On Summer in the City

Greetings, reader-type people!

I moved in yesterday to THIS lovely space:

That's right -- I'm living in a single (well, a single room in a suite) for the next eight weeks while I work at school.  I'll be spending the summer in Richmond for the first time ever, which is both really exciting and kind of bizarre.  As you can tell, I am clearly doing fun things all the time since I am clearly not blogging ever at all ever.

But I'm actually looking forward to the chance to get to know myself and this area/city a lot better over the next few weeks -- I'll get to experience what an actual 40-hour work week feels like (and figure out if I'm cut out for it at all), and hopefully get to spend time with some of my favorite people when I'm not at work.

Looking forward,
Rachel Leigh

On Richmond

In a few days, we'll be loading up the car to take this show on the road, again.  And by "on the road," I mean about 275 miles down south to my second home, the River City, Richmond, Virginia.

Over the last three years, I've heard a lot of people say a lot of things about Richmond.  From my friends in high school who promised they'd send Sherman in after me if I wasn't surviving the South to friends from much further south commenting on how far North RVA really is, I've pretty much heard it all.

Which got me thinking -- Is Richmond really Southern or is it Northern?

On the one hand, Richmond was the Capital of the Confederacy during the Civil War.

And yes, this is what the ACTUAL Confederate flag looks like.  Learn some history, fools.

And trust me, riding down Monument Ave, it's easy to tell that they'll never forget it.  And Virginia itself isn't exactly known for being a beacon of northern ideals, though who doesn't love a little Southern hospitality from time to time?  (Although if you so much as dare to say "Bless your heart" in front of me, we might have a problem.)  Besides, I have never been called a Yankee so many times in my life (you know who you are).

But at the same time, Richmond itself is a relatively Northern city -- more progressive than a lot of its more-Southern counterparts, and I dare you to find someone with a twang.  Go ahead, try.

In a lot of ways, it's almost like this little Northern Bubble inside a very Southern state (and don't get me wrong, the University itself is even more a Northern Bubble (two words: Nantucket. Red.)).  Never truly Northern and never truly Southern, not really belonging to either.

Confusedly yours,
Rachel Leigh

On The Things I Assume About You Based on Where You Study

You know that scene in Mean Girls when Janice and Damien are explaining the layout of the cafeteria to Cady, going around and pointing out all of the stereotypes and social groups?  Of course you do, because it's one of the greatest scenes in a movie that will define our generation.  My school is kind of like that.  And while I could go on for days about the stereotypes about the layout of our dining hall, I have something else to vent about.

With finals right around the corner and the entire population of the school (except the seniors who are so close to graduating that you can physically feel the number of f*cks they do not give) is going to start marking territory around Boatwright like some possessive, tiny-bladdered puppy, it seemed like the right time to do this.  I give you: "Partially-Unfounded Assumptions I Make About You Based on Where You Study"

• Boatwright (the Library): As a general rule, you're checking Facebook more than your textbook and probably using 8:15 and potty breaks as just another excuse to procrastinate.  Then again, so are the rest of us.  But there's more to it than that.
• B2: Aww...the group study area.  Couples that want to be obnoxiously coupley in the not-so-private privacy of the bottom level, a couple awkward study rooms, and the bathroom that people use when they really need to poop and don't want to be around other people.
• B1: Fratstars and the sorority biddies who love them (also known as the B-school in exile).  Also, the socially awkward people who actually WANT to sit and study on the silent floor.  I assume you have no social skills, no friends, and a generally sad future ahead of you.
• First Floor
• Open Area: I get it.  You're here with your sorority fam and you'll get on each other's cases to get work done after you finish catching up on the gossip you couldn't catch up on at chapter, fam dinner, and that time you got lunch like two hours ago.
• Quiet Section: Also known as the "We came here to get shit done" section of the library.
• Second Floor 
• Open Area: Frat guys and loud Internationals.  It's funny that you expected to get work done.
• Quiet Section: No really, who ARE you people?  I'm pretty sure I've never seen you in my life, probably because you never leave this room, and PLEASE stop glaring at me for slamming the bathroom door.  I can't help it that it's so dead silent in here that you could hear a fly land on a table.
• MRC: Don't even pretend you're doing anything other than checking Facebook and watching movies.  I can see your computer screen.
• Gottwald (Science Building): I assume your life is sad, you probably haven't slept in anything other than that chair in the lobby in about a week, and I'm sincerely concerned about the last time you showered.
• The B-School: You couldn't even detach yourself from outside Dean's office door and dress like a college student rather than my 40 year old math professor long enough to leave the B-School to study somewhere else.  You worry me.
• Your Dorm Room: You say "studying," I say "watching Netflix and ordering Jimmy Johns"

So, there you have it.  My in-depth explanations of the extent to which I judge you, based solely on where you could find a place to sit.  See you all in Boatwright, complaining about the temperature as always and sobbing uncontrollably over my Statistics study guide, in a few days.

Finally,
Rachel Leigh  

On Exam Week

It's a Sunday afternoon around 12:30 and you're beginning to wonder where everyone is. Campus is completely deserted except for the occasional resident of the city of Richmond who has wandered over to campus to find a place to walk their dog and, for some reason, pay $8.50 to eat lunch in an overpriced cafeteria. You wander in circles aimlessly, stopping to get some food in said overpriced cafeteria (because meal swipes are cheaper than real money) until it gets to be 1 and you decide to get coffee in the library. It is at that moment, as you close in on a line of 30 people that has somehow formed in the 2 minutes since the coffee shop opened, that you realize where everyone is. The library. And then you remember that it's the day before finals begin and you should probably have spent your weekend doing something more productive that screwing around on tumblr, hopelessly refreshing webcomics, TFMs, and Texts from Last Night, or skypeing. Like maybe studying. Maybe.

...Just finished my last major (non-exam) assignment of the semester, which is due tomorrow at noon! Congratulations to ME!

And, to those of my readers who are:
a) Still reading
b) In college...

Happy Finals Week and Good Luck on Your Exams!

Random Thoughts

It's been a while, anonymous readers! Since then, I've found myself wasting a lot of time on sites like CollegeACB.

Why is it that people get so cruel when they're anonymous? I mean, seriously, the UR CACB page is just a bunch of trash-talking (particularly different sororities and fraternities bashing each other) and people talking smack about each other. I guess another major question is why I read it.


On another note: I REALLY love Blaine on Glee. I mean really. Darren Criss is adorable. And so talented. Have you heard his cover of "Baby It's Cold Outside" with Chris Colfer? It's amazing. Plus, I mean, I fell in love with "Teenage Dream." All. Male. Acapella. It's THE quickest way to my heart, I'm pretty sure.

Sorry. I'm just...guh. In. Love.

Lovingly,
Rachel Leigh

40!

This is my fourtieth post on this here blog. I feel like that's actually a pretty decent milestone, though I find it kind of sad that it took this long to reach this milestone.

So right now, my psyche is in a state of conflict, because the solemnity I felt this afternoon after my trip to the Gay Community Center of Richmond for an exhibit on Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals has been contrasted by the music I have recently been rocking out to, courtesy of:
http://www.onlythefinest.org/
http://www.camelbackmusic.com/
http://www.dirtymexicanlemonade.com/

On the one hand, the trip to the GCCR for the Holocaust exhibit was amazing and sobering. Homosexuals were persecuted under Paragraph 175, a law put in place under Kaiser Wilhelm, which made "indecency" between two men a crime punishable by imprisonment (a repeated theme throughout the exhibit was the fact that lesbianism was virtually ignored by this statute). One of the things that I found the most disturbing about the entire exhibit was the focus on rigid, old-fashioned gender roles under the Nazi regime. They felt the need to reinforce the strength and masculinity of the German man, and blamed homosexuality and feminism for the declining birthrate and declining status of Germany in the world post-war. In the Weimar Republic, both the feminist movement and the gay community in Germany made huge strides, and the actions of the SA party in the Holocaust set both movements back decades. According to both the exhibit and the head of the Student Alliance for Sexual Diversity here at Richmond, the burning of the library of Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, a prominent sexologist in Germany before WWII, set the gay rights movement back almost a century.

...Paragraph 175 remained on the books in Germany until 1969. Similar laws are still on the books, though deemed unconstitutional, in states like Virginia and Texas today.

On the other hand, the bubbly, upbeat, dance-y music I've been listening to for the last few days (weeks) is making it really hard to maintain the sense of solemn respect I had leaving the exhibition.

Conflictually yours,
Rachel Leigh

Just a Random Update / On When You Shouldn't Be Surprised

Wow. It's been almost two weeks since my last post. Sorry, my darling readers! I have been trying to do better, but clearly I've been failing a little. The last five days have been part of a much-needed chance to relax known as Fall Break. Prior to said relaxation, there were about two consecutive Hell Weeks of a rather absurd amount of work and a mid-term that I felt certain I was going to fail, so the break was definitely appreciated.

What can I say about life recently?

Well, first of all, I've been shown the best possible site to check the weather, which I now use religiously. Seriously, check out http://www.thefuckingweather.com/. It makes my day.

I feel like all of my recent posts have been really UR-centric, which I guess makes sense because it's really my whole life now, but I also feel like it makes my blog insanely boring to read. I really hope I'll find other things to talk about.

A friend and I were having a conversation in the dining hall the other day, because we were watching CNN and a story about a lion in a circus mauling a man. We both seemed to agree that there really isn't a reason this should be news. Lions are fierce, ferocious, wild animals. You really shouldn't be surprised that one (even one raised in captivity) would attack someone. COME ON. They're predators. That's what they do. They attack things. Maybe you should be surprised if someone got mauled by a sloth. I mean, that would be unexpected. They're lazy and they're herbivores, so if one went insane and mauled somebody, THAT would be news. But don't be surprised when bloodthirsty predators decide to be bloodthirsty and predatory. That's dumb.

Carnivorously yours,
Rachel Leigh

Even MorOn College

So the last couple weeks have been pretty hectic. I've had papers due left and right (thank you, professor, for making us turn in a two page written assignment analyzing every reading we do for the next 3 weeks. I appreciate that, especially when I have three other classes to do work for), and it seems like I have club meetings or lectures or chances to hang out every time I turn my head. So, needless to say, my blogging (and many other things) haven't gotten the attention they quite deserve.

So today, in between my 10:30 class, which ended early, and my 1:30 class, which I don't need to leave for for another hour, I have gotten in touch with my roots. Namely, I've spent the last hour on RollingStone.com catching up on all things musical. I just finished reading every album review they have posted since July. The fact that I had to go that far back should tell you how badly I've been slacking. The results were about what I expected: mixed reviews on Lady Gaga's Remix album, praise for Brandon Flowers' solo work (while mocking his hair...understandably), and a commentary on Of Montreal's new album that left me incredibly confused about what I might be getting myself into.

I then proceeded to walk myself to D-Hall (the UR dining hall) in the pouring rain (Thank god for new rain boots!), where I have set up shop with my laptop, a bowl of some kind of crab soup that smells delicious but I don't particularly want to eat, and a glass of delicious BLUE DRANK. I had intended to just sit by myself and blog, but a friend of mine and her big walked up and are now eating with me. We've been discussing...poverty! It's really interesting to be discussing this at a school where very, very few people have any conception of going without.

So...needless to say, college has been intertesting thus far.

I'm going to actually interact with the people I'm eating lunch with now.

Don't Stop Believing,
Rachel Leigh

On Things About College I Still Don't Understand

So I've been here for a month now. I had hoped I wouldn't still be really confused by things, but there are some that still persist.

-If lanyards are the mark of a freshman, what do upperclassmen do with their keys? Do they not HAVE keys? Is this possible? ...Actually, given the number of people who don't lock their apartments (HELLO TICKLER), that's actually a pretty reasonable assumption.

-Was the person who numbered the apartments on crack? So 1300 and 1400 are over here...but 1500 is on the other side of the apartment blocks? And 100 is somewhere in between? Knowing WHERE the apartment blocks are does not keep me from being deeply concerned about the logic behind numbering them.

-In a similar vein, why is the Health Center over by the apartments? Upperclassmen are far more likely than underclassmen to have cars. So let's put it close to the people who CAN drive, and force the people who can't to walk their sick/injured selves to the Health Center from across campus? Does this make sense?

-Why is the bathroom in the Quiet Study Section of the library? Doors slamming, toilets flushing, and god forbid if someone is sick... Let's put one of the most disruptive activities in the entire library right where people are trying to work quietly! That's a great idea, right?

-A question which I believe still confounds seniors: Why are 8:15 (the on-campus coffee shop) and Tyler's (on-campus fast food stuff) closed on weekends, when they could be making a lot of money from hungry/caffeine-craving people?

I'm not pretending to be the most logical person in the world, but this complete lack of logic in these areas completely confounds me. If anyone can explain, I'd love it.

Confusedly yours,
Rachel Leigh

On The Freshman 15

Maybe it's because I go to one of the fittest colleges in the country [ranked #10 in 2006...I have yet to find a more recent list (http://www.mensfitness.com/college_rankings/79 )] or because of personal behaviors, but to be honest, I'm not especially worried about the Freshman 15.

The food in the dining hall is relatively healthy and (kilo)calorie counts are pretty easy to access. I live RIGHT next to the on-campus fitness center, which is open (and, weirdly enough, in use) until midnight every night. Seriously, I've seen people in there at 11 at night. I regret to admit that I haven't yet used it, but to be honest, I really don't feel like I need to.

I walk everywhere on campus, and with the exception of a small portion of the population, so does everyone. Except when the GreenUR bikes are around. Then you see lots of kids on bikes. Because they're faster. (Drunk kids on bikes are funny. Really funny.) It also helps that the farthest walk I usually have to make in a day is actually to the Dining Hall. It keeps me from walking there to bored-eat, which has always been a problem, AND it helps burn off the calories I consume while I'm there.

To be honest, most college campuses are at least as big as this one, and it surprises me that there are so many people who gain a lot of weight their freshman year. I...don't see that happening to a lot of the people here.

We are fitness (Hannah!),
Rachel Leigh

More On (but not Moron) College

So, as a proud college student, I feel the need to talk about some things about being a proud college student in my blog.

In my previous post, I referenced being a Westhampton College student. Which, to some people, produces a "lolwut" response because, well, I'm a freshman at the University of Richmond. When originally founded (like most colleges), Richmond was an all-men's college. In 1914, they decided to incorporate a women's college into the University: Westhampton College. To this day, though classes, housing, and most activities are now not separated by gender, the women entering UR enter Westhampton College and the men enter Richmond College. The things that stayed separate? The deaneries, the student government, and a lot of the traditions. For example, the girls have a tradition known as Proclamation Night which is apparently a pretty big deal, but I don't quite understand it yet. Maybe I'll elabor (credit: Max) after Proclamation Night once I understand it more.

Other things about college:

Well, I just left the URMUN (University of Richmond Model United Nations) interest meeting. There are SO many interest meetings. Last week there was a Student Organization Fair and I, like most freshmen, signed up for about 10 different clubs. I do not fool myself into believing I will be able to participate in every single one. I will feel accomplished if I manage to participate in like...3. But it's just insane the number of things there are to do: activist groups (UR Body, UR Choice; Dems; Global Health), fun things (like Ballroom Dancing, which I wish didn't conflict with my Wednesday night class), general nerdliness (URMUN, Quidditch, etc), and...about a million other things. Like Meditation Club. Which sends out really funny emails. There is literally just more stuff to do than I previously imagined possible. Which is funny, because there are other things that have to have time, too.

...Like class. I have it pretty easy most days. Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday I only have one class. Friday I have two. But Wednesday? The same day that they have Ballroom Dancing, which I really wish I could participate in? Well, I have three classes on Wednesday. One of which runs from 6:30-9:30 every Wednesday night. Head, meet desk. Desk, meet head. The rest of the time, I love my schedule, but Wednesdays, I want to kick small children.

What I find with college stuff is just that I have so much I want to talk about, and so little of it that fits with what I'm trying to say. There is no overarching, deeper theme to this post. It's just college.

Future posts (honestly, this list is as much for my reference as yours, because I don't want to forget what I wanted to talk about):
-When really awesome/important people come to UR and what I think about it
-Why I'm not worried about the Freshman 15
-Probably some reflections on things I've learned in class

...Speaking of, my classes:
-Introduction to Public Policy
-Introduction to American Government
-Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies: Sexual Violence and War
-First Year Seminar: Shakespeare and the Politics of Leadership

...yeah, it's awesome.

Cheese and rice (the topic of the last Meditation Club email),
Rachel Leigh

On Freshmeat

So, this is the first time since having left for the University of Richmond (UR, Richmond, U of R, and any number of bad puns involving the abbreviation "UR") that I have taken a seat and flipped open my laptop with the intention of putting my fingers to the keys to blog.

I have been a college freshman for almost 3 weeks now. And everyone on campus can tell. Forget the obvious trademarks of the Class of 2014 (or, traditionally, any freshman class): an overabundance of lanyards, the green Westhampton College (I'll explain this in a later post) t-shirts (our class color), that predominant look of complete confusion and disorientation when you stumble outside of your normal stomping ground. And don't even get me started on the troves of lost freshmeat wandering around the University apartments, completely lost. Guys: there are maps. Find them. Learn them.

The fact of the matter is that, while I've tried to overcome these obvious freshman-markers, there are other things. Like, for example, the fact that I have braces. In college. I met a girl the other night who said it was cute and reminded her of Indonesia, because apparently it's a trend there to have braces into your 20s?

I just wish it weren't so obvious. It's like having a target placed on my back that says "I'm new, I have no idea what's going on. Please, take advantage of this." It's frustrating.

In future posts:
-Why I'm a Westhampton College student and how coordinate colleges work
-When REALLY Important/Awesome People Come to Richmond
...and more

Ta for now,
Rachel Leigh