Husky Life

I have written my essays and bubbled in my multiple choice tests. Now, I’m home. And I’m no longer a first-semester freshman.

I am surprised how fast the semester has progressed. Only a few months ago I was sitting at convocation in Gampel Pavilion among nearly 3,000 of my Class of 2013 peers. I have only met a small fraction of those people though I’ve gotten to know many new friends in my dorm, learning community (1-credit course, half intro to college/half serious academic topic), classes and The Daily Campus. These social opportunities have made me feel more at home and eased my transition from high school to college.

Change, however, is not easy.

When I first started college, I still felt like a high school student.  The large campus felt strange and foreign. Unlike high school, I had to adjust to longer walks to classes. Walking from the science wing to Clark House now looks like a warm-up! Most of my classes were held in different buildings, some a 20-minute walk from my dorm.

The experience of living in dorms provided a new social experience — I mean how cool to live in a building with your friends? Sure, there was some adjusting: doing laundry, adjusting to the little privacy afforded by the paper-thin walls, tolerating an early-morning fire drill, discovering which dining halls on campus have a greater food selection than others and learning the cheering traditions for the Husky student section at the basketball games. The classes were also different: more tests and little homework (except for some online homework for an ECON class that I had once a week).

One of my friends from GHS, who is now a fellow freshman, explained his transitioning process as the following:

“It is hard to believe that the 1st semester is almost over, it went by
very fast. Except for Cliff Sanden, who is in marching band with me, I
rarely see GHS people. The greatest change from high school is the type of
work–much more studying for tests than doing homework–this change was
also the most surprising.”

-Joe Williamson

Stay tuned for more Husky Life: Semester II…

I have returned to college after a one week Thanksgiving hiatus. A full week — many of my friends didn’t have that much time off but they had an extended weekend in October known as “Fall Break”. There’s two weeks left in the semester. Then one week of finals lies ahead rather ominously like dark skies over Long Island Sound. Once that weather passes, I’ll experience one month of vacation!
Anyway, I had a great Husky moment on the Amtrak train up to Hartford today. While I was reading a book for class, I heard the polyphonic ring of a cell phone. It was the UConn fight song. Husky Pride on the 5:13 to Springfield: made my day.

It’s 3 a.m. on a Tuesday morning, why am I not in my dorm sleeping?
Curiosity.
On Facebook a few weeks ago I learned that around that time there would be an opportunity to see many shooting stars during one of the largest Leonid meteor showers ever.  And I had never seen a shooting star before so, of course, I went when my dormmates decided to stay up late and see it.
We walked to the top of Horsebarn Hill, one of the most elevated spots on campus far from light pollution. With only a few lights from the Towers dorm across the cow field,  the cold grass provided a relatively unobstructed view. There were many people around — I couldn’t see them because it was dark — but the environment was festive. People called out random names for fun, a musician played a guitar and some enthusiastic fans still happy from the UCONN men’s game tried to start the UCONN Husky Cheer. The highlight — no pun intended — were the shooting stars which dashed across the sky disappearing into a veil of darkness within seconds. Beautiful.
Then clouds began to cover the sky and after watching the outdoors show for two hours or so in 30 or so degree weather we decided to return to our dorms. I was amazed that I actually managed to fall asleep before daylight.
Anyone else see the light show?

When you’re in the student section at a basketball game here you’re not on the court yet you feel part of the game.

At my first game today, I learned that my fellow Huskies have many rituals and traditions. The first is that the entire student section stands during playing time. Aside from the occasional cheer — I believe it goes UCONN-Huskies, UCONN-Huskies, UCONN-Huskies, Huskies-UCONN, Woof — the student section puts their hands up in the air when UCONN has a foul shot among other rituals. I enjoyed the experience because these activities made me feel a part of a larger group – it’s like a cheering team. Students really get into it. And for the first time in my life I think that I might be becoming a sports fan.

Reader Question: Do you remember watching your first college basketball game? Are you still a fan? Any Husky fans out there?

*I ran my four-mile route around campus today for the first time in awhile. Usually, I run on the weekends but I only had one class on Friday so I ran in the morning before class. Towards the end of my run I usually run a lap on the E.O. Smith High School track. Being a school day there was a P.E. class on the field. And I remembered for a second what it was like to actually have a full day of school on a Friday and actually have a scheduled P.E. class. Unlike high school, UCONN currently does not have a P.E. class requirement (though one of my friends takes a one-credit jujitsu class and he enjoys it). However, a few weeks ago I talked to a UCONN alum waiting in line at Gampel for Opening Night. He said that back in his day the university required that students take P.E. He also recalled that he got points for P.E. class by attending a basketball game — so they could fill up the seats — back when the school was smaller and the games were held in the field house. Now only if I got academic credit for running…

*Today I realized how much more fun it is to walk to class instead of drive. While I enjoyed having a car in high school, one thing that I don’t miss is waiting fifteen minutes in traffic on Fairfield Road to get to GHS. Listening to the car radio is fun but walking on an sidewalk past Mirror Lake glistening in the sun is much more soothing…

Third Eye Blind In Concert @ The Jorgensen, Photo by Rosario Scalise

Every year, SUBOG, the Student Union Board of Governors, a organization that plans on-campus entertainment, brings a major musical group to The Jorgensen. Last year they hosted Lupe Fiasco; this year they brought Third Eye Blind to campus.
The band Hot Chelle Rae opened for them. Apparently, they are about to release their first album and some lucky Huskies in the front row were filmed for one of their music videos. I was in the balcony seats because the seats close to the stage had sold out — I did not make it into the Hollywood limelight. But I did get to go to my first rock concert ever for the ticket price of $20!