Student Life at Puget Sound

Following the trend, this being my first post, I suppose I should say a bit about myself and what I do at Puget Sound.

First things first, My name is Matt Anderson. I am a sophomore English/Creative Writing major. After earning my B.A., I would like to go into journalism and work for a major daily newspaper (or whatever medium is left at that point). Currently, I’m one of two Managing Editors for the campus newspaper, The Trail — last year I was the News Editor. I’m also from Tacoma and have written for The News Tribune as well as The Herald, located in Puyallup.

At this point in the school year, I think everyone is getting used to either being back at Puget Sound or arriving for the first time. In either case, I hope everyone has been doing really, really well in the first few weeks of classes — I know I’ve hit some snags (particularly in my major author study on John Milton), but such things are to be expected. So for now, all I really have to say is this: Welcome, or Welcome back! And, be assured, more is to come.

Hello,
This is my first post and I am really excited! So I will tell you all a little about myself.
My name is Maureen and I am from the grand state of Oregon! I went to private schools up until high school, and I played water polo, ski raced and swam. My father is a Puget Sound alumni and so is my older cousin. So I am happy to carry on the tradition. I am a politics and government, comparative sociology double major and looking to go to law school soon after graduation. I am also a member of Alpha Phi sorority and RDG.
I love coming back to school and seeing wide eyed freshman embarking on a journey I took three years ago, as much as I love the idea of graduating this year I miss the feeling of new experiences everyday and living in the dorm. Well maybe I don’t miss that too much.
This semester is going to be insane, with 2 thesis classes, working, sorority and club commitments. But I love staying busy and enjoy that Puget Sound offers so many ways to get involved.
So I have made a list of things I need to do before I graduate so here they are, it will expand as the year goes on and I will update to let you all know what I have accomplished
1) Go to Presidents house dinner
2) Hike near/around Mt. Rainer
3) Kayak in the Sound
4) Go up the space needle again
5) eat a hamburger and fries in the sub….yes I have NEVER eaten a burger and fries there!
6) Go the the Puyallup fair
7) meet people in my year I don’t know
Go skiing in Washington. more than once
SO hopefully some of these things will be accomplished and I can feel like I left Puget Sound really doing all the things on my list. Its a Puget Sound bucket list, if you will.
So best of luck to everyone on classes, study hard!

Hello everyone! It is the end of the second week at school, but it feels like it’s been an eternity. It will be four weeks tomorrow since I got here but I came early for orientation– and it still feels like longer than that!

Last night I finished all my homework that’s due all the way up until Tuesday and I’m feeling QUITE accomlished and proud! Today I’m auditioning to choreograph for RDG, and if we make it, I’ll have to do dancer auditions and then place dancers and it will take literally all day Sunday. So I figured I’d better get things done. I was tired all week (and it was only a four-day week!) and I don’t want to be dying in class on Monday.

Every day this weekend was a mix of happiness and stress, satisfaction and angst. I gave a fake tour to practice for tour guiding, and that was fun. I’ll give my first tour Monday! Some of my fellow Perspectives leaders and I always get lunch on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, so that’s been fun. I had a bit of frustration with my Spanish assignments this week, and I was stressing about finishing all my homework because of RDG this weekend. I didn’t end up applying for the Trail, which I’m kind of sad about, but I have too much going on to handle the time commitment. Hopefully I can just start up again next semester. On Wednesday, Colleen (one of my roommates this year and my roommate last year) took me to a local ballet studio and I checked it out and talked to the lady and got a schedule, and it looks great! I’m going to my first class this Wednesday. There was a beginning pointe class warming up when we were there and so we watched, and I just wanted to run onto that lovely marley floor and jump in and do the exercise with them! And my theater class is continuing to be amazing. On Thursday we did a free write for ten minutes about a favorite place, and it was so nice. I’ve loved to write since I was young, and I have countless notebooks filled with my writing, but since I got back to school I haven’t had much time to do it. Those were the best ten minutes of my week. So that was nice, and we’re going to write our own monologues soon and I’m excited about that!

One of my best friends just called me upset abou something. It’s times like these when it’s hardest to be away. I want to be at her house so badly! My friends from home and I have a really uniquely strong bond. It’s hard to describe. And we all want to be there for her now, but we’re spread out everywhere. Usually I don’t miss home that badly, but sometimes I just feel like I need to be there. Also… well I should back up for this story. There are eight of us in my group of best friends at home and one of them, Amber, came to Puget Sound too. So we’re each other’s constant; we never have to miss each other. And when we do, it’s weird. Haha. Anyway, Amber’s mom is here to visit right now and I saw them in the SUB this morning and it was very strange. I didn’t know they were going to be in there and suddenly there was a piece of Santa Rosa in the SUB!

On a happier note, it is ridiculously warm outside today! Actually, the last time I checked it was sixty-six, but it feels ridiculously warm. It’s weird how I can acclimate to Tacoma weather so quickly. I’ve been here for four weeks and the high sixties feels boiling! Our room is especially warm because it’s on the fourth floor.

Well, I’m going down to the sub with Amber and Michelle now. And then auditions… crossing my fingers!

Hi! This is my first post (obviously) so I’m not really sure how to get started but I’m sure I’ll figure it out. I guess I’ll tell a bit about myself and then I’ll just start talking about my student life!

So I’m a sophomore here and I’m so excited to be starting the new school year. I had a great summer back home in Santa Rosa, California (it’s in the Bay Area, in Sonoma County, about forty minutes to an hour north of San Francisco depending on traffic). I was a camp counselor at the same camp I worked at the summer before, which was so fun and rewarding, and I got to spend all my time with my family and my best friends, which was great. I was a Perspectives orientation leader here so I’ve been back since August 15. We had five days of training followed by ten days of orientation for the first-year students. It was so fun and such an amazing experience. I met so many new people– I have a Perspectives family now! It was so great to help all the freshmen, and all we leaders agreed we really grew from the experience. But it was basically non-stop for two weeks so I haven’t had very much time to talk to my friends at home or hang out with my friends who were already here. Then before I could get a break, school started! And today and tomorrow I had/have tour guide training at 6:45 in the morning, so I’m pretty much doomed to be tired until this weekend. At least everything I’m doing is enjoyable. This semester, I’m taking Spanish Contemporary, Intermediate French, Econ and Theater. I’ve only had one class of each but so far I’m really excited about everything.

Aside from classes, there are a bunch of activities I plan on being involved with. I’m only slightly worried about how I’m going to fit everything in. I managed just fine last year with my many obligations, but I’m putting a little more on my plate this semester so we’ll see how that goes. Right now I’m worrying about RDG (Repertory Dance Group). I’ve done ballet for eleven years and so of course I joined RDG when I got here as a freshman, and now I’m trying to choreograph a dance for this semester! It’s basically done but I have my doubts about it and the choreographer meeting is on Saturday, which kind of scares me.

Right now I’m in my room studying with friends, but I’ve miraculously finished everything already so I can just shower and review a few French conjugations before bed. I live in a quad on the fourth floor. It’s not a whole floor so it’s called the tower, and we have a huge room. I really enjoy being in here and there’s lots of space so people can come over. We have a rocking couch that my roommate Michelle found at an antique store and it’s in this little nook with a TV and near the fridge and microwave. It’s quite comfortable and our friends usually come up in the evenings to study with us.

Well, today is Thursday. I wrote the preceding stuff yesterday. The week is almost over and I’m glad. I’ve basically been sleep-deprived for the last three weeks, thanks to Perspectives and then tour guide training early in the morning two days this week. Labor Day weekend couldn’t come at a more opportune time. We definitely need an extra break after the first week of school. There’s always a lot of class-switching and stuff– yesterday and today I tried to get into a new class and drop another, tried to get into another class and then changed my mind after rather a lot of folderol, added and then (probably) scrapped a second minor and talked to my advisor (who was very helpful, as usual)– and it’s just stressful. But now, having had a productive and successful day, I am in quite a good mood. My french and econ homework only took me like twenty minutes and I don’t have anything else due until next Tuesday. Everything is starting to fall into place, and I’m excited. Next week I’m going to check out an off-campus ballet studio, so I’m really hoping that works out. I miss ballet a lot, as great as RDG is. Applications for the newspaper, The Trail, are due and RDG auditions are that weekend. Also, I’m starting to work out everything for study abroad, which I plan on doing spring semester junior year.

Well, I think I’ll work on some study abroad stuff, or wash my hair. More next week!