Give 'em hell, Give 'em hell, Go Horns Go!

Yesterday at about 6:00 pm marked my return to rockwall and the end of my saga at orientation at the University of Texas at Austin. My schedule is as follows:

ANT 305 EXPRESSIVE CULTURE MWF 10:00-11:00
BIO 301M ECOLOGY, EVOLUTION, & SOCIETY TTH 9:30-11:00 T 1:00- 2:00P
HIS 304R JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, & ISLAM MWF 11:00-12:00
NSC 001 FRESHMAN INTEREST GROUP SMNR TH 1:00- 2:00P
F S 301 ART OF THE UNCANNY TTH 2:00- 3:30P
HIS 315K UNITED STATES, 1492-1865 MWF 9:00-10:00

I'm taking a FIG (freshman interest group), which groups three classes together, plus a one hour seminar each week. Enrolling in the 'tiki torch' fig,(the liberal arts college theme is Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Liberal Arts), guaranteed me my anthropology class, bio, and his304r.
After that, I only needed two more classes for a full 15 hours. By leaving my room at the crack of dawn and sitting in line for about an hour, I got to register really quickly; therefore, I got into the really small freshman seminar that I wanted, 'art of the uncanny.' Like most other freshman seminars, it meets 3 hours a week and gives you a writing credit. My professor is a forty something british lady who claims to be a vampire, painted her office purple, and listens to european industrial/metal rock. indeed. Registration really wasn't as horrifying as it was portrayed, but then again, I was the 18th person to enter the building, out of 150 in the first block, so I'm a bit biased.

The first three days before registration were marked by somewhat comical skits performed by the orientation advisors, videos on diversity, discussions about controversial topics with your wingmates and two others, multiple non-required programs and tours, meetings within individual colleges, and loads of brochures/packets/booklets/free shirts/course guides.
One of the most anticipated events was the "higher learning" program on night one. It was the main diversity program, where video clips were played and oa's strewn about the audience stood in the spotlight individually and did monologues about their ethnicity, religion, sexuality, lifestyle etc. The funny thing was that aside from the obviously asian, black, hispanic or other racial speakers, you couldn't be sure the roles were actually true to the people. After everyone spoke, other oa's onstage said that the monologues were written by students on campus and did not always reflect the lives of the people giving them. The discussion afterward was interesting, because within the three wings lumped together that I was in, there was a large group of white kids, some asian, a few african american, some hispanic, and one outspoken feminist. The activity entailed moving from one side of the room (agree) to the other (disagree) depending upon your opinion on the statements read.

I took the sat II math test on day two, and did average, considering that I haven't taken a math class since my junior year. With a 630, I got credit for an A in some math, so now I only need one more math class. ::much rejoicing::

Little did I know that many other rockwallites would be in attendance at this session; tyler kimm, isabela, matt rose, noor malik, katharine keton, and supposedly emerson halstead and trey kampfer- I didn't see either of them the entire time. Noor and matt were staying with noor's sister, and tyler was in a friend's house by himself. Isabela and I both stayed in jester a.k.a. j town for the three days and nights of orientation, along with the majority of the orientees. Luckily tyler and isabela had cars, so we all traveled about austin frequently, drinking coffee and eating thai food.* Being with a group of people I traditionally wouldn't be with was really enjoyable, and I got to know noor better than I had before.

Test Name Score Test Date Received
CB AP: European History 4 05-01-2004 06-29-2004
CB AP: English Lit. & Comp. 5 05-01-2004 06-29-2004



oh hells yeah.

A Highly Selective History Which Glosses Over the nastier aspects of the school

The time has come for me to depart to orientation. I'll be on the road with my mother within the hour. Ah yes, four fun filled days of diversity programs, academic advising, dorm food, and the thrilling finale: registration. Results posted on friday evening at earliest. Until then, and in case I don't see you, good afternoon, good evening and good night.