Thoroughly oriented.

I just got in from the four-day, three-night-long New Student Orientation at LSMSA (which Anneke and I have taken to pronouncing "lismisah" for short). As one may assume, there is a good bit of information that can be drilled into students' brain in four days. However, there are only so many things students need to know about a school, residential or otherwise. Here are the main points they stressed (and re-stressed) during the four-day event:

1. You are going to fail.
Not only are you going to fail, but you are going to get no sleep what-so-ever and gain a freshman fifty-something from all of the cafeteria food (which is surprisingly decent) and ramen you will eat in an attempt to dull the pain of your mind-screwing, college-level classes and several metric tons of homework. But uh, you'll learn a lot.

2. Don't drive your roommate completely insane.
Blaring music in the middle of the night is not always accepted. Not everyone is comfortable with naked. Stealing their stuff and eating their food is not nice, nor is pointedly waking them up when they do not have a class. You probably shouldn't room with your best friend (Anneke and I discussed this: we came to the conclusion that we are at the point in our friendship where we can tolerate each other, however bat-shit insane we may be).

3. Don't smoke pot.

Those are some of the main points covered. But I did attend some pretty amusing and/or intellectually stimulating seminars. I started with one on Kurt Vonnegut taught by Dr. Allen from Duke, Vonnegut's BFF who is also in possession of what is probably the last piece of mail Vonnegut ever sent (postcard addressed to him). My English high was killed, however, with Ms. Mangum's "I Wish the Word 'Math' Weren't in the Name of the School" lecture. Yes, the grammatical error in the title is ironic and yes, Ms. Mangum both amuses and intimidates me to no end. I also went to a seminar on dorm decoration, which mainly consisted of a Student Life Advisor (SLA) telling us what we could and could not stick on our walls and reading Zombie Haiku (which is quite possibly the most simultaneously hilarious and disturbing book ever written, followed by Freud's Interpretation of Dreams. Anneke is spearheading a Zombie Militia Club for next year).

I also met with my academic advisor (who is conveniently the head of the Theatre Department) and signed up for my courses, which include Web Design, Acting I (again, unfortunately), and Stage Production for the fall. In spring I'm taking Creative Writing: Poetry and Literary Non-fiction, Kurt Vonnegut, Body Movement, and hopefully Repertory Theatre (if I make auditions). Some of these that I had to audition for may mean that I'll even be eligible for some badass Arts Focus stuff if I play my cards right. That and my new LSMSA "I heart English" shirt almost is enough to make me forget about all of the math. But for now I'm going to suck it up, practice my functions, and get some social-life in before fall.