A Timeless Reality

Whoo I am now officially a member of the Block and Bridle club at Virginia Tech!!! (Block and Bridle is the main animal science club here.) Yeah, sure being a member is cool, but I'm mostly just excited the pledging process is over!!! It was pretty intense (but fun!) at times.

I now have my "B" sitting on my bedpost and not it my backpack where I always had it on hand. I'm sooo glad that I can now stop obsessing about those 2 stinkin pieces of wood and the empty lines waiting for signatures!

Now I can start focusing on the impending finals blah...

Everyone at Virginia Tech gets parking tickets. EVERYONE. I knew this coming here, so I was very conscientious about reading signs before I parked anywhere on campus. I was not going to be one of the "everyone" who gets a ticket. And yet, despite my best efforts, I got a ticket earlier on this semester. I mentioned it here: here.

After I paid my parking ticket, I turned in a written appeal, where I very clearly stated my case and how I did not deserve to get a ticket. A couple of weeks later, I got a letter in response. "We have taken your appeal into consideration and are sorry to inform you that it has been denied. If you would like to schedule a hearing to further appeal your case, please call this number..."

Well. Guess who appealed it further? Yes, that would me moi. It wasn't even about the money. I just wanted justice for crying out loud!!!

So the week before Thanksgiving break, I put on a professional suit, pulled my hair back into a severe bun, and grabbed my little black messenger bag wanna-be-briefcase and headed for a showdown.

Turns out, the people (who were sitting around a big imposing boardroom table eek!) were really nice and polite. I calmly and clearly stated my case (using an opening, 3 main points, and a conclusion like any good persuasive speaker would) in a couple of minutes. The parking service lady then informed me that there were indeed signs, I just didn't understand them correctly (being new to campus and all). Bummer, there went my case. They then complimented me on my politeness and preparedness, then escorted me out, saying that they would mail me their decision in a week.

Yesterday I checked my mailbox to find a letter from parking services. Not expecting much, I opened the letter to a pleasant surprise. They dismissed my parking ticket and are going to give me a full refund!!! YAY I WON!!!! It was my finest moment. (Not really, that just sounded fitting.) So yeah, maybe if I don't get into vet school, I should be a lawyer! :)

Yesterday I went to the orientation for transfer students at Virginia Tech. The students who were leading the orientation were very big on trying to get us fired up about being Hokies. They made sure we knew that a hokie was not just some old turkey, but that the true defintion of a hokie was a student ready to take their place representing Virginia Tech. Here are some of the thoughts that I scribbled down yesterday when I was waiting for my advisor to call my name (but trying not to act as if I was too eager haha).


"You have to flush the toilets manually??? Seriously?!?" That is what came to my mind upon my visit to a Squires bathroom. Apparently Virginia Western's tech-savvy facilities have spoiled me a tad bit. At Western, the bathrooms look like they belong in some upscale hotel, not a community college. Western will teach us "all we need to know to conquer the world"... except how to flush a toilet and turn on a faucet. Interesting.

Coming out of that same Squires bathroom stall, I ran into a girl I know from Western. I didn't even know she was going to VT too! It was amazing how many people I knew, even on a completely new campus! The smiles on familiar faces made the day a little less boring.

By far, the most exciting part of the day was getting my class schedule. I like most of my classes. The majority are introductory animal science classes, but I also have Organic Chemistry. That's the class that scares me-- O. Chem. I've heard over and over how killer hard this class is. A professor yesterday also mentioned that if I bomb (aka make anything below a B) O. Chem, my chances of getting into vet school are pretty much extinct. Great... no pressure, right??

Other than organic chemistry, I'm very excited about sitting in a desk learning about cows' digestive tracts all day. That sounds like fun to me! (Yeah I'm weird!) I'm totally stoked to actually be doing something related to my major for once. This is the reason I sat through English and Economics. This is the reason I am at Virginia Tech. This is my campus, my school, my home away from home.

What's a hokie? I am.