So far my week has been filled with about 6 hours of studying a night. This really crams my days together and amongst that practicing for Chapel sing, attempting to work out, and various other commitments, I have been very busy.

 Yesterday was a fairly easy day that allowed me to get some free stuff from the Career fair and find out about some neat stores in town – I’ll probably visit a few later in the year. I spent most of the day studying and spent some time in the Newman Center, the house for the Newman Club (Catholic) on campus. Having a place to go and be around guys of similar faith should really help enrich my spiritual life. At lunch, we (the freshman) had to run down one of the seniors to throw him in a cold shower because it was his birthday – he didn’t go without a fight. I went to bed about 12:30 and woke up this morning at 7:20 to get some breakfast. 

 Putting on my newly bought sweatshirt because it’s freezing in our room in the mornings, I packed my bag and got some eggs and sausage from the kitchen. I then went to my 8, 9, and 10:20 classes, got back to the room, studied until lunch, ate, practiced chapel sing, went to my Chemistry Lab, came home, studied, took a nap, ate, practiced chapel sing, went to the College Republican’s call out, then came to the Armory for study tabled. I have been entrenched in my studies ever since. It hasn’t been incredibly hard; I just have a lot of information to start retaining. I just need to make sure I take advantage of free time in my schedule no matter how little and hope I hang in there.

Posted by Jake Ezell at 09:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

                I officially have made it through my first weekend at Wabash College. The house threw a small party Saturday night and it was neat to see how the parties were set up. The party went off without a hitch and proved a good time for just about everyone. Sunday was a long day of studying. I am fairly sure I spent nearly 6-7 hours studying on the weekend. The information isn’t over my head yet, it’s just a lot to absorb. My parents also came up Sunday to bring me a refrigerator and some snacks and such. A mid-day meal at Applebee’s preceded their departure.

                Today was the first day of lecture for 2 of my classes. I think I’ll be in for a hard semester but I love my professors. Dr. Feller really gave an impressive lecture today and I was a bit taken aback by how well he explained key concepts. In Calc 111, we’re learning how to use this gigantic math program that basically can do anything. I’m pretty sure it’s the first scientific breakthrough of artificial intelligence. This afternoon I went to the library and found a deserted corner in the basement where I went over my psychology for Wednesday and did a bit of writing for an essay due next Monday. I’m hoping to get it to the writing center for review before then.

                After lunch today we had to practice Chapel Sing which to me was really comical. Richard Roomes, an upperclassman in the house, was attempting to make us mess up and it really took about every ounce of control for me to keep from bursting out with laughter throughout the whole thing. Chapel sing should prove to be a good time. We start study tables tonight so I’ve got another 3 hours of studying tonight and will probably put one more in on top of that to get in my 6 for the day. One class tomorrow, should be an easy day.

Posted by Jake Ezell at 05:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

                Finally! I got my blog working. I spent the last couple of days running around campus trying to get my Java application figured out so I could update. Magically, today the blog loaded on its own will. Who knows?

                The week has been busy, fun, and transitional. I no longer live at home but now at the Lambda Chi Alpha house – which I suppose is now home. The week was a lot of training sessions helping us to get acquainted with the college. The upper classmen in the house have been great at helping all the freshman figure out what’s going on around here. I have had my first 4 college classes which include Philosophical ethics, chemistry, calculus, and psychology. All the classes were very interesting and I am sure I will enjoy taking them. I cannot help but wonder if I will be able to hack it but know if I put forth the time it will all work out.

                Yesterday, I found myself wandering across the mall and saw a Frisbee game going on. I figured it was a pickup game and ran back to the house to get my shoes and water bottle. Upon returning I approached the field and casually asked whose team I was to be on. After playing half a game, I discovered I was not in the middle of a pickup game but rather the swim team’s unofficial practice. I did feel a bit like a stupid freshman but all the guys were cool with me playing after all. Wabash College is a very friendly place.

                Last night, the associates and I painted the senior bench. The senior bench is a bench on campus only seniors can sit on and each fraternity house takes its turn painting their colors on it and guarding it from being defaced. We camped out from 6AM on to make sure we would get our chance to paint the bench. I think I got about an hour of sleep and was awoken when Dr. White, president of the college, brought us donuts and talked with us for a while before my 8AM. The next 3 hours were painful and followed by me passing out in my bed.

Posted by Jake Ezell at 03:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sitting at lunch with my dad, I finally realized the day had come. All summer and really all high school I had been preparing and anxiously awaiting the day to move on and begin my life as an independent.

This past week has been a good opportunity for me to ready myself for leaving. I stopped working 10 days ago so that I could get everything in order for the move. This of course included sleeping until noon, running every other day, eating a lot of fast food, staying up late, lots and lots of soft drinks, and a very low productivity level. I did clean out my room and readied it for packing which made my job incredibly easier today.

I sit here with a bed covered in bags, bins, and suitcases. I found myself in an awkward position during packing. I’ve always gone on many camping and backpacking trips where the goal is to pack light and only take the bare essentials. Going through my dresser, I realized I wore most of the clothes in it on a regular basis and thus would be taking the entire drawer – it is quite a drastic change going from cramming a week’s worth of clothes into a backpack to filling a suitcase as big as me with basically everything left in my room. I really had to force myself to think about what I used on a daily basis because I wouldn’t be back here tomorrow.

Last night, my remaining friends and I stayed the night at another friend’s house and stayed up until almost 4 drinking soda, laughing, and prodding each other. This of course brought about many mixed feelings as we are all going to different colleges and all leave this weekend. Amidst the excitement, we will all miss each other and this was dually noted when the bigger, blonde, buzzed hair cut, more outgoing one in the group insisted on giving hugs all night. However, we all move on to bigger and better things. I have done my share of saying goodbyes and have spent a few evenings with the sole purpose of saying “bye” one last time. I will miss my friends and family but that feeling is outweighed by the excitement I have to be attending a school like Wabash.

After a week of adults pulling me aside and giving me their “2 cents” worth of advice about life and college, I am ready to tackle the challenges ahead and look forward to making new friends, learning relevant knowledge, and learning what it takes to be a Wabash man.

Posted by Chip Timmons at 08:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)