ol' town of Greenville for me.  I have been doing some talking with incoming freshman of the Class of '11 lately, and they have raised some great questions.  I thought that I would share some of the answers that I have given them.  So, here it goes...

Question 1:  Can I talk to upperclassmen who have the same major as I do, so I can get some of my questions answered?

Definitely!  All you have to do is ask.  I would say that the easiest way would probably be to ask people from your major's office.  If you don't know where that is or a way to look for such people, you may want to try checking out the sc.edu website and enter a search.  Another great way would be to go through the Academic Success center, just click on this link.  Lastly, if that is too much work (which it might be), just leave me a message, and I will ask my friends.  My friends come from a wide range of majors!

Question 2:  How do I go about getting a loft for my room?

As far as I remember from the summer before my freshman year, there were several flyers in the mail that came advertising about lofts that could be purchased from the Russell House.  I think that that is the easiest way to purchase one and have it moved into the dorms.  The loft beds from the Russell House are also obviously approved by USC Housing.  I'm sure you can bring your own, though.  You can check with Housing about all of this and any other concerns you may have about housing matters.  They have an AIM screenname that you can contact them by:  USCCHOUSING.

 Question 3: Will I have enough room in my dorm for my things?!?

The common outcry of ladies.  Heh!  I also found myself asking this same question and my answer is...YOU SHOULD!  In theory, that is.  My roommate and I had the smallest room in Maxcy, and we managed to fit twenty million things in that tiny room!  My roommate moved in with 83 boxes, and all throughout the year I would always take at least 2 suitcases and bags and bags of groceries everytime I would go home.  We always still managed to get everything in some order...I'm sure y'all will, too!

And well, yea.  Anymore questions, just drop 'em on by, and I will have them answered.  For now, this will all be it for now folks!  Good summering to y'all and catch y'all later on the flipside, future Gamecocks!!!

Posted by Kriska at 08:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So.....On this final day of counting down, I ponder on freshie year...only one sleep left, moved things all day long, ran across a 'Shoe, had me a fabbed-out day, got cultured with FASA, thought of football games, and went back to 'First Day.

Dun..dun..DUN!  The countdown is now approaching zero-hours.  My dad has been 'en route' for about an hour.  Between the loading of my things and checking out, I should be on the way back to good ol' Greenville in about two hours.

My how freshman year really just flew past me.  I had so much fun!  No other college could have been a better match for me!  Carolina has been definitely a great home for the past 8ish months.

So, this freshman year of mine, I learned a lot of things.  I found out that I didn't need to bring my entire closet but that it was nice to just have the spare forty shirts and five dresses for those 'just-in-case' moments anyways.  I also figured out that even if I'm not a Chemistry or Physics person that if I just stop freaking out I can still come out with an A in each class.  I have also learned my lesson to always just have Midol and Tums and Bengay on hand for those monthly cramps, nightly tummy aches, and horrible muscle strains from walking to the Williams-Brice Stadium!  And of course, there were lots of other things I learned...it'd take me forever to write about them all...Carolina's just been really great!

Thanks y'all for reading along and 'experiencing' my freshman year with me.  Come join me now as I start out....SUMMER '07!  I'll try to find some exciting thing to do to Blog about...I'm sure I can find something crazy to do.  I'll be sure to enjoy my summer as also await coming back to Carolina in the fall!

Catch y'all later on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On the seventh day of counting down there's only one sleep left...moved things all day long, ran across a 'Shoe, had me a fabbed-out day, got cultured with FASA, thought of football games, and went back to 'First Day.

Only one more night here at MaxcyPad...*sigh*

Catch y'all later on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

P.S.  I also had me my one last Beezers Sicilian for the freshman year.  It's probably rounding out my Freshman 15.

Posted by Kriska at 10:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On the sixth day of countdown I moved things all day long...ran across a 'Shoe, had me a fabbed-out day, got cultured with FASA, thought of football games, and went back to 'First Day.'

Today reminded me somewhat of my first day here at Carolina when I was moving in.  Basically, I spent my entire Saturday moving things out of my friends' and my room.  Shawn's and Megan's parents all came in the morning to pick up the big appliances and extra furniture along with a few other things that they no longer needed for the last few days of exams to make actual moving out day easier.  Eric actually moved out this afternoon, and boy, did he have a lot of things.  I feel so exhausted right now...I've sweeped three floors, moved several pieces of furniture, carried a couple of bags and boxes...and Lord knows what else!  It seems so weird to be slowly sending things back home...so weird to be moving out.  It seems only like yesterday when my parents were dropping me off here at Maxcy...

Well, here are some pictures of that first day when I moved into MaxcyPad.  That's me with my parents.  The other picture is my roommate with her dad and her grandma!

Hope y'alls weekend has been going great...Catch y'all later on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 11:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On the fifth day of counting down I ran across a 'Shoe...had me a fabbed-out day, got cultured with FASA, thought of football games, and went back to 'First day'.

Now, now...I'm not talking about any ordinary shoe here.  I'm talking about a shoe, which either night or day will hold this charm that just captures every Carolina at heart!  The hustle and bustle of campus pretty much happens here, except for the Russell House of course.  My friends and I usually love to hang out here,too.  Throw a frisbee or a football around...have a picnic...read a book...pretty much, any good break from studying.  Not that it isn't also an ideal place to study because it actually is too.  With the wireless network available here, students can usually bring their laptops along with all their books and such and study.  All this can be done at the 'Shoe.

I love the Horseshoe.  Walking through it every day from Maxcy to my classes or to anywhere else...it's just so nice and so pretty.  Especially this past couple of months when the flowers were in bloom and the weather was fairly nice, the stroll through the 'Shoe has become the highlight of my days.  There's just no place like it.

Well...'tis all for tonight folks.  I can't believe that in roughly 60-ish hours I will no longer be able to enjoy the Horseshoe...well at least not for another three months or something.

Catch y'all later on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 11:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On the fourth day of counting down, I had me a fabbed-out day...got cultured with FASA, thought of football games, and went back to "First Day"

So let the good times roll as today turned out to be probably one of the best days I've ever had since I started out my freshman year here at USC.  Let me just give y'all the quick highlights:

1)  I had a barbecue pork croissanwich at the Horseshoe Deli today for lunch.  With a side of coleslaw and Cherry Coke to wash it all down, I'd have to say that I had one heck of a mean lunch!

2)  I was freaking over my Physics Final.  But when I finally did calm down, I actually found myself doing fairly well in it.  With a little leverage, an A might still actually be in sight for this class.  But I shall no longer speak of the class, lest I let myself down and get upset if my expectations get set too high....hehe!

3)  Did I say I took my Physics final today?  Yep.  This only means one thing:  NO MORE PHYSICS!

4)  End-of-Physics-Celebration with Cynson, Amanda, and Codi--the three people I got to know really well because of on-line CAPA Physics homework.  Together, the four of us worked our way through the semester, and hard as it was, we definitely had planned for weeks that we would go and eat out after our Physics exam.  So, off we went to Moe's where I most definitely enjoyed a Moo Moo Mr. Cow.

5)  Got caught up with some ELR reruns (Everybody Loves Raymond, just in case you didn't know!  Hehe!)  I used to hate the show for some reason that I don't really know...probably just because everybody loved him, I just wanted to hate him.  But because nothing is really good on cable TV these days, ELR has just been something the group has picked up...kind of a neat thing to do together.

6)  Finally and best of all...well, it's a tough choice (possible A on Physics or what I'm about to talk about...)

Eric, Megan, Shawn, and I went out for a late night 'Shoe-ing as the room has gotten so unbearably hot.  Something is wrong with our airconditioning and the heat in the room was just getting to us...so we went out to go play outdoors where it was actually a bit cooler...

a.  Playing the ABC game with the frisbee between the four of us wasn't quite successful because we could not finish the alphabet and could only go as far as 'Q'.  I totally suck at Frisbee, but I think I'm getting better.  I can actually catch now...at least about 1/3 of the time or something...hehe!

b.  Blowing Bubbles everywhere was fun...not just because it brought back childhood memories of running through bubbles but because the bubbles were mutated or something!  Trust me...the bubbles would not pop and you could pick them up off off whatever they were attached to.  It was like...plastic bubbles or something...pretty neat!

c.  Never had I played four corners, and never would I have ever played it in kindergarten if I had played it the way we did tonight.  It was actually more like EXTREME FOUR CORNERS.  First of all, we had no defined boxes and no chalk to draw lines.  Secondly, we had to play on bricks (some of which were deadly causing you to almost fall flat on your face).  Thirdly, we only had an old, balding, heavy basketball to throw around...so let's just say...bruises on thighs, jammed fingers, and slammed on feet.  Nothing says good times more than being injured together with friends!

d.  Here is a picture of the scene of the crime:  McKissick at wee-hours of the night...

Not really sure what's in store for the rest of my last four days here at USC.  I'll probably be studying for my last exam, but I'll definitely be also hanging out with friends...man, how I love Carolina!

Well, catch y'all later on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 11:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On the third day of counting down, I get cultured with FASA...thought of football games, and I went back to "First Day"... 

That's me with some of the members of FASA--the Filipino-American Student Association.  That is Beverly, Brenda, Philip, and AJ with me on a trip to Atlanta to watch a performance of the national folk dance group of the Philippines--the Bayanihan Dance Company.  Let me tell y'all, that night was fantastic!  The performance was at the incredibly, amazing Fox Theatre.  If any of you have not seen a production at that theater, it's a definite must-do!  The setting and the ambiance of that auditorium was just...impeccable!

In any case, FASA.  How has FASA meant to me this past year?  Well, the quick and short answer would be... A LOT!  I've had so much fun with the members of the group.  We all had such a blast simply from just hanging out and having pot-luck dinners to going to a horror house for Halloween (where I definitely was the entertainment of the night!) to dance practices at the Russell House to the actual dance performances to just anything and everything!  It was through FASA how I met some good friends...especially one in particular...Ms. Beverly!

Beverly has been tons of fun.  From having rendez-vous for lunches to bake sales for RFL to cooking food for our FASA pot-luck to anything and everything...she and I have had some good times this year!  With most of our members being seniors and leaving us this semester, she and I will rule FASA TOGETHER in the upcoming years..hehehe!

Well, again...my gosh, how time flies!  And, really how fast does it go.  Tomorrow, by 5PM, my career in physics will end as I take my final exam in it.  Oh, I definitely hope it will be the end of that career.  I've never been much for Physics.

Well...'tis all for now folks!  Hope y'all are enjoying being with me on my last few days here at Carolina.  Catch y'all later on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 11:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On the second day of counting down, I thought of football games and I went back to "First Day"...

So, yes, the pictures above don't quite represent the best moments of our football team this past season.  I picked the wrong "Tennessee" game to do a football flashback on.  I should have probably posted pictures of the Middle Tennesse game instead.  But this blog isn't really about just this one particular game...it's about all of the games I enjoyed (and barked loud and somewhat crude statements, pardon me!) here at our very awesomely sweet Williams-Brice Stadium.

I watched most of the home games except for probably 2 or 3 that I missed the ticket distributions for, and well, I just loved every single one of them.  Besides that one incident when a big guy who was about twice my size fell on me as I was climbing up the stadium and that same game when some guys decided to chew tobacco next to me...most memories at the WBS were definitely enjoyed.  Best of all, all of those games were watched with my roommie.  I think she learned a lot about me from watching football games by my side...she found my inner beast!  As much plays and rules I may not quite fully understand, I am perhaps one of the craziest person to watch watching football (or any other sport for that matter actually.)  I just get so into the games that's all.

Anyways, just wanted to look back on them WBS moments.  Screaming "GAME-COCKS!" and finally catching on after the second game I watched that at every kick-off the whole phrase that everyone screams out is actually "Go, Fight, Win, Kick A**!"...well, they definitely top off as some of this year's college-ing defining moments!

Catch y'all later on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 10:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

School will officially be over for me in a week.  Yes, you read it write!  My first year of college will officially be over as soon as I finish my 9AM exam on PSYC 470, Intro to Language Sciences: Linguistics.  My gosh, right?  I am just as excited yet as shocked because I just can't believe how fast time flew!  The countdown truly begins, and well I thought, what better way to do the countdown than by...

On the first day of counting down, I went back to "First Day..."  (Sing to the tune of "Twelve Days of Christmas" hehehe!) 

That was me at the reception that followed the First Day Convocation.  I know I've probably shown this picture at least a couple of times here and there, but I just love it!  There I am, among the midst of a crowd...I believe that it's my roommate's mom who took the picture, but nevertheless, I don't think she meant in any particular fashion to take the picture in that way.  I think it's just cool how it captures so many aspects of my year here at Carolina, as if that event were foreshadowing how the year would go.

USC is so diverse, and there's just so many people to meet.  I think two girls over to my back are in a couple of my classes.  I've seen those two ambassadors towards the top left corner at least once or twice around campus giving tours.  Actually, the more I look at the picture more carefully, the curly-haired one is actually in my Physics class.  The girl I'm speaking to is my neighbor.  In more than one way or another, I feel as if I've at least walked past each one of those people in this picture either as I walked through the Horseshoe or through the Gimp.  But the most important person in this picture (besides me of course, hehe!) would have to be my roommate standing there to the left of me in the picture.  That girl next to me has been just that all throughout this year--always by my side.  I've pretty much grown to know her so well this year that I really believe I've made a new best friend!  I have been able to count on her for anything and everything.  We're so perfect for each other that she and I have decided to room together for the next 20 million years, so expect to continue hearing about many adventures with her!

If anyone had told me that first day how great of friends she and I would become throughout this entire year, I totally would not have believed it.  I have known Megan since high school, but we were never quite close.  She was quiet, and I was loud.  She's pretty shy, and I'm pretty not..hehe.  Total opposites...but I guess that's what makes us work!

Well, to all of you graduating seniors, here's to hoping y'all will have just as much luck as I did with y'alls future roommates!  Can you believe that y'all can finally soon call yourself "freshmen" again...oh COLLEGE!

Well, tis all for now folks.  Keep on the lookout for the rest of my countdown jingle...I want to make this last week as special as every other day as I've had in Carolina (despite of course of the fact that exams are finally here!)  Catch y'all later on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 08:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I remember that during Scholars' Day one of the parents' and students' most common concern was FOOD.  Where can you eat?  What can you eat?  What are your meal options?  Personally, I had the same concerns.  I loooove food, but hey, who doesn't!  So, here I go...I'll try to briefly explain the main places where most people eat their meals here in campus...Enjoy! 

The Gibbes Court at Capstone is the best place to satisfy those home-cooked meal cravings.  Their hot plate menu usually consists of mac and cheese, green beans, rice and gravy, and corn among other things that bring you back closer to home.  They also have a pizza, deli, and grill service to satisfy the junkies.  Oh, and my favorite things that I must not forget...the great cornbread muffin and the fruit cobblers, whether it be peach or apple!

The Grand Market Place, or simply the "Gimp," is in central location in the first floor of the Russell House.  There are several options to choose from.  Like Gibbes, there is a hot line, deli, and grill service.  There is also a salad bar.  There is a bake shop, too, to satisfy the sweet tooth from jell-o to gourmet cakes to good ol' New York cheesecakes!

Next door to the Gimp are Zia's (for the health conscious), the Horseshoe Deli (for a more uppity deli sandwich than the Gimp), and Pandini's (for your on-campus "Italian Restaurant").  Zia's serve some of the greatest smoothies I've had in a while, and they also have an awesome soft serve ice cream, which is too good to be true because it is low-fat!  The Horseshoe Deli makes some great sandwiches.  Their croissants are awesome!  Pandini's has anywhere from strombolis to calzones to spaghetti and meatballs to pizza...anything Italian pretty much that's within the meal plan!

Up a floor is the Gamecock Park in the Russell House.  There's Burger King, Chick-Fil-A, Santorini's, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and the Marble Slab.  Enough said...

Another on-campus place I've eaten at this past year is the Bates Cafeteria.  This definitely has its big pro but likewise a big con.  The place is an all-you-can-eat cafeteria, and they have an ice cream bar that serves your basic ice cream flavors with all the toppings you can think of from sprinkles, to strawberries, to cherries, and of course, whipped cream!  A big bad con, however, would be that it is out in the "boonies" of the campus.  Unless you live at Bates, it's pretty much a mile or two of a walk to get there!

There are lots of options to choose from to satisfy your hunger, but in any case, when things kind of start getting boring (and trust me, time will arise that the burgers from Burger King and the grill as well as the chicken nuggets from Chick-Fil-A and Burger King and likewise the salad from the salad bar and Santorinis will all taste the same to each other) there are some pretty great places around campus to eat at!

Let me give you a quick sampling...This week was a week of lots of eating out for me and my friends.  Although all our dinners have put a dent in the pocket, food and time spent were great, tip-top quality!

Let me break it down per the budget, let's just say...

For a more up-scale dinner, there are many restaurants at the Vista, at Five Points, and Harbison Boulevard.  Here's a little tip: Bonefish Grill (locations: Forest Road or Harbison Boulevard)

Not really a Chinese/Japanese Restaurant, so don't be fooled by the chopsticks!  Bonefish is a really great place to get big portions, great ambiance, and great satisfaction for the bucks!  Whether it be a cute dinner date with your significant other or a big group dinner with your friends, the nice ambiance will sure put a great atmosphere to your meal!

For a more casual dinner out in town, the Vista and Harbison Boulevard are also good.  From Chili's to Mellow Mushroom, there are several places to go hang out with the gang!  Here's a little tip: Monterrey's (locations: the Vista and Harbison Boulevard by the mall)

Bottomless chips and salsa welcome you at this Mexican restaurant.  The atmosphere is set with vibrant colors and that iguana figurine that scared the jeepers out of me.  The food is fairly good (an upgrade of Taco Bell of course!), and the desserts are great--try a fried ice cream of a sopapilla!

Finally, for the low budget and lazy butts...there's always cheap good food and convenient delivery options!  The typical pizza joint is of course available, but in addition, there's Chinese Food from Tea Pot if you're craving an actual meal or the ever-famous sub shop...Beezers!

The Tea Pot has a huge selection as most Chinese joints.  For a minimum order of $10, they will deliver on campus.  Beezers is popular with college students as they are conveniently open until 3AM.  I've been lucky enough to live only a block away from the sub shop, but they also offer delivery...so lucky to all!  (The Sicilian is my personal favorite!)

Okay, anyways...that was a long Blog.  The short version of course would be that there are lots of food options here, whether on or off campus!  This place pretty much caters to anyone and everyone's cravings and hankerings!  Hope that addresses everyone's qualms about where to's of your appetites!

If any of y'all have any other questions about on-campus, Gamecock life, please feel free to comment and I will address your questions and concerns as soon as I can.  Catch y'all later on the flipside, future Gamecocks.

Posted by Kriska at 06:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's eleven o'clock on a Friday night.  People are out dining at the Vista.  Others are starting to party at Five Points.  Some are probably bumming around in their dorms.  My friends and I...well, we were quite bored.

We were too broke for the Vista (hehehe!) The drinking and clubbing scene is just not our thing.  And, well, bumming around in MaxcyPad was just getting too old.  So, what do Megan, Eric, Shawn, and I do to get ourselves entertained on campus?

FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL at the HORSESHOE IN FRONT OF MCKISSICK!

Yes, we played flag football.  Well, a version of flag football was more like it.  Searching through the stuff we had at Maxcy, we came up with a mini-soccer ball and lots of socks.  So with each having a pair of sock wedged in our pockets, we played two-on-two sock-erball!  (Get it? Get it?  Socks + Soccer + Ball!  Yea, DORK!  LOL!)

Anyways, we had a little brick path that was 10' x 25'.  Quite the tricky "field" to play in, I would have to say.  Let's just say, it was quite the most interesting football game I've ever played in.  Shawn and I were on a team opposing Eric and Megan.  Sadly, they dominated us.  But not by more than 1 touchdown.  They would have had a two-touchdown lead had Eric not made the fatal mistake of assuming that I would not be able to make a long pass.  But truth be told, I'd have to say that assumption was fair.  I'm not much for playing QB.  Anything on the defensive side or center, I'm pretty good at (remember how I said I was beastly at the flag football game at RFL?!?).  I'm more the defensive player in most cases anyways.  I used to start on my high school's varsity soccer team as a right fullback!

Well, anyways, just thought that I would share another adventure with y'all.  Keep in mind that when in college, the typical going out and party scene aren't all there is to do at night around here at USC.  Hanging out with friends and being silly is perhaps the best thing to do around here, I'd have to say!

Well, catch y'all later on the flipside, future Gamecocks.

P.S.  By the way, like I've been saying, if any of y'all have anything that you'd like to know more about USC or you'd jut like to know more specifics about my experiences here, just let me know.  Comment on my blogs, and I will get back to you ASAP.  I promise!

Posted by Kriska at 12:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Okay, so this is not another reference to my cross-dressing boyfriend and friends from Relay For Life.  Although, that activity of the night was quite funny!  This is in reference to my little mall trip.

See, I was supposed to have this horrible Physics test, and usually I have a tradition with a friend who is in the class that we would get Marble Slab ice cream the Russell House after each test because we both usually do pretty badly on it.  Well, actually, most people do pretty badly on the tests...hehehe!  But this test was different because I knew that it's one of my last few chances to bring my grade up, and I was just so down.  I knew that the chances of me gettting more than just a C, which is what I've been making, is just not going to be that easy.  So, to relieve my worries and get me looking forward to something fun and exciting, my boyfriend promised to take my roommate and I to the MALL!  Man, isn't he just fabulous?

Well, it turned out the test was more than just great...I actually made my first A in that class.  I think my professor started feeling bad about the bad grades, but nevertheless, we still went to the mall.  What reason is there not to go anyways?

So, while at the mall, my roommate and I passed two of the most gorgeous prom dresses I've ever seen, and I was just dying to try them on.  Because the boys (my boyfriend and my friend from the class) thought it was ridiculous, we had to keep walking past the dresses.  Little did they know that, well, girls are girls, and after having gone around the mall for over an hour we ended back right at that same place staring at the two dresses.  WE JUST HAD TO TRY THEM ON!!!

Talk about nostalgic about my good ol' proms during my Junior and Senior years.  Both nights were "magical" with my then high-school boyfriend.  I know most of the proms are done by now.  I sure hope that y'all went.  I know some kids decide not to go because of "making a statement" or something, but it's one of those once in a lifetime events that you just can't miss out on.  I've been bugging my boyfriend for the past two months that I want to go to a prom.  I told him that my friends and I should just dress up and go somewhere out to eat and then go to some nice dancing club, and it will almost be just like a prom...and well, I got vetoed for once!  But only because really, there isn't much time left with the school year.  He promised me that maybe next year if we think about it early enough, we just might do something to that effect!  Oooh, how exciting!

Well, just wanted to catch up with y'all.  Maybe some of you won't mind sharing your prom nights with me.  I'd sure love to read about them, so comment me about what you liked or possibly not liked about your prom.  Tell me how much you spent on your dresses because I sure wanted to buy that dress at the mall, but it was $168 that I could not justify to my mother!

So, catch y'all later on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 08:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yep, guys.  I'm over the hump.  My hump of the week!

Many people usually consider Wednesday to be their "hump day" of the week being in the middle and all, but for me, my hump day would definitely have to be Thursday.  Pretty much, when I wake up Thursday mornings, I know that I just have to get through to the afternoon and that as soon as I get done with my Chemistry lab that I'm home free.  Home free towards the weekend until I have to start all over again on Monday.  Actually, I still do have classes the next morning on Fridays, but pretty much after such a busy week, my Friday morning Physics and Chemistry classes just kind of blur all together into two whole hours of...hmmm...what should I call it?  Two whole hours of anticipation for the weekend!

In the beginning of the Spring semester, I felt as if I just had way too much time on my hands.  I had scheduled five honors classes and an honors lab, but still it felt as if I wasn't doing enough.  So, being the "typical Honors/Overachiever student" that I tend to become, I joined an undergrad research (the Pscyholoy aLab that I've been talking about).  That pretty much rounds up my Tuesday afternoons.  But still, I figured that I wasn't doing enough so I joined a couple more organizations/activities.  Along with FASA on Tuesday nights and Maxcy Government on Wednesday nights that I started off last semester, I've been doing Relay for Life (which is coming up in a week, I'm so excited) and, as recently I just posted, Carolina Service Council.  Occassionally, the Fellowships Office, the Admissions office, or some other organization will also need a hand at some program that they're doing, and I usually get myself somehow involved with little interviews and little activities.  So, talk about some crazy days.  But I wouldn't have it any other way!  If I sat around "lazying it up," I would just die!  Besides, I always have my buddies at Maxcy to keep me entertained and to help me lighten up and have fun and enjoy the experience and blah blah blah blah blah.  Also, the weekends greatly makes up for the heavy weeks.  Hence, why I love Saturday outings to the museum, to the city parks, and such!  All that good stuff.

Well, here's a sneak peek at my week.  All of these translate to a schedule that looks like this during the school week:

Mondays:  Physics and Chemistry from 9:05 to 11:00.  Lunch break and Gilmore Girls until I have to go to Linguistics class, which is from 12:20 to 1:35.

Tuesdays:  Science & Spirituality and Logic from 8:00 to 10:45.  Lunch break and Gilmore Girls until I have the Undergrad Research at the aLab, which can last up to 2-3 hours depending on what needs to be done at the lab.  I get a break sometime before I have FASA at 6PM.

Wednesdays:  Physics and Chemistry from 9:05 to 11:00.  Lunch break and Gilmore Girls until I have to go to Linguistics class, which is from 12:20 to 1:35.  Just like Mondays, but I have an afternoon Physics session from 3:35-4:30.  I dislike going to this session because it means instead of just 3 Physics classes a week, I have FOUR!  I tend to just do homework or rest in between, until I realize that MY CHEMISTRY LAB IS DUE IN ABOUT TWENTY HOURS and I haven't started it!!!  So, a late night consisting of 6 hours of laboratory write up and a Maxcy Government meeting at 9:30 PM usually rounds up the night.

Thursdays:  Science & Spirituality and Logic from 8:00 to 10:45.  Lunch break and Gilmore Girls again like Tuesdays, but on Thursdays instead of the aLab I have to go to Chemistry lab.  Recitation begins at 2PM and lab experiments will start about 2:30PM.  I usually won't get back to Maxcy until 4-4:30PM.  Tsk!

HOME FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Fridays:  Like I said, two hours of daydreaming...errrr...Physics and Chemistry.  Then, lunch and Gilmore Girls!  Weekend's a comin'!

Well, catch y'all later on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 04:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Guys, I'm sorry for this whole MIA thing that I'm doing.  Things have just been so crazy and hectic here.  Since my professors didn't give my exams before Spring Break, I am having back to back ones right now.  There are some things that I'd like to post about soon.  Once I get through Thursday, I will have finished my last exam for this go-around and a lab will also be turned in.  I'll be able to breathe again and talk to y'all!  (Yay!)

I'd like to probably post about the Scholars' Day from last Saturday--it was really lots of fun meeting all different kinds of prospective students from all different parts of the country.  I'll probably also post about learning how to "frisbee" at the Horseshoe because I totally suck!  I can also talk about advisement--I finally had mine from my pre-pharmacy advisor this afternoon.  Maybe I'll slip in an entry about tomorrow's Carolina Scholars Dinner with our donors--I'm totally excited about meeting my donor!!!  Or maybe I'll just write about anything you guys would like me to write about.  I'm open for any suggestions, any topics, any questions--just anything--y'all would like me to talk about.  Well, practically anything you'd like as long as the topic is appropriate, of course...hehe!  Just comment me on what you'd like to be reading!

Anyways, I have to go because there is a Chemistry book awaiting me.  You'd think that after a semester and a half of this class that I'd have figured out a technique to ace her exams, but I've still yet to figure that one out.  Thank God for extra credit getting me through first semester (and an exemption on the final!)  Let's just hope the extra credit will do it for me again in case this exam turns out to be a flop!

Well, catch y'all later on the flipside, future Gamecocks--and get 'em idearrs crackin!  I want to hear from y'all what you'd like to actually learn more about here from Carolina!

Posted by Kriska at 12:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oh my gosh!  Can I say, BIG PHEW!!!

What a way to come back to school from Spring break.  As much rest and goodness that entire week was for me, it completely knocked me off my "school groove."  Adjusting back to my regular Cola routine took quite some time lag, and so things were slightly whacked for a little bit.  On top of that, three exams and a lab report in the span of two days (Wednesday and Thursday) was a complete disaster!  Talk about some really late nights and desperate calls for help.  I'm just so glad that it's all over now.  A weekend has never looked so great until now...

So, what have I got for this weekend...hmmm.  Pretty much, there are no really big plans.  I just know i'm going to be doing some lots of resting and recharging.  Like I said, I think I burnt myself out over this past week.  (Sorry for the lack of posts!)  Tomorrow is Scholars Day, however, and I will be attending to speak with Class of '11 prospective scholars.  I'm pretty excited!  I can't wait to see everyone who comes out.  I hope that if you've been invited that you would come out.  Admissions have a really awesome schedule for the day.  I'll actually be at the showcase with a board, which I have to actually work on right now!  ^_^  I'd love it if y'all would stop by for a quick chat (or a long one if you'd like).  It'd be very interesting to meet y'all face to face and speak with you personally!

As for now, I'll just be here at Maxcy.  I'll be trying to catch my breath from this past week's whirlwind.  I'll probably get to working on my board for the showcase in a little bit.  I really hope y'all would stop by and say hi!  I'll be the short, little Gamecock in a yellow EVENT STAFF shirt.  (Yea, I know there'll be lots of those bright yellow shirts, but just look for the shortest Asian girl and it'll probably be me! ^_^)

Well, 'tis all for now folks!  Hope y'all are doing great and catch y'all later on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Feels like it was only yesterday when I got back home and was all excited about getting my Spring break started, and here I am now only a couple of days away from having to go back to Cola.  Yep, back to school again.  Not that I really don't want to go back, it's just I'm liking this whole bumming around and such.  I'm not really just laying around the house doing nothing, per se.  Actually I've been doing some errands, spending some time with my cousin who has been needing some help, and just having some good quality time with the family.  It's just that I like not having to worry about doing any school work.  Not having to worry about Chemistry nor Physics even just for a week has been really quite nice.  Whoever invented school had too much time on their hands!

But I won't let the fact that school is right around the corner ruin the last few days of my break.  Tonight, I'll be hanging out with some of my friends from my youth group one more time before I leave again.  Some of the girls might be sleeping over, too, so that should be a lot of fun.  Tomorrow, I'll probably just be with the family at the house.  My mom will most likely take me to good ol' Wal-Mart to do some grocery shopping so that I can replenish the dorm room--get all stocked up for the final 7 weeks of the semester.  I'm going to need lots of snacks and caffeinated drinks to get me through the late nights up ahead.  On Sunday, I'll probably just be going to church in the morning with the family and then head back.  The dorms aren't supposed to be open until around noontime I think.  I'll probably just get there some time around the afternoon.

Anyways, I hope everyone's doing well.  I know I've been blogging about different busy events that all the seniors are going through now...If any of you have any questions or anything, don't hesitate to ask or just comment!  Well, catch y'all later on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yes, guys.  Y'all read it right.  I encountered today some "Scary Double-D's,"  the doctor and the dentist!

I'm seriously frightened of the two because I just hate needles and drills, blood and saliva, and medicines and all those types of things.  I usually like to just let nature take its course and just deal with the pain myself, but things have just gotten pretty bad lately that my mom said I just had to go see the doctor and the dentist now while I'm at home for Spring break.  I was even more scared today than usual because I had to go by myself, but fortunately, it wasn't so bad afterall.  Except for the nurse having to take some blood sample, which did hurt a teensy bit, and the dentist having to pull the drill out to smooth a molar...the doctor and the dentist were really nice and were very helpful.

After my visits to the double-d's, I decided that I would go and visit my old high school since I was around the area already.  I didn't stay quite too long during this visit though and just visited a couple of the faculty.  I talked to some of my old friends, too.  Things are pretty much still the same around the place...Southside is still getting 'krunked.'  I talked with several of the seniors, and they seem fairly excited about gearing for the end of the year.  Except for the horrible AP/IB exams that they're going to have to take in a matter of weeks, all of the college acceptance letters, preparations for their prom night, and planning for possible senior trips have really gotten them just ready to get towards the end of their senior year.  I can remember back to my senior year and feeling the same way.  Getting accepted to USC and especially getting that call from President Sorensen to congratulate me about being a Carolina Scholar was a pretty eventful time for the family and me.  Prom night was very nice and very special for all of my friends and myself.  Also, making final preparations for my trip back home to the Philippines to see my relatives and childhood friends was definitely exciting.  This time a year ago was really just a great time.  I sure hope that everyone's senior year is just as exciting for all of you seniors now.

Well 'tis all for now folks!  I'm going to get myself some lunch and bum around some more.  Maybe I'll get myself motivated enough to look at some books and do some homework, but that's a highly variable option on today's agenda!  Hehehe!

Catch y'all later on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yup, Spring break is here guys, and while some are dancing away in Daytona, kicking it in Cancun, or partying it up in Panama, I'm here at home in the good ol' town of Greenville to spend the week for some much needed rest and quality time with the family.

As soon as Chemistry ended last Friday, I headed back to Maxcy to finalize packing up my bags and such and waited for Shawn to come get me.  He was going to spend a couple of days of his Spring break with me here in town and to also visit his grandparents here in the Upstate.  Apparently, it has been a while since he has visited his grandparents, and it's quite the five hour drive from the beach where he lives.  So we decided that since he was going to be up here in the area anyways that we would go ahead and make the side trips.  It was a lot of fun visiting both sides of his grandparents.  They were very nice people, and it was nice seeing that side of Shawn, too.  Unfortunately and very much sadly, it made me sorely miss my "Nanay."  I love that old, sweet woman so much, and it's been so long since I last saw her.  The last time was when I went back home to the Philippines over last summer.  Man, how I really miss her dearly!

Pretty much besides the trips to Ware Shoals and Clemson, we've just been here in Greenville with my family.  My sister was very nice in getting Shawn and I tickets to a play in one of the theaters in Downtown Greenville, so Shawn and I were able to enjoy "Romeo and Juliet" over Saturday night.  The rest of the weekend has just been a lot of sitting around the dining table over homecooked meals, which translates to a lot of corny jokes from my dad, bad but funny table manners between my brother and I, and my mom's side remarks.  I think Shawn thinks I have a pretty crazy family, but hey, who doesn't!

Shawn left this morning already though, so I'm have me some "me-time."  Bumming it here in my favorite couch and (once again) the boy shorts, I'm just watching a marathon of Filipino soap operas that my parents have been keeping on TiVo for me!  Yes, it's quite the cheesy and FOBy thing to do, but I quite enjoy it so...yea!

Tis all for now folks.  I hope everyone had a grand weekend.  I know it's quite the busy time for most seniors these days what with final exams, AP/IB stuff, and of course the PROM right around the corner.  I hope y'all are enjoying your last few months of your high school year...pretty soon y'all will be filling the same shoes I've been wearing.  College will hit y'all so fast that y'all will be thinking back to these days.  I can't believe myself that my first year of college is almost over.  I'm only spending seven weeks in Cola when I go back!  Yikes!

Well, catch y'all later on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So today was officially the first day that I bummed it out in class.  I mean, I'm always rolling out of bed reluctantly for my morning classes, don't get me wrong.  But usually I can still manage to pick out some clean jeans and find a nice top and jacket to match.  But see, today was just not another one of those days.  Just a tad bit too much work for a morning consisting of a RIDICULOUSLY PAINFUL GROWING WISDOM TOOTH!!

Seriously, my gums were killing me (and still are!)  The pain feels as though it is at that threshold of pain where it will soon just be numb because it is just so painful, but it's just not quite there yet.  Uggggghh!  It's just killing me.  Killing me softly!  The sinus thing is also getting a bit worse, and man do I just want to get rid of this soon.  I don't want to spend my entire Spring break being sick and WHINEY!!!

So anyways, in my oversized pants and Gamecock hoodie, I dragged my lead-weighing self to my 9:05 Physics class.  I didn't quite make it on time, but I would have to say that making it to class nonetheless was quite the amazing feat.  It was very difficult to pay attention to Dr. Jones's lecture, but I tried my best to fight the urge to leave class.  Half the time I stayed awake only by concentrating on a cup of ice cream from either Marble Slab or Zia's that I said I'd reward myself soon as I made it out of my morning classes--I just had to make it out of Physics and another hour of Chemistry.  My gums were in dire need of ice cream!!!

When I did finally make it out of my two early science classes, I finally made it to the Russell House and got myself a Strawberry Microblast...oh sweet ice cold treat!  I was almost in heaven until I realized that I still had another class and that I had to meet a friend to do some Physics homework...oh but I sucked it up!  I spoke with my professor about being sick, and she said that it would be okay if I had to excuse myself in the middle of class if I felt the need to.  Fortunately enough, I did make it through the entire class, however with enough energy to once again drag my lead weighing self around campus to the library to get my Physics done.

Pretty much this is another reason why I love college.  For the most part, professors are pretty understanding about situations like this one.  It's not like high school where you need a doctor's note and your parent's signature to say you're sick and such.  In college, you're an adult who will have to make your own decisions, including deciding on going to class or not.  There will be professors who will not take attendance and not care if you show up to class or not, but don't take that as a sign not to attend lectures.  It just means that they are too busy to worry about every single student to make it to class and that you are an adult who will have to make that decision yourself and will have to deal with the consequences of such a decision.  Often, students will miss class and then when their grades are failing they begin to point their fingers at their professor (see RateMyProfessor.com for this).  Not to say that there aren't bad teachers around, but it is pretty crucial to go to classes.  A lot of stuff can't be learned on your own, which is why you shell out thousands of dollars a semester for that help from professors.  If you're going to pay that much for something, you might as well use it!  Painful, growing wisdom tooth or not, I made it to all my classes today and got my learning groove on!

Anyways...I was really excited about this week.  Like I said, Spring break up ahead.  I wish the week could have started on a much better note, but nonetheless, I'm just glad I'm another day closer to vacation time!

Well, hope y'alls Mondays weren't so bad like mine.  If it was, go ahead and rant with me.  If it wasn't and your day went well, good to hear someone enjoyed their Monday!  Well, catch y'all later on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 12:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

See, there are lots of things to do around here in Columbia on a Saturday night.  There's the Vista if you'd like to go out for a fancy night out to dinner and such.  There's Five Points if you'd like to party and dance the night away (or drink if you're of age, of course).  There's the Greek Village, where there's bound to be some party or another.  But what better way to spend your Saturday night but to take a long nap in some purple leopard pajamas only to wake up to friends screaming and hollering as each of their five lives go down in flames. 

Yes, take three controllers, three players, an innocent bystander, and SuperSmash Brothers on GameCube, and y'all are sure to have the night of your life.  Let me tell y'all...What started out so innocently at 10:30 in the evening and has lasted until now has turned our dear MaxcyPad inside out as at 1:25 in the morning, in this new Sunday of the week, (yes, the Sabbath) one of the gang has officially done the unthinkable and said their FIRST curse word!

It's been an interesting night...You'd think these muggs would have outgrown SuperSmash by now, but this room is hopping with some funny outbursts you'd think some inappropriate things were going on in the room...but rest assured...it's just SuperSmash Brothers.  Oh, videogames!!!

You know, nothing beats a night just hanging out with friends.  Everyone says when you go to college that you should go out and meet lots of new people and make new friends.  They say that in college is where most people make those friendships that really last until the hair turns gray.  I think I've done a pretty good job in making such friendships.  The gang's not necessarily made of "new people."  Actually, we're all from the same high school (except one who's my best friend from middle school!!!).  But see, we never really hung out all together back then either.  It was just by default that when we got here, we all just gravitated to each other.  But man have we realized how much we're all so different and yet we make such the "dynamically awesome" group.  Sometimes we butt-heads, but what groups don't?  For the most part, we just love to hang out here at MaxcyPad.  Whenever the guys have time to kill in between classes, it's pretty much Maxcy time for them.  It's usually nice having the company over...it makes this dingy-lil room that we got even homier with them around. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's important to go meet new people, and I have.  My neighbors here at Maxcy are really nice.  I usually talk to the girls across the hall and the guys down the hall.  I know most of the people in most of my classes, and I'm Facebook friends with most of them.  I've joined a couple of clubs/groups on campus, and that has also helped in introducing me to new people.  BUT don't forget to still talk to your old high school buds.  Don't turn your back on them just because y'all are in college.  I remember in the beginning of the year that some of the guys on my hall were asking me if I wasn't tired yet of hanging with the same bunch for the past four years...but see, it's just different now in college.  We're not exactly all the same people we were back then.  And I really love every single one of them and wouldn't trade anyone...well maybe when their having a bad day or something I would...hehehe!

Well, anyways...just thought I'd share that lil tidbit with y'all!  For you seniors, keep enjoying these last few months with your buds.  Trust me, the time will start going pretty fast, pretty soon.  Those Laguna-Beach-esque moments will hit you so fast you won't even know it.

Here's to the rest of this weekend that has just gone by so fast...Catch y'all later on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 01:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oh y'all.  Sorry for not having blogged in about a week.  Last week was just so busy that I felt like every time I crossed off something on my to-do-list that I always ended up adding two new things anyways--taking one step forward to only take two back.  It was so hectic with another ridiculously hard lab write-up, two exams, the research lab, a never-ending pile of homework, and of course, VALENTINE'S DAY!  Last week proved to be some hurdle!

I can barely recall how I got through the week.  Of course, it consisted of lots of very late nights and early mornings.  I would basically run off of 3.5-4 hours of sleep with a bottle of Cherry Coke in tow as I made my way through campus to my classes.  I would very much struggle in my afternoon Linguistic class and the Chemistry lab, which always has something wrong with the procedures or materials.  But as rough as the week was...of course, a no-brainer would be that the highlight of the week was Valentine's Day.  This was the first Valentine I've ever had wherein I actually had someone to share it with who not only went the extra mile but ran it.  I'm not going to go into all the cheesy details, but let's just say, it'll be a hard task to top this one off.

Well, but anyways...Fortunately for most of y'all, there will be no classes for tomorrow.  Oh, good ol' presidents of the US of A.  Unfortunately for me, I'll be dragging my feet across the Horseshoe at 9AM to make my 9:05 Physics.  

Here is to another week up ahead.  No Chemistry lab needs to be written this week, but there will be a Chemistry exam on Wednesday...oh sigh!  Then there are lots of readings that need to be done for my Science & Spirituality class, and some definite catching up that is in order for my Logic class.  Oh, the only thing to truly look forward to now is Spring Break, which is about 15 class-days left, I believe.  If you count the weekends, there are about 18 more days.

Oh y'all...enjoy your day off!  Keep us, Carolina, on your mind...and well, good day and catch y'all on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 02:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hey y'all!  Can y'all believe that it's Monday again, and it's back to school/work time ?!?  Ahhhh...well, I can't complain too much.  A weekend of concert, beaches, good ol' homecooked meals, and great company...I guess it's time for me to just buckle down and get back to the groove of working and such.  But before I do such things, I'm going to allow myself some procrastination time and get y'all caught up on my weekend.....

Pretty much around Thursday afternoon the only thing going through my mind was to get my Chemistry Lab done as soon as possible and just get out of there to start my weekend.  I had things to do, people to meet, and the last thing I wanted to do was spend two hours of my life mixing solutions and watching the gauge on the spectrophotometer go bonkers.  Of course, being all excited as I was, things didn't go exactly my way, and as I stood in the lab watching the experiments go down as a total failure, all I could think about was how I wanted to just "run through the halls of the Jones building."  Oh, how I wanted to "scream at the top of my lungs!!!"  And oh, YES!  the John Mayer Concert was that night!  I could barely keep my focus all day.  A supposed "early birthday" for himself, which turned out to be actually my "surprise" early Valentines gift, my boyfriend took me to see the John Mayer concert at the Colonial Center.  Can you say awesome or what?!?  I've always been in love with John Mayer from the beginning, and to finally see a concert of his...totally cool!

Then Friday came.  Fortunately, I only had two classes--Physics and Chemistry.  I could hardly keep focus on both classes as usual, but the fact that soon after I get out both classes I would be going to Surfside Beach for the weekend just didn't help at all either.  My boyfriend's birthday is actually today and his dad's was last Monday, so we went to his home for the weekend to have a big birthday weekend celebration.  I'm not going to go into all the details, but it took some long, hard convincing of my parents before approval for this trip was granted...so the trip was a much anticipated one!  I was definitely very excited for it.  I've never been to Surfside before and have only been to Myrtle Beach, and I'd have to say that I definitely like the former than the latter.  It probably does make a difference that it's winter time and that there were barely any people at the beach, but more than that, Surfside is just very un-touristy.  Anyways, it was just a great weekend.  I've never really spent that much time with my boyfriend's parents, so I got to know them really well.  It was a really nice weekend getaway--and like I said, all the homecooked meals, the beaches, and the great company...it all made for a very nice mini-vacation.

But of course, Mondays always come after Sundays.  A new week is up ahead, and unfortunately being about a third of the way into the semester, it only means one thing--EXAM/TESTS TIME!)  Thirty minutes of catching y'all up is enough procrastination that I've rewarded myself...I suppose it's time to get cracking on them books!

Here's to wishing y'all a great week up ahead...hopefully y'all had a great weekend too!  Catch y'all on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

3:06 AM?!?  Yes, guys.  It's another late night/early morning for me.  I really should not have waited this long to start/finish my Chemistry lab report, but as if I ever learn my lesson.  I'm always staying up the night before of lab because I'm always cramming in those last few points, and it always takes forever to just get it done!  I'm so bored and tired of looking at Beer's Law, and I just want to go ahead and curl up in bed.  But I still have a couple more questions to answer..so why you might ask am I blogging?  Well, let's just say that yet again I've sadly fallen for the traps of procrastination.  This y'all is exactly what got me here in the first place--doing other things that I can actually put off because I have other far more important things to do.  But I figure that I've been working on this lab for a while and if I see another solution concentration in the next five minutes I might have to scream and that just might wake my roommate up!  Now that would not be pretty.  So a mini-break I must!

Today...errr...yesterday was a pretty good day.  Besides the fact that I barely made it through my Linguistics class (it starts at 12:30, which is right around that great optimal time for naptime), I'd have to say that my classes today were fairly decent.  Physics is getting more interesting, and I'm finding myself liking it the second time around.  We had a substitute in Chemistry, and we'll be having him for about a week and a half.  My Chem professor is quite the celeb in the field.  She's off to California to present her research at some university.  So, overall, classes were fairly good.

I actually made it to Strom today again.  I went last Monday.  I'm really trying to get motivated for this one guys.  So, today I worked out with my best friend and my boyfriend.  We played some soccer too.  I sucked pretty badly.  Let's just say I'll blame it on the fact that I haven't played in over a year...hehehe!  But unfortunately, all the working out went down the drain after about an hour because the gang decided that we'd try the food at Bates for dinner.  Oh, man--A BUFFET!  Seriously, all 200 sit-ups at the Strom pretty much was worthless after I dived into the cheeseburger and ice cream!  Yea...but overall, dinner was pretty great.

But anyways, here I am...slightly burnt out with two more questions from the Chem lab awaiting me.  I totally didn't even look at my Logic homework.  It sure is a great thing that he does not check them.  I'll just work on it tomorrow.  *Sigh*  Yea...in the homework department, overall, it's pretty dumpy!

Oh procrastinatin'...time is a tickin'.  I guess I best get goin'.  *DORKY!!!*

Aight y'all...here's to hoping for a thrilling Thursday!  Catch y'all on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 03:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I don't know about you guys, but I had one of the pretty coolest weekends I think I've had in some time...soooo...RECAP TIME!

Friday:  After seeing cool 3-D pictures of my brain at the Palmetto Richland Hospital, I made it back to Maxcy and had spent some down time with the gang.  A little Wii here and there and off we went to grab dinner at good ol' Russell House.  Friday night was our long awaited night to go see the movie "Because I Said So," which had just come out.  (One of our friends got into a big Mandy Moore Fanatic Mode and was just insistent that we watched the movie.  Personally, the chick-flick sucker that I am, I was very open to the idea.  The other guys, however, were a little less than enthusiastic about it...but off we went to Harbison anyways.)  Packed in Shawn's Sebring, we went to the mall and Best Buy first because we had some time to kill...a little side trip to an EB Games store for a new Wii game as well...and a little trek to Books-A-Million because we were about an hour early still for the movie even after all the other side trips.  Again, personally, I enjoyed the movie...I'll admit I might have even shed a tear at this one part where the mom was talking to her daughter on the phone and blah blah blah.  I don't want to ruin the movie.  However, as expected, the guys found it much too chicky...a one-time-deal never to be repeated again.

Saturday:  As I mentioned in my last entry,  my boyfriend and I have decided to start yet another Saturday Cola Tradition besides our weekly Saturday brunch/lunch.  We just had so much fun walking around town and visiting the art museum from the previous weekend that we figured we might as well take advantage of being at the heart of Columbia and explore the rest of what's in the city.  So after our lunch date (we kind of both slept in), we walked about 10 blocks from Maxcy to go to Finlay Park.  It was a pretty cute park...I'm a cameraholic and I think I must have taken about 20 pictures in the first 5 minutes that we got there.  Got to enjoy the man-made falls and then we started walking off into different streets and found yet another park that was nearby--Memorial Park.  There were lots of statues and such, and I got to learn a few war tidbits here and there.  The rest of the day was pretty much chill as usual except for our...

CULTURIZED SATURDAY NIGHT...because the guys of the group sorely needed culturizing!  After a "sophisticated dinner" at the Russell House, we went to the School of Music for the French Opera.  There were supposed to be two parts to the performance that evening, but we only made it through the first one.  Once again, personally, I enjoyed it.  The rest of the gang, however, did not.  The language barrier and the high pitched tones were just far too much for them to handle all at once.  Culturized Saturday nigh pretty much ended as soon as it began... and so once again a night was wrapped up by a Wii Session!

Sunday:  SUPERBOWL!!!  Finally, the Colts can call themselves the real big dawgs!  Like I most probably have mentioned before, my sister and her husband are huge Colts fans, and since I've started to understand the dynamics of football, whenever I watch NFL, I cheer for Peyton and the crew by default...I'm just so happy that they finally won!!!  I had to watch the game in a roomful of Bears, but it didn't really matter and actually it made the victory sweeter!

All in all the weekend was all sorts of fun.  Cool brain scans, cool chick-flick, cool parks, cool Opera, and well... the COOL COLTS!  I've not much else to say, but just that I hope y'all had as much fun as I did during your weekends!  The week's here again and I'm dreading dragging myself to class early Monday morning...but a student's got to do what a student's got to do!

Chillax and hope all's well!  Catch y'all on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 01:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yes.. PHAT THURSDAY!  Thanks to freezing rain, I didn't have to go to any of my classes today!  No 8AM class to get up for.  No need to wait in a long line for my much needed morning wake-up Macchiatto.  No, nothing...well until I had to make up a lab that I missed last Tuesday, but that wasn't until late afternoon.  And unlike last week's painfully annoying and boring lab, today was actually not bad at all.  It took a little bit longer than expected, but it wasn't bad at all.

Anyways, today has just been great--probably because I feel like I have been very productive.  Imagine this...a college student with full eight hours of sleep.  Yes, you read it right.  FULL EIGHT HOURS OF SLEEP!  Feeling fully energized, I actually was able to get all cleaned up and organized early on today and gee, guys...I can finally see my desk.  Underneath the piles of paper and books and such, there is really this slab of wood that's brown.  Yea, imagine that.  I have a desk, and I can see it!  Anyways, all the cleaning made me so hungry that despite the cold and drabby outdoors, I got myself out of Maxcy and out to Russell House to grab some lunch.  A little bit of down time then, I had a meeting around 1 o'clock with one of the professors from the Psychology department.  I might be possibly joining a group of several Grad students and a couple of Undergrads on a Language-based Psychology research program.  It looks like a promising project, but I'll have to see if my schedule won't be too crazy.  It's going to be a 9-hr/week commitment should I decide to join.  After the meeting with the professor, I had to go to lab, which as I said wasn't so bad.  And on and on and on... blah blah blah blah blahs!  I don't want to bore y'all any longer of the details of the day.  Let's just say a chem hw here, some physics there, a dinner date with my bffs, Smallville with the gang, and well...me here blogging right now. 

Freezing Rain + Two more hours in Pajamas + Fun Lab + BFFs + TV Shows + Gang + Finished HW = PHAT THURSDAY!

Anyways, guys...that's all for now!  Whatever part of the US you may be in, I hope the weather brought you some type of joy as our freezing rain did us here in Cola.  Lucky my brother back home--they had 4 inches of snow, which translated in Upstate Carolina language as NO SCHOOL!  Ridiculous, as Northerners would say!  I bid y'all adieu for now...catch y'all later in the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 09:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ahhhh!  This entry disappeared into the Internet oblivion.  I knew it.  I knew it.  I knew it!  There really is a textbook conspiracy going on.  What you see guys is that I posted this entry about a week ago where I was slightly ranting about the ridiculous situation about textbooks. I admit that it was a slightly dramatic post but it was induced by completely legitimate reasons...Reasons being that for an entire week, I walked back and forth from my dorm to the bookstore everyday to check if my book had made it from an on-line purchase order I had made the week before and guess what...It was always never there.  You could expect the frustration that came over me.  I had homework for the class, and I had no textbook...Lord knows that I barely understood the material from class!  On top of that, books that my other professors requested for me were not on my VIP booklist so I had to look for them myself even though it should have been placed in my box already.  Ahhhh!  So, yes it was slightly lazy on my part to complain about having to walk around the shelves and look for books, but hey!  They claim convenience if I purchase on-line, right?

Anyways...My frustration got the best of me, and I kind of gave the bookstore lady a bit of attitude...to which I still feel really badly about!  So, I finally just went on Amazon and found actually that the book I had been waiting for for so long could be purchased for about 1/4 of the price I was to pay at the school bookstore.  It's a conspiracy I tell you.  It's ridiculous how much textbooks cost!  On top of that, there are some professors who "co-writes" books...I've heard about these situations...and then they make their students buy ridiculous copies of them.  Fortunately, one of my professors did co-write a book, but it was reasonably priced...so hooray!

So anyways...textbook, textbook, textbook.  I recommend that you guys try checking out Amazon when buying your first textbooks...oh and for selling them too.  I don't really want to go into the ranting details about selling books back to bookstore, but here's a little scenario.  You purchase a new book for $130.  You barely use it for the semester.  You sell it in practically mint condition, but you only get $40 back.  They'll probably sell it to some little freshman next semester for $90.  OH!  The conspiracy I tell you!

Anyways, guys, enjoy high school textbooks for free, and catch y'all on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 01:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So nothing really going on much here.  Nothing but the Wii and What I Like About You and Night Fire.  Nothing but Chick-Fil-A and Taco Bell and Pandinis.  Nothing but Megan and Eric and Andy and Shawn and me.  Nothing but just us again with occassional homework and such here at MaxcyPad.   I just can't wait for tomorrow...oh Friday, won't you get here?!? 

I only have two classes, for which I'm very glad.  Only Physics and Chemistry and by 11 o'clock, I'll be done.  Except for some readings, CAPA for physics, and a Chem lab...the weekend should be a breeze.  It's been pretty nice too that I'm finally getting over whatever bug I picked up last week.  THANK GOD because I'm sick of being sick...and definitely sick of being a whiner...hehe!  I also need to start going back to Strom.  With the cold weather and my stuffed up nose, getting there has just been impossible.  Oh dear me and my new year's resolution slowly going down the drain...

Well, here are some things to look forward to for the next couple of days: the weekend's coming, watching Deja Vu with the gang tomorrow at RH, a Filipino dance practice with FASA on Sunday, and lots of hanging out, chilling, recuperating, and yeahhh...lazying it up...oh, the life!  Hehehe!

Hope y'alls week has been going well.  Time to hit the books and maybe take a nap.  I never liked taking naps before, but now...I can't go a day without taking one or two a day.  In college...naps will be your best friend!

Catch y'all later on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 03:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yes, guys, I'm already whining.  I can't believe that it's only Tuesday, and on top of that, today is my first day of Chem lab.  I'm not really looking forward to it--a quiz and an afternoon of spectrometers and such, but do I have a choice? 

Man, I'm really sorry guys.  I hate to blog like a whiner.  I think it's just because I'm getting slightly cranky, so just bare with me y'all.  I think I picked up something again--I'm all stuffed up, and I can probably cook an egg on my forehead.  I have a feeling there's a bug going around along with this stupid weather that keeps changing on me...One day..err I mean, one hour it's cold and the next it's hot.  My body can barely keep up with the temperature...ahhh!   I hate being sick!

I'm ready to just get through all that I need to get done today and get back into my pajamas.  I've got a lab in about half an hour.  Unfortunately, honors Chem lab is estimated to last for about three hours.  Hopefully, my Chem lab partner and I can squeeze out an hour early.  Then, there's a FASA meeting at 6 tonight, which I hope will go by fast as well.  Lastly, I still need to go to Strom tonight because I didn't get to go yesterday.  I had Physics homework that was due by midnight, and without a book, it took me a while to get it finished.  Ahhhh!

And well yadah-yadah-yadah guys!  Sorry I'm whining, whining, whining.  I hope that the lab will somehow turn out to be fun and will be a pick-me-up or something...I can go for some wishful thinking, right?  And well, hopefully next time when I write again I'll be feeling well and will be in a much better mood.  (Anyone want to drop by with some good ol' soup?)  I wish y'all a much better day in y'alls side of the world...Catch y'all later on the flipside, future Gamecocks.

P.S.  The Colts are going to the Superbowl...whooooooooo!

Posted by Kriska at 01:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Phew, I made it through the first week of school guys.  I was really excited about going back to Cola, as y'all may have read, but that was mostly because I wanted to be back with friends and what not.  I really wasn't quite ready for classes to begin, but hey!  I made it through all the intros and syllabis and such with several stories to tell...

Monday: I went to the Red Cross MLK Day Service at the Ronald McDonald House about 5 minutes from campus.  I got to meet some new people and got to help out.  We mostly just cleaned out and straightened out the house, but it was still quite a neat experience.  Definitely looking forward to more opportunities for service especially with Red Cross!

Tuesday: It was the first day of classes, and boy was it hard to get up that early in the morning.  At 7:30 AM, I was up for my 8 o'clock class.  Luckily, en route to Gambrell for the Science & Spirit class, the Colloquium was on the way.  There's nothing better than a hot Caramel Macchiatto from Starbucks to start off the day!

Wednesday: First meetings with my MWF professors except for my Chem prof who is the same as last semester's.  I was pretty satisfied with everything especially since I was with several familiar faces in each of the three classes I had that day.  I think that it's pretty cool having some of the same classmates--made possible mostly due to the fact that the classes are from the Honors College.  If I were in those 300-student Chemistry classes, I'm sure I probably would not even recognize 1/4 of the students in it.

Thursday:  TWO-HOUR DELAY!  Considering my only two classes of the day were in the morning, I only had to go to one...Logic!  Half the class didn't show up, however, so Dr. J decided to give us, who did show up, a break.  It was a pretty cold and gloomy day, and before I knew it, I was back in my jammies at Maxcy...hehe!

Friday: Once again, only two classes.  Definitely, two thumbs up!  With nothing much to really do, my friends and I just really chilled (not that we didn't the past other days.)  I did decide to hit up Strom around 5 with my best friend.  She went off to the climbing wall, while I spent some good amount of time on the treadmill and lifting weights...YES...LIFTING WEIGHTS!  I saw one of my friends in the gym, and he became my personal trainer guiding me through the different machines and such.  Lord knows I look dumb trying to look at the diagrams and reading the instructions on how to use each machine!  Afterwards...we hit up Russell House for dinner...showered of course because I stunk...and went back to RH to catch the 9 o'clock movie.  I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen the movie yet...but most definitely I recommend that y'all go out and rent PRESTIGE when it comes out on DVD.  That was one great movie!

And that was the past week, but now here I am back at home again, guys.  Tomorrow is another big game for the Colts (my sister and her husband are huge fans!) so me and Shawn came home for the weekend to watch the game with the family.  I've been doing so great in eating healthier and smaller portions back in Cola, but in the short 12 hours that I've been home, I think I've eaten more here than I did the entire past week!  My mother is the best cook in the world, and ahhhh!  I just can't stop eating!

Anyways...I hope everyone had a great week with school and everything.  Half the weekend is over...so let's all enjoy tomorrow!  Hopefully tomorrow night will be a great night (cross y'alls fingers for a Colts' victory!!!!)

Catch y'all on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 12:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's time to catch y'all up on my first few days back here at....COLA!  It's been nice getting back in the groove of things.  Here at MaxcyPad, the gang is back, and best of all...we've got a Wii!  Yes, you read it right.  We've got a Wii!  It's really funny watching the guys play boxing and such...if only we can get ourselves another controller.  Anyone care to hook me up with one?  ^_^ hehe!

Well...on to more important things...Classes have officially begun.  Well, a couple of days ago they have.  After about 10-15 times that I revised my schedule over the break, I'm pretty satisfied with how my classes have turned out, all five Honors classes.  Everyday is pretty much a different schedule due to science labs and such, but it's pretty doable.  For the most part, I get all my classes done early.  Like for Thursdays and Fridays, I'm pretty much done by 11AM, and that is certainly nice!

So, I guess this is where I start talking about my classes and professors and such...I just better watch what I say, or else I might dig myself a grave with professors.  Nah, just kidding!  None of them were bad at all.

PHIL 110: Intro to Logic - Dr. J is how he likes to be called.  Dr. Stiver is pretty funny.  He digresses a lot, but then again he admits to it and says that it is just a part of his teaching style.  I've heard some seriously scary stories about Logic that made me think twice about taking the class, but Dr. J looks like a man who not only knows his stuff (he co-wrote our textbooks) but also is a very interesting prof.

PSYC 470: Survey of Languages - Professor Disterheft is...interesting!  She showed up about 20 minutes to class because she thought that the class was in HUM 201 when it was actually at HM 201.  But nevertheless, the class sounds interesting, and she seems like a very nice woman!

SCCC 360P: Prosem: Science & Spirituality - I have to wake up at 7:40 every TTH for this class because I have to make it to  Gambrell by 8, but there is Starbucks on the way...so it's totally fine!  Professor Buxhoeveden (I don't know how to pronounce his name) sounds like a very reasonable man.  The class material sounds very very very interesting.  I'm pretty excited about this class!

SCCC 104: Principles of Chem II - I'm back in Chemistry again with MURPHY!  I thought that I wanted to get out of Pre-Pharm because of Chemistry, but I'm actually pretty psyched about being back in Dr. Murphy's class.  I definitely LOVVVE her point system (I exempted the final exam..woot!), and I look forward to furthering my Chemistry knowledge...hahaha!

PHYS 202: Man do I wish I had paid much greater attention to my high school physics class.  I could have exempted this course had I just gotten one more point on the AP!!  Dr. Jones is no match to my old Physics teacher, and although, I didn't think that I would ever say it...I MISS MY OLD MR. ROGERS!  Dr. Jones isn't bad at all though...it's just I guess I got used to Mr. Rogers's way of teaching Physics.  I hope I don't blow this class.  It's more or less a review.  I better do well in it!

Aight, well that's all for now folks.  It's time to get back to the Wii!  Good ol' MaxcyPad is packed with about 7 people, and although it's been freezing cold all day due to the weather...I'm burning up with all the body heat!  Catch y'all later on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's been a great winter break.  I was completely psyched about it being one whole month, and I sure did not waste any day of it.  The first week was grand with all the Christmas celebrations--family, friends, and lots and lots and lots of lunches, dinners, and GIFTS and such!  The second week was adventurous with my trip to Indianapolis--touring the city and riding a Cessna flown by my sister!  And the third week was just as marvelous--welcoming 2007 with a visit from my boyfriend and then taking him all around Greenville!  But now fourth week has rolled itself...and Yep, guys, you read it right!  It's time to pack my bags and head back to Cola once again.  My one-month winter break is really winding down to its last week and fast!  Can you guys believe it?!?

Clothes and such are pretty much packed, and my mom and I went to good ol' Wal-Mart and Walgreens the other day for some grocery shopping--time to restock on the school supplies and get some healthy snacks (including Special K bars and those 100 Calorie Oreos and Chips Ahoy)!  Unfortunately, I had to find out for myself that Freshman 15 is pretty accurate.  Since I moved to Cola back in August, I've gained about 10 lbs?!?  Yea...I'm serious!  I thought I was so smart in figuring out that I can get the most bang out of my meal plan and not go over by getting a Whopper Jr., french fries, a drink, and an apple pie, but now I'm realizing that...yea...wasn't such a great idea after all!  Henceforth, my goals for spring semester shall be to get all A's and to lose every single pound of that horrible 10-lb gain! 

Anyways...I hope everyone's settling back into school just fine.  MLK day is soon approaching as well, so I'm sure most of you guys are getting excited for that 3-day weekend, too!  But more importantly, I know acceptance letters have been getting sent to some already.  An old friend from high school told me that he already got his letter of acceptance to UNC about 4 weeks ago.  I hope that everyone has gotten their ducks in a row as far as college applications and such are concerned.

Well, that's all for now folks!  Catch y'all later on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 08:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Home Sweet Home...sorta!  I didn't quite understand what Anthony, my Maxcy RA, meant when we were having our SSI.  He asked me if I was anxious about going home or was I worried about the whole thing.  I thought it was bizzarro that he said that I'd be worried.  Worried about what?  Of course,  I was very anxious.  I couldn't wait to get home to my family, my friends, to tons of homecooked meals, and taking showers without having to wear flip-flops!  And since I have been home, I have been able to enjoy all such things.  I was welcomed last Friday by my youth group for a little Christmas get-together.  My best friend and I have been going out--adoring downtown, doing some Christmas shopping, and going out for lunches.  My parents and I have been catching up.  There have been lots and lots of great Filipino food filling up my tummy...and yes, the showers have been very great in my very own bathroom!

But I guess, Anthony was kind of right.  Although, I have been enjoying myself a lot...some things are just not the same.  I guess I've just really gotten used to my own routine and being on my own.  No meal plans here.  No late night guests.  No Horseshoe walks.  No roomie to stay up with until 3 AM.  Nope...I'm really home!

I guess living in Columbia has left a mark on me...but hey!  Home will still be home.  It will never really be the same to come back, but my family and friends (and the shower) will always be there for me no matter what!

Christmas is right around the corner. Can y'all believe it's only 4 days away?!?  Hope y'all have done your Christmas shopping and are enjoying the winter break!

Merry Christmasing and catch y'all on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

… WINTER BREAK!

So it completely felt like one of those moments when all you want to do is just stand and look around, and then everything in the room just moves…except for you… and you think of all that’s happened…all the things that you and your friends have done…all the things that have passed and you realize… YOU ARE SO FREAKING CHEESEY!

Hehehe…So I was packing my stuff Thursday night as my roommate was trying to cram the last few Anthropology tidbits that she could for her exam the next day.  My boyfriend was trying to figure out his Math stuff, while I was trying to figure out what clothes along with which purses and shoes to pack up and bring back home for winter break.  And yea, it finally hit the three of us…the first semester of our college career has finally ended.  Well, for me, it was.  They each still had one final exam to go.  But in all honesty…we just could not believe how fast the time has flown.  We’re already half way through our freshman year, but it seemed as though we had just moved in to our dorms.

On top of the speeches from Rhetoric, the novels from Fiction, the graphs from Economics, the Baroques and Classics from Music, and the experiments from Chemistry…fall semester of freshman year has really taught me a lot.  Living on my own in a new place has definitely been some experience and, although, I’m far from being an expert about college life…I still would like to share with y’all some of the things that I’ve found to be helpful that y’all will probably want to keep in mind when starting your college living…

Freshman Tip #1:  Get (or be) a roommate who is ready for anything.

Be it the TV, the soda, the ibuprofen, the chips and salsa, or the nail polish remover having a roommate (or being the roommate) who is ready with anything makes for a great roomie-relationship.  For together, Megan and I have realized that we make the best roommates for each other, in sickness and in health, ‘til death gets one of us sympathy from the professors and all A’s.

Freshman Tip #2:  Make sure to assign bathroom duties.

This is a definite must-do if you don’t want to spend your weekends cleaning a bathroom shared by four people all by yourself.  It took Megan and I the entire semester to finally get the courage to speak up to our suitemates about cleaning duties because we were the only ones doing it (ewwww!).

Freshman Tip #3:  Get to know your classmates if not your professors and your TA’s.

Time will come when you can’t figure out that homework problem.  Professors and TA’s are usually easy to reach, but forming study groups and doing homework with classmates (especially those who live in the same dorm as you) are definitely helpful!

Freshman Tip #4:  Have adventures with your friends.

Play racquetball late at night at the Strom.  Walk to Beezers for that 2AM hunger.  Climb trees at the Horseshoe during midnight.  Act like a kid in the fake snow at the Riverbanks Zoo Christmas lights.  Don’t just make friends…make memories…and lots of ‘em!

Lastly, but probably most importantly…

Freshman Tip #5:  Have Tylenol, Bengay, and Midol on hand.

Headaches will come; back pains will arise; and even if you are a guy, Midol will be bound to come handy at least once a month.

Posted by Kriska at 05:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm going to start off this blog saying I totally dreaded starting it, but I promise by the time you get to the end, you'll be screaming with me, "Can you say T.G.I.F. or what?!?"

Having to get up for my Chemistry class this morning, especially because the weather forecasted about 30 degree weather or something, was just not the greatest thing to have to do first thing in the morning, but I knew I had to go...Today was supposed to be the day my professor was going to tell us whether we were exempting her exam or not.  So as I froze my fingers off walking down Sumter and Main Street to Jones, all I could think of was that it would suck if I would have to take this Chem exam because in all honesty I was living by the day for that class.  Everything I learned, I learned for the tests... Chemistry is just not my favorite subject. Let me tell you, however, that freezing cold walk was most definitely worth it and was probably the best way I could have started off the day...I'M EXEMPTING THE EXAM!!!

Then after much relaxation because exempting a Chemistry exam is definitely worth partying about...it was time to head to church for Dec. 8's Holy Day of Obligation.  Note: For Catholics, St. Thomas Moore Church is great.  Father Tim is a hoot for a priest!

Then it was time to go to my last day of Fiction with Sibley-Jones.  It was kind of sad for me...hehe!  I mean, I really love the class, and it's that one class that has made all the difference for my freshman year experience.  That class had more than novels and short stories to offer but a wealth of so much more...Cheesey, I know!  But Sibley-Jones is definitely a great professor and his class is double hoot-hoot!

Then I got to spend a little time with my best friend as we headed off to watch a recital at the School of Music.  Some guy was performing the flute, and I needed to watch it for my Music class...It was pretty fun.  Nothing too exciting to rave about, but I did get to hang with my best friend so it was pretty good overall. 

The best part of today, however, that totally merits screaming "T.G.I.F!!!" would have to be the trip to the Riverbanks Zoo for the Christmas lights with my friends.  Although, it was probably down in the 28ish degrees and we were all freezing our extremities off even under layers and layers of jackets and coats...walking around the zoo and looking at the lights and checking out the funky smelling animals among little kids surely was a great way to cap off our first semester as freshmen in college...Eighteen, nineteen, smshteen...HERE'S TO BEING A KID AGAIN!

Hopin' that y'all had the greatest Friday as well...Catch y'all on the flipside, future Gamecocks! 

Posted by Kriska at 11:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This week has seriously been a long week.  For starters, here is a little flashback:

Last Tuesday, I woke up thinking that it was Thursday.  Oddly enough, it really really really felt like Thursday...whatever that means.  So, as usual, I struggled to get up for my 9:30 Econ class but even more so that day because I seemed to have picked up some bug from the previous night.  I really couldn't afford the slow stroll because it was already 9:30 when I left my dorm, but I really was not looking forward to another boring lecture about the financial blah, blah, blahs of macroeconomics.  So as I lazily took my time and walked through the Horseshoe to the Business Building, I thought about how I would spend my "Thursday."  Naturally, after Econ I'd make my way to Rhetoric, then grab lunch, then hang out in my room with Megan and Shawn, and then head to Music in the afternoon...Yes, just another typical Thursday.  I don't know where it finally hit me...it probably was when I realized I had a presentation to do for my Rhetoric class or when I bought breakfast and it said that I still had 5 meal plans left that I finally realized... Dang, it's only Tuesday!  I'm not really sure if that was necessarily a good thing or a bad thing that I was "back to Tuesday," but it was as if I just got two days back and had to relive Tuesday and Wednesday all over again...Yea, I'm confused too.

But anyways...now that it is finally really Thursday and my Chem lab has been turned in, my Rhetoric presentation is done, my English rough draft is being proofread, and all my classes are pretty much done... I can finally relax...right?!  NO!!! *sigh*  I have that Economics exam in a week... GRRRR!!!  I've still to get back my English draft to revise for my final grade.  Then a Rhetoric paper that is due in 4 days. (Unfortunately, it is 10 pages long, and I've yet to start it.)  But I think I'm exempting my Chemistry exam *WOOT WOOT!*, then Music exam will be on-line, and lastly there is no English exam.  It really isn't all too bad from now as I'm probably making it out to be.  I'm sure there are other students who have worse exam schedules than I do, but nevertheless there are still lots of work that need to be done...which leads me, once again, to bid y'all Adieu!

Hope everyone's semester is winding down just well...I turned to my fellow bloggers and it seems we're all sounding a lil tad too stressed...Hope that doesn't turn y'all away from USC...hehehe!  Exam week just can get really crazy!

Well, I better get going and cracking on something...a textbook, a pen and paper...anything, something!  Catch y'all on the flipside, future Gamecocks! 

Posted by Kriska at 01:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Only four more days of classes left guys, and naturally I'd be happy about that idea but I'm more stressed about it than anything. This week and the next are probably going to be the hardest of the entire semester. 

With only four days left, things are really winding down, but there is still so much to do.  I've got a first draft for a 5-page English paper due by Wednesday, which I've yet to start.  I've got a Chemistry lab report due also by Wednesday, which is at least half-way done.  Then there is also this essay paper presentation for my Rhetoric class tomorrow, which I've barely worked on, but it is a pass/fail assignment meaning an A for doing it and an F for not...I'll most likely just wing it.  It really shouldn't be all that bad.  What's got me really worried is that exams are right around the corner--to be specific, they are starting next week.  So far things are looking not too bad though because I might only be taking one actual in-class exam for my Economics class.  My music professor have resorted to an out-of-class exam while my English professor is not giving us one at all.  Rhetoric requires a 10-page essay, which sounds depressing, but at least I don't have to go take an actual test in class.  And there is a slim chance I'm going to be exempt for my Chemistry exam...*cross fingers please!*

*Sigh*

With all this work, you're probably thinking what in the world am I still doing blogging about the load instead of actually picking up a book or two or something and getting on with the work, right?  Well, that makes two of us...hehe!

I'm a freshman with a bad case of senioritis...hehehe!

Well, I guess I better head on out.  Till next!  Catch y'all on the flip side, future Gamecocks! 

Posted by Kriska at 03:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday, and I can't believe that it's just right around the corner!!!  My roommate and I have been decking the MaxcyPad since we got back from Thanksgiving break, and it's just looking very much like the Macy's Parade up in here!  Christmas trees, lights, stockings, garland, candy canes, and so much more...Oh, the festivity begins.  Everytime I'm in my room, I feel like I hear Perry Como singing, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."  

It's nice to have the room all decked out.  It makes me feel a little less homesick.  I mean, I'm pretty used to being here in Columbia, but the holidays just make me want to be home and be with my family.  I'm glad that the Christmas spirit lives on here at MaxcyPad!

Well, let the countdown begin to the 25 Days of Christmas, and catch y'all on the flipside, future Gamecocks! 

Posted by Kriska at 08:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I remember that back in middle school, I was such a bookworm that I was in the school library every morning returning a book and borrowing a new one to read for the day.  I participated in the Accelerated Reader Program in seventh and eighth grade, and in both years, I had accumulated the highest points for the school year.  But that was about four and a half years ago, and in all honesty, I have felt that I have “outgrown” reading books.  In high school, I barely read any books.  I read more Pinkmonkeys and Sparknotes more than I ever read any of the required reading books.  I just felt that between soccer, tennis, Red Cross, Student Council, French newspaper, Honor Society--yadah, yadah, yadah...you name the club, and I was in it--that I had no time to pick up any book.  But lo and behold, suprising even myself, I have found that my English 282 Fiction class has to be my favorite class for this semester.

It is a pretty demanding course.  I have to read ten books for the semester, and the books aren’t jokes.  The list includes Faulkner, Rushdie, Conrad, and Kundera.  Besides Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the books have been pretty hard reads—I’m not even going to go into how difficult Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! was.  But hard as the books have been, I’ve actually found myself reading them.  YES, I’M BACK TO READING BOOKS AND LOVING IT!  Mrs. Chandler, my senior year English teacher, would be so proud to hear me say that.

I’d have to give credit where it is due, however, because this sudden urge to read is definitely not my own doing especially when the books are so complex.  He is witty and clever, he is funny and interesting, and best of all, he is my professor.  Professor Mark Sibley-Jones makes running to Flinn Hall every Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 1:22 (the class starts at 1:25 but Flinn is just right next door to Maxcy) worth it.  A lot of the time, I don’t understand the books we are reading, but I know that every time I go to class somehow it will all make sense.  I think it would be a good assumption to say that he knows his “stuff” pretty well, and if not, he sure does know how to make it all look good.  Also, there are only eighteen of us in the class so discussions go very well.  The discussions are good, and in that way, my classmates also help me out in learning the material.  These are two reasons of many why I like being in the Honors College—I get to enjoy small classes and great professors.  The idea of sitting in an auditorium filled with 299 other students and a professor running through PowerPoint slideshows just does not appeal to me, even if it does mean that I can sleep in class or even skip it and my professor would probably never even know.

So yea, just when I thought I was done with books and that Pinkmonkeys are the best animals in this world, here I am delving into another book and actually enjoying it.  I encourage you to apply for the Honors College.  Not only will it be a great looking diploma after four years but you will be able to engage in your classes even better.  I encourage you to also read books—Pinkmonkeys are awesome but you just don’t get out as much from it as you actually do when you read a book.  Lastly, I recommend taking a class with Sibley-Jones when you get here.  It’ll be time and tuition money well spent.

Catch y’all on the flipside, future Gamecocks! 

Posted by Kriska at 03:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, I always thought that the Carolina-Clemson Rivalry was retarded and just plain and simple, straight up EXXAGGERATED until I found myself screaming at every single key play, striking my fists at every unfortunate interception, and running around the living room barely missing the big screen tv as I screamed for our defense to tackle those Clemson runners who scored their 76-,82-,and 86-yd touchdowns...My gosh, it was an exciting game, and it kept me on my toes the entire time.  I feared that we were going to lose yet another Gamecock-Tiger showdown, and I just almost lost it...until the Tiger Kicker missed that field goal and I DID END UP losing it...Losing it because YES, I AM A GAMECOCK and dang proud to be one because we just won!

This entire weekend, it seemed that everywhere I went I was outnumbered by Clemson fans.  Being up here in the Upstate, the trend is a 20-to-1 ratio of Clemson to Carolina fans.  Donning their orange and purple, I stuck out like a sore thumb in my garnet red...but after this afternoon's win, I can't wait to go out and proudly strut my Carolina apparel...even if it means just a quick trip to the Wal-Mart!  A win...a win...a win!  I've already called up my die-hard Tiger fans.  Not that any of them picked up their phones, but as if that was going to stop me from rubbing in the victory.  I made sure to leave them, "Dun, dun, dun, DUN...U-S-C...Goooo COCKS! (repeat)."  Man...I've been sucked into the crazy hole of rivalry...hahaha!

Well...I best get going because I still have homework to do.  Like usual, whenever I go home, it seems I never get any work done...

So, well...Enjoy the rest of the weekend and catch y'all later on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 06:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hey guys! Can y'all believe that Thanksgiving is in two days?!?  Well, my roommate and I decided that we needed to host a Thanksgiving get-together dinner for our little group of friends here at USC because just as much as we've been looking forward to the break and going home to spend time with our respective families, we just shouldn't go without a Thanksgiving with our USC family!!!  So, we talked to the guys, and it was settled.  We got all our friends who could come--a couple were sick and another was swamped with a Spanish project--and off we went to the Food Lion on Harden Street to buy food and such.  Of course, Megan and I were in pain from Saturday's trek, but we really wanted a "bird" for the dinner spread so we made the 1/2-mile trip.  We dragged a couple of the guys so that we wouldn't have to carry the stuff back though...yea, the guys are pretty useful for that kind of stuff.  

As college kids, it's not like we really had a lot of cash to just spend so we ended up getting a chicken rotisserie from the deli...who said that the table centerpiece for Thanksgiving had to be a turkey anyway?!?  When we got back on campus, we decided to go to the Russell House.  We couldn't let our meal plans go to waste, so we all bought food to share at the dinner table--$0.59 dinner rolls and $0.69 cookies from the bakery, $1.99 cinnamon sticks from Pandini's, $5.70-worth of vegetables from the Grand Marketplace, 4-pints of milk from Chic-Fil-A, and a California roll from the downstairs sushi bar--Talk about a Thanksgiving Spread--COLLEGE STYLE! 

Oh, and I got to "carve" the lil chicken!  It was funny because I didn't know what I was doing.  It was just so much fun and SO MUCH FOOD!  I really don't know how much I ate, but I could barely move myself after it all.  The aftermath left on the table made us all feel bad to look at just because we couldn't believe how much of it all we actually ate!!!  After the dinner, we all watched Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Special...Yea, yea, it was slightly cheesy, and Megan and I actually had to force the guys to watch it...but I'm sure they liked it.

It was loads of fun "gathering around" our little card table... This time of the year, it's just nice to get together with lots of good ol' friends and such... Well, not that we're not always all together anyways... hehe!

My last class was about an hour ago... so Thanksgiving break has officially started for me. My best friend and I are going home together... I hope the weather clears up somewhat before then.  Who'd have thought that I'd have to walk to class this morning with sleet and SNOWFLAKES blowing all up in my face?!?  Talk about a morning wake-up call!!!

Well.. here's to hoping that we all have a great Thanksgiving break.  For those going out of town, safe travels!  Watch the Thanksgiving parade, enjoy the football game, and eat lots and lots and lots of TURKEY!!!

Catch y'all on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thank God Middle Tennessee won (a slight understatement, I know, we slaughtered Mid Tenn at 52-7) because the story that I'm about to tell you about today's happenings would totally not be worth it had we lost the game!

So, I had to get up early today because there was a meeting for us, bloggers.  The meeting was at 10:30  at the Thomas Cooper Library, but before then, I did some homework first and grabbed breakfast.  I met up with the other bloggers and Morgan, and we talked about how we should be blogging on this thing.  Anyways, the meeting ended around 11:50, which meant that the kick-off was in 40 minutes and I was about 234,580,935 miles away from the William Brice Stadium.  I ran as fast as I could back to Maxcy to drop off some things and get my roommate, Megan.  Finally, at about 12:05, Megan and I were en route to the game...

We didn't really know how to get to the stadium because we have taken the bus the past two other games we've been to, but we didn't make it this time.  There is usually a shuttle bus that takes students to the game about an hour prior to kick-off.  We checked a map before we left the dorm and figured that we would take Sumter Street all the way down until it got to this area that is all gray on the map (gray because it is no longer part of the USC campus).  We just thought that once we got to that gray area that we would just cut through buildings and such.

In case you didn't know, the USC area is not really flat... NOT REALLY FLAT!  So, off my roommate and I were, trying to make the game.  We made it to Blatt in 10 minutes, which usually would take about 15-17 minutes.  (Yes, the minutes do make the difference.)  We were jogging down Sumter Street, which doesn't sound too bad until we realized that a hill was up ahead.  We tried to jog up the hill, but that was not a great idea at all.  (We should have stretched before the trip... my calves were killing me!!!)  We thought it was bad--running down and up the hills--then we reached the end of Sumter Street.  We soon found ourselves in this sketchy part of town.  One of the houses had signs all over the garden that read, "NO TRESSPASSING. BEWARE."  Megan and I could only think of jogging faster to get out of the area... we really wanted to get to the game.. ALIVE!  Eventually, we made it to an area with buildings and found Habitat for Humanity.  We figured that we were in a better part of town until we made a turn around the building and found ourselves in tall grass.  We thought, "What the heck!"  We've already made it through the sketchy neighborhood that walking through grass and weeds should be a piece of cake.  So, we made the turn through the grass and then another surprise!  We were startled by this old guy on a lawn chair with a bottle of Bud in hand and a case sitting next to him.  Megan and I got scared and decided to walk... jog.. yes, JOG!  We jogged away from the scary old man and then found ourselves stuck in this thing because a fence wrapped around the entire area.  We had to backtrack and FINALLY found William Brice... It only took us 40 minutes to get there... had to be some record though.

So, we're finally at the game, and we're trying to find some seats.  On our way up to the bleachers, this guy pushes his friend, and just guess who was there to "catch" the guy?!?  As a poor bystander, I found myself flat on my butt on a bleacher with a guy twice my size on me.  The excitement just does not end...

Finally... FINALLY, we're settled and such.  I'd go over the amazing plays we had during the game and all, but I'm not really football-lingo-savvy.  I'll just say... THANK GOD WE FINALLY WON... and THANK GOD FOR 52-7 VICTORY!

The game ended about 3:30, and Megan and I decided that we would try to make it to Bates for lunch by 4.  I'll explain this more later, but to enjoy your "lunch meal plan" you have to redeem it within the time frame of 11AM and 4PM.  We didn't want to waste our meal plan, and the closest place was Bates.  Too bad that "closest" did not mean close at all!  We soon found ourselves on another trek--I felt like G.I. Jane.  Dodging cars as we crossed streets and running up hills through Bull Street, we finally made it to Bates at 3:58... two minutes to spare to get to the diner... DOORS CLOSED!  Bates closes on Saturdays after 1PM and does not open until 5PM.  There went a meal plan and 28 minutes of running and jogging and power-walking.

Finally, Megan and I regrouped and got ourselves together.  To cap out today's strenuous adventure, we decided that we needed to treat ourselves to some great comfort sweets. We went across the street from Bates and headed to this Italian restaurant DiPrato's for some awesome canolis, great tiramisus, and CUTE servers.

The last leg of our trek back to Maxcy was still 25 more minutes, but with canolis and tiramisu in tow and the vision of the dreamy server in our minds... we knew that we would be just fine, and we would make it alive back to our dorm.

Yes, today was very TIRESOME.. but it would definitely have to go down in the books as one of 'em great crazy adventures!

Here's to more crazy fun.. Catch y'all on the flipside, future Gamecocks! 

Posted by Kriska at 05:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Excitement #1:  My rhetoric class, which meets Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:00 to 12:15, has been cancelled all week due to some seminar that my professor is currently attending.  I've found that very interesting about college.  Professors can just cancel classes based on their own discretion, just as they would wish.  There goes a couple hundred dollars of my tuition going down the drain.. hehe!  Just kidding! It's all good.  She's a pretty good professor, and she always finds ways of making up for lost time in class.

Excitement #2:  My music teacher ended class early the other day because he was a part of a concert.  (See above for excitement reason.)

Excitement #3:  I attended this USC Renaissance Singers Concert the other night.  Talk about interesting and fun! They did a madrigal-sounding rendition of a Beatles Classic: You've Got To Hide Your Love Away.  It's one of the great "perks" about going to USC.  There are lots of great performances going on.  Music recitals, plays, and such.. you name it, USC will probably have it.  And have I mentioned the concerts are FREE!  Engage in the culture of great performances without having to drop a cent... yes! 

Excitement #4:  I got my first English paper back from the amazing Sibley-Jones, and I got an A-.  Definitely something to celebrate!  (Note:  If you have the opportunity to take a class under this man, YOU SHOULD!  I'm currently taking Fiction 282, which honestly requires a lot of reading, but it is totally worth it.  He is an excellent professor.  I'm actually reading the books and avoiding Pinkmonkey notes.)

Excitement #5: It's finally Thursday!  Only one more day until I can scream TGIF!

Excitement #6: It's a week from Turkeyfest...but only FIVE MORE DAYS until I go home for the break.  I'm ready to take a break and to definitely get some relaxation time!

Excitement LUCKY #7:  I FINALLY GOT MY SCHEDULE FOR NEXT SEMESTER RIGHT!  I think...hehe!  It took a lot of thinking and tweaking and such, but I think I'm pretty satisfied .hehe!

Well, I hope your week has also been filled with lots of excitement!  Hope the weekend will bring in MORE excitement. And, well, as Thanksgiving is right around the corner.. I'm sure things will only get better!

Catch y'all on the flipside, future Gamecocks!

Posted by Kriska at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)