Of Rain

Unfourtunately, rain struck and ruined the day. No, not only did it ruin the day but it set us a sour tone for today. The day started out with me having to go and meet up with a friend so that I could use their computer to do my math homework. Because of some internal issue with my computer, it will not load web pages up or vital programs that are needed for college success. SO I had to go to her room and do it. I managed to finish the lenghty assignment after many tries. The computerized online homework is a vital learning tool but it can be very annoying at times. It gives hints towards the answer but it is still not as good as a teacher and will not lead you to the right answer at times.

Classes went by alright today. Biology got a bit boring and Precalculus was a bit of more review, challenge, and confusion, but I managed to survive. I dont really have anything more substantial to say at this point. Oh yeah, tomorrow I have to put in an order for my books to come, I might just go to the bookstore to save a bit of time because Labor Day will mess up the shipping if I order from Barnes and Noble. Oh yeah, I did get an interview for a job on today, it is going to be next week at 11 on Tuesday. I am so excited because I will have a way to earn money while in college. I just have to watch my studies though because one class (philosophy) seems to be a bit of difficult readings!

Nothing Phenomenal

In a nutshell this is what happened over the course of two days. After the rain event day classes were held as normal. Nothing that phenomenal happened so I did not take any notes on that day. Also I did not even attempt to come here and write about the day. But on today something did happen. Not only did I go to class but I also went to the Student Accounting Office and signed a check for my Toyota Scholarship, which is good news. That means that I am now able to have some money for next semester.

I will write more about the Philosophy Class tomorrow when the Professor posts the information onto Blackboard.

Rainy Day

Today I continued the ever continuous process of going to class. First it was Religion, in which we had another full lecture. This time it was about the Puritan legacy, I will have to explain it later because I am asking the teacher for understanding. After that I went to the library and got on the computer. Then I went to lunch at around two o'clock and prepared for Life Science class at four. Life Science class was full and seemed interesting. It basically seems like an overview of careers, because we are having several speakers come in each week to present groundbreaking information, and details about their jobs. So it is going to be quite a suprise.

Well after that class I had to go to the bookstore which was halfway across campus. This was horrible for me, because it was in the hot heat of the day; it even felt worse than the burning noonday sun! Well when I reached the bookstore, I was parched and still didnt buy anything to drink. So I bought the binder and then ran over to the Shafer. At Shafer I nearly passed out, but I made it to the Smoothie place and bought a refreshing Strawberry one. When I went back outside to look over the notes from Life Science class and to drink the smoothie, the clouds broke. That means that rain fell instantly and hard too. My wish for rain had finally come (there was a drought in Richmond, I saw earlier during the week). So it rained for about several hours and then lightening, the power in the Residence Halls flashed several times, and while I was doing my work, but because of the Surge Protector the computer and all of my electronics did not go out.

Study

Today was a great day. Waking up at 7 in the morning, I prepared to go to church. So I dressed in something that was not impressive but was enough to bear the warm weather and went with a friend there. It was so exciting and the service was thought-provoking, we decided to make it our church home at VCU on today. I hope it goes well and the people are friendly and seem to understand god the sameway that I do.

Well after that I studied my work for classes. It was so silly, really. I had to read chapter one in the Biology book and I was heated. It was the same book from my AP Biology class two years ago, but I still knew the material. I could even tell what changes they made and they made me mad. Why are they adding stuff that is in subsequent chapters in the first chapter. it was completly pointless. A welcome change though was that they had diagrams that were at least updated but still with the same descriptions from when I had it. And that is what I did today in a nutshell.

Second Day of Class and More

On this next day of class I had to venture over to Hibbs in the morning to attend my Religion in Contemporary America class, it was truly fantastic. The teacher seems really knowledgable (has received high marks on myspace's teacher grader), and is excited about his material. He seems to present religion in a way that no one really thinks of it. More like it is an ever evolving phenomenon, for example the megachurches combining with evangelicals and baptists. But that is another story for another day. That was the only class I attended for that day. Later on that day, I went to the Student Commons to assist with the Activities Programming Board's Cinema night and party. We showed Xmen 3 and the DaVinci Code on the big screen for all of the students.

Today was the same thing with that at night again. During the day today I went with a friend to find a church to attend. We walked down broad street and found a quaint church, not one housed in a church building but rather in a building that served as a store but now isnt. So we are going to go to that one on tomorrow. We also walked down Franklin Street to find another. We walked for like five blocks and got to this pretty rizty hotel. Across the street from it was an old church , this one looked more like a cathedral. The doors were locked and we walked around. Because we couldnt find an entrance we asked the hotels parking person and he said the hotel bought the church and that it wasnt in service anymore. I was like "I didnt thinkg churches sold themselves away, especially one in this ancient architecture".

After that I went to a Video Game Club Meeting, I found this on the VCU website. It was pretty interesting, it was people from the campus and people who werent from it as well. IU played Super Smash Brothers Melee and another fighting game with characters from One Piece, Naruto, and Dragon Ball Z. It was imported (strange that Japanese games would have Japanese writing but have Enlgish voices). And in a nutshell that is what I did today.

First Day of Class

Today started out pretty boring. Because of the way that "THE ALMIGHTY SCHEDULE" works, it cheats you into having classes when no one else has them and then being out of class when everyone else is. So this morning I woke up and my roomate was out to his class. I however sat in the room and did nothing (actually I did the internet for an hour then I left out cause I got bored, I did go in someone elses room on the hall and glanced at his painting, it was really great!). But I left the building and went to the bookstore to get a planner. The planner has all of the important VCU stuff in it so it was necessary. After that I went into the busy and crowded student center to see what there was to do. I am guessing it was filled with loads of upperclassman so I removed myself and went upstairs (it was a lot less crowded and noisy) and I sat down and looked out the window. Everyone downstairs was rushing hitherto to class. When I stared out the window, I couldnt believe my eyes. It was as if there were some huge parade in town. A huge conglomerate of people were going everywhere. It was as if the whole campus had let out. Not only that but I was amazed to see the Business Auditorium so full. I am guessing it held well over 200 students! But I glanced out the window for a while then I went back to my dorm because I left my schedule. I got there, grabbed that and then ran back to the student center. Then after that I continued with normal day activities (meaning I went into another seminar). For those who want to know, the seminar was like a rehash of three ones that we already had, yes you guessed it, it was on safety (using the escort service, the anti-virus software on "malicious worms", and personal firewalls, and surge protectors, oh and no candles in the rooms).

Today I decided to journey back over to Shafer's Market 810 on the 2nd floor and eat lunch. It was quite tasty, although I only had salad and grapefruit juice. One thing that interested me though, was that they had additonal dishes on display. The most tasty one that I remember (I cant pinpoint if it was dinner or lunch) was a Shrimp salad. it looked like something that would come from Red Lobster.

4 o'clock rolled on by and I had to report to my Biology class. My fears of falling asleep in class were quickly shunted as the teacher walked into the packed room (about 300 students, it didnt really seem like it though). She had this amazing aura as if she were a high school teacher, I overheard what everyone was saying and they were saying that she had very high ratings for teaching. When she spoke, I could tell. To make a long story short, she simply declared that she was going to make Biology interesting for us to learn, instead of just memorizing words. We didnt learrn anything today except some extremely funny sounding word for Fern unfurling. Some good news for this class is that she did say that we get to use one two sided sheet of paper for notes to use on the tests.

After dinner I had to run to the next class. I was disappointed though because they were having a Salsa festival on the Student Commons and Jazz on the Green also and I had to go to class. But Precalculus stated late. The Professor is actually an engineer at the energy plant somewhere nearby. Tonight he taught us really well although part of it was a review. Yes it was precalculus and I still learned something (although I have had calculus already). Mainly I finally grasped the concept of the difference qutient, somehow he just made it seem very simple, just plug in the part in parenthesis into the function and then subtract that by the function and then divide by H and poof you are done, very simple indeed. And so that is where I left off tonight to come to this library to type this up. I didnt have any VCP today (tomorrow, I will record the Clicker and the MathLab hopefully or I may just not because tomorrow is First Ram Friday and it is going to be busy cause I am going to helpout with the cinema stuff.)

Another Day

Yesterday was yet another day at VCU. I attended three more lectures or seminars to continue my success at ascertaining stickers. And mainly that was all I did yesterday. Actually something interesting did happen. Another VCP.

A man who is from the head VISA and or DISCOVER card came to the campus during Welcome Week to pass out tickets for free Pizza. Little did we know that when you receive it you have to sign to get a credit card at the Pizza PLace. Not only that but we were under the belief that you are signing to get one from VISA and one from DIscover. And because we have no job and that it required so much information I decided not to do it. Why would I want to get a credit card and yet have no way to pay for it. When you look at the consequences it really isnt worth the pizza.

Another Day on Campus

Today I resumed the process of waking up early. However today would be special, Yes, today would involve the first all hall meeting. This event featured many of the people who lived in the dorm hall to come and discuss the tragically unapprecaited Freakanomics book. The book was a book that I would say was a random (a word which means, it was simply unorganized and touched many points or "out of tangent" as one girl said today). We discussed that book for a while and then we were released. After this I went to go to the bookstore to get a clicker for one of my classes. I then went to the Ebgames and found a game I wanted to buy called Blade Dancer. And then after this, I went to eat and then meet up with my friends. After doing this we went to the Block Party and they danced while I went into the library. I went there checked my email and discovered an application for a simple library job. I also left out and went to the ReJOYce in Jesus campus ministry demonstration. It reminded me of my church so I decided to inquire how to become a part of it. They gave me the paper and said that they have services on Saturday nights and on Friday nights, I think. But after that we met back up and me and a friend (Geniece) went to a Call Center which conducts research for VCU to apply for a job. It is a relaxed job and seems to pay well and with flexible hours, I decided to attempt to work. I hope to be able to manage it, because I would like to have more money in my pockets, since I am about to expend it on so many things. After that we went back to the dorms and climbed up 16 flights of stairs. We were both tired. Once again at the top another party was happening, so we split up. I went on the trip to wal-mart while they went to that. At Wal-Mart I got orange juice. I came back to the dorm and watched a guy play Dead Rising on the Xbox 360. And then after that (kinda dry tonight I am), I came back to the room and connected the printer. For the first time in a while, the computer did not try to outsmart me and not connect, but it worked fine this time. And then I rearranged some of my stuff and printed course materials out (these will be discussed in a more appropriate topic). And then thats where I am at now.

August 21st: Eventful Day

Okay today was another day that was full of events. After waking up at 9:00 this morning I got dressed and raced over to the University Student Commons for a seminar type event. This event was one of the exciting ones that I read about. It was entitled College Sur-Thirval and claimed to focus on enabling the students who were present to survive and thrive on campus. It was more of a question and answer type session but with a bit more information presented to us. I thought it was quite nice for the morning and the questions really were helpful. After this event I went back to my dorm room and got on the computer. After doing this I raced back out to another event at 1:00. This event was on Self-Defense. It was yet again quite nice, however it was hot in the Cary Street Gym. I guess they have poor ventilation or something. But anyway the instructor showed us various moves that we could do to free ourselves from attackers. He insited that if a gun is pulled, then we must give our belongings to them and try to escape. And he also declared that instead of fighting, we are to only hit to do enough harm to give ourselves time to escape. Although you could harm them, when the report is written, if we did more damage than necessary then we face criminal punishment as well. After this I came back to the dorm (of course after stopping to get Sub-Way). About a few hours later I went back out for another seminar, and this one was called "Staying Safe at VCU: Being Street Smart and Internet Savvy". It was also in the Student Commons and presented nearly the same information as the Self-Defense Class, however, it focused more on the police side. Internet Security analysts were there to alert us about having a safe computer and that was all. And after that I gained yet another sticker for my game card. So now I have all of the green section filled out, a black section complete, and also a yellow section. I just need three red sections, which are physical events and I am done.

The First Full Day

On Sunday we did amazing things in the morning. First I woke up and went to Rhodes Hall to visit two friends. After we met up we went to the Student Commons to inquire about a club. Actually they did that while I sat and watched. It was some club they wanted to go to but they couldnt because it was a 21 and older club. But after that we walked over to the Campus bookstore to look at things to put our IDs on. This proved to be very vital because it would enable us to go into and out of the dorms without having to yank it out of our bags oor search for it. From their we journeyed over to an Eastern Buffet place on the outskirts of campus to eat. I was like alright. It was brand new but it barely had people inside. I could describe the savory chinese dishes but you already know how they look so that would be a waste. I also ate sushi for the first time, strangely it tastes like the beach, literally. Then from there we walked and went back to the room to sit down and rest. Then we waited until a bit later to go to the next activity which was casion night. Casino Night was an activity that they set up for us to gain a valuable sticker (if we collect ten we could win amazing prizes) and play a few games. While their I met a few people from our area. I saw one guy at a previous engagement a while back and yet another one from Scholastic Bowl. We played for several hours then they took our winnings in tokens and exachanged them for raffle tickets. These tickets were then used for the raffle to win amazing prizes (as if they were a bag of marbles so we dont lose out marbles, tickets to a concert, and free games at BReak Point, the campus gameroom), but none of us won. My friends managed to buy the concert tickets from a winner because she didnt want to go; individually they payed twenty dollars each. I also saw the rest of the Norcom people last night as well. Well after that we rented two movies, Scary Movie 4 (which was funny), and another movie that the name leaves my mind. Well anyway after that event we wlaked for several milews trying to get something to eat, but everything was closed, so we ordered pizza. We went to the dorm to it and watch movies. So all in all the day was great and it was the longest time I had spent seeing my roomate in two days (about 2 hours).

Beginning Part 3: Move-In Complete

Unloading the vehicle was quite fast really. Instead of going into the details, I am quite sure that you can visualize moving all of the stuff out of the car, walking long distances to get to the dorm room, waiting in horribly long lines for one of three elevators, unpacking everything on your floor and in the dorm room, setting all the electronics up, and then to top the cake putting all of your clothes in the closet. And because I know that you can visualize that I will not go into the details. Well for more important news, after we unpacked we journeyed over to Lowes to get a lock. I thought it was a waste of time because taking all of that extra security to lock stuff up everytime you want to use it is too much. If you and your roomate each have a computer why would you need to lock it up. They can not steal it and take it anywhere, and what is worst is that you can already know who did it. I think the lock should be used for more vital stuff, such as valuables and such but like everyone here, their parents think otherwise. After going to Lowe's to get that, we went to Target to get some snacks and trashbags. After this we came back to the dorm and said our final goodbyes. It was a sad moment and I felt sad to not be around my brother, stepmom, and dad anymore. But I managed to walk away and go to one of my friends dorms. And like everythink else this is another VCP (Vital College Process).

Dorm Visiting, as I call it, is another VCP. This VCP is quite simple to understand, really. To get into your own resident hall, all you have to do is walk up to a grey box on the wall and swipe your card. Doing this will cause the electronic circutry to alert some system of some info (I dont know what this is), and also the door may unlock itself (or even give access to an elevator). Then once entering the building you must swipe again and show it to the students working behind the desk and voila you are in your Resident Hall. To gain access into someone elses the process is nullified. The person whom you are visiting must come and meet you at the front desk. Then they must sign you in and you both must relinquish your cards to the students. Then you are free to go in their resident hall. There are things called visitation hours but currently they are not that important and vary from dorm to dorm, it is good to know each hall's times. To leave their Resident Hall, they must escort you back downstairs and sign out and then you receive your card.

Well, I visited a friends dorm and met her roomates and another girl down the hall. We had a great time (actually me and my friend and the girl from down the hall), the roomate stayed to herself and went off to her own group. We watched a movie and talked and discussed plans for the next day.

Beginning Part Two: Arrival and Check-In at VCU

After everything was packed in the car we left for VCU. When we arrived in Newport News we stopped at Best Buy. I hd to pick up an Ethernet cord to hook the computer up to VCU's network. After Best Buy we journeyed over to eat at this amazing "casual cafe" called Cheddar's. It was my first time there, and let me tell you, I enjoyed it. MY philly cheesesteak, ceasar salad, french fries, and red beans and rice, was the most delicious things I have ever tasted. If I could do anything over again today it would be to eat there again. Well anyway after eating there with the family we got back into the car. About half an hour later the car's engine light came on. Because of this mishap, we had to make a U-turn and head back home. Back home we packed all of the stuff into the Maxima (I really didnt want to do this because the Maxima looked so nice and I was afraid a crazy driver would hit it). Well after doing that we headed back to VCU. We arrived at around 5 o'clock. Minutes later we parked in an overflow lot and checked in.

Check-in is another "VCP", a Vital College Process. It is when you arrive on campus to claim your roomkey. For a successful Check-In, listen to this: When I walked within my Resident Hall I had to proceed to a section for new students (actually any student living in the resident hall). Once in there, I had to walk to the desk (which had many students working behind it) to initiate the "Check-In" ritual. At this desk the student (whom is also the RA or Resident Assitant for my floor) handed me a form in which I had to fill in vital information. This information was the SSN (social security number), name, home address, room number (I had forgot this), phone numbers of both parents, names of both parents, and of course age, sex, and date of birth. I would like to mention here that for a successful "Check-In", be sure to know all of this information and be able to write it down as quickly as possible. Okay I handed this form back to him and he asked me to take out my VCU Identification Card (VCU Card for short, whew these colleges definently like abbreviations). He handed me yet another form. This time it asked for vital card information, such as the number, the mysterious red numbers that seem to have only been on the card on the day they were needed, and my SSN. Then I handed the form back to him and he instructed me to yet another point.

This next position required the card to be taken out yet again. I had to utter my name to the other student who was sitting there and they told me what room I was in. She handed me my key and instructed me to fill out one final form. This form involves the quality of the room. I had to sign it and take a copy with me to my room to make sure everything is in working order (smoke detector). After doing this I was clear to go to the room. Now the hardest part was yet to come, unloading.

Beginning Part 1: Move In Preparations From Home

Alrighty the time has finally come to move in on campus. Right now I am still at home, everything has been packed into the car and I have finally finished packing my bible, papers, books, and laptop into four bags. These are individually the most important things to bring. Anxiety has set in. For some reason I wanna go but I am filling the horror of leaving my brother behind. He is coming but he is someone who I have been able to joke around, play around, and talk to. It is gonna feel strange not being around him.

Transcript

On today I received my transcript from Tidewater Community College. This transcript was for the two dual enrollment classes I took [I actually took three but only two are from this community college]. The classes I took were English and Goverment.

On a side note, I would like to point out that this is a vital college process. This process is known as the "College Transcript Request" (aka CTR). CTR at Tidewater Community College takes place in this fashion. After the semester has ended one must go to the website or their catalog and discover the form for request. The form must be filled out and then faxed, mailed, or emailed to the school. People have the oppourtunity to request as many as they want and for them to be mailed to different locations, but they must be noted on the form. After this the form goes to the office at the school and sits. After about one week it is mailed to the students addresses on the form. And there you have it, the CTR process explained. I have explained many college processess you know.

Well in the case of the transcript, I got all my credits for each class. Dual Enrollment broke both classess into two sections, so it was English Composition part 1 and then part 2 for a total of 6 credits, and then American Government part 1 and then part 2 for a total of 6 credits. So my grand total was 12 credits garnished. Now I must wait for VCU to contact me about the credits I receive.

College Concerns Cleared

Today I cleared the concern that was previously bugging me. For those that need a refresher here is the issue.

The college bill states that I owe 1600 dollars by the first day of class, however I have alerted the school that I have multiple scholarships coming in on the first day of class. Do I still have to pay?

Last time we had this question I was advised to contact the school. Like I always do, I hesitated because I was under the impression that it is safer to pay the money because if you pay it and then get the scholarship later on, you can get that money back in a direct deposit. The consequence of not paying is that you miss days of class. Friends and parents suggested to contact. So on today I contacted the school. There response was thus: If you have money coming in then you do not have to pay the outstanding balance.

Loe and behold anyways, the amount was dropped to only 163 dollars over the weekend because of a charge being removed for it was charged to my account twice, I had missed it before. So that is what happened with this issue. Thanks for the help guys.

More Stuff

Today we went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to get some more items for college. I picked up an alarm clock, mattress pad, two blankets, a shower bag thingy, and a pillow protector. I found this wonderful looking teal wastbasket also. I also went to Sam's Club (Bulc Mas backwards) to get a huge container of All laundry detergent. Also I attempted to search for Snuggle laundry sheets, since the bear is so soft and cuddly and the sheets make my clothes soft and cuddly, but alas they were not there. So instead I found a printer that was for a great price. For the price of $89 I was able to get a copier, scanner, and printer. It is very good and excellent. I cant wait to use it on campus it is the HP Photosmart C3150. As the days draw near, I continue to look at all this stuff for college and wonder how it will be.

Will it be fun? Will it be enjoyable? Will I find people to talk to? Oh these and more questions go around my head. I need to find more books to read on these subjects of college life.

I am also going to order my textbooks from Barnes and Noble. Because I paid 25 dollars the last time I went to B. Dalton I am now a member of Barnes and Noble bookclub. Thanks in part to a far future sight, I am now able to get my textbooks for about 20 dollars less than they are at VCU. This is great news and I get free shipping. I am going to order all new textbooks and hoard (yes hoard) them over until I graduate and then resell. That way I can get the full price that they are worth or either save them as momentos for college classess or use them for reference books. The three books I am getting are for Precalculus, Biology (the same one I used for AP Biology two years ago Argh!), and Ethics and Applications.

And for some housecleaning news: The issue of the price has still yet to be resolved. We are currently in limbo as to what today. I suggest paying and then getting the money back for I do not want to worry about if the money doesnt get to the school in a fast time. My parents are urging themselves to contact the school to see about if they should pay or not.

Getting Ready

After receiving the bill to VCU (my parents said ti wsas 1600 dollars for this first semester) I went over to my scholarships. The ones I need to cover that amount total about 5000-7500 dollars, which wont be sent until the day after the bill is due. So now I am in a shuffle, should I contact VCU and tell them this stunning revelation, or should I pay and then get that amount back in Cash???

I have packed a majority of the items bought into a tub. Now I must try to find a place to put all the towels and washcloths. I also need to figure out how many of my outfits to bring and then to also figure out how to carry my clothes and shoes.. It is so much in so little time.

Shopping

Yesterday I went shopping for college. The total amount spent was around 300 Hundred Dollars. I paid about 90 of that amount. Here is what was purchased. I bought a pair of Jeans, nice Air Force One's (Black and Grey, Black sticking, kind leather), Ecko Black and Red shirt, No Show Socks, Ankle Socks, Underwear, and T-Shirts. I bought the following school supplies: Pencils, Pens (expensive Blue), Pens (expensive Black), two black stretchy book covers, two yellow stretchy book covers, Lime Blue Five Subject Notebook, and 2 Flip Over Binders. And for the Miscellaneous stuff, two bins (light blue), five packs of deodorant, 3 toothbrushes, 2 anti-aging lotions, 5 toothpaste (Foam-Action?!?) and 3 bottles of shampoo (cooling, yes!). And I believe that wraps up all of what I got. For some strange reason I decided to get the most expensive yet stylish stuff, I just get over excited over school supplies.

Finally I am Not Alone

I just received great news. VCU has finally given me a roommate, he called today however, I happened to be in one of those sullen moments of life. So I probably seemed sad. But I probably didnt, I think neither of us really wanted to talk. Most importantly though we did manage to have a conversation. I forgot to ask the two important questions, you know the duo where are you from and who are you. So now I dont even know his name. I thought I would be able to put a hot tub in there but now I wont be able to cause there is another soul in the room.

A Few More Days Remain

Right now only a few more days remain until it is time to go to VCU. Tonight I am planning to go to Bed Bath and Beyond to ascertain a few more items for my bed. I am also going to try to get a few more commodities for my room. Being that I do not have a roomate, I want to try to get a Hottube for my room but that is very unlikely. I want something so that I wil be able to cook food on also. Or even better, I could try to get something in which I will be able to make confectionary treats. Very Delicious! But I am at a lost for what other things to get.

In terms of clothes I want new shoes but I do not know what to get. I could get some more New Balances but I dont want four pairs of the same shoes in various colors. Maybe I will get more Adidas. Who knows, what I really want are Jordans but there are so many numbers that it is hard to keep track. Air Max 90's are my all time favorite shoes but the color choices I want are only available online for high prices so that isnt very good. I will just go by first instinct in the store.

I slacked off with the college stuff on yesterday. I wanted to write all the thank you letters for my scholarships but I became really tired. The only item I sent out yesterday was a Financial Aid Change Form. It was tedious and meticulous. I listed all of my scholarships on the form and the amount for summer and fall semester. I even had to write down the addressess of the scholarship donors and their locations. To tope the cake, I had to also make two notes on why the checks werent sent to VCU yet. As I said before, the scholarships that wait until students start classess are the hassles.

Of Classes

Right now I am currently "engrossed" (a fancy word for being involved) iin writing thank you letters to the various scholarship donors. I am also editing my Financial Aid form from VCU to send back to them. I have to alert them of the scholarships that I should still be receiving. Please note that these are the ones in which they have not yet sent the money to VCU yet (the hassles).

I am going to be enrolled in these classes this Fall Semester...

Introduction to Biological Science (3)
Introduction to Life Science (3)
Precalculus Math (4)
Ethics and Applications (3)
Religion in Contemporary America (3)

The numbers in parenthesis correspond to the number of credits. Although I took AP Calculus AB in school, I chose to pursue Precalculus. My advisor and I thought it would be better if I were to take it then Calculus. It would allow me to get a feel of the teaching style of the college professors and I wouldn't have to worry about struggling.

Move In Preparations

Okay today I received Move-In Notifacation from VCU. It was so suprising and shocking. I am now anxious to go there. I hope there arent a whole lot of people trying to unload into my dorm at the same time. With the parking the way it is now (it is thirty minute unloading zones on three sides of the dorm) and my dorm being on the eleventh floor it could be hextic. I am going to have to figure out someway to stuff all my stuff into some case to make it all unload in one load.

College has been such a wonderful yet hectiv process. Apart from having to stay on the backs of financial aid and scholarship donors to ascertain funds and gurantee that they are in the account, it has been alright. For future reference, I am going to try to attempt to not get or either find a way to get scholarship money to be sent at the time of winning to the school instead of waiting to be registered or even to start classess. Both processess are hassles for the family and me, because we have to pay the school before classess start and then we will have to cash the checks from the scholarships and then get the money back. Why pay 2000 when scholarship money has already covered it.

Get Ready

Okay it is now time to start getting ready for my first year at Virginia Commonwealth University. I have no doubt that it will be exciting but I am having a few reservations. You see after reading several books and thinking about all that I have been through at school, it will clearly be a huge change from the high school environment. It isnt because I dont know anyone or not open to meeting new people, it is just the work. I want to do my best but taking many more classess in such a short period of time and at a very fast pace will be something new, unheard of even for me. But I hope to succeed.

But right now I have something much more important to do than to just sit and worry about my reservations. I have to pack stuff up for college. Only 18 days remain until I have to move onto campus. I dont know what I should bring or what else I need to get. I have a list of basic stuff but there is more I want. For example I want a slushie machine but everyone laughs and says you dont need that. I really want one because I like them and it isnt that expensive. Seriously though I have quite a bit of stuff I just need more specific things for the bed.