Bloomsburg University. Day Four.

So I know I keep talking about how early I'm waking up each day, but today I set my alarm clock one hour early and was excited to wake up at 6:00. No, I'm not crazy, and I'm not sick--today I started training for cross country!! I ran around campus and to upper campus, to the track, which is where outdoor track PSACs were hosted last year. It's where I ran my best race ever, and being back there today was definitely inspiring. I remembered where I was before my injury and I'm determined to get back there this year. The fact that this was the first day of training for my senior year made it all the more symbolic.

And when I say it was called Upper Campus, I MEAN upper!!! Had to run up a hill that was about half a mile to get there. But by the time I was at the track I had an incredible view.

So after my run and trip down memory lane it was barely 7:30 and the day was just beginning!

After a last Media class talking about privacy policies on social networking sites, taking the midterm, sitting through one last Music lecture, and finishing up the last of the quizzes, we're done with our work until we get to Europe! We still have work to complete, but we won't have anymore sit-down classes or lectures!!

Right now we're having a movie night watching Amadeus, which is the story of Mozart so it fits in with our Music class.

But tomorrow's the big day--they day we leave!!! I cant believe we're actually going!! I get giddy whenever I think about it. I won't miss the food or non-air-conditioned dorm, but I've had an amazing time here at Bloomsburg. I know there are only more exciting things to come :)

Until next time.

P.S. Here's a funny video we watched in our Media class!

Bloomsburg University. Day Three.

It's amazing how quickly I've gotten adjusted to the routine here at Bloomsburg--early to rise, to eat, and class alllll day.  Media class was pertty interesting today--we spent some time talking about how media can distort reality.  We looked at images from the OJ Simpson case and how different magazines took the same picture and photo-shopped it to create different perceptions and messages that correlated with the magazine's spin on the case.  The media can also especially affect cases of self-image and self-esteem. We watched a few of the Dove Beauty campaign videos--this one below in particular emphasizes just how misleading media images can be.

After lunch I went exploring around Bloomsburg's campus with some new friends.  Up until then somehow I'd only gone from the dorm to the dining hall to class, but I really wanted to see what the rest of the campus looked like.



 

It was sweltering hot outside, so it was a bit of a relief to go inside the air conditioning for Music class. We spent most of the class going through the history of musical movements and different composers. Not necessarily the most interesting stuff in the world, but we got through the three hour lecture.  

I spent most of the night working on quizzes for both classes (9 for Music and 2 for Media). Not to mention studying for our midterm for Media the next day. Studying for the midterm with this group of people was incredible--we all met up together in the common room of the dorm and reviewed the chapters for the test as a group. I don't think I could ask for a better group of people to be departing with on this trip.

Tomorrow's the last day of classes--can't believe this part of our journey's nearing its end already!!

Until next time.

 

Bloomsburg University. Day Two.

Another early start today. My body seems to be overly excited to get the day rolling, as this is the second time I've woken up a good 45 minutes before my alarm was set to go off. At least it's better than oversleeping.

This morning our Media class was back at the library, where we discussed media literacy more in depth, as well as analyzed the cognitive, emotional, aesthetic, and moral dimensions of Justin Timberlake's music video for "Suit and Tie". I also tinkered around with the website I'm working on creating--I've entitled it "i run europe" and it will detail my adventures as a cross country athlete training abroad, complete with entries on my runs in each city with accompanying pictures. I can't wait to get started running in just a few days!

Music class today was a bit more interesting--at least in my opinion. We moved away from the more basic musical concepts ans spent some time talking about the different performances we're set to see and related that back to what we're learning. The class is geared towards the art of listening to music, and that's an angle I hadn't really thought about before yesterday. 

The fountain on the quad, which I walk by to get to both of my classes

It was absolutely beautiful out today, completely opposite the dreary rain and clouds we had yesterday. It almost hit 90! I was definitely loving wearing shorts and sandals again, and even got to pull out my Superfest sunglasses!

Fiiiinally tonight after dinner we got to watch The Sound of Music!! I'd been looking forward to this all day,  as we're going to be in Salzburg where the movie was filmed and go on a Sound of Music Exhibition! After watching the movie and seeing the beautiful scenery once more I'm only that much more eager to embark on our adventure!!!

So now I'm back in the dorm singing Edelweiss in my head, thinking about hills that are alive, and the plethora of music quizzes waiting to be taken. I did 6 last night, but there are still 10 left to do!

Until next time.

Bloomsburg University.  Day One.

After living in an apartment for the past year, it was a blast from the past of sorts to wake up in the dorm here at Bloomsburg.  Sure, I'm a student at Millersville University, but Northcumberland Hall is reminiscent of any residence hall: too-firm matresses, fluorescent lights, a long maze of hallways, and of course those beautiful bathrooms.  But unlike the typical college student, I'm more than thrilled to be staying in this dorm.  Because staying here in Northcumberland for these next four days means I am a part of the PASSHE Honors Summer Grand European Tour.  And I'm thrilled to go to Europe.

My lifeline for the week -- ID pass to eat at the Husky Lounge and get into the dorm

Today was our first full day in the program.  We started the day off working with the QUEST organization at Bloomsburg, getting to know the people we'll be living, learning, and travelling with for the next three weeks.  We played name games, communication skills activities like lining ourselves in birthday order without speaking, trust exercises playing with mouse traps, and wacky activities like navigating blindfolded people around obstacles and balancing all 28 of us on a very limited wooden box...or attempting to at least!  Needless to say, we were all laughing by the end and felt a lot more comfortable around one another.

Later on in the afternoon, the real work began.

The trip to Europe is centered around two courses: Music of Western Europe and Global Media & Society.  First up was Music, where we had Dr. J for a 3 hour long class jam-packed with basic music concepts.  Dr. J definitely knows a lot about music, and you could tell he enjoyed what he taught.  He showed us YouTube clips of the different sorts of things he was talking about so that we could actually listen for the examples in the music.  He also made sure to vouch for the cello throughout his lecture, his instrument of choice.  Somehow we got through 5 chapters of material in just 3 hours, although Dr. J made it known he was hoping for 6 chapters. Oh well, I'm sure he'll make up for that tomorrow.

I was really looking forward to our Media class, which we had later on in the evening after dinner at the Husky Lounge.  Dr. Magolis seems like a pretty cool prof who went through different avenues of schooling and careers before finally arriving at teaching at the university level.  I'm someone who doesn't necessarily use the computer for much more than school and Facebook, but I've always been interested in what else you can do--this blog for instance.  I'm actually writing this as an assignment for class, but I'm hoping to give more to it than just something to check off a list and get a grade; I want to be able to look back on this summer and everything I'm going to experience.

Already we have lots of work to do--particularly 6 online quizzes for the Music class. Woo!  These next few weeks are definitely going to be a whirlwind with the condensed workload for taking two classes, not to mention traveling to 5 cities throughout 3 countries!!

So we'll study hard now, put a lot of the work in, so that when we leave for London, Salzburg, Vienna, Venice, and Rome, we can focus on being fully emerged in the culture there and enjoying what I'm sure will be an unforgettable Adventure Abroad.

Looking forward to another busy busy day tomorrow at Bloomsburg.

Until next time.