Short and Sweet(?): Beginnings 2.0

Greetings everyone. It's getting late, just past 11:30 now, and I am going to try to make this as brief as possible. I know I promised several people to let them know when I got down to Roanoke and all settled in, but it seemed that from the moment I got here, I was consumed with the hustle and bustle of college life right away, and have been busy with my classes already. I knew this was going to be a demanding year, and after (not even a full) week of classes, I can already confirm that yes, this is going to be a very demanding year for me.

Since it's 11:30, naturally I am in Lucas Hall, the foreign language building, doing homework. I have about 100 pages of reading left to do, and two poems to write, all before 9:40 am. (guess that whole procrastinating thing didn't take too long—no, in my defense I lost all of Saturday due to an orientation seminar I had to attend for my job at the writing center)

ANYWAY. Quick update on my classes:

Monday:

9:40-10:40 — Gender in Early World Literature
This is a course that I was looking forward to all summer, and have been slightly let down in the first two meetings, which probably isn't fair. The subject still seems interesting enough, but I was unaware that it was "Early World" literature, and as fascinating as gender issues in 500BC India may be..... I'd rather focus on contemporary gender issues around the world. Because I mean, have you read the news lately there's a TON of stuff going on that affects gender everywhere!
Anyway, we study India, "Near East" (unit on Genesis/Middle East), China, Greece, Medieval England and Medieval Japan. Our "most modern" text is from the year 1200, so we're definitely pulling on that "Early World" part of the course title. Oh well, let's hope the cultural elements spice up the rest of it...

2:20-3:50 — Intro to Poetry
I am looking forward to this course, despite the fact that poetry is not something I write often (hah. like i've written much of anything lately...). Sure, I won Roanoke's poetry award last year, but all that seemed to do was add an immense load of pressure on me because it was a stroke of luck. Poetry is something I only write in a very spur-of-the-moment kind of way, so having a class on it where I'm going to be expected to crank out a poem every two or three days might be a very daunting task at first...but i'm definitely up for the challenge, and hope it makes that half of my writing even stronger. Who knows....

TUESDAY
8:30-10:00 — Writing Across the Curriculum
This is my required class for my job in the Writing Center. I'm going to be taking it PASS/FAIL because it literally has no effect on my major or anything. I just need to pass the course to work in the writing center, so why risk hurting my GPA with a B in a course that I don't need for my degrees? That sounds pretentious but oh well :b I'm not really looking forward to this course because it's at 8:30 in the morning, and it's like "hey, this is how you teach people to write" and I already took a course last semester that really dove into the theories of writing pedagogy, so I feel like this might just be beating a dead horse..... while being exhausted. Hopefully I'm wrong there, too!

10:10-11:40 — Advanced Fiction Writing
Easily my favorite course of the semester. My professor is my idol and role model for why I'm studying this major, I have had class with him both semesters last year, and he pushes me to work harder, while giving me the encouragement and confidence I need as a writer, which is insanely difficult at some times. The course is structured almost identically to the intro course, which makes me thin he's going to grade our work 235456443524 times harder, but that just means I need to focus on what we learned last year and perfect the craft even more. I'm ready. I'm excited.

2:50-4:00(?) — 16th Century France
This is a course that I took as a last-second decision because my French professor, and friend, Dr. Scaer suggested I look into it. Again, it's more of an elective course, but it looks at medieval texts and history from 1500-1599 in France. There's a TON of cool stuff that happened during that time, not only in France, but in Europe in general (ie: the Reformation and the birth of the Renaissance?) So I'm looking forward to it, but it just might be a conflict with my work schedule in the writing center because I work Tuesdays at 4, so we'll see how that goes this week.

WEDNESDAY and THURSDAY are the same as MONDAY, TUESDAY respectively, and FRIDAY is just my Gender Literature class, which is nice because it means when I have breaks that start after classes (Fall Break in October!) I am done with class at 10:40 and can hit the road early, so I'm totally looking forward to that!

In other news, I'm working in the Writing Center, as I've mentioned before, which is a good opportunity to get experience working with students at a college-level. If I end up going into teaching after school/grad school, I'm going to be teaching in a college level environment, so it would be really great to have experience working with students from all different disciplines and get an understanding of the kinds of issues students have with writing, and how to approach them.
I'm also working on the staff of On Concept's Edge which is the school's Literary Magazine. I'll be blunt and say the leading drive behind me joining the staff is to try and prevent mistakes form happening like what happened to me with my entry last year (the wrong name....) But I also think this is another good experience to be involved with student literature, as well as the process of compiling and editing a written publication, on a school-level.
Finally, I was approached by my Fiction Writing professor just before the semester started, inquiring about whether or not I would be interested in helping out on the staff of the Roanoke Review. This is a national literary publication that showcases various kinds of fiction from individuals all over the country. It is a phenomenal opportunity to gain experience on the publishing-side of things. Plus, it's another opportunity to network with my professor and his contacts in the field, which is never a bad thing in today's world.

I'm really starting to build up my resume and as long as I can keep my GPA above a 3.5 with all of these additional extra curriculars, I should be well on my way to working towards whatever it is that comes next. As of right now, I'm definitely pushing for my Masters, but that's still a year and a half out, really.

So much for this being short and brief.... I'll hopefully be updating more frequently, keeping you all in the loop with my jobs and writings and whatnot—maybe even posting some if it here, who knows—so I apologize if I just sort of jetting down the coast and left you hanging!

So glad to be back at Roanoke. It was strange to return to a school for once, rather than starting new as a transfer. I'm looking forward to the year ahead, and will be back up North in October, so I hope to see ya then!
Sorry if this is all over the place, very distracted this evening, but wanted to get this out before I forgot!
Hope all is well, and I hope to hear from y'all soon.

Best,

N.

A New Chapter.

Well hello there! I feel like we have met long, long ago, no?

It's a shame that I let this blog fall to the wayside the way so many others have gone before this. However, in my own defense, May was, for any of you that had the pleasure(?) to talk to me during that month, a very hectic time.
At that time, specifically around the time of the 7th, when the post previous to this was written, I was on the cusp of my final exams at Franklin College, while simultaneously balancing my mom coming out to visit and pack me up, and ultimately the Great Move back to the United States. I capitalize "Great Move" because, believe me, if you have ever carted nearly 200lbs of stuff, which had seemingly been your entire life for the past 8 months across a European country.... you would probably capitalize the experience too!

But I'm back. After a good 8 months of time back in the country, I've finally settled in to my new home, and have started a brand new chapter in my life. Just a heads up, I cover a lot in this post, and it's much, much longer than it should be / will be in the future, so bear with me!
Crash course of the past 8+ months to follow!

Roanoke College.
Creative Writing (with an impending) Double Major, Literary Studies. Concentration in Psychology? Maybe. The future is nothing but a blur at this point!

Heritage Walk, Roanoke College, Salem Virginia

I'm very pleased to finally find time to sit down and work on this blog again. True, it will have a different feel. I will not be hopping across mainland Europe every six months or so, but I'm still moving about the East Coast, and even branching out to the West on occasion! Traveling is still something that I value above many things, so you can expect that to continue, just on a much more local scale! Living in the South is a truly unique experience to that of the fast-paced New England lifestyle I'm so accustomed to, and even more different from that of the leisurely lifestyle that so many Swiss/Europeans value so much.
Interestingly enough, there are many similar aspects from the two, while adding its own flair to my everyday life. I hope that I can share some of that new culture, as subtle as it may seem, with you all over the next few years.

Roanoke was voted on the the 18th most beautiful campuses!

Being January (albeit the end of the month) I decided it was a great opportunity for a new beginning. I know people are all on their New Year's Resolution kicks... (or has everybody given up on theirs already?) so I figured rather than a resolution of sort, though I suppose it could be considered one if you wanted, I would start updating a blog to keep in touch with those that I don't get to see on a (semi-?)regular basis.
The conversation came up with my mom over some break in my first semester, and I sort of dismissed the idea, giving the excuse that "But that blog was for my traveling! I'm in Virginia now, nothing exciting happens there! Y'know what? Some pretty interesting things happen. And even if it didn't, when you go from having the entirety of Europe at your fingertips to the South-Central Virginia, you make some interesting things happen if you can't find any.

So here we are at last, again.

A quick summary of the things that have happened in the past eight-or-so months since my last post (even though I was updating about March) I'll give you a brief photo log accompanied with snapshot summaries of what's happened since then, using my Instagram as a guide!

(this is going to be longer than expected... I apparently did a lot more than I thought.... Who would've thought.)

 March 2012: Went Italy, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Greece over the course of two weeks.

Our hostel, Studios Arabas, Thessaloniki, Greece

May 2012: My cousin Zach and Mom visited me in Lugano, and I moved back to the United States.

Mom and I on Lake Lugano

June 2012: I got my MINI Cooper!!!

Still need to decide on a name for her!

Summer 2012: Went to Cape Cod more times than humanly possible.  

Woman on the beach, Provincetown, Cape Cod

August 2012: Got a new puppy, Leyla!

She's gotten much larger since then1

 August 2012: Moved down to Salem, Virginia to start my first semester at Roanoke College!

My half of my double! (I've since moved to a single!)

October 2012: Visited Trevor at Wagner College on Staten Island, NY

Brooklyn Bridge, New York, New York

 Every day of my life 2012: Consumed far too much caffeine for a normal human being.

Mill Mountain is the love-child between God and Starbucks.
Yeah. I went there.

Every day of my life 2012: Ate waaaay too much sushi, and apparently instragrammed all of it!

Sushi from Charlotte, North Carolina

 October 2012: Made some great memories, and spent time with family on Fall Break

Grandma and Joey on his bike!

 November 2012: VOTED FOR THE FIRST TIME

So proud to have the right to vote!

 November 2012: Had Thanksgiving at my house for the first time in 5 years!

Delicious Thanksgiving meal! (I made the pumpkin soup!)

 Fall Semester 2012: Found a new mentor and inspiration.

Hong Konged, written by my Creative Writing professor, Paul Hanstedt

 December 2012: Christmas!

Decorated the tree!

 December 2012: Made it out to Arizona for the first time in about 6 years!

National Cemetery, Phoenix, Arizona

 January 2013: TURNED TWENTY and made coconut curry to celebrate!

Curry for my 20th Birthday Dinner, made by yours truly!

Well then! Now it's January 2013, and here I am, back in Lucas Hall (world language department) typing away on my Macbook instead of writing my American Lit homework on journal writing.

It's a bit ironic that I'm updating my blog instead of reading on how to write a journal. This is sort of the same thing, isn't it? I hope I'm doing alright for y'all!

Real Fact: The South has converted me!!! I am guilty of slipping "Y'ALL" into every day conversation now! I've resisted for so long, but it's just so soothing and make me feel at-home! 

Anyway, what really inspired me to update this blog was because I have new courses that I'm very excited about this semester!

For those of you who hadn't heard, last semester I took 4 courses and made Dean's List with a 3.675 GPA.

I felt very honored and proud of myself for meeting this achievement, and am determined to improve over the course of my time here at Roanoke. I've already stacked the odds against myself, because unlike last semester, when I had only 4 courses, this spring I have a total of six! Funnily enough, I just added a course this afternoon when I ran into my old French professor, but I'll get to that shortly!

This semester, I start off finishing my math requirement for my core, by taking Mobile Apps. I had expected it to be yet another math course like statistics, but it's more of a computer science course, and we actually follow tutorials building actual apps that work on real Android phones! It's pretty neat! In my first few classes, we've created an app that's a picture of a cat that meows and purrs when you "pet" or tap/shake the phone! Pretty cool for an intro class, if you ask me (haha!)

Next if my Composition: Theory and Practice course, which I'll probably refer to as Comp Theory more often than it's full title. This course is very dense, so far, but it's incredibly interesting! We're learning how to teach writing to other people, and the various theories and practices behind different methods. It feels like a weird blend of a creative writing / education course, and I'm really excited to see how it unfolds!

These above classes meet Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for 1 hour long each. 

After that is my Character at Crossroads course, which has a focus on Morality and Ethical Literature. So far I'm not incredibly impressed with the course, though I am desperately trying to. It's one of those intro core classes that I need to take, so I'm with a bunch of freshmen who don't seem very thrilled about literature, or ethics for that matter... The subject we're covering seems very interesting, but the group discussion is lacking right now. Hopefully as the semester picks up, the group will come together nicely. At this point, I feel uncomfortable sharing my opinions on literature, as ethics can be a rather touchy subject, and I don't really feel like I can relate to this people, which makes the class awkward and tense at times. Like I said, hopefully it'll improve as time goes on! This course meets on Monday and Wednesday from 4:00-5:30. It makes for a long day, but it's nice because on Fridays, I finish at noon, just like last semester, which is great for the weekend!

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have two classes as well, these meet for 90 minutes long each, and I luckily have them one right after the other.

First is another core requirement, but this one is a Psychology course, and it focuses on the difference between Love, Lust, Limerance, and other forms of the word(s). It seems incredibly interesting after the first two classes, and I think it's one of those courses that will really shape the way I'm going to look at the world. In addition to looking at just the basic definitions of "What is Love" versus "What is Lust," we look at how they are implemented across different cultures, so it has a really diverse feeling to it. The professor is named Dino and he looks like that crazy old grandpa everyone has or knows of, who is just a bit too eccentric and starts talking about sex to anyone that'll listen. It's the perfect combination of awkward, hilarity, and informative.

(If that wasn't the most bizarre summary of a college course you've ever heard, I don't want to know where you go/went to college....)

Immediately following that course is my American Lit class. I can't really say too much about it, since we've only met once so far. Our second class was cancelled because a snow storm rolled through and cancelled classes last Thursday afternoon and delayed the college on Friday. To be short, it reminded me how much I dislike "old" American Literature when we had to read Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor. However, the syllabus and textbook suggests we'll be reading some Edgar Allan Poe, Sylvia Plath, Kate Chopin, e.e. cummings, and some other good stuff, so I have hope! We apparently just do a few weeks of background 16th-18th Century lit, and the majority of the course is on 19th and 20th Century, which is very, very different, and much more tolerable! The professor seems very different from any I've had thus far, and I'm curious to see how the semester unfold with him. I've heard nothing but good things from him, so I'm very optimistic!

Finally, is my French Paleography course. This little blurb is especially for mme, because I was about to send her an e-mail about this course when I decided I would update my blog and share with everyone else, as well! 

Last semester I took what I had thought would be my final French course in college. Roanoke requires up through the 201 level in a foreign language, and I placed into their FREN-201 course. My professor urged me to take 202, and pursue it, but I had other obligations to fulfill for my major and core that I couldn't fit it into my schedule (it was the same time as my Mobile Apps course.)

However, today I was sitting in Lucas (where I am right now...) and by, as fate would have it, my old French Professor walked by the room I was in and stuck his head in to say hello! We talked very briefly, and as he walked away I added "Sorry I couldn't take 202! I just couldn't fit it into my schedule!!" He comes back and starts talking about it, and mentions his Paleography course. I had been under the impression that you had to take his FREN-202 class to take it, but he said I was more than welcome to take it, and that their first meeting was tonight!

French Paleography is an independent study course that meets one night a week for about two hours, so for us we meet Mondays from 7:30-9:30 at Mill Mountain, my beloved coffee shop right down the street!

We study old manuscripts of French from the 800's - 1450's AD. This first class was incredible, and totally surpassed my expectations. Not being confident with my knowledge of French, I was able to pick pieces out that looked familiar, and didn't even feel like I was at a disadvantage. What we are doing is essentially deciphering old script from hundreds of years ago, and trying to put it into a modern context.

For example, this is one of the pieces that we looked at today: 

Click here for a larger version, if needed: (click)

Here, the French is very difficult to understand in both appearance, and the writing itself. But we started with words that we recognized, and worked through it line by line, not constrained to in a start-to-finish order. It was very interesting for me, and I think the benefits are three-fold.

First, I'm learning about 'old' French manuscripts. We're deciphering texts that you wouldn't ordinarily see in a classroom, and it is a great cultural study.

Secondly, much of the actual discussion switches back and forth between English and French, which gives me a much more solid understanding than if we were translating old french to modern french. It puts things into a better context for me, as the deciphering is less of a "french" study for me, as a general construction of language/breaking down of a code. I am even learning new grammatical practices that are applicable to the English language.

Finally, discussing the construction of this old language, and how it has adapted from the text to modern French, is a great way to stay in touch with the language, and even clarifies to an extent. As glad as I was to finish my language requirement, I was afraid that I would lose the (minute) French that I did have. I firmly believe in people knowing at least one other language in addition to their native tongue, and would have felt disappointed if I lost French.

Since the class meets once a week, and I don't have classes until 1:10 the day after, I don't mind that the class meets from 7:30-9:30pm. It seems interesting enough to keep me going to class, plus it's a small group, there's only five of us, so I think that enhances the learning as well. 

That's another thing! My class sizes are SO GREAT this semester. Comp Theory has 8 people, American Lit has 7, Paleo has 5. My Psych/Mobile App/Lit courses have between 15-20 students, but those are courses for the core requirement that everyone needs to take to graduate, so it's expected that they'd be larger class sizes.

All-in-all, I love this new chapter of my life. I have had a number of people tell me that I seem happier at Roanoke than I did at Franklin, and I'm able to look back and reflect on that and agree. Roanoke is everything that I expected a college to be, and more. I've established some great relationships here with both faculty and student alike, and I feel like the program and school itself is capable of getting me where I want to go (even though I have no idea where that is right now.) That's not to say I regret Franklin or my year in Switzerland at all. I had a fantastic year and met some incredible people there, but the school was just not able to provide what I needed, and I had to make a decision. I have memories that truly will last a lifetime, and it fueled my fire to get out and see the world. I have some great expectations for my future, but right now my year in Lugano has satisfied that hunger for now. Now it's time to get serious and focus on my degree, and then see where that takes me, whether it be graduate school or straight into the work force. I'm leaving the book wide open, ready for whatever life has to throw at me. Do you think I can throw any more clichés into this before this ends?

No? Well, the clock says it's now 12:15, and I should really get to work on my AmLit reading.... so I guess you were saved by the bell.

(Come on guys, I'm funny.)

the midterms, the packing, the travel, and the announcement!

Well we have reached the midpoint of the spring semester.

Midterms ended on Friday, and I have an alright feeling about them. I didn't have a lot of work - just a 5 page paper for Shakespeare and an exam for my Cultural Studies course... but the week was very stressful with and added French test and a quiz for my Intro to Lit class.

Unfortunately I do not have a charger for my camera. I tried to buy one and have it shipped to my house in the States, and then have my parents ship it to me, but the item was backordered and the company never shipped it. I scoured the city of Lugano, looking in department stores of all kinds. Two had the product, but it needed to be pre-ordered and took one to two weeks.  My next idea was to search the campus, talking to a bunch of students that I'm not even friends with! I was so desperate and talked to about ten people with Nikons, none of them had the same charger as me. 

Therefore, I will be tackling this Academic Travel with my iPhone. The quality will not be incredible, but the iPhone still has a decent camera. I hope I can get some great shots to share this experience with you.

It's going to be a crazy three weeks. I fly out of Lugano at 1:30 pm today (since it's already Sunday here in Switzerland) and arrive in Hamburg in the late afternoon/early evening.  We spend three days there, travel to Rostock (also in Germany) for another three days. Then we travel to Copenhagen, Denmark, where we will spend the last four days. One of those includes a day trip to Malmö, Sweden. Then we fly back to Lugano from Copenhagen.

I return on Wednesday the 21st and will try to get some updates in, internet access pending.

On Thursday the 22nd, my friends (Kaitlin, Emily, Michelle, Medina, and Lexie) and I are taking the latest train from Lugano to Milan and then taking a shuttle to the Bergamo airport. Friday morning we have an early flight to Thessaloniki, Greece. We're spending the weekend (Friday the 23rd through Monday the 26) in Greece. I'm excited because Sunday the 25th is Greek Independence Day! Should be a lot of celebrations and great fun. 

OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS FOR EVERYONE.

I recently mentioned that I had some big announcement, and I'm not sure if any of you have heard, I'm sure some of you may or will not be surprised if we've talked recently!

This is going to be my last semester here at Franklin. 

It's been a difficult decision that I've gone back and forth about, and there is a variety of reasons contributing to this decision.

The top of this list is the lack of a writing program here. Franklin's "Creative WRiting and Literature Major" is a major in Literature that also takes two classes in Creative Writing with a focus in Fiction of Poetry. In essence, it's a Lit major with two supplements.

On top of the lack of program, they are having difficulty even keeping it around at all. My current Lit professor, also the Department Head for Literature, told my class they are looking into starting a petition for the major, which to me suggests that if not enough interest is generated they are going to scrap the program altogether. 

I'm taking advantage of every opportunity that I have while I am here, and have no regrets with my decision to come to Franklin. It was an experience I will never forget, and am glad to have and be able to share all of this with you. I will continue to travel, regardless of where I end up next (I'm currently looking at Roanoke in Virginia, and Roger Williams in Rhode Island). 

I have really appreciated all of your support throughout this past year. It means a lot to me to know I have such a phenomenal family that believes in me. So thank you to all of you, and I cannot wait to see what the future has in store!