OMOA - The Meet-n-Greet

The Official Schedule:
2nd - AP US History (yr)
3rd - Early English Literature (sem) / Modern English Literature (sem)
4th - AP Economics (sem) / AP Macroeconomics (sem)
5th - free period
lunch
6th - Pre-Calculus (yr)
7th - TA (sem) / [AP] Amer. Government (sem)

We are now past week one of OMOA, dubed The Meet-n-Greet. I feel, at the end of the first full 7 days, as if I've been back to school for a much longer time. Never before has the phrase "hit the ground running" been the truth. I'm tempted to say I've hit the ground sprinting.

AP US History is with Mrs. Wisecarver, nicknamed Wisey. She knows all! So far we've had a quiz on chapter one and I have a quiz on chapter two come money. I find US history interesting, but the text book couldn't make it any more boring that it already has. I've been putting it off and off. I don't even want to go near the dumb thing. I'm in a class with juniors (only juniors take the class) so I feel beyond odd - almost like I should know everything and I don't.

Early English Lit with Mr. Worley is almost a joke. It is a lot like a skate through english class. The only other option is AP English and I don't want that work load. That would be 5 AP tests on my plate! No thank you. I don't know anyone in the class, which doesn't really bother me, but it's no one in my "group", which means that everyone uses the class for a social period. It's only week one and I'm already poised to strangle the 'blonde' who sits next to me.

AP Econ with Mrs. McCollum is shaping into my favorite class by far. I enjoy her structure because she treats it much more like a university class and let's us take responsibility for everything. The subject itself interests me as well and for the first time we are learning something entirely different from scratch. It is great.

Pre-Calculus with Mr. Livingston is a busy-work like class for me. The sad part is that I can't even fly through it. The 'review' is horrible. We are suppose to be "dusting off the summer cobwebs." Ho boy, let me tell you, there isn't anything to dust cobwebs off of. I couldn't refresh anything if I tried - it went stale way beyond the expiration date.

I TA (teacher assistant) for Mrs. Dikes in her reading class (really, really low level english) with two juniors. So far I've graded papers for an hour for five days straight.

All is going well. I'm having a hard time adjusting back to the American way, if you will. Homework is crushing me and I only have four academically challenging classes!! Most of it is just a lot, and I do mean a lot, of studying and memorization. One would think that would be easy, but when you are shoving four different subjects up there, there really are only x amount of hours in the day. I've figured though, that if I break for the bathroom once, eat twice, and sleep -8 hours, then I should be able to fit everything in...

A/N: My camera, which broke, has been fixed, free of charge, and should be rtb sometime this coming week!

Gone is the Summer

Where in the world has the summer gone? If you find it please return it to Jennifer Moore at (360) 929-4464 and you just might get a very handsome reward.

Today, 16. aug 2009 at 15.55, marks the ending hours of our last weekend of freedom. We start the first invassion at 1100 on 17. aug. Dubbed Operation Locker Recovery, we battle it out for a locker and bless our lucky starts in hopes that there are some extras. If worse comes to worse, we take it up with the school to fight for seniority rights amongst the Overlords (administrators). It is imperative that we accomplish this mission. The ability to accomplish other missions rests on the success of this one.

Operation Make it Out Alive (OMOA), the key to our success, will commence 0735 on 18. aug 2009. Only united against our oppressors, overlords and pedagogues alike, will we prevail through these troublesome times.

The summer has come to quite a shocking end. It seems like just yesterday I arrived back to CA and last week that I jumped the pond to step state-side in this fine (yet crumblingd) country. My ending weeks in Ridgecrest have, for the most part, as been spent in the center of a teter-toter - one end sits my friends and family the other has a startlingly large towering stack of U.S. History. No joke, my U.S. History summer assignment is quite daunting. She, Mrs. Wisecarver (Wisey for short), has assigned no less than 180 pages of reading spread out in six chapters, 524 key terms/vocab words essential to our understanding, and ten presidents presiding over WWII until Clinton to know everything about. I've had my work cut out for me. Did I mention I have a quiz (which is, I've heard, ridiculously hard) on chapter one on the second day of school.

Goodbye delusional word, hello startling reality of today....

Great Grandma Eleanore's

Every year, faithfully, I make a pit-stop lunchin with Great Grandma Eleanore. She is a unique individual who eminates the ways of the 'Moore' to a T. For all of our stuborn do-it-ourself ways we have her to blame because without her none of us would be possible. All that aside, we love her dearly and call her and visit her like it is our duty as family members.

Usually we opt to go out to lunch, spend two or three hours humoring her, then return to the safety of our vehicle on our way home from the retirement community of Floral City, Florida. She skewed our plans though and decided to make us lunch which was more of a dinner. Her beef and pork roast turned out excelent for a woman who probably had not cooked in years and had not eaten meat in many many more. It is hard to ruin mashed potatoes and gravy, but I think the vegetables and cola slaw had seen way better days. In honor of my birthday she made cake too.

This time honored tradition ended with a promise to come stay with her. Many older folks drop hints here and there, but not Grandma Eleanore - she drops bombs bigger than the nuclear war heads we droped on Japan. Once you promise her something you can't go back on your word no matter what - at 87, you'd break her little heart. So now I've promised to come stay the night with her before she croaks, as she puts it. I've got it all planed out; I'll fly into Orlando to get my mom's car (she's planned to give me it for college) and make a pit stop on Friday on my way up to college to stay the night only to be on my way Saturday. It's fool proof!

University of Florida

The University of Florida is located in Gainesville. They pride themselves in their outstanding achievements in not only athletics, but also academics. UFL is ranked in the top 20 of U.S. public universities and is known throughout the nation by all persons.

The tour at UFL got a bit rained out - literally. We began in their admissions room with some Gator trivia then a movie; which, if I might say so myself, was rather entertaining. We then continued on a walking tour around the campus. By way of tours I thought this one lacked the personal vibe that some of the others gave off. We were in a larger group and seemed a bit more structured by the tour commity rather than given by a student, though our guide was a rising senior.

Pros:

- equine teaching unit

- equestrian team

- anthropology department

- "perfect" distance from home (not too far, not too close)

- variety of acedemics

- lots to do in and around the campus (though this could be said for the other two schools)

- some of the top proffessors in the nation

- historic

Cons:

- very big and spread out campus (are we on or off campus yet?)

- very populated

- horrible parking issues

- crowded town

- most difficult to get into

- a lot of roads through campus (not as pedestrian friendly)

- neglected landscaping (not as pretty of a campus)

Conclusion:

It seems that it has been expected that I attend this school by all members of my family so I believe that led me to have higher expectations for said school. Honestly, I was soarly dissapointed. I expected a lot more from the school and though it has all the academics and sports a girl could ask for it didn't have the right feel. I felt very lost and overwhelmed walking around campus and it didn't give off the real college vibe that I was looking for. I would be happy attending UFL, but it is not the first one on my list.

Florida State University

Florida State University is located in the capital of Florida, Tallahassee. They pride themselves in bringing together students who eminate their philosophy; strength, skill, and character. FSU was founded in 1851, making the the oldest continuous site of higher education in Florida.

The tour at FSU was fantasatic. We started off with a driving tour around campus from the safety of an airconditioned van and concluded it with our own walking tour with an admissions seccion sandwitch in the middle. Florida State was by far the most stricking of campuses with the real college feel to it.

Pros:

- pretty campus (very clean and well landscaped)

- historical (has many of its original buildings still standing and blended newer buildings in with the old remarkably well)

- located just blocks from the capitol

- good layout

- friendly people (the stood out the most from all the schools - everyone went out of their way to accomadate me)

- nice surrounding neighborhoods (the areas around campus were very clean and nice looking)

- coldest of the three choices

- excellent study abroad program (four established campuses abroad)

Cons:

- farthest from home (this could go both ways....)

- no horse teaching unit

- suspended anthropology department (major downfall though it is not the only major I'm looking into)

Conclusion:

I honestly love this school. Everything about it has what I was looking in by way of a university. The suspended anthropology department is a major downfall, but they still offer lots of cultural studies classes so its not like I won't get to study something that interets me, I just won't get the title for it. On the other hand, it would be an excellent place to pursue international affairs/relations and political science. Overall, this is my top choice even though that means I would be a Florida Seminole.

University of South Florida

The University of South Florida is located in Tampa, FL. They pride themselves in being one of the top research universities in the country, being a remarkably diverse school, and being a metropolitian place of education. South Florida graduates more teachers than any other school and features many new state of the art technologies.

Besides the fact that it was ridiculously hot during our 90+ minute walking tour, U of South FL offered one of the best tours of the three in my opinion. Of the three schools it is also the easiest of the three to get into, but it is also the largest.

Pros:

- closest to home (about 40 minutes in all directions)

- excellent applied anthropology program (the Center for Public Anthropology rated USF's anthrpoogy department 2nd in the nation)

- new and modern campus (established in 1956)

- closed and concentrated campus (little to no roads through campus making it the most pedestrian friendly of the three)

- good parking (parking garages through out campus)

- lots to do around campus (just one block from Busch Gardens, Adventure Island and MOSI)

Cons:

- in a big city (located in the outer bands of Tampa)

- HOT!! (ugh...)

- no landscaping or asthetic value (buildings feature a very 50's geometric architecture and very genaric look - looks more like a naval base than college)

Conclusion:

I can see myself attending USF, but I can see a lot of down falls to the school. I like that everything is newer and more modern, but it doesn't have the traditional college loook that I want. It is a very pedestrian friendly campus of caiters to mass transit more (a big up). This is the largest of the three schools and because it is so close to Tampa there are more non-degree seeking students. Overall, USF is third on my list (should I get admitted to all three).

College Tour 2009

Today is the last preparation day before the beginning of what will go down in the history books as the ultimate college tour (Ok, my history books). Tomorrow we, being my mom, aunt, and myself, begin what will be a three school tour. The kicker, we are shoving these three schools in three days which happen to be speard across the entire length of Florida.

The Schedule:
16. july > USF Tampa, FL
17. july > FSU Tallahassee, FL
18. july > UFL Gainesville, FL

Some of you might be wondering why I'm only looking and considering these schools especially when they are in Florida and anyone who has met me knows I hate warm/hot weather. I'm pretty much limited to a public Florida school with the pre-paid program that my parents set up for me when I was younger. If I choose to go to another school then I have to pay for that on my own.

The Profile:
Basically, I'm looking for a public four-year university in Florida. That right there narrows down my choices to 11 schools. Environment is a big factor for me since I already don't really like the warm weather - I would HATE to go to a real southern school. That elminites Florida International University in Miami, Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, and Florida Gulf Coast University in Ft. Meyers. Now I'm left with USF, UCF, UFL, FSU, UWF, UNF. For those of you who just think that's way to many U's and F's its South FL, Central FL, FL, FL State, West FL, and North FL. I don't want to live in Orlando so there goes UCF and UNF and UWF don't really offer what I'm looking to study. Thus, we are left with USF, UFL, and FSU.

What was it you wanted to study again? Well, I've narrowed it down to social sciences in particular anthropology, political science, and sociology. These interest me; what kind of job I can get with a degree in these I haven't a clue. Heck, I might get to college and find out that I don't even want to study these which is another reason why I want to go to a large school (lots of other study options).

Are you seriously looking at FSU because we, the family, might just disown you? I know, I know, y'all don't have to tell me twice. Besides the fact that they have just suspended their anthropology program, it looks to be a fairly nice school in a nice location. All in all, it is a fall back school. I, too, really want to back my bags for the Gator Nation!

USF = University of South Florida (Tampa)

UCF = University of Central Florida (Orlando)

UFL = University of Florida (Gainesville)

FSU = Florida State University (Tallahassee)

UWF = University of West Florida (Pensacola)

UNF = University of North Florida (Jacksonville)