Two Successes in One Weekend!

Yesterday I spent a good part of the day at NUCL (Northwest Undergraduate Conference on Literature) and it was a nice break from a stressful week. I presented my paper during the second session (mid-morning), and despite feeling a little nervous beforehand, the presentation went well. About 10 people attended, and we had a lively discussion. One of the three students who was supposed to present was absent, so we had more time to talk. After presenting, we made our way down to the Terrace room (private room below the Commons reserved for events) for a delicious lunch. I sat at a table with the two respondents and the other presenter in my panel, as well as a few students from another panel. We had a very fun discussion about literature, including our guilty pleasures--children's books is my guilty pleasure, in case you are wondering. After lunch, we listened to one of the English professors read a keynote address by the speaker who was supposed to come but had to cancel at the last minute. Then we had another session, which I was a respondent. There are two respondents on each panel, and though my partner and I read through the papers and came up with questions in advance, we did not need to ask ours because everyone asked each other questions. I was tired after a long day, but happy to have presented and responded.

After two months of figuring housing options with various people, I anxiously attended housing selection day. I originally was in a group with two other girls, which would have made separating difficult if we did not get a house or apartment. My two friends wanted to go back to Fields if these options did not work out, but after living in a dorm for three years, I decided that I was ready for a change. However, I found three very nice nursing students who were looking for one more person to join their house. I invited them to join my three friends and I, even though our housing priorities were different. Despite housing day being hell last year, today at least ten times better! We all showed up a half hour before our appointed time (technically, my appointed time, as I had the highest point total of all the girls). By the time my number was called, most of the apartments in Haggerty/Tyson were filled. Luckily, my next plan was to get a UP owned house with the lovely ladies I met recently. Thanks to the housing powers that be, I am living in a house near behind my current dorm with four nursing students (one who is currently studying abroad in Australia). I am beyond thrilled that housing day was not a replay of last year, and that I have more independence than I do in the dorms. All of us have our own rooms, and I am very excited to trade in the Commons cuisine for the ability to cook my own food.

NUCL and housing aside, I am happy that spring break is on the horizon. Five days, I think I can make it!

Grown Up Activities and Exciting News

On Saturday I did the first "grown up activity" I have done for a while. You see, when one is a college student in a dorm, one does not have the same kinds of responsibilities that students off campus or non-college students have. The activity I took part in was looking at open houses. Sure, I went to open houses with my parents as a young one, but Saturday was the first time I took an active role in looking at houses. Two of my friends and I are considering living in Haggerty/Tyson (on campus apartments) or an off campus house owned by UP. Residence Life sponsored an open house event where students can visit available houses for next year and talk with residents who currently live in these houses. A house is a house, but the difference between a UP owned and a non-UP owned house is that one does not have to pay rent. UP house renters still have to pay utilities (except garbage), but renters told me that utilities alone are not that much. On Sunday, my two friends (Talia and Sara) and I will find out where we are living. Sara will not be at housing selection day with us because she is having her own fun in Rome; one of her friends will come with us as her proxy and sign Sara's contract. None of us know what apartments or houses will be available until Sunday, so cross your fingers and hope one of these options will work!

Transitioning from housing to news on the English front, I have some very exciting news to share. I know have mentioned my senior thesis several times throughout my blog, most recently being that I submitted a proposal to the English department in February. Each student has to submit three possible topics, and I just found out this morning that I got my first choice topic! Not only did I get the topic I wanted, but I got the professor I wanted as my thesis advisor. I plan on writing about how both Catcher in the Rye is popular among high school students and how students can (or cannot) relate to Holden Caulfield, the novel's protagonist. The icing on the cake is that I get to write my thesis in the fall, which is perfect for me, as I will be taking my last English class. My thesis is not associated with a particular class, but that's ok since my major writing assignments will be for my final class and my thesis. I have to meet with my thesis advisor before the end of the semester, and I hopefully try to get some research done during the two months I am home this summer. I know writing my thesis will be a challenge, but having written several 10 page papers (my thesis has to be 20-30 pages in length), I am up for the challenge and thrilled to write about a topic about which I am passionate.