It's been a long summer, but play time is over, and tens of millions of college students across the country are getting back on the grind. In the past, I sent out a weekly email that kept up-to-date anyone who was interested; I've since done some thinking and have decided that that's what this blog will be for. So for those who care: strap in! And for those who don't: stuff it!
As you might expect, the beginning of the year is the busiest part of the year. Move-in day was a success-- it took all of fifteen minutes to get my junk from the car to 106 Dupont (thanks, Dad), and all of three and a half collective hours to get my friend, Ciera, moved in and set up in her room. Thanks to a John Casper and an Aunt Becky, my walls aren't nearly as bare as they were last year, and thanks to central air-conditioning and a phenomena that no one can explain, my room has become affectionately called "The Arctic." That being said, the winter wonderland that Jonathan and I call "home" has its perks, providing refuge from the oppressive heat that plagues Williamsburg in September.
Fast forward a day, and Honor was driving those of us who had already arrived to Relevant, the church that we attended last year. This was a big event because, last we had heard, the church was pastor-less, and we were curious to see how that situation had developed; to our excitement, an announcement was made that the following week, an interim pastor would preach his first message. The afternoon was filled with the moving in of Ciera's and my roommates. With just about all of my homies back at the college, things were starting to slow down. The Caf started taking swipes, syllabuses were being posted on Blackboard, and textbooks were coming in the mail.
Cue the first day of classes! As expected, many syllabuses were read that day, and my Modern Physics professor shattered my understanding of the world with his first lecture on general relativity. With no surprises so far and no classes left to go in the day, the crew (Ciera, Mars, Jonathan, and myself) all met up to high-five the freshman class as they left Convocation. Fifteen minutes and fifteen hundred freshman later, we met up with Cousin (Jeffrey) and peaced out to make sure that we got good seats at the a Capella showcase happening that evening. Since I'm a super genius, and made everyone hurry over to the concert super early, we were the first ones there. With our choice of seats, we plopped ourselves down front and center. The concert was awesome, and afterwards, I registered to audition at 8:20 PM the next evening for One Accord-- an all-male, Christian a Capella group, I also convinced Cousin to audition, so I wouldn't have to do it alone.
Thursday, my only class was Experimental Atomic, so I had lots of time to freak out about my audition that night. I thought I was done with singing when I graduated from high school, but I decided at some point this past summer that God had me involved in choirs my whole life for a reason and that I would audition for a Christian a Capella group this year. After a stressful three hours with my scary, Russian Experimental Atomic professor, a big dinner, and a hall meeting, I went to the Sunken Gardens to meet up with Cousin and head over to our auditions. Long story short, his meeting ran a little later than expected, so we (literally) ran to Morton, clueless as to which room (or even floor) we were supposed to go to. I stumbled into the waiting room three minutes past when my audition was supposed to start, out of breath from the trek over there. Fortunately for me, they were running late, and a few minutes later, they called me in for my audition. I sang "Danny Boy," air-balled on a few "find the third" exercises, and nailed the "match the pitch" portion. Finally, it was over, and I went back to the dorm to play some Super Smash with Cousin before hitting the hay.
Friday was a big day. After all of our classes were over, "Prof Cousin Ray" swung by Dupont and picked up Jeff, Jonathan, and me for a boating trip on the James River. It was an awesome experience-- he brought along a tube and a skim board as well as dinner for all of us! A few hours and a lot of bruises later, Prof Cousin Ray dropped us off at the dorm. The three of us decided we should check the call back board for One Accord, so we went straight to Ewell Hall, and it turns out I got called back! After staying up far too late with the homies, I got up around 8:00 the next morning to pick a song, practice, and get to my call back by 10:00. I decided on "I Can Go the Distance" from Hercules, so after singing it a few times over to myself (and passing runners) in the forest, I went to Washington Hall for my audition. It went reasonably well, but I decided to keep my expectations low. After a quick phone conversation with Mommy, I met up with some friends at the Caf for our Saturday brunch Bible Study. We're looking at Paul's epistles, taking them two chapters at a time.
Fast forward a few hours, and I'm preparing for the Smash Fest (an event where lots of people get together and play Super Smash Brothers) that Jeff and I were hosting that night in our lounge. Once everything was squared away, I went to my room to wait for the "One Accordions" to come by and tell me if I made it. After two hours of waiting, Cousin took a break from the Smash Fest to give me some updates. About sixty people showed up to play! I was sad that I missed it, but it was worth it when I heard the sound of nine guys singing outside my door-- I made the group! They whisked me away for Buffalo Wild Wings, then eventually returned my to my dorm in time to get a good night's sleep before church the next morning. The interim pastor, Bill, preached a pretty good message at Relevant, and our traditional Sunday brunch was as delicious as ever. Cousin and I also attended RUF (Reformed University Fellowship) and IV (Inter Varsity) on Tuesday and Friday respectively, but otherwise, the week was pretty much classes as usual with occasional homework parties and mini Smash Fests in between.
I'm sure I missed a few things and said too much about others, but I hope this is enough to keep you all in the know! Feel free to comment or email if there was anything you wanted to know more about!
