It’s rather narrow, but it’s also long. Here is a map, if you’d like to see. In my old dorm toward the south end of campus, it could take me up to 10 minutes to walk to class on main campus, and 30 minutes or more to walk to Campus North. (I’m a pretty fast walker, but the school is built on a mountain, and there are two hills, meaning that no matter which way you walk along the main road, you’ll have to walk uphill at least once.) Also, there are 10,400 students on campus, and there is only just enough space for us all, meaning that there are always a lot of people around, around which extra time to navigate is required. Since they added a bus system, that 30-minute walk is down to a 5-minute bus ride, and there are stops at all the main classroom buildings (DeMoss Hall, Religion Hall, and Campus North), as well as one near my old dorm (28 ) and one right in front of my current dorm (5*). A separate bus line runs between DeMoss, Religion Hall, Campus North, and Campus East (more dorms).
*If you look at the map, you’ll see why I moved dorms… it’s only 5 minutes or so to class, and I’m right above Vines Center, where we have our three-times-weekly chapel service.
KyrieEleison: Yeah, it was the same at MSU. 45 bucks for a bus pass saved you from a world of pain, not to mention snow-encrusted jeans and sweaty jogs to class with a 15lbs. bag of text books.
The cata buses are awesome. State has one of the largest dorm system in the county and about 16,000 kids on campus, but the buses almost never failed us. Here’s a map of MSU.
I lived in Homles and McDonel halls. There’re in the far right column, middle row square. Kresge, the art building, was only about a 5 minute bike ride. But with one of those massive folios I tended to take the bus and walk back.
I’m freaking out. Orientation’s Thursday and the only one available to drive me there is my grandpa, who drives incredibly slow and will insist he knows exactly where he’s going when he really doesn’t and I’m never gonna find the stupid building and gAAH!!!
Great.
I’m on the verge of a nervous breakdown again.
Mitch: Thank you for your advice- I’m big on pretending so I’ll try to look at it all like an adventure. ^^
FONY - Why don’t you leave really, really, extra early so that even if your grandpa drives slow, you’ll be there on time? That’s what I do - tell someone that something starts a lot earlier than it does, especially with people who are habitually late. And as for finding the correct building, is there a map on the school’s website? You could also use a website to plan your route to the school beforehand…
I just finished my last day of school as an exchange student in Perth, Australia. I didn’t really do any actual work for the month I was here, so it was actually a lot of fun. I took Drama, which unfortunately turned out to be a joke of a class; Ancient History, which was all Greek to me; German, which I didn’t speak a word of when I got here and now speak maybe five words of; Introductory Calculus, which I took last year back home; Physics, which I’m taking at school back home this coming year; and English Literature. English Lit highlighted the differences between school here and back home the most, at home I’m so used to literature being a class comprised of a lot of class discussion, yet here the teacher pretty much spent the whole class lecturing us on how we ought to interpret the work. Really weird, and disappointing, experience for me, that class was. I also had to wear a school uniform for the first time in my life, which was… interesting. All in all, though, I enjoyed myself, made some friends, and basically decided that my school back home is better.
I’ve got real school starting ten days after I get back home, too, but I don’t want to think about that…
Bet that was an experience for you DElf. I bet that must have been odd for you wearing a uniform. It’s part of our british heritage and also because studies show that students actually learn better or something like that if they wear a uniform.
As for the english class, I guess it could just be the difference in teacher’s. I’m not familiar with the W.A. Syllabus so I can’t really explain further what it could be.
Not really what I xall dedication rachel. I would like to think of it as excitement, nervousness, etc. Yes I love school! (there I said it!) And thanks.
Oh, DElf, you gotta love having a school uniform- there’s something to burn when you finish school! It must’ve been an amazing experience though, seeing what it’s like in Australia. I’m pleased you had a great time. :
lizardgirl: I actually didn’t find the uniform as bad as I thought I was going to, although knowing that I’d only have to put up with it for a month certainly helped. On our last day the other exchange student and I wore cargo pants and t-shirts from our school back home. Surprisingly, we got away with it, too.
vim: I don’t think the poisonous thingies are quite as common during the winter, thankfully. I didn’t get to really see any outback stuff, but I’d seen some of that two summers ago. This time I got to be on the Indian Ocean, which I’d never been to before. Lots of crazy surfer dudes. But I did get to go to an absolutely beautiful island a few miles offshore, so I’d say that counts as seeing the country.
I got my results a few hours ago, along with 600,000 other people my age. I can’t describe the relief I’m feeling right now. Pretty much everyone I know did better than they had expected, with all of my friends getting straight passes. Somehow, I’ve pulled off 6 A*s and 5 As. I honestly can’t believe it. I just can’t stop crying! And to top it off, in English Lit, my results are in the top 5 of the country. This has got to be a dream or something! Oh, thank god it’s all over. No more worrying! Just relaxing now.
Welp, I can start out by saying that homeschooling is a lot more flexible than regular school. I can take breaks whenever I feel inclined - heck, I can take whole days off. However, I try to be mature and get my work done. It’s mine and mine alone future, after all.
Some of my home-schooling buddies are a little more liberal at taking breaks than I am. One is still on first quarter work of last year right now. No lie. Another “graduated” from his senior year still doing his sophomore work. Heheh. Not good.
Well I’m homeschooled just like Gasduude, and I start school this Monday, I’m going to be junior in high school, don’t except me to on near as much as I was this summer.
Who here besides me think summer breaks are getting shorter?
Well, 3rd year in what’s supposed to be a 2 year community college, no degree in sight. Hopefully that will change. Unfortunately my plans to go to art college fell through because I cant afford to pay for it right now. So back to community college for another year. I plan to switch my major to Web Design next semester though. My classes this semester were just a back up in case my art college fell through, and when I registered for them in May, that’s the kind of classes I picked:
Art Drawing I (hopefully the teacher wont make me feel like a terrible artist like they did in high school. That’s mostly why i’ve been apprehensive about taking college level art classes)
Intro to Mutlimedia Computer (which i dont need, but was a prerequiste for a lot of their other computer classes)
Intro to Business (online course)
US History since 1945 (big improvement on the textbook this year since it mentions the Beatles. my world history since 45 from last year didnt mention them at all. Also an online course)
I didn’t really do any actual work for the month I was here, so it was actually a lot of fun. I took Drama, which unfortunately turned out to be a joke of a class; Ancient History, which was all Greek to me; German, which I didn’t speak a word of when I got here and now speak maybe five words of; Introductory Calculus, which I took last year back home; Physics, which I’m taking at school back home this coming year; and English Literature. English Lit highlighted the differences between school here and back home the most, at home I’m so used to literature being a class comprised of a lot of class discussion, yet here the teacher pretty much spent the whole class lecturing us on how we ought to interpret the work. Really weird, and disappointing, experience for me, that class was. I also had to wear a school uniform for the first time in my life, which was… interesting. All in all, though, I enjoyed myself, made some friends, and basically decided that my school back home is better. 
It must’ve been an amazing experience though, seeing what it’s like in Australia. I’m pleased you had a great time. :
But I did get to go to an absolutely beautiful island a few miles offshore, so I’d say that counts as seeing the country.