Prospective Freshman

So there are many things that new comers to ISU should know. Here are a few;

1. Schedules: When making your schedule I would suggest making your classes back to back. My first semester I had at least an hour between every class but I never knew whether it would be worth going all the way back to my dorm or not. And if I did go back, often I would not want to go back out and I would end up ditching class. This semester I put my classes back to back and I always get there on time and I almost never ditch class because I'm already out anyways. And also you finish all you classes in just a few hours. Also incoming freshman should NOT expect to have fridays off. It is almost impossible for freshman, or even sophonmores, to have no classes on Friday.

2. Dorm Living: Ok so first of all I would suggest Watterson as a good place to live. Right now I live in Whitten (southside) and the rooms are much smaller and all of my friends live in Watterson because its much bigger. Watterson has a better food court, better dorm rooms and more people. The reason I didn't pick Watterson is because when I went to visit that dorm seemed really confusing and the elevator only stops on every third floor so theres a good chance that you'll have to take the stairs to get to your room, but neither of those things matter, really. Also, if you're planning on lofting your bed I would suggest against it, especially if you live in a small room. It makes the room look a lot more cluttered. Plus I have a loft bed and in my room I am right below the vent, which sucks. Another thing, you will get sick of dorm food real quick. The dining center has pretty good food, and thankfully there are different 'restaurants' with a variety of food, but it still gets old. But Subway is always a good option and your Redbird Card automatically comes with about $150 Flex dollars which you can use to buy Subway or eat at a place in the Bone. Lastly, don't expect to end up BFF's with your roommate. Me and my roommate get along but we are definiely not friends, although it is hard because she always like 10 feet away from me.

3. Bringing a car to college: Everyone told me before I started school that I shouldn't bring my car because I would never use it. Well I ignored tham and brought my car anyways. There are really only 2 different places you can park your car. There is a parking lot on Main St. which you usually would take the bus to. It's only $79 to park there for a year. That is where I park. Then there are parking garages next to each dorm, which are $250 for a year. I am very glad I brought my car. I am the only one of my friends with a car so on the weekends we always take my car to Target or Chipotle or wherever. Plus I go home every few weekends so it's great to be able to drive rather than have to buy a train or bus ticket. And it's really not too difficult to get to my car since the bus picks up at all the dorms at least a couple times every hour.

Hope those would help any incoming Freshman.

Weeds

So about a month ago a couple of my friends brought over the first season of Weeds and said I had to watch it. That night we watched five episodes and from that day on I was hooked. Weeds is on showtime, so I can't watch it in my dorm room, but luckily I can watch it at home and on my computer, which is exactly what I did. I found all four seasons of Weeds on the internet and watched every episode within a week. That's basically all I did.
Weeds is about a widowed mother of two teenage sons who starts dealing pot when her husband died. Throughout the four seasons she has run-in's with the law, unusual relatiionships, and is still trying to raise a family.
I would definitely recommend Weeds. It's a very funny show. Although it's definitely not suitable for kids. Not only is there, of course, a lot of drugs, but there are also very sexual scenes and inappropriate language.
Some other shows I really like are Grey's Anatomy, Brothers & Sisters, Desperate Housewives, etc.

Commercial

The last couple of months I have seen this commercial that really bothers me. It starts off with a man jogging in regular work out clothes. As he runs he says into the camera, "Every year I take my daughter to New York to see a play on Broadway. She gets to pick the play. Daddy gets to pay." The commercial is for Match.com, the dating website. I do not understand this commercial at all. I don't understand how a guy going to a play with his daughter has anything to do with online dating. I've seen this commercial probably a dozen times and yet I still don't get it.
I really don't think the advertisement is fulfilling it's intended purpose because all I'm thinking after I see it is, "That's confusing" instead of, "Wow. I'm definitely gonna use that product." It also wouldn't persuade people to use it because there's nothing exciting about it. There are a lot of different online dating websites, so they should really show something that would made it different than other dating sites.
So I really remember that commercial, but not in a good way.

My life at ISU

I generally enjoy my life at ISU. I live in whitten, which is only ok. The food is pretty good but the rooms are small and all my friends live in Watterson. So I often gind myself walking back from Watterson at midnight because I was watching movies with my friends, which may not be the safest thing.
My roommate is a little quirky but generally alright. We don't talk much, but I think that's ok with both of us. She is a nude model for the art department so she often comes back with lots of... interesting stories. And then there was the phase about 3 months ago where she wanted to sneak a HEDGEHOG into our room as a pet. Luckily that passed fairly quickly. She also enjoys knitting.
I spend most of my time at school doing the following: class, homework, computer, friends. I sometimes get bored with all the freetime, but I hope to find an on-campus job next year.
I am one of the lucky people who has my car on campus. I was told by many people not to bring my car to college because I would never use it, but I disagree. I am the only one of my friends who has a car so we often take it to go shopping or, occasionaly, to dinner. It's also nice because I live a couple hours away so I can drive home fairly easily.
ISU is a perfect distance from my house. Not too far and not too close. I go home about every other weekend. I was choosing between ISU and Northern, which is about half an hour from my home, and I definitely made the right choice.
I am the first born and neither of my parents went to college so when I started picking colleges me and my parents had no idea what we were doing. So I guess I'm pretty luckily I actually made it here in one peice.