First-Year Student Journals : Katie : Journal 9

Top Five Signs It’s Not a Good Time to Use the Bathroom

All of the lights are out.

It smells like someone spilled ammonia all over everything.

There is no toilet paper in the stalls.

When you turn the shower head on full blast, all you get is a trickle.

The stall in which you are taking a shower slowly begins to flood. By the end of your shower, you find yourself steeped up to the ankles in your own personal soapy water lake.

Keeping in Touch (Or, How to Not Run Out of Money)

Many people are under the false impression that once you head off to college, you’re on your own and the parents stay at home and don’t bother you. This is the completely wrong idea. For one thing, your parents will never leave you alone, no matter how far away from home you are. (Trust me, I know people who originated in Austin whose parents harass them as though they lived in another country.)

Not to say this is a bad thing, but you are sorely mistaken if you think for half a second that your parents are going to leave you alone when you go off to college. One of the reasons for this is that they have finally realized how non-functional the family is when you’re not around and that they truly need you (okay, so maybe this is a bit of inflated self-importance, but it’s nice to think the world doesn’t run without you in it). And they really do miss you, no matter how annoying or pesky or whiny or loud or obnoxious or anti-social or all manner of other negative traits you displayed at home, they miss them all the same (yes, even your siblings who find you the single most irritating human being on the face of the planet).

Also, for those of you who think that college means you’re on your own, well, you’re dead wrong. It’s impossible to be totally on your own when the dining hall feeds you. Besides, when you live in a dorm full of other people, it’s not really living on your own. (Most likely, these people will become a bigger part of your life than you ever thought possible, if only for the reason that you live with them and they see you in all sorts of moods and conditions.)

And the fact of the matter is that you don’t really want to be completely on your own, not yet anyway, because you really can’t support yourself in any way, shape or form. If it weren’t for those nice people who conceived you and raised you and decided to put you through college, you probably wouldn’t be here.

But back to keeping in touch. No matter how annoying you think/thought your family is/was, they will be less so now that you don’t see them on a daily basis, I promise. Besides, if you keep in touch with them and visit on the weekends occasionally, they’ll send you back to college with all sorts of goodies: cookies, fruit, soups, leftovers (read: good food), clothes, shoes, spending money, etc. Now, keep in mind these are definitely not the only reasons that you should keep in touch with your family. Obviously, the primary reason is that you love them; it’s just the collegiate joke that the only reason you keep in touch is so that they keep you funded and fed.

The best manner that I’ve found to keep in touch is through e-mail. The phone is good sometimes, but you’re usually so busy with classes and studying and homework that you’re not in your room to catch the phone calls. And by the time you do see that someone has called you, it’s late at night and definitely past the calling home hour. That’s why e-mail works so well. You can do it on your own time and write as much as you want. And even when you’re not studying, you’re still most likely not in your room just because there are so many exciting things to do, such as organizations, hall parties and extracurricular lectures. (Yeah, I know that sounds the opposite of fun, but they’re on interesting topics that you won’t be able to take a class on). And there’s always, of course, the vending machine runs, and the trek to Kin’s Korner (express dining in Kinsolving Residence Hall) that take away from you being in your room. Hence, e-mail is so effective. And on the off chance that you are in your room to catch a phone call from home, it usually means that you’re studying or eating in there and won’t have much time to talk. But you’ll talk for a little bit, and then go to your computer and use your insane typing skills to type in about 10 minutes what you would say over the phone in 30.

That’s not to say that the phone should be ruled out because it really is nice to hear a voice from home every so often, especially if it’s the one of your younger sister who just made a phenomenal grade on a test or your mischievous little brother telling you all about his whoopee cushion exploits. (Oh man, my little brother is hilarious! Basically, he was telling me about this whoopee cushion that my dad sent him to school with, and he’s sitting in his desk, laughing quite evilly, and, I quote him, “Just as I was about to put it in the desk of the girl next to me, in her cubby-hole so that when she put her books in it would go ‘pppppfffffffftttt’, [my teacher] said, ‘Mark E., if I see that one more time I’m going to take it away’ and I said, ‘DARNIT!’ and went and put it in my backpack.” If I could capture the tone of his voice when he told me this, you, too, would be rolling on the ground in a fit of hysterical laughter.) Plus, you get to keep up on all the interesting family gossip.

So keeping in touch is a definite must in college, for whatever reasons you choose (even if forced contact isn’t technically a choice) because your family members are the ones who are going to feed you when Kinsolving will not.

P.S. For those of you who are interested, I heard back from the Division of Housing and Food about being an RA, and alas, I was not chosen for next year. That just means that I’ll re-apply come October 2003 and see what happens then!

P.P.S. Keep the e-mail messages coming!



	Katie \| Profile \| Reflections \| Journal 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Fall 2002 \| Home
	Top Five Signs It’s Not a Good Time to Use the Bathroom All of the lights are out. It smells like someone spilled ammonia all over everything. There is no toilet paper in the stalls. When you turn the shower head on full blast, all you get is a trickle. The stall in which you are taking a shower slowly begins to flood. By the end of your shower, you find yourself steeped up to the ankles in your own personal soapy water lake. Keeping in Touch (Or, How to Not Run Out of Money) Many people are under the false impression that once you head off to college, you’re on your own and the parents stay at home and don’t bother you. This is the completely wrong idea. For one thing, your parents will never leave you alone, no matter how far away from home you are. (Trust me, I know people who originated in Austin whose parents harass them as though they lived in another country.) Not to say this is a bad thing, but you are sorely mistaken if you think for half a second that your parents are going to leave you alone when you go off to college. One of the reasons for this is that they have finally realized how non-functional the family is when you’re not around and that they truly need you (okay, so maybe this is a bit of inflated self-importance, but it’s nice to think the world doesn’t run without you in it). And they really do miss you, no matter how annoying or pesky or whiny or loud or obnoxious or anti-social or all manner of other negative traits you displayed at home, they miss them all the same (yes, even your siblings who find you the single most irritating human being on the face of the planet). Also, for those of you who think that college means you’re on your own, well, you’re dead wrong. It’s impossible to be totally on your own when the dining hall feeds you. Besides, when you live in a dorm full of other people, it’s not really living on your own. (Most likely, these people will become a bigger part of your life than you ever thought possible, if only for the reason that you live with them and they see you in all sorts of moods and conditions.) And the fact of the matter is that you don’t really want to be completely on your own, not yet anyway, because you really can’t support yourself in any way, shape or form. If it weren’t for those nice people who conceived you and raised you and decided to put you through college, you probably wouldn’t be here. But back to keeping in touch. No matter how annoying you think/thought your family is/was, they will be less so now that you don’t see them on a daily basis, I promise. Besides, if you keep in touch with them and visit on the weekends occasionally, they’ll send you back to college with all sorts of goodies: cookies, fruit, soups, leftovers (read: good food), clothes, shoes, spending money, etc. Now, keep in mind these are definitely not the only reasons that you should keep in touch with your family. Obviously, the primary reason is that you love them; it’s just the collegiate joke that the only reason you keep in touch is so that they keep you funded and fed. The best manner that I’ve found to keep in touch is through e-mail. The phone is good sometimes, but you’re usually so busy with classes and studying and homework that you’re not in your room to catch the phone calls. And by the time you do see that someone has called you, it’s late at night and definitely past the calling home hour. That’s why e-mail works so well. You can do it on your own time and write as much as you want. And even when you’re not studying, you’re still most likely not in your room just because there are so many exciting things to do, such as organizations, hall parties and extracurricular lectures. (Yeah, I know that sounds the opposite of fun, but they’re on interesting topics that you won’t be able to take a class on). And there’s always, of course, the vending machine runs, and the trek to Kin’s Korner (express dining in Kinsolving Residence Hall) that take away from you being in your room. Hence, e-mail is so effective. And on the off chance that you are in your room to catch a phone call from home, it usually means that you’re studying or eating in there and won’t have much time to talk. But you’ll talk for a little bit, and then go to your computer and use your insane typing skills to type in about 10 minutes what you would say over the phone in 30. That’s not to say that the phone should be ruled out because it really is nice to hear a voice from home every so often, especially if it’s the one of your younger sister who just made a phenomenal grade on a test or your mischievous little brother telling you all about his whoopee cushion exploits. (Oh man, my little brother is hilarious! Basically, he was telling me about this whoopee cushion that my dad sent him to school with, and he’s sitting in his desk, laughing quite evilly, and, I quote him, “Just as I was about to put it in the desk of the girl next to me, in her cubby-hole so that when she put her books in it would go ‘pppppfffffffftttt’, [my teacher] said, ‘Mark E., if I see that one more time I’m going to take it away’ and I said, ‘DARNIT!’ and went and put it in my backpack.” If I could capture the tone of his voice when he told me this, you, too, would be rolling on the ground in a fit of hysterical laughter.) Plus, you get to keep up on all the interesting family gossip. So keeping in touch is a definite must in college, for whatever reasons you choose (even if forced contact isn’t technically a choice) because your family members are the ones who are going to feed you when Kinsolving will not. P.S. For those of you who are interested, I heard back from the Division of Housing and Food about being an RA, and alas, I was not chosen for next year. That just means that I’ll re-apply come October 2003 and see what happens then! P.P.S. Keep the e-mail messages coming!