What's Next?

There's a strange vibe to campus around the holidays, which I'm now learning as a freshman. All conversations seem littered with the obligatory "when do you go home?" Students are pouring out of dorms with suitcases in hand. Everything seems sparser, and there's a longing in the air for everyone. We're all ready to go home.

The truth is, as much as I am in love with this place, I'm about ready to jump out of my skin to get on my flight. It's been two months since I've seen my best friend, two months since I've slept in my own bed, two months since I've seen my dog or drove my car or drank coffee on my porch. I've become very aware of time since I've come to college. I remember being incapable of going without speaking to my best friend for more than a few hours, or how a week in junior year felt like an eternity. At school, it's like the hours have a mind of their own.

But this return back to the homeland's got me reflecting, as it has the whole campus; this place is ripe with it. When we get back next week, there's two weeks left of the semester, and then we're turning around and running back home again. I'll be on yet another incoming flight to JFK, and when I'm back on GW soil I'll be in my second semester of college. How did that come so quickly?

I came here with a laundry list of aspirations for myself. And so far, I've fulfilled every single one of them. I wanted to do theatre; I was cast as a lead in a company I fell in love with. I wanted to be a tour guide; I'm now doing the GW spiel every week for prospectives. I wanted to write for the admissions blog; here I am rattling off my self-discoveries to you all. I wanted to have big plans; I have a new schedule I'm in love with, applying for theatre board, plans for my directorial debut, and a possible second-semester job and summer internship in mind. 

The thing that's blown me out of the water about GW is how there's been no aspiration too big. All the little wants and too-scared-to-want's wriggled to the surface once I got here, and each got fulfilled. I can't stop gushing about my school, and whether that makes me a GW head or a real success story, I don't know, but what I do know is that all lines I wanted to cross I've leapt past. 

Tonight, I went to dinner with my interviewer from a year ago that is one of the reasons I am here. My most memorable interview was for GW with a senior who wasn't afraid to curse, come out to me, or tell me his passion, and his gripes, regarding the university. He supported me when I confided in him my fears about my revealing college essay. He was at my April Visit Day and calmed my financial fears. In many ways, he is why I am here. Tonight, he treated me to dinner at Froggy Bottom Pub, where he asked about all my experiences, my plans, and my gripes about where I was at. After I bored him with the inner details of my GW life, swapping names and stories and complaints, he smiled at me over his sun-dried tomato pizza and chuckled,

"So, what's next?"

If I could give any phrase to GW, it would be that. What's next. We are on our own timeline here; our own stratosphere of counting. Maybe we're all a little type-A, but the campus is literally crawling with people who can't sit still. It's all about next semester, next summer, next internship, grad school. And don't get me wrong -- we're having our fun as we go. But this is the type of university that forces you to look at yourself and truly ask, who do I want to be next? 

So, for now, I'll go back to NY in the new skin I've grown from being at school, and give them all the saga that is Gina Michele's college adventure. And soon enough, I'll have a new story to tell. And as much as I will be happy to be home, there is comfort in knowing I have somewhere to come back to, that'll make me into someone even better than I am. 

I hope you all find the time to think to yourself about what's next. It could be the most important question that you're not asking. 

See you around campus,

Gina Michele

Hotel California

I am writing this blog from my direct Alaska Airline flight from LAX to DCA!!  Free internet, soda, snacks, and my own playlist make me smile.  (Especially after a 30 minute delay....)

You may be wondering why I was in LA right before Thanksgiving.  Well,  I went to meet some of you!  This weekend was our LA interview weekend.  Between 4 seniors, 2 admissions directors, parents and alumni, we completed almost 130 interviews! It was definitely a great opportunity to meet what I am sure are future GW students. 

Along with conducting interviews I was able to explore Los Angeles!  I went to In-and-Out Burger, Hollywood Walk of Fame, Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, Westwood, and West Hollywood!  It is was a fun-packed trip!

Natalie Wood's (Maria from West Side Story) Star on the Walk of Fame

At the end of each interview I gave the applicant an opportunity to ask me questions, and here are some of them that I wanted to share with you...
1) What has been your favorite class?: I took a long time to find an answer to this, but I finally decided.  Media Law was my favorite class.  Not only was it taught extremely well by Professor Sterling, but I have also been able to take the information I learned and apply it to other classes.  For example, in my human sexuality class, we had a debate about censorship in the media, and I was able to bring up the Supreme Court decisions about the subject to justify my argument.
2) What is your favorite/least favorite thing about GW?:  Surprisingly, the answers to both of these questions are the same.  There is always something to do at GW.  I am never bored on the weekend or during the evening.  Student organizations, campus partners, outside companies, and even individuals always have events! There is such a variety!  However, this can also get me distracted from my academics.  I often want to be a part of the events and participate, but have to bog down and study or write a paper.
3) What is the weather like in DC?: DC, like many other places in the country, has four complete seasons.  Winter is usually not as bad as it was this past year with Snowmageddon, but it gets a little chilly and snows occasionally.  Spring and Fall are temperate with temperatures in the 60's or so.  And Summers get hot and humid, but nothing completely unbearable.  For you readers who are worried about the cold, don't fret.  As long as you invest in a solid warm coat, you will be fine.

I hope those questions help!  If you have any others please let me know and I will be happy answer them!  Just email me at kwollner@gwu.edu.

Kim

Gelman's Big Belly

You must be totally confused by this title. Has Gelman been consuming students' snacks? Or computers? In truth, there have been a few computer snatchers around campus lately but mostly due to people leaving their stuff alone in Gelman while they go get coffee or run back to get another book from their rooms. It's always smart to bring stuff with you. But what I'm really talking about is..

The new Gelman Big Belly Trash Compactor! This solar powered big guy is on loan for a few weeks as GW tries it out to see how it will help cut down costs. The Office of Sustainability has been backing this adventure after Green GW has been after the university to install them. This is a test run and so far has been successful, as the people who empty the trash bins on campus usually empty cans twice a day and with this contraption, only have to empty it twice a week!

Picture of the trio system in place at Harvard and other schools

The Big Belly Solar intelligent waste collection system lowers operating costs, fuel consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions associated with the waste collection process- by up to 80%! It has been super effective at schools such as Harvard who have had it installed.

Check out this Video about the Big Belly Trash Compactors on YouTube to see it in action :)
Questions? Comments? marisaw@gwmail.gwu.edu
- Marisa

HP7-1

Does the title of this post make sense to you?  Did you instantly understand exactly what I'm talking about, and experience a slight flutter in your heart upon the realization?  If so, you, like myself, belong to an elite group of intellectuals sharing a love for the same series of books.  You and I--we are Potterphiles.

Now on the scale of 1 to Crazy, I'm probably only like, a 6.  I didn't read any of the books more than once, and I don't even own all the DVDs.  I know people who are far more Potter-centric than I am.  Nonetheless, I saw the premiere last night at midnight in Georgetown.

No, I did not dress up, though I'll admit that for the 6th movie, my friends and I drew lightening bolts on our foreheads.  No costumes, though!  So that's still cool--right?  But there were some WEIRDOS there.  Like, fully decked out and wild, one girl was in a gown!  I'm really not sure how that was at all relevant, but there she was, nonetheless!

The theater was almost 100% GW and Georgetown students, as that theater is practically a midpoint between the 2 schools (Though we're closer [walking] by 5 minutes!  HAH!)  Kidding, there was no rivalry or animosity at all, it was just a bunch of Potter-lovers enjoying an event we've been waiting years and years for.

Don't you worry, I won't give anything away about the movies for those who haven't seen it, I'll just say that I'm very satisfied with how they handled the breaking up of the 7th book into 2 parts.  It could have been very messy, but instead it worked!  And even though I read the book, it was quite a while ago, so there was still suspense in a lot of parts!  And the jokes were A LOT less cheesey and teen angsty than the 6th movie.  Thank God for that!

I got back from Gtown this morning at 3:00 AM.  AND I STILL WENT TO MY 8AM CLASS!  Champion status right here.  Praise me.

... or just email me!  ShireenS@gwmail.gwu.edu for questions or comments!

<3 Shireen

Bands at GW!

If you were in band in high school, make sure to to continue in college! Even if you weren't the all-state musician or didn't bleed music notes, college band is oh so different. I was a drum major in my high school, a mediocre baritone player, and wasn't overly passionate about band, but I have really enjoyed my band experience this first semester in college. It has been a good way to get my mind off the academia that rules my life and has allowed me to meet some pretty amazing people and, of course, get into all of the basketball games for free :)

Here are some pictures of the band program from years past just to give you an idea of what we look like, but I will get some others up as the basketball season progresses I'm sure

Our head director of bands, Dr. Fritz

Colonial Brass 

The band program is one of the few activities on campus that also involves some financial assistance. While this should not be your primary reason for being involved, it does help you afford your education and the award gets larger the longer you stay involved with the band program. There are three main groups that are: Colonial Brass (the basketball pep band which is SUPER fun), Symphonic Band, and University Wind Ensemble. While tryouts are mandatory at the beginning of the year, no willing participant is turned away, just put in a proper chair order.

With that said, be sure to watch our Colonial Men's and Women's Basketball teams as Basketball season tips off. Who knows, you may catch a glimpse of the Atlantic 10's most spirited pep band. HAIL TO THE BUFF AND BLUE !!!! GO COLONIALS!!!!

As always, feel free to contact me with questions or comments.

-Brandon Moore
brmoore@gwmail.gwu.edu

Typical Tuesday and Wednesday in the life of me: first semester

When I was a high school student, thinking about college life, one of the things I wondered about was what a typical day was like. I knew what high school was like and people always said that college was so different. And so understandably, I was curious and if you are anything like I was, you are too. Well, this is your lucky day! Here is what Tuesdays and Wednesdays are like through my eyes (first semester) **Remember, since I am an athlete, I do have a few added activities than other students and this of course affects my schedule and makes it extra crazy and fun**:

Tuesday:
5:50am Wake Up
6:10am Breakfast
7:00am-9:20am Practice
9:30am-10:00am Physical Therapy for my shoulder
10:15am Shower
10:30am Lunch
11:10am-12:25pm Latin Class
12:45pm-2:00pm Criminal Law Class
2:10pm Free Time/ Homework Time
5:00pm-7:25pm Stat Class and Discussion (on the Vern)
8:15pm Dinner
9:00pm Homework/ TV Time
11:20pm (hopefully) Bed

Wednesday:
5:50am Wake Up
6:10am Breakfast
7:00am-9:20am Practice
9:30am-10:00am Physical Therapy for my shoulder
10:15am Shower
10:45am Lunch
11:00am Free Time
1:00pm-3:00pm Physical geography Lab (on Vern)
3:30pm Free Time
4:45pm-6:00pm Physical Geography Class
7:00pm-8:00pm Weights and Conditioning (for volleyball)
8:20pm Dinner
8:50pm Shower
9:20pm Homework/ TV Time
11:15pm (hopefully) Bed

And that, readers, is what it is like to be me two days out of the week. It is fairly hectic, but I am used to it. I find that having a lot of my time accounted for (with volleyball related activities and classes) greatly helps me with my time management skills. As clichéd as that sounds, it really is true. Any extracurricular activity will help with that too, not just athletics. While it may seem as though I have very little free time in college, I actually feel that I have more than I did in high school, with fewer classes each day and more time in between them.

-Christie

My dorm, Building JJ

So you're probably wondering where I live, considering I'm a part of a eco-friendly Living and Learning Cohort called the Green House (What are LLC's? See my last post!). I live in Building JJ, located at 2031 F St, an apartment style residential dorm built in 1920. It is coed with 3 floors and a basement. We have a House Scholar and most rooms house 4 people, though they are split into two bedrooms. In my room, we have two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a long hallway connecting them all.

My room layout (the back right closet is actually a bathroom)

According to the housing website, here are some of the perks of JJ:

• EPA Energy-Star refrigerators and microwaves
• Each unit is furnished with beds, desks, desk chairs, dressers and living room furniture
• Bathrooms are equipped with Toto low-volume toilets, and Niagara low-flow shower heads
• The hallways on all floors have installed motion-sensor lighting
• The laundry facilities are located in the basement of the townhouse. 
• Offers fully-equipped kitchens including dishwashers (We don't have dishwashers? Dang)
• We are getting a cool compost soon
• We will have solar panels installed on the roof by the end of the year!

Me, Annie, Jane, and Liz (Roommates outside JJ on Halloween)

Check out our cool carved pumpkins in the above picture. Hope everyone is gearing up for Thanksgiving and is happy for a break! marisaw@gwmail.gwu.edu

- Marisa

Senior Night Festivities

GW Volleyball’s Senior Night 2010 match was this past Sunday. This unfortunately marked the end of our 2010 season and the collegiate volleyball careers of three GW seniors who are loved both on and off the court. Senior night is always high anticipated because it’s the last home match of the season and is a fantastic way to show our seniors just how much we appreciate and love them.

First of all, the freshmen on the team are in charge of decorating the locker room using any theme they want. Last year, when I was a freshman, our theme that we chose was “Seniors Gone Wild” and we decorated with a jungle theme. We bought stuffed animal monkeys and hung them in a net from the ceiling, put paper trees all over the walls, among other things. This year, the freshman chose the theme of “Senior Santas” and decorated with Christmas decorations. They used cotton balls for snow, a light up snowman, Christmas lights, ornaments, and tons and tons of glitter. And I mean TONS of glitter. It was everywhere and still is. Here are some pictures of the locker room decorations:



Senior Santas in Front of Door to winter wonderland



Candid Shot of freshmen emerging from the winter wonderland



Winter Wonderland

This year, someone made senior night 2010 t-shirts and on the back was one of the seniors’ last names. I, personally, was on team Hill and proud of it (but I love all my seniors equally). We also created memory books for the seniors, where everyone writes a page to the seniors talking about favorite memories/how much they will miss them. Every year someone also makes a slideshow filled with pictures of the four years they spent here at GW, which is always a favorite. In addition, we usually give them a few other gifts that vary from year to year. Lastly, right before the game, all the seniors are honored in front of the crowd filled with their friends, family, and students fans here at GW. As you can see, Senior Night for volleyball is looked forward to every year and not just by the seniors. We feel that it is extremely important to show how much they mean to us and how much we will miss them next year. And we wish them the very best! Long story short, WE LOVE OUR SENIORS!!!

Team Hill!

Next Up are pictures of me and the three AMAZING seniors:

Lastly, here is a picture of them being honored before the big match:

These three are irreplaceable and will be missed next year!

-Christie

Living and Learning Cohorts

Living and Learning Cohorts (LLCs) are student-led interest groups in a dorm where you live along with those participating in the same project. As members of an LLC, residents develop ownership for the achievements of their LLC and it is a great way to live and learn together with friends and roommates, independent of the classroom. The topic can be anything from Music in the City, Rollerblading Racers, the Green House, Movies that Matter, International Art and Culture, The West Wing, and so on. There are two types of LLCs:

LLCs for First-Year Students: Each dorm has thematic LLCs designed around the goal of completing an experiential learning project for its members. LLCs work to develop a business plan and budget proposal for the LLC approval process. This usually happens around October for freshmen, so keep your eye out and talk to your house proctor once getting to GW if this sounds interesting.

LLCs for Sophomores/Juniors/Seniors: The same opportunity is even more accessible as you age! At the end of freshman year, I started the Green House LLC, dedicated to living sustainably, promoting conservation, and community service. The university gives us a budget to do cool things, like shop at farmers markets, dine with local green business owners, and attend green movie screenings.

Some of our projects this year include: fundraising for a well in Kenya, working with our food service on campus to use environmentally friendly methods and dishes, and learning about ways that we can reduce our carbon footprint. We have been housed in Building JJ, the eco-friendly dorm on campus, which I will blog about soon!

To check out the application to start an LLC, look here. Some events hosted by LLCs in the past can be found here. Questions? Comments? marisaw@gwmail.gwu.edu

- Marisa

So You Wanna See Campus Huh?

One of our readers (shout out to Cameron! How you doin?) was curious to see what some buildings on campus look like. I thought about taking pictures of the outside of each building and putting them in one blog, but then I thought-I'm taking you inside Ekiria's brain now- it's a much better idea to give you a much more detailed look at GW. He asked to see Monroe Hall, Phillips Hall, SMPA, Ivory Tower, and Gelman Library. So today I dusted off my camera and took some pictures of Monroe Hall. If any other bloggers would like to take on pictures of the other buildings, lemme know. I'll be documenting SMPA and possibly Gelman tomorrow.

Monroe Hall/Hall of Government- If you haven't figured this out already GW has a lot of buildings that actually are two buildings in one. This includes Duques and Funger Hall, Phillips and Rome Hall, and of course Monroe Hall and the Hall of Government. MonroeHall/Hall of Goverment includes 3 departments: Political Science, Economics, and Speech and Hearing. in the basement of Monroe, there is also the Speech and Hearing Center which houses clinics and various studies on speech, hearing, and the brain. It also includes several classrooms, offices, study rooms, and seminar/meeting rooms.

I think a big looming picture of the building is a nice way to start

(Note the corner of the cop car, Monroe is across from UPD)

This side of the building is the "Hall of Government"

Typical classrooms in the Hall of Goverment- I had my Voice and Diction class in here today



Hallways

Lobby



     Small Classroom in Monroe

Fancy Window

 Bulletin Board depicting departments and their floors

The Lee Sigelman Seminar Room (Political Science Department)

Inside the seminar room (above)

 The Speech and Hearing Center

Front Desk in the Speech and Hearing Center

Lobby Area- Speeach and Hearing Center

"Monroe" side of the building

Back entrance to Monroe Hall

Art outside Monroe!

Dedicated to the memory of Luther W. And Gladys L. Brady

Hopefully that give you a pretty good taste of what Monroe Hall is like!

Put ya questions right here: magalae@gmail.com

Ekiria