Classy… School and Sorority

Posted by Nicole

Today was my second day of classes, but before I get to that, I have to mention the first part of recruitment that took place last night.

Monday Night

At 8:00 PM, I walked with three girls from my floor to go to the Sorority Recruitment Informational meeting.  The entire auditorium was PACKED.  The bottom floor was full by the time we got there, and we had to sit in almost-full balcony seating..

We weren’t really supposed to dress up, but of course the 800 girls that are rushing put on quite a fashion show.  That’s right, eight hundred.

We learned about the rules of recruitment, the schedule of recruitment, and who our Recruitment Counselors (RCs) would be.  After the hour-long meeting, we were split by last name into 18 groups.

In my RC group, we were reassured that rush isn’t the scariest thing out there.  The two RCs explained that the girls in the houses are just as nervous to meet us as we are to meet them.  Just as we are going to try to impress them, they are going to be trying to impress us.  Hmm…

Next, we went around the huge circle of girls in our group– there were about 50 of us.  We each said our name, where we are from, what our major is, and what our favorite thing about USC is (or an interesting fact).  Let’s just say, this took a long time.  F-i-f-t-y girls.

Werk-out

Walking back, I called Lauren, and she gave me an extra boost of motivation to go to the gym.  Earlier in the day, I went to the gym and none of the ten treadmills (seriously there are only 10) were vacant.  Also, the two ellipticals I tried to use wouldn’t let me adjust the resistance.  COME ON USC, you can afford cardio machines that function properly.  Frustrated, I left the gym after 5 minutes.

I told myself I wanted to get in a workout at some point in the day, and 10:15 PM seemed like a decent time.  I explained to Lauren that I would feel better after working out, and I sure did!!!

It was a great night for running.  I ran 4 miles a lot slower than I usually do… alternating between speeds 6.3 and 7.1, depending on the speed of my music.  LAZY HIIT is my fave ;)

Post-workout, I showered and enjoyed two bowls of the best low-budget-college-student protein snack.

Cheerios + Chocolate Protein Powder = Happy :)

By the way, I’ve been using water instead of milk because I’m way too cheap to pay $4 for a carton of Almond Milk that I know I will gulp up in probably three days.

Tuesday Morning

My first class was Language, Society, and Culture at 9:30 AM.  This class is gonna be killer.  Looking at the lecture notes for this week and listening to today’s class, I realized that this class is completely out of my realm.  It will discuss languages and dialects, and how they are involved with societal changes, etc.  It will be a challenge for my number-loving brain.

Lunch came next… Power Greens with nooch, balsamic dressing; then lots of zucchini salsa and pretzels; aaaaand the obligatory Cheerios :)

After lunch and some chillaxin’, I headed to my Writing and Critical Reasoning class. The writing course is a requirement for all students, so the majority of my class consists of freshmen.

The class was actually a lot of fun… I’m really excited to learn from the teacher.  She is super spunky and I won’t have any problem staying interested in class.  We ended with a 30 minute spontaneous “diagnostic essay,” where we responded to a prompt about using certain words or phrases with a specific group to feel united.  I talked about dance team and using phrases like “Work It!” and “esprit de corps” - the common spirit existing in the members of a group and inspiring enthusiasm (source).

Werk-out

Today’s workout actually included weights– it’s a miracle! I feel like I’ve been neglecting strength training and today I had a feeble attempt at getting back into weight lifting.

After a (slow) 3 mile treadmill run, I completed the following:

• 2×15 Dumbbell Shoulder Press – 12 lb each hand
• 2×15 Bent-over Dumbbell Row – 20 lb each hand
• 2×15 Deadlift – 50 lb

I decreased all my weights from what they were at the end of Stage 1 TNRLW, but I’ll get the weight back up soon enough.  I would have done more lifting, but I had to go shower before my last class…

Tuesday Evening

My last class of the day was Microeconomics for Business from 4-5:50 PM.  I’m kind of frustrated that I have to take this class, considering I took Microeconomics at USD last year.  Nonetheless, I need to take this version of the course to satisfy business major requirements.

On the way to class… Yes, we have palm trees on campus.

Lucky for me, the teacher is amazing!  He seems so funny and wise, and I absolutely loved today’s class– which is surprising cause it was almost 2 hours long!  I think that taking this class will allow me to re-learn microeconomics in much more depth.  When I took the course last year, my teacher spoke very unclear English and I don’t think I learned it as well as I could have.

TONIGHT I have the first day of Conversations on Greek Row.  We are meeting at 7:20 and we will be walking, chatting, impressing, and meeting people until 10:30 PM.

It’s gonna be an interesting experience, and I’m super excited.

Off to go curl my locks and dawn a dress!  Wish me luck! <3

ps: here is my cute little cousin to make you “aww”… Fight On! ;)

Q4U: Would you rather workout really early in the morning or really late at night?

Honestly, I don’t mind sneaking in gym sesh’s late in the night.  The gym is less crowded!

Q4U: Rushing tips?!!!