Saturday, June 9, 2012

A Digression....

Rockhurst is small.  I am fully aware of that.  And there are days every now and then when I wonder what it would be like to disappear into a comforting level of anonymity at a big state school.  But today is not one of those days.

My brother just got home from Freshman Welcome at the large state school he will be attending in the fall.  Now don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against state schools.  I am one of maybe two family members not to go to one, and I have grown up visiting my parents’ alma mater’s campus for football games.  My brother picked a state school because he wanted that kind of big-school-with-killer-sports-teams experience.  And I respect that.  And he picked a fine school where he will get a top-notch education—if he can actually find a way to actually take the classes. 

There was the catch he hadn’t been looking for.  Sam (my brother) is majoring in engineering (probably civil).  Housing at his school is a nightmare (they have more freshmen than they can house), and the engineering living community filled up before he ever had a chance to register (and he was only the second Welcome group).  So on to the general housing option, but that filled up, too.  Which means that he had to pick housing with some other major. 

Fine, not a big deal—but actually the point of these housing groups is that you take classes together, which is a fine idea in theory, but not if you are living with people who aren’t actually in your major.  So Sam is wondering why he is scheduled for Classical Mythology when he really needs to be in Calc 3—which he was informed will not have room for him—or at least Calc 2—which he is not allowed to register for until his AP scores arrive in July, at which point it will also be filled. 

I was incredulous when my mom filled me in on all of this. 

“Please tell me you pitched a fit over this?”  I was only half joking.  My mom is one of those people who is an expert at spending hours on the phone slashing through bureaucratic red tape.  And if it was clearly not Sam’s fault that he had to live with non-engineering people, then surely the school would make an exception and not make him take these random classes. 

My mom was quick to assure me that she talked to anyone and everyone about this problem, but got absolutely nowhere.  People told her she was out of luck; computers would not allow the entry of certain classes.  The best she got was that Sam would be allowed to drop one of those classes (see ya, Classical Mythology) to take something else. 

I was shocked.  There are plenty of registration issues at any school, but nothing at Rockhurst that I have not been able to solve with a quick trip to my advisor’s office (who knows me personally and has taught two of my classes), or to the Registrar (I am on first name terms with one of the ladies who works there because she is the moderator of the Random Acts of Kindness Spreaders).  Heck, I am creating my own minor!  And it is possible because Dr. Bicak knows I’ll do the work, and Anne Pearce is creating an independent study for me, and the list goes on. 

A little digression this week?  Perhaps, but I had to take a moment and say thank God for small schools like Rockhurst. 
Sam and I on a family vacation (to Colorado, not a cemetery)

Saturday, June 2, 2012


Backwards…

            Did I mention I am going to Prague in the fall?  I will be spending my first semester studying abroad at Charles University in Prague (which, for those of you who are as geographically challenged as I am, is in the Czech Republic).  I have been preparing for this trip since last October, but it is just now sinking in that I will not be at Rockhurst in the fall (fear not, I will still be blogging from Prague so you can see what the experience of a Rockhurst student studying abroad is like).  So before I tell you all about Prague and everything I am looking forward to, I would like to take a look back at Rockhurst and tell you about some of the things I will be sad to miss in the fall:


Orientation.  The funny thing is, not many people appreciate orientation as freshmen.  This is the perfect week to do basically nothing, and all of the coolest people are usually involved in orientation (I have a roommate who is a coordinator…think I’m a little biased?).  I never got the chance to be a leader because I thought family vacation would interfere, but I have hung around for a few and I can tell you there are very few funnier sights than your orientation leader friend running across campus with a full cheesecake to bribe an orientation judge, followed by his gaggle of freshman, or everyone covered in bubbles at a foam dance party.


 
Mass of the Holy Spirit.  Probably the only time classes are officially cancelled for something.  It is a huge mass in September at St. Francis Xavier, and EVERYONE is there—students, professors, administrators.  The Church is packed, everyone wears red, and you get a ticket for a free lunch that day on the quad if you go.  When the weather is beautiful, there is no better way to spend a Tuesday morning.


Homecoming.  There is an entire committee dedicated solely to planning homecoming.  All week they are out on the quad giving away t-shirts or hosting events like a hypnotist.  If you sign up fast enough, you can be one of 200 students who get a free dinner before homecoming.  One year it was at Fogo de Chao, and it completely redefined my definition of all you can eat (you don’t even order!  They just keep bringing you food!).  And the dance itself is a great chance to hang out with friends in all different classes. 

 

SAB Events.  Student Activities Board pulls out all the stops in the fall.  From game show events like The Price is Right, to biweekly comedians or musicians, events like these are the perfect opportunity to put the homework aside for a few hours and engage in one of college students’ favorite activities: getting free stuff. 



I could go on and on about missing seeing freshman wear their lanyards for the first month of school, the excitement of reuniting with friends from Omaha or Kansas City that I’ve missed all summer, or how beautiful the trees on the quad are when they change colors.  I know I will love Prague, but Rockhurst has been my fall home for three years, and even as I am wandering through fabulous European museums, I be wondering what the trees on the quad look like after the Mass of the Holy Spirit. 








Homecoming/Homecoming Week celebrations throughout the years