As I sit here in my overstuffed leather recliner here in good ol' Vale, Oregon, I can't help but think about what has gone down in the course of my first term of being a Sophomore at Oregon State University. In summation: it was full of misery and suffering of a hellish caliber. We'll get back to that in a moment, however. I'm going to dwell on how awesome winter vacation is. I haven't done a single productive thing since I've been home, and it's been utterly marvelous. You know that boredom you get when you're left alone in a house for days on end? Oh yeah. I have that. AND I'M RELISHING EVERY SECOND OF IT. I think I've worn the same clothes for the better part of four days (pj's, of course). I can't help but think that this is what vacation truly is all about. Well; and if that's the case, CALAN APPROVES.
Anyway, back to school related things. Well! The term started out with such promise. I was bright eyed, and full of a vitality never before seen in that of a Chemical Engineering student. I was going to see it all and do it all by God, and nobody was going to stop me. I had an awesome place I called home, with my best friend in tow. I had two other amazing roommates, as well as some pretty hella cool interior decor. I had just started a job that I knew I was going to love, my classes were all refreshingly challenging... By God, I had the life.
Needless to say, it all went to shit. Oh! Except for the interior decor. It's still pretty badass.
We'll start with the scholastic aspect. My first week of classes were so mundane. With a schedule of Organic Chemistry, Matrix and Power Series (math), Physics with Calculus II, Material Balances/Stoichiometry (engineering), Health, and Ballroom II, it was set to be a pretty simplistic term (end of incredibly blatant sarcasm). And then, suddenly, week two came around, and college got REALLY HARD.
I don't understand. Who said college was going to be so incredibly difficult!? Nobody. Not a SINGLE PERSON told me that I was going to have to work my ass off. I means, SURE I knew I was going to actually have to apply myself for a change... But my GOD! These classes were insane!! Well, save for Chemistry. I skipped about... Nearly all of my classes and still walked away with an A. But that's besides the point. Physics? BLECH. Math? SUPER BLECH. Health and Ballroom? Well... I'm going to count those as irrelevant.
But Engineering... Engineering, I tell you, took the cake. I found myself completely lost. You know that moment when you're sitting in church (for those of you who attend), and you suddenly have NO IDEA as to what's going on? I mean, it could be the most interesting sermon in the world but your mind just starts to wander because it's so damn warm in that room and the pastor has such a lulling voice and then... Whoa hey I have no idea WHAT you're talking about!! .... Or maybe that's just me. Hmmm... Anyway, yeah. That's how engineering was for me. I realized, out of the blue, that I hadn't the foggiest idea as to what in the hell was going on. With ANYTHING. Can you imagine trying to do 10 page long homework assignments on concepts you don't understand? Fun stuff.
I pushed it aside, however, and thought to myself, "You know what, Calan? Just push through. You can do this. With a little bit of studying and extra effort, you can do anything!!" I was as cliche as all get up, and was pretty much exhuming optimism to an unhealthy degree. I walked into my first engineering midterm with my head held high and my chest thrust out in full confidence.
I walked out with a 40%.
40%
For those of you who aren't very academically inclined, this means I FAILED REALLY HARD. There's failing, and then there's super failing. And then there's Calan's engineering grade. Am I being slightly melodramatic? Duh. I'm always melodramatic. But that's besides the point. For someone who was used to getting good grades, this was a slap to the face. And then a kick to the shins. And then a curb stomp. It was bad news bears, to say the least. As I sat there balking at my appalling grade, it finally hit me. I hated engineering. What in the hell was I doing? Not only was the subject matter painfully dull, but I clearly was completely inept at it. I was then supposed to spend the next, well, rest of my life doing nothing but this type of material!? OVER MY TWIG-LIKE BODY! ... Wait...
Anyway, I made a stand right then and there. The very next day, I called up the College of Pharmacy, and said "BY GOD, SCHEDULE ME AN APPOINTMENT!" And they did. I registered for classes as a Pre-Pharmacy major. I realized that I was looking at the Chemistry/Biology combo job all wrong. You don't get there by engineering, as it's all math and physics; of which, I abhor. You get there through making crystal meth in a sketchy at-home pharmacy the pharmaceutical program at OSU.
I immediately dropped my engineering class. I then turned around and changed the grading scheme on my math class to pass/fail. Best two decisions I've made in my entire life. Already, I was unequivocally happier. I floated through the rest of the term academically, and managed to get extraordinarily good grades. Calan = very pleased.
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The other reason regarding the suckiness of my term is actually just sad. No real witty stories, or snarky quips to say about it. I had a falling out with my best friend, of which, is never really fun. That, and I had a lot of stress about issues regarding one of my other roommates. It was just a lot of bad drama that didn't need to be there. It was seriously like a venomous bile that depressed everyone it touched. Yuck.
So that's that. Moving on.
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I'm done talking about the miserable aspects to my term. For all of the bad shit that went down, there were PLENTY of good attributes that came of it. For instance, my job!
A little backstory. I got hired this summer as a Study Facilitator for Academics for Student Athletes. So really, I was a glorified athlete tutor. My job, is to sit at a table with 6-7 student athletes for two hours at a time, Monday through Thursday, and assist them in whatever they may need help with. Whether it be their actual homework, getting registered for class, etc.; I was there to facilitate a good study environment. I'll tell you what, though: I. Love. My. Job.
Seriously. I love it so much. I derive no greater joy than to watch my students succeed at what they do, and watch them flourish as individuals. Does this sound incredibly sappy/sentimental? Yeah. Does this instantly flag me as teacher material? You bet your ass. However, my parents put their metaphorical feet down on that idea RIGHT QUICK. Apparently, I'm destined for a greater profession than sitting behind a desk in some high school screaming Chemistry at kids. COUNTING TYLENOL IN A BI-MART IS FAR BETTER. Digressing... Anyway, I had a Monday/Wednesday group, and a Tuesday/Thursday group. Both of them were full of spectacular kids; all freshman (save for one sophomore) who didn't have the "I'm a badass athlete douchebag" mentality (thank God). If any my athletes are reading this, just know that I couldn't be any more proud of you than I already am.
Anyway. Brian, one of my students (a wrestler), turned out to be in my Organic Chemistry class. It also turned out we knew each other prior to study hall.
STORY WITHIN A STORY TIME (storyception)! Last year in the dorms, I had a good friend, Karli. Karli lived in Poling, and invited me over to visit one day. I came over, and she introduced me to all of her friends in the dorms; one of them being Brian. From that day on, we were those awkward collegiate acquaintances. THE WORST KIND. You know what I'm talking about. Those people you kind of half knew; not well enough to engage them in great conversation, but they weren't total strangers to the point where you could ignore their very existence. We went on with life like that for a while, until we were forced to be lab partners in our gen chem class. At that point, we had upgraded to "person of whom I'd talk to if I didn't know a single other soul in the room" status. Moving up in the world, I'd say.
Fast forward to our first day of O-chem. I found him standing outside our lecture hall, so I casually went up to make good conversation. It included a lot of "dude's" and "man" because frankly, after an entire summer, I had no idea what in the hell his name was. And, it was about to become painfully obvious that he didn't know mine either.
Our first night of Study Hall, he sees me sitting at my table, and comes over to say hi. "Hey, dude!! How's it going!" He excitedly proclaimed. "Oh, it's going just great, pal! What are you doing here?!" I questioned. "Well, I'm in study hall! I'm looking for my facilitator... Do you know where Calan (pronounced cal-an) is?"
...
"Yeah, Brian, I do. That would be me." I... I just couldn't believe what had just happened. Sure as shit, I look down at my roster sheet, and there's Brian's name slapped right at the top. The moment had just reached a new level of awkward. "OH MY GOD!!! ARE YOU SERIOUS!?" He shouted before roaring with laughter. "I thought, for the longest time, that your name was Daniel!"
I honestly had no idea how to respond. I just laughed really hard for a while, and life went on from there. We actually became very fast friends, and worked up one hell of a Super Smash Bros rivalry. He beats me sometimes (.1%), and I destroy him others (99.9%). Good times.
