A quick description of me: my name is Jo, I'm obviously a freshman at USC, I love to laugh, and I expect the unexpected. (As you probably should with this blog.)
Let's kick this off with Three Things I Expect to Challenge Me This Semester. (Keep in mind I'm picking a top 3 out of an estimated 129,563,702.)
1. Walking.
This challenge has many different angles. The first reason it'll challenge me: I have a piece of crap ankle. Slipped and fell on a hill, broke 2 bones and tore 2 ligaments, had physical therapy for a year. Fun times. Moral of the story-- still don't have prime flexibility, and I look like an 80-year-old man when I hobble out of bed in the morning before my ankle gets going, or if I have been walking for extended periods of time. So I will literally be struggling with all of the walking physically. (The more, the sore.)
I will also struggle with all of the walking in not the action, but where it's taking me. I hardly know my way around campus, let alone Columbia. So will I get lost? Most definitely. Have I already? Certainly. Why? Because I'm a freshman. Shall I scream it from the rooftops? I AM A FRESHMAN AND I DON'T KNOW WHERE I'M GOING OR WHAT I'M DOING. Which is completely normal and expected. Upperclassmen still expect us to have some magical mind GPS so we always know where we're going, though.
The last way I'll struggle with walking is timing. Even if stuff seems close, it can take a while to get to on foot. (I learned that one day on an "exploration of Columbia" that ended up taking over 4 hours and gained my friends and I 8.5 miles for our walking quota of the day.) So, properly timing when I need to leave to get to class or anything could definitely take some trial and error.
2. Blackboard.
Honestly why professors on the first day all expected us to know how to use Blackboard and upload assignments is beyond me. Learning how to use it and remembering to check it (lots of reading assignments I should've done already and didn't, whoops) has already proven to be a struggle. Hopefully I'll get my life together so this challenge won't become a persistent issue.
3. Procrastinating.
On a scale of 1 to cliche, clearly this challenge's level of basic-ness is off the charts to the infinite degree. But it's true! It's hard to sit yourself down and lie to yourself that you willingly want to read a textbook about horned ants and wonder cabinets other than going to a party with your friends, or Midnight Marble Slab, or just about anything else. But, if I don't study or do the assignments, or wait too long to start them, it'll definitely start to show once grades start rolling in and exams start climbing in my window and snatching my free time up. If I don't let procrastinating get the best of me, I can still have a good time and get decent grades and not have my head explode while I'm at it.
With all of those challenges, I have a lot of questions to go with them. One question I hope to have answered by the end of the semester is "How much beer can I drink and not walk like a noodle?" Totally kidding. I want to have answered where my favorite places to go in Columbia are. I'm not talking night clubs or anything. I'm talking museums, outdoor activities, stores, attractions, etc. And I'm going to answer that question by doing a hell of a lot of exploring and going places with friends. My current exploring plans include taking on Main Street, floating down the river in a tube, and doing a self-guided (and self-invented) tour of graffiti in Columbia. I actually plan to go this Saturday, because the rain will make it that much more fun, and as an added bonus I could wear my new rain boots. (They have whales on them!!)
And last but not least, a selfie that describes my week:
A.) The lovely human pictured with me is my fabulous sister who I was very excited to get to visit this past weekend.
B.) The awkward soft smiles just encompass the awkwardness of this week: Got lost many times in many places, got caught in a downpour, got locked out of the bathroom for a solid 12 hours by our suite mates... I could go on to write another whole blog.
C.) Although SO MUCH did not go to plan this week, my face summarizes my reaction to all of it: comfortably numb.
I'll leave you, people of the internet, with this: Freshman year is awkward. Life is awkward. Embrace it.
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