Well, 3 weeks of classes at Colorado Mountain College are now over and done with. As far as I know, there have been no major incidents around campus and no one has gotten injured while skiing or snowboarding. Perhaps the lack of injuries can be credited to all of the powder we've had lately.
During 3 weeks of Student Government meetings, we have filled several officer and representative positions. We have also voted for free swim nights (every Monday and one other night during the week- check the schedule on the doors of the Residence Hall), free gym nights (every Monday and Wednesday), and free ice skating (every Tuesday night). We are also working on the purchase of a Wii for the Residence Hall. A proposal was written and approved for a field trip to Denver to go to a museum. Funds were also allotted to help pay for the ice climbing wall. Updating the residence hall kitchen is also being looked into.
In the first 3 weeks of classes, I have learned about Components of Ropeway Systems and Operational Considerations in Ropeway Operations lecture, learned about the 5 W's of event planning in Events Management, read 3 chapters about Public Speaking and given a 2 minute speech about myself, learned about grooming vehicles, preventative maintenance, and grooming implementes in Trail Grooming lecture, learned about the history and organization of the National Ski Patrol, toboggans and patrol procedures, and how mountain weather and avalanches affect ski areas during Ski Patrol lecture, and last, but not least, I have learned about different types of food service facilities, the origins and organization of food service, and the staff needed to run a food service operation in Introduction to Food and Beverage Management.
Other happenings included:
*I completed 2 of the 3 days needed to get my Level 1 for snowboard instructing.
*Obama took office.
*Avy classes have taken place the last 2 weekends.
*Ice Climbing block is taking place this weekend.
*The use of avalanche beacons has been practiced at Safeway.
*I demonstrated my excellent bowling skills on Tuesday night (28 1st game, 32 2nd game, 24 3rd game). For those of you who don't know, bowling is $2/game on Tuesday nights and shoe rental for the night is also $2.
*The first gym night was this past Wednesday and the first swim night was this past Thursday.
*The fire alarm has been set off while people were still asleep (hey, at least we got it out of the way early in the semester... now hopefully it won't occur again).
*Erin and Abbi's birthdays have been celebrated. There have probably been other birthday celebrations (considering that they were singing "Happy Birthday" in the cafeteria a few nights ago) but I was not involved in them.
*The X-Games in Aspen occurred.
*The Bombi (one of the school's groomers) broke down.
*The Ropeway Operations lab class has traveled to Ski Cooper and Monarch to see their lift systems.
*Erin learned how to ski last week and I'm beginning to master staying upright in powder.
Ropeway lecture and Events Management classes on February 2nd have been cancelled due to the NSAA Western Regional Mid-Winter Conference at Keystone Resort. On February 2nd in Public Speaking, we are to have read chapters 2 and 3. In Trail Grooming lecture on February 4th, we are learning about "Slope Maintenance Management and Grooming Priorities and Patterns". In Ski Patrol Operations, we are learning about "NARSID [Non Avalanche Related Snow Immersion Deaths] and Avalanche Rescue Procedures". In Intro to Food and Beverage Management (my online class) we will be learning about the "Fundamentals of Management".
February 9th we will learn about "The Haul Rope, Sheave Assemblies, and Towers" in Ropeway lecture. In Events Management we will learn about "Programming". On February 11th, in Trail Grooming lecture, we are having a test. In Ski Patrol Operations we are learning about "Legal Issues and Risk Management". In Intro to Food and Beverage Management, we will be studying "Food and Beverage Marketing".
Class projects involve creating a ski patrol manual for our final for Ski Patrol lecture and planning the 4th Annual CMC Rail Jam for Events Management.
This week's events include:
*Free swim night and free gym night on Monday
*Free skate night on Tuesday
*Free gym night on Wednesday
*Free swim night on Friday
*Steamboat Winter Carnival Wednesday thru Sunday
Next week's events include:
*Free swim night and gym night on Monday
*Free skate night on Tuesday
*Free gym night on Wednesday
*Free swim night on Thursday
*En Fuego (free street party) at Copper on Valentine's Day night. I have yet to make it to En Fuego, but I hear it's a pretty cool celebration. To quote the Copper Mountain website "Copper heats up at night with En Fuego from 6:00-8:00pm. Enjoy activities including a torchlight parade, street entertainers, bonfires, fire performers, and the finale of a brilliant fireworks display viewed from Burning Stones Plaza.".
Until next week, stay safe, have fun, and keep hoping for snow.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
New Student Interview
In college you quickly catch on to how useful trading is. Trading grooming shifts in order to attend avalanche class... trading butter popcorn for cheese popcorn... and trading potting soil for a completed new student questionaire.
So, onto how valuable potting soil is when trying to get a new student to fill out a survey for you. Ben bought a little tree a few nights ago but the tree required a larger pot. On Monday night, while conning him into coming to the Student Government meeting, he argued that he needed to go get potting soil. So, I told him that he could use some of mine since there's no way I'm going to use 20 pounds of potting soil this semester. Then last night, once I delivered the potting soil to him, I got him to fill out the survery. Now, onto the main topic of this blog...
Monday evening's Student Government meeting also provided some excitement. To start with, we more than doubled the number of Student Government members! Brett almost wondered if he walked in on a class because there were so many of us, lol. We filled 7 positions, but there are still 10 open. We are still looking for a Treasurer (you get a cord at graduation!), 1 AA/AS rep, 2 Entrepreneurship reps, 2 Forestry reps, 1 Historic Preservation rep, 1 Natural Resource Management rep, and two off-campus reps. The time committment consists of coming to meetings at 4:30 on Monday nights. The meetings last 10 or 15 minutes. At the last meeting we voted to have gym night twice a week, swimming night twice a week, and ice skating night once a week. We also discussed re-doing the kitchen. Bringing in a performer is another option that we are looking into.
As far as classes go:
*In Ropeways lecture we have learned about the components of Ropeway Systems and next week we will be learning about Operational Considerations. February 2nd we don't have class because of the NSAA Western Regional Mid-Winter Conference at Keystone. SAO students are able to attend the conference for $20.
*This past week in Events Management, we organized ourselves into committees. Publicity, Finance, Operations, and Competition are our 4 committees. Each committee has a Chairperson. We also have a Director and Vice-Director for the entire event. By next Monday, each committee is supposed to have made a committee timeline and "needs" list. In class next week we will be learning about publicity. There is no class on February 2nd. As part of the class requirements, each student must but in 20 hours helping at an event. The majority of us signed up to help with the Colorado HS XC Championship Meet and/or the 6th Annual Leadville Loppet.
*Next week in Public Speaking we are giving 2 minute introduction speeches on either ourselves or a topic that interests us.
*Yesterday in Grooming lecture we learned about Grooming Vehicles and Preventative Maintenance. Next week we will learn about Grooming Implements. In order to be up to speed on what we are discussing in class next week, Curt told us to read the first 3 chapters of our textbook. The first 3 chapters make up 2/3 of the pages in the book, so at first the task looked a bit daunting, but reading about snow science (aka the first 1/2 of our assigned reading) was actually incredibly interesting.
*During Ski Patrol lecture we learned about Toboggans and Patrol Procedures. This included determining the size of your patrol, where you station them, the difference between a Cascade and Akja toboggan, and speed control of a toboggan. Next week we will be learning about Mountain Weather, Snowpack, and Protection of Ski Areas.
*The other class that I am in is Food and Beverage Management which I am taking online. This is our first week of class and our assignments are due every Friday. I'll let you know more about the class once I'm farther into it.
Activities in the area include: the X-Games in Aspen start on the 22nd and Copper Series Snowboard Cross is the 23rd-25th.
"The sky's not the limit cause there's footprints on the moon"
So, onto how valuable potting soil is when trying to get a new student to fill out a survey for you. Ben bought a little tree a few nights ago but the tree required a larger pot. On Monday night, while conning him into coming to the Student Government meeting, he argued that he needed to go get potting soil. So, I told him that he could use some of mine since there's no way I'm going to use 20 pounds of potting soil this semester. Then last night, once I delivered the potting soil to him, I got him to fill out the survery. Now, onto the main topic of this blog...
Ben is a 19 year old Outdoor Recreation Leadership Student from Wyoming. He chose to attend Colorado Mountain College because of the ORL program, location, and opportunities. The class that he is most excited for is Ice Block. When asked what his favorite thing about college is, his reply was “Everything… I love CMC”. Before enrolling at CMC, he was teaching Outdoor Education and summer camp, going to Engineering school, and attending National Outdoor Leadership School. In high school he participated in pole vaulting, football, sprints, speech, and drama.
His favorite movie is Snatch and if he could go on a shopping spree at any store, he would go to Neptune Mountaineering. On rainy days he enjoys playing with Lego’s. His family consists of his mom, dad, and younger sister. The first job he ever had was breaking forms at a concrete plant. “Dynamite comes in small packages” is his favorite quote.
His favorite movie is Snatch and if he could go on a shopping spree at any store, he would go to Neptune Mountaineering. On rainy days he enjoys playing with Lego’s. His family consists of his mom, dad, and younger sister. The first job he ever had was breaking forms at a concrete plant. “Dynamite comes in small packages” is his favorite quote.
Monday evening's Student Government meeting also provided some excitement. To start with, we more than doubled the number of Student Government members! Brett almost wondered if he walked in on a class because there were so many of us, lol. We filled 7 positions, but there are still 10 open. We are still looking for a Treasurer (you get a cord at graduation!), 1 AA/AS rep, 2 Entrepreneurship reps, 2 Forestry reps, 1 Historic Preservation rep, 1 Natural Resource Management rep, and two off-campus reps. The time committment consists of coming to meetings at 4:30 on Monday nights. The meetings last 10 or 15 minutes. At the last meeting we voted to have gym night twice a week, swimming night twice a week, and ice skating night once a week. We also discussed re-doing the kitchen. Bringing in a performer is another option that we are looking into.
As far as classes go:
*In Ropeways lecture we have learned about the components of Ropeway Systems and next week we will be learning about Operational Considerations. February 2nd we don't have class because of the NSAA Western Regional Mid-Winter Conference at Keystone. SAO students are able to attend the conference for $20.
*This past week in Events Management, we organized ourselves into committees. Publicity, Finance, Operations, and Competition are our 4 committees. Each committee has a Chairperson. We also have a Director and Vice-Director for the entire event. By next Monday, each committee is supposed to have made a committee timeline and "needs" list. In class next week we will be learning about publicity. There is no class on February 2nd. As part of the class requirements, each student must but in 20 hours helping at an event. The majority of us signed up to help with the Colorado HS XC Championship Meet and/or the 6th Annual Leadville Loppet.
*Next week in Public Speaking we are giving 2 minute introduction speeches on either ourselves or a topic that interests us.
*Yesterday in Grooming lecture we learned about Grooming Vehicles and Preventative Maintenance. Next week we will learn about Grooming Implements. In order to be up to speed on what we are discussing in class next week, Curt told us to read the first 3 chapters of our textbook. The first 3 chapters make up 2/3 of the pages in the book, so at first the task looked a bit daunting, but reading about snow science (aka the first 1/2 of our assigned reading) was actually incredibly interesting.
*During Ski Patrol lecture we learned about Toboggans and Patrol Procedures. This included determining the size of your patrol, where you station them, the difference between a Cascade and Akja toboggan, and speed control of a toboggan. Next week we will be learning about Mountain Weather, Snowpack, and Protection of Ski Areas.
*The other class that I am in is Food and Beverage Management which I am taking online. This is our first week of class and our assignments are due every Friday. I'll let you know more about the class once I'm farther into it.
Activities in the area include: the X-Games in Aspen start on the 22nd and Copper Series Snowboard Cross is the 23rd-25th.
"The sky's not the limit cause there's footprints on the moon"
Monday, January 19, 2009
Safeway Beaconing
Friday night, 3 of my fellow students decided that they were going to go to Safeway to practice using their avalanche beacons. I got brought along so that I could photograph the occasion for use in my blog. Once we got there, we met up with another student from the college who happened to be there buying groceries. Then, as we were standing in an aisle discussing logistics, 3 more students from the college showed up.
Once we got everything sorted out, I got sent off to hide the beacons. About halfway through the first search for beacons, Wolf decided that we should time the people searching for the beacons. Then the beacons were found, hid, found, hid, etc, approximately 10 times.
My lesson of the night was, the number "14" does not mean you are near the beacon you're searching for. "11" isn't much better. See, I had never used an avalanche beacon before, so I was thinking more on a scale of "1" to "100". Turns out that "14" is basically the farthest away that the beacon will measure. So, once Ben came and rescued me from the search for a beacon that was nowhere near me, I discovered that my partner had just found the 3rd beacon.
Other highlights of the night include:
*Andrea's tracking beacon suggesting that the beacon she was searching for was upstairs.
*Wolf hiding a beacon on the shelf full of diapers, Troy taking off two rows of diapers, feeling around for the beacon, and then putting the diapers back. We figure he had to have basically touched the beacon, yet he put the diapers back anyway.
*Hiding a beacon in a magazine display... It frustrated Wolf and Koleby to no end and took them forever to find.
*An older lady, who sounded rather concerned, asked me if I was searching for a bomb. I informed her that I was practicing using an avalanche beacon and that no, I was not searching for a bomb. However, she still hurried out of the aisle.
*This doesn't exactly relate to searching for avalanche beacons, but Troy dropped a 5 pound bag of sugar on the floor while standing in the check-out line and it did an excellent job of emptying out onto the floor.
All in all, not only did we have a fun time searching for avalanche beacons, Andrea and I wore dresses just for the heck of it since there really is no good place to wear a dress in Leadville unless you're going to church. Except for 2 incidents, all 3 beacons that we hid were found within 5 minutes. In the other two incidents, the beacons were found within 10 minutes. As Wolf said "What a fun training program they came up with, huh?".
Pictures to come at a later date... I'm still working on getting photo release forms signed.
As far as the new student interviews go, I'm not sure you'll be seeing them, because I gave questionaires to the 18 new students, and none of them have returned them to me yet. I have the suspicion that many of them do not check their mailboxes.
Well, I'm off to Student Government now. I'll write more later this week.
Once we got everything sorted out, I got sent off to hide the beacons. About halfway through the first search for beacons, Wolf decided that we should time the people searching for the beacons. Then the beacons were found, hid, found, hid, etc, approximately 10 times.
My lesson of the night was, the number "14" does not mean you are near the beacon you're searching for. "11" isn't much better. See, I had never used an avalanche beacon before, so I was thinking more on a scale of "1" to "100". Turns out that "14" is basically the farthest away that the beacon will measure. So, once Ben came and rescued me from the search for a beacon that was nowhere near me, I discovered that my partner had just found the 3rd beacon.
Other highlights of the night include:
*Andrea's tracking beacon suggesting that the beacon she was searching for was upstairs.
*Wolf hiding a beacon on the shelf full of diapers, Troy taking off two rows of diapers, feeling around for the beacon, and then putting the diapers back. We figure he had to have basically touched the beacon, yet he put the diapers back anyway.
*Hiding a beacon in a magazine display... It frustrated Wolf and Koleby to no end and took them forever to find.
*An older lady, who sounded rather concerned, asked me if I was searching for a bomb. I informed her that I was practicing using an avalanche beacon and that no, I was not searching for a bomb. However, she still hurried out of the aisle.
*This doesn't exactly relate to searching for avalanche beacons, but Troy dropped a 5 pound bag of sugar on the floor while standing in the check-out line and it did an excellent job of emptying out onto the floor.
All in all, not only did we have a fun time searching for avalanche beacons, Andrea and I wore dresses just for the heck of it since there really is no good place to wear a dress in Leadville unless you're going to church. Except for 2 incidents, all 3 beacons that we hid were found within 5 minutes. In the other two incidents, the beacons were found within 10 minutes. As Wolf said "What a fun training program they came up with, huh?".
Pictures to come at a later date... I'm still working on getting photo release forms signed.
As far as the new student interviews go, I'm not sure you'll be seeing them, because I gave questionaires to the 18 new students, and none of them have returned them to me yet. I have the suspicion that many of them do not check their mailboxes.
Well, I'm off to Student Government now. I'll write more later this week.
Friday, January 16, 2009
This and That
As I sit in my room, trying to convince myself to drive to Copper to go snowboarding, I thought I would give you a brief peek at what I have planned for next week's (or possibly the week after's) blog.
Last night, while eating dinner with two of my friends, one of them suggested that I should interview some of the new students. So, after a game of pool against myself, which I actually did quite well in, I went up to my room and typed up a little questionaire to distribute to the new students. Assuming that a couple students fill out the questionaires and return them to me, in the next couple of weeks, you will get to learn such facts as
Other excitement at CMC includes:
It definately seems as if there are fewer students living in the dorms this semester. There are students living in single rooms, Erin and I have our own little corner on the 2nd floor because the people on either side of us moved out, and the number of people in the cafeteria during lunch and dinner seems much less overwhelming. I personally like this smaller number. The only downfall will be when ORL students leave for classes in the field, and then the dorms might seem TOO empty.
OH! One last thing before I sign off... MY PLANTS ARE GROWING! While at home, I found some plant seed packets in the kitchen and found an old flower pot. I now have "Lollipop Zinnias", "Maxi the Marigold", and "Pea-Pop-Sh'Bop" growing. With any luck, "Bachelor Bob" and "Rufus the Radish" will also start growing. If I'm REALLY lucky, my plants will still be alive a week from now. Along with my plants, Erin also has bamboo growing (or at least she did... I don't see it on her desk, so I'm wondering if she took it home at Christmas). If that's not enough plants for you, I also have two vases of fake flowers. I think the real plants are better than the fake plants though- they confirm that you aren't a total failure at life when they are still alive a week after you plant them. lol
Well, I should probably be off now. I have things to do in town. Until next week, have fun and stay warm. :)
Last night, while eating dinner with two of my friends, one of them suggested that I should interview some of the new students. So, after a game of pool against myself, which I actually did quite well in, I went up to my room and typed up a little questionaire to distribute to the new students. Assuming that a couple students fill out the questionaires and return them to me, in the next couple of weeks, you will get to learn such facts as
- Favorite CMC cafeteria food item
- What class are you most excited for?
- What were you doing before enrolling here?
- Top 3 items on your life to-do list
- Favorite thing about college
Other excitement at CMC includes:
- The ice wall is up... however, you cannot climb on it yet because they have to find someone to supervise the climbing.
- If you are a full-time student (12+ credits this semester), you can pay $15 (that's the last figure I heard) and be able to rent various equipment from the campus. The $15 covers the entire semester.
- Swim nights, gym nights, ice skating nights, and possibly the occasional bowling night will be starting up again soon.
- Student Government is currently working on the purchase of a Wii.
- It's not too late to sign up for the iFilmCMC video contest!
- It sounds like the Alpine Ski team at the Steamboat campus has been doing well lately. While at a ski race in Michigan, one of their racers got a 7th place and then a 4th place finish. Another racer finished 24th. The team also competed at a race in New Hampshire.
It definately seems as if there are fewer students living in the dorms this semester. There are students living in single rooms, Erin and I have our own little corner on the 2nd floor because the people on either side of us moved out, and the number of people in the cafeteria during lunch and dinner seems much less overwhelming. I personally like this smaller number. The only downfall will be when ORL students leave for classes in the field, and then the dorms might seem TOO empty.
OH! One last thing before I sign off... MY PLANTS ARE GROWING! While at home, I found some plant seed packets in the kitchen and found an old flower pot. I now have "Lollipop Zinnias", "Maxi the Marigold", and "Pea-Pop-Sh'Bop" growing. With any luck, "Bachelor Bob" and "Rufus the Radish" will also start growing. If I'm REALLY lucky, my plants will still be alive a week from now. Along with my plants, Erin also has bamboo growing (or at least she did... I don't see it on her desk, so I'm wondering if she took it home at Christmas). If that's not enough plants for you, I also have two vases of fake flowers. I think the real plants are better than the fake plants though- they confirm that you aren't a total failure at life when they are still alive a week after you plant them. lol
Well, I should probably be off now. I have things to do in town. Until next week, have fun and stay warm. :)
Thursday, January 15, 2009
1 week down... 14 to go
Hello everyone. I am now done with my first week of classes (if you want to get technical, I was done at 3pm yesterday). That leaves 14 weeks (well, 15 if you count Spring Break) left of the school year.
Classes started on Monday. The classes that I had on Monday were Ropeway Operations lecture, Events Management, and Public Speaking.
In Ropeway Operations, we learned about the different types of ropeways (surface lifts and aerial lifts).
During lunch, I attended the first Student Government meeting of the semester where we decided to change meetings to Monday nights at dinner instead. After lunch, I went to Events Management.
In Events Management, we will spend the next 2 1/2 months planning the 4th Annual CMC rail jam which will be held March 22nd. In addition to attending classes, we are required to volunteer 20 hours with non-class events, such as an event at a ski area or a Nordic Club race. During class we discussed the different committees necessary in planning an event. We finally decided on 4 committees- Publicity, Finance/Risk Management, Operations, and Competition. We also learned about the 5 W's- What, Where, When, Why, and Who. As people excitedly started whispering to each other about what we should plan for the Rail Jam, Paul reminded us on more than one occasion that it was better to do a great, simple event than try to out-do ourselves with a more extravegant event.
Tuesday I didn't have any classes, so I did laundry.
Wednesday (yesterday) I had Trail Grooming lecture and Ski Patrol lecture.
During Trail Grooming lecture, we watched a "PhatCat" lecture which is an annual competition of the best groomers from around the country competing to see who is the best.
Paul told us about our final report during Ski Patrol lecture. In order to get an "A" it should be between 80 and 150 pages and we are doing it in groups of our choice, 2 or 3 students per group. The scenario is that we are setting up a brand new mountain (Paul gave us the basic stats for the mountain) and we are in charge of writing out the plan for the Ski Patrol budget.
Then, Wednesday night, during an extremely exciting evening, Marea and I went upstairs and learned how to tie "Wilderness Handcuffs" from some ORL kids. Once I got the rope pieces going the right way, my handcuffs started looking much better because then I could handcuff someone that had two arms, as opposed to someone that only had one arm, lol.
Today, Thursday, didn't provide much excitement.
Classes started on Monday. The classes that I had on Monday were Ropeway Operations lecture, Events Management, and Public Speaking.
In Ropeway Operations, we learned about the different types of ropeways (surface lifts and aerial lifts).
During lunch, I attended the first Student Government meeting of the semester where we decided to change meetings to Monday nights at dinner instead. After lunch, I went to Events Management.
In Events Management, we will spend the next 2 1/2 months planning the 4th Annual CMC rail jam which will be held March 22nd. In addition to attending classes, we are required to volunteer 20 hours with non-class events, such as an event at a ski area or a Nordic Club race. During class we discussed the different committees necessary in planning an event. We finally decided on 4 committees- Publicity, Finance/Risk Management, Operations, and Competition. We also learned about the 5 W's- What, Where, When, Why, and Who. As people excitedly started whispering to each other about what we should plan for the Rail Jam, Paul reminded us on more than one occasion that it was better to do a great, simple event than try to out-do ourselves with a more extravegant event.
Tuesday I didn't have any classes, so I did laundry.
Wednesday (yesterday) I had Trail Grooming lecture and Ski Patrol lecture.
During Trail Grooming lecture, we watched a "PhatCat" lecture which is an annual competition of the best groomers from around the country competing to see who is the best.
Paul told us about our final report during Ski Patrol lecture. In order to get an "A" it should be between 80 and 150 pages and we are doing it in groups of our choice, 2 or 3 students per group. The scenario is that we are setting up a brand new mountain (Paul gave us the basic stats for the mountain) and we are in charge of writing out the plan for the Ski Patrol budget.
Then, Wednesday night, during an extremely exciting evening, Marea and I went upstairs and learned how to tie "Wilderness Handcuffs" from some ORL kids. Once I got the rope pieces going the right way, my handcuffs started looking much better because then I could handcuff someone that had two arms, as opposed to someone that only had one arm, lol.
Today, Thursday, didn't provide much excitement.
Friday, January 9, 2009
College Is A Lot Like One Giant Family
This blog is a result of the realization that I had at about 3AM this morning... College is a lot like having one giant family... or at least at a small school that's what it feels like, I suppose the concept would not apply so well at a larger school.
Love it or hate it, but it's how things are here. Yes, there are times when this "family" is a nuisance, such as the days when all you want to do is be left alone, yet it seems like someone is knocking on your door every 5 minutes. After awhile, it doesn't even phase you when people that you've never met know your name and faculty members have actual conversations with you. You may also discover that people know what you did, even if you haven't told anyone (oh the joys of high school... but at least in college the stories are somewhat realistic, lol).
People went to their houses for Christmas and facebook started filling up with status messages of "I want to be home". After spending 4 months at college, it's as if you lose your attachment to your real home. High school friends are now more of acquaintances and the people that you now call friends might just be clear across the country. All of a sudden, you have to find a way to entertain yourself without watching movies in Wes's room, having Erin do your hair, or hanging out with the boyfriend that you are accustomed to seeing multiple times per day. All of a sudden you can choose when you eat and what you eat. You find that you can't sleep because it's TOO QUIET (Who would have ever thought that you'd miss the sound of slamming doors, yelling in the hallway, music blasting from 3 rooms away, or what sounds like the people in the room above yours repeatedly dropping a bowling ball on the floor?). At home, it takes you a minute to figure out why the washing machine won't take your quarters. You think of a movie that you want to watch and you have to actually go rent it because there are not 100 people around to borrow from. [I'm off the subject now, but I'm just gonna go with it.] You go to a non-mountain town and gas is $1 cheaper, Alco and Safeway are not the only stores to go to, and the air suddenly has oxygen molecules in it. Watching TV loses it's excitement because you only have a few people to fight over it with. You sit down to eat dinner with your family and there is more than 1/4 inch of space on either side of your chair (For those of you who don't understand this one, my group of friends has managed to, on more than one occasion, put 10 or 15 people around a table intended for 6 people).
Ok, now to attempt to get back on topic. College is like a family because... your "college family" (friends/classmates/dorm mates/other applicable people) are the ones who take care of you when you're sick, they're the ones who calm you down after a fight with your mom, they're with you through the good times and the bad, they're the ones who drive you absolutely crazy yet you love them anyway, and they're the ones who don't care what your room looks like- in fact, they may also be the ones helping you clean out the crockpot that has been growing moldy Ramen for 2 1/2 months. They're the ones who you're an ABSOLUTE JERK to, yet they refuse to leave your side because they know that it's just a phase. And right about the time you think everyone hates you, you find out how many people are really there for you (aka WAY WAY WAY more than you thought). The last, but certainly not least, reason why your friends at college are like a family is: they run downstairs in indecently short shorts and sit at the front desk waiting for you when they recieve a call saying you need to be "guided" to your room, they spend 4 hours at the hospital with you in the middle of the night when they would much rather be sleeping and refuse to accept the nurse's offer of the couch in the waiting room, they're the ones who put you into your pajamas because you're too out of it to do it yourself, they pull your hair back even when you have puke in it, it doesn't even phase them when you lay down in their lap covered in puke, they clean up the floor you puked all over, and they try not to laugh when you get your face stuck in the trash can.
I would like to leave you with a thought to ponder from a University of Oxford postcard:
Why Study?
The more I study,
the more I know.
The more I know,
the more I forget.
The more I forget,
the less I know.
So why study?
Until next time, try not to get into too much trouble :)
Love it or hate it, but it's how things are here. Yes, there are times when this "family" is a nuisance, such as the days when all you want to do is be left alone, yet it seems like someone is knocking on your door every 5 minutes. After awhile, it doesn't even phase you when people that you've never met know your name and faculty members have actual conversations with you. You may also discover that people know what you did, even if you haven't told anyone (oh the joys of high school... but at least in college the stories are somewhat realistic, lol).
People went to their houses for Christmas and facebook started filling up with status messages of "I want to be home". After spending 4 months at college, it's as if you lose your attachment to your real home. High school friends are now more of acquaintances and the people that you now call friends might just be clear across the country. All of a sudden, you have to find a way to entertain yourself without watching movies in Wes's room, having Erin do your hair, or hanging out with the boyfriend that you are accustomed to seeing multiple times per day. All of a sudden you can choose when you eat and what you eat. You find that you can't sleep because it's TOO QUIET (Who would have ever thought that you'd miss the sound of slamming doors, yelling in the hallway, music blasting from 3 rooms away, or what sounds like the people in the room above yours repeatedly dropping a bowling ball on the floor?). At home, it takes you a minute to figure out why the washing machine won't take your quarters. You think of a movie that you want to watch and you have to actually go rent it because there are not 100 people around to borrow from. [I'm off the subject now, but I'm just gonna go with it.] You go to a non-mountain town and gas is $1 cheaper, Alco and Safeway are not the only stores to go to, and the air suddenly has oxygen molecules in it. Watching TV loses it's excitement because you only have a few people to fight over it with. You sit down to eat dinner with your family and there is more than 1/4 inch of space on either side of your chair (For those of you who don't understand this one, my group of friends has managed to, on more than one occasion, put 10 or 15 people around a table intended for 6 people).
Ok, now to attempt to get back on topic. College is like a family because... your "college family" (friends/classmates/dorm mates/other applicable people) are the ones who take care of you when you're sick, they're the ones who calm you down after a fight with your mom, they're with you through the good times and the bad, they're the ones who drive you absolutely crazy yet you love them anyway, and they're the ones who don't care what your room looks like- in fact, they may also be the ones helping you clean out the crockpot that has been growing moldy Ramen for 2 1/2 months. They're the ones who you're an ABSOLUTE JERK to, yet they refuse to leave your side because they know that it's just a phase. And right about the time you think everyone hates you, you find out how many people are really there for you (aka WAY WAY WAY more than you thought). The last, but certainly not least, reason why your friends at college are like a family is: they run downstairs in indecently short shorts and sit at the front desk waiting for you when they recieve a call saying you need to be "guided" to your room, they spend 4 hours at the hospital with you in the middle of the night when they would much rather be sleeping and refuse to accept the nurse's offer of the couch in the waiting room, they're the ones who put you into your pajamas because you're too out of it to do it yourself, they pull your hair back even when you have puke in it, it doesn't even phase them when you lay down in their lap covered in puke, they clean up the floor you puked all over, and they try not to laugh when you get your face stuck in the trash can.
I would like to leave you with a thought to ponder from a University of Oxford postcard:
Why Study?
The more I study,
the more I know.
The more I know,
the more I forget.
The more I forget,
the less I know.
So why study?
Until next time, try not to get into too much trouble :)
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Photos from Christmas Break
Sunset view of the mountains taken along I-76,
somewhere between the CO border and Denver.
Monday morning on my way to Copper
My amazing dog Sonic
Can I come with you?
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Well, isn't life exciting
I would like to thank the 5 people who have voted in my poll so far. However, I think more than 5 people have probably visited my page in like the last 2 weeks.
Saturday I enjoyed 9 hours of sitting at Great Bear because nobody was taking snowboard lessons.
Sunday consisted of driving from Sioux Falls, SD to Leadville, CO. Word of warning: Do not wake up at 6:30 AM with a car that you have not yet packed and expect to get out of there in a timely fashion. By the time that I'd gotten dressed, packed my car, and eaten a Poptart for breakfast, it was 9AM. Then I had a VERY LONG drive through the middle of Nebraska. The drive between the CO border and Dever didn't seem much shorter.
Monday I went to Day 1 of my AASI Level 1 clinic. The day's focus was on instructing. It went well and I got a 96% on that day's quiz (you had to get a 76% or better to pass). For those who don't know what a Level 1 is, it's an instructor certification. Basically it's a way of saying that you have some clue as to how to instruct and as a result you generally make more money.
Tuesday was Day 2 of the AASI clinic. Day 2 is the Movement Analysis day. It was good, but the 1st day was more enjoyable. I got a 94% on that day's test. Then we had a sleepover at Marea's house.
Wednesday, was quite the day. Today was Day 3, the final day of the clinic. The final day is the riding day. However, due to an exciting morning, I did not make it to the clinic and will now have to make it up at another resort. I can't say I have too much to complain about though. I mean, it's a free lift ticket to spend a day riding at another resort. Ok, so on to the excitement. I woke up to approximately 2 deet of fresh snow and IT WAS STILL SNOWING!! It had not yet occurred to me, but Copper would have been miserable because, according to Connor, they had waist deep powder and powder and I do not get along. So, I got dressed, went outside, dusted off my Explorer, and managed to get turned around and headed out of the driveway. Simple enough right? Well, all of the wonderful new snow disguised the railroad ties that mark the edge of the driveway. I managed to straddle the railroad tie with my Explorer. While trying to get out, I slid into a tree which resulted in breaking my headlight & foglight and denting my hood. 3 hours later, after jacking my car up and putting rocks under the tire, I was back in motion. In the meantime, we had gotten chains on Erin's truck. Considering that I had never put tire chains on and Erin was wearing fake nails, it was quite the experience. Then Erin was off on her way, with Randi's keys in her pocket (Randi's car had to move so that Erin's truck could move). Once I was moving again, I drove up to the college, got Randi's keys, returned them to her, and went back to the college to unpack my stuff. Last night, two of the RA's, Jeremiah and Randi, made cookies for the new students (and the returning students that are cool enough to already be moved back into the dorms).
Today, Thursday, has been relatively boring. I got woken up by my auto insurance company calling. Then I made an appointment in Silverthorne to get an estimate on my Explorer tomorrow morning. After that, I went to the bookstore and didn't buy a single book (that's not nearly as exciting as it sounds... it just means that I have to go back some other day). Since then, I have finished unpacking all of my stuff.
Classes start Monday, January 12th. My Monday classes are Ropeway Operations lecture, Events Management, and Public Speaking. On Wednesdays, I have Trail Grooming Operations lecture and Ski Patrol Operations. I am also taking Food and Beverage Management online and am on the waitlist for Snowsports Promotions which is a 1-weekend class in Steamboat.
The first Student Government meeting of the semester is also on Monday. Student Government meets once a week (aka every Monday) for about 30 minutes. It would be great if more students joined, especially since there have to be a certain number of students at a meeting in order to vote on how to spend Student Government money (aka what you pay like $90/semester for).
Saturday I enjoyed 9 hours of sitting at Great Bear because nobody was taking snowboard lessons.
Sunday consisted of driving from Sioux Falls, SD to Leadville, CO. Word of warning: Do not wake up at 6:30 AM with a car that you have not yet packed and expect to get out of there in a timely fashion. By the time that I'd gotten dressed, packed my car, and eaten a Poptart for breakfast, it was 9AM. Then I had a VERY LONG drive through the middle of Nebraska. The drive between the CO border and Dever didn't seem much shorter.
Monday I went to Day 1 of my AASI Level 1 clinic. The day's focus was on instructing. It went well and I got a 96% on that day's quiz (you had to get a 76% or better to pass). For those who don't know what a Level 1 is, it's an instructor certification. Basically it's a way of saying that you have some clue as to how to instruct and as a result you generally make more money.
Tuesday was Day 2 of the AASI clinic. Day 2 is the Movement Analysis day. It was good, but the 1st day was more enjoyable. I got a 94% on that day's test. Then we had a sleepover at Marea's house.
Wednesday, was quite the day. Today was Day 3, the final day of the clinic. The final day is the riding day. However, due to an exciting morning, I did not make it to the clinic and will now have to make it up at another resort. I can't say I have too much to complain about though. I mean, it's a free lift ticket to spend a day riding at another resort. Ok, so on to the excitement. I woke up to approximately 2 deet of fresh snow and IT WAS STILL SNOWING!! It had not yet occurred to me, but Copper would have been miserable because, according to Connor, they had waist deep powder and powder and I do not get along. So, I got dressed, went outside, dusted off my Explorer, and managed to get turned around and headed out of the driveway. Simple enough right? Well, all of the wonderful new snow disguised the railroad ties that mark the edge of the driveway. I managed to straddle the railroad tie with my Explorer. While trying to get out, I slid into a tree which resulted in breaking my headlight & foglight and denting my hood. 3 hours later, after jacking my car up and putting rocks under the tire, I was back in motion. In the meantime, we had gotten chains on Erin's truck. Considering that I had never put tire chains on and Erin was wearing fake nails, it was quite the experience. Then Erin was off on her way, with Randi's keys in her pocket (Randi's car had to move so that Erin's truck could move). Once I was moving again, I drove up to the college, got Randi's keys, returned them to her, and went back to the college to unpack my stuff. Last night, two of the RA's, Jeremiah and Randi, made cookies for the new students (and the returning students that are cool enough to already be moved back into the dorms).
Today, Thursday, has been relatively boring. I got woken up by my auto insurance company calling. Then I made an appointment in Silverthorne to get an estimate on my Explorer tomorrow morning. After that, I went to the bookstore and didn't buy a single book (that's not nearly as exciting as it sounds... it just means that I have to go back some other day). Since then, I have finished unpacking all of my stuff.
Classes start Monday, January 12th. My Monday classes are Ropeway Operations lecture, Events Management, and Public Speaking. On Wednesdays, I have Trail Grooming Operations lecture and Ski Patrol Operations. I am also taking Food and Beverage Management online and am on the waitlist for Snowsports Promotions which is a 1-weekend class in Steamboat.
The first Student Government meeting of the semester is also on Monday. Student Government meets once a week (aka every Monday) for about 30 minutes. It would be great if more students joined, especially since there have to be a certain number of students at a meeting in order to vote on how to spend Student Government money (aka what you pay like $90/semester for).
Friday, January 2, 2009
Things Are Looking Up... Or at least they were
The Trojan.Vundo virus on my brother’s computer is finally no more. After the use of 4 different programs, all of the pieces of the virus are gone.
My black snow pants have re-appeared. They were found in my brother’s room. Apparently my black snow pants (which have hearts and flowers on the butt) look like my brother’s black snow pants (16-year-old boys are well-known for wearing form-fitting snow pants with flowers and hearts, you know).
Sunday afternoon my boss at Great Bear called me to say that he had 3 open shifts that I could work. Then Tuesday night he called with another shift. In the end, I ended up working Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and I work again tomorrow (Saturday).
In the 25 hours that I have worked this week, I've taught 8 hours of lessons. When I'm not teaching, I get excellent practice twiddling my thumbs while getting paid $3.50/hr. The times that I'm neither instructing nor twiddling my thumbs, I spend my time eating. I also managed to finish up my Level 1 study guide.
As far as how my New Year's went... I worked until 8, came home and checked my email, and was asleep by 10. My mom made me waffles Thursday morning though! :)
This coming Sunday, I will be driving out to Colorado. I'm taking my AASI Level 1 Snowboard Certification clinic Monday-Wednesday at Copper. Then Wednesday night, I'm gonna move back into the dorms. Then it's a few days of relaxation before classes resume on Monday, January 12th.
As for the excitement of my Christmas vacation... This afternoon was spent at two different hospitals for a headache that would not go away and that would not respond to painkillers. At the first hospital, I had a CT scan of my head. Then, due to my mother having a stroke 2 years ago, I was told to have an MRI. Since the hospital I was at did not have an MRI machine, I had to go to a different hospital. Then we sat in the Radiology waiting room for an hour. The person on the shift that ended at 4PM may have known about us, but the people on the 2nd shift didn't. Then I had to put on some ridiculous hospital gown which wasn't very warm, sit in another waiting room, and was then taken to the MRI room. Then I enjoyed 20 minutes of magnets traveling around my head, then I was injected with dye (I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE needles!) and enjoyed another 5 minutes of magnets clattering around my head. By the time I was out of the hospital, 2 hours had elapsed and it was dark and colder than it had been earlier in the day.
After that, it was a trip to Campbells to buy a snow shovel, a trip to Sun N Fun to buy snowboard wax, then to Walmart, and then to McDonalds (french fries and pop seem to be the only things that sound appetizing enough to eat).
Now I shall go to sleep since I have to get up in 8 1/2 hours for work.
More next week, bye.
My black snow pants have re-appeared. They were found in my brother’s room. Apparently my black snow pants (which have hearts and flowers on the butt) look like my brother’s black snow pants (16-year-old boys are well-known for wearing form-fitting snow pants with flowers and hearts, you know).
Sunday afternoon my boss at Great Bear called me to say that he had 3 open shifts that I could work. Then Tuesday night he called with another shift. In the end, I ended up working Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and I work again tomorrow (Saturday).
In the 25 hours that I have worked this week, I've taught 8 hours of lessons. When I'm not teaching, I get excellent practice twiddling my thumbs while getting paid $3.50/hr. The times that I'm neither instructing nor twiddling my thumbs, I spend my time eating. I also managed to finish up my Level 1 study guide.
As far as how my New Year's went... I worked until 8, came home and checked my email, and was asleep by 10. My mom made me waffles Thursday morning though! :)
This coming Sunday, I will be driving out to Colorado. I'm taking my AASI Level 1 Snowboard Certification clinic Monday-Wednesday at Copper. Then Wednesday night, I'm gonna move back into the dorms. Then it's a few days of relaxation before classes resume on Monday, January 12th.
As for the excitement of my Christmas vacation... This afternoon was spent at two different hospitals for a headache that would not go away and that would not respond to painkillers. At the first hospital, I had a CT scan of my head. Then, due to my mother having a stroke 2 years ago, I was told to have an MRI. Since the hospital I was at did not have an MRI machine, I had to go to a different hospital. Then we sat in the Radiology waiting room for an hour. The person on the shift that ended at 4PM may have known about us, but the people on the 2nd shift didn't. Then I had to put on some ridiculous hospital gown which wasn't very warm, sit in another waiting room, and was then taken to the MRI room. Then I enjoyed 20 minutes of magnets traveling around my head, then I was injected with dye (I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE needles!) and enjoyed another 5 minutes of magnets clattering around my head. By the time I was out of the hospital, 2 hours had elapsed and it was dark and colder than it had been earlier in the day.
After that, it was a trip to Campbells to buy a snow shovel, a trip to Sun N Fun to buy snowboard wax, then to Walmart, and then to McDonalds (french fries and pop seem to be the only things that sound appetizing enough to eat).
Now I shall go to sleep since I have to get up in 8 1/2 hours for work.
More next week, bye.
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