College Classes; My First Impression

I was always told that classes in college are a lot different than those in high school. I now realize how true that statement is. Different, in this case, is not necessarily a bad thing, though, but it is definitely an adjustment.

Transy has a schedule system in two parts. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays you have the same 50 minute classes, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays you have the same 75 minute classes. The system is pretty convenient- especially when it comes to doing homework. I am also pretty lucky in that on Tuesdays and Thursdays I only have one class. The downside to that, of course, is four classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I am usually drained on those days, so all my homework has been getting done on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So it balances well. This scheduling system may sound confusing- maybe I suck at explaining it- but it is very easy to get the handle on.

Most of my classes are in Haupt Humanities, which is the building pictured. My favorite thing about my schedule is the fact that I have Philosophy and Latin in the same room back-to-back. I Definitely don't have to worry about being late!

One very unique thing about my classes here at Transy are how they interrelate. On MWF I have Intro to US Political Science, Foundations of the Liberal Arts (a class, often called FLA, that all first-years must take that can best be described as half freshman English, half critical thinking), Intro to Philosophy, and Latin I. I truly and honestly feel, though, like all my classes are similar, though. I don’t know if the professors have planned it this way, but they all interrelate so well. In Poly Sci we will reference the works of Plato that I just read for Philosophy. In FLA we read political and philosophical texts… at one point I was assigned the exact reading for FLA as I was for Philosophy. In Philosophy we will often hear words that we translate in Latin. In Latin we get words that come up in every other class. It is so weird how it works.

This apparent phenomenon does have a name. It is referred to as “Liberal Arts.” No, this isn’t a political reference. It is the philosophy that a person benefits best from learning everything, not just one particular subject, and learning how everything interrelates. It is the big selling point of Transy and I suggest you check it out. I have only had two weeks of classes at the time of writing this and I can already say that learning in this way is easier. It helps me so much to be able to relate one subject to another.

Ok, I’ll stop before I start sounding like an infomercial. Make sure to check back next week. I will be talking about Greek Life. If you remember, I was on the fence about rushing. Well, I decided to rush, and I will be telling you all about it!

-Jake

Orienting to a new chapter of life...

Hey guys! Before I go on I just want to let you know that what I talk about in my blog is not necessarily something that happened that week. For instance, this blog will be about orientation weekend. Well, orientation was two weeks ago. I strive to publish one blog a week. Sometimes I may have a really busy/exciting weak that can produce many blog topics. I write them all, but may not publish them for a few weeks. Anyway, enough explanation... let's get on with the blogging!

At Transy all first-years move in before the rest of campus and participate in a bunch of activities that combine fun, awkwardness, and even life-lessons... with just a dash of corny. That is called, as you may have guessed, orientation. It really is a great weekend.

An orientation activity that sticks out for most people is “Choices 101:” a program where the Student-Orientation Leaders (or SOL’s for short) put on skits depicting different social circumstances that could pose a conflict. It was absolutely hilarious, but still informative. I particularly enjoyed the parody where a facebook addict wasted all her time stalking people online. It was presented as a farce, but definitely reminded me that I can't take a break from homework every five minutes to check the status updates of my friends.

If you look at the picture to the left you will see a depiction of two SOL's during Choices 101. If I remember correctly the two people in this picture were madly in love/lust with each other and let that show, rather deeply, in his dorm; which, naturally, ticked off the roommate who is not shown in the picture.

Funny story: right as the class of ’13 and I were all about to head over to Choices 101 it started raining. Hard. We were all running from the residence halls, across the street, and into Brown Science Center. Along the way several people lost sandals in mini rivers, all got soaked (even those, like me, who tried to defeat Mother Nature with an umbrella). It was very funny, in retrospect, seeing us all freak out because of the water.

I almost forgot to mention the Transy traditions: Greet Line and Serenade. It is pretty flipping awesome. First, we separate by gender. The guys and girls, respectively, learned some songs to sing to each other. Just to illustrate the hilarity I’ll tell you that one of the songs the guys sang was “Like a First Year” which is an original Transy composition to the tune of “Like a Virgin.” Simply hysterical. After the serenade we all circled up for the greet line (Is it weird that the greet line is actually a circle?). In the greet line every member of the Class of ’13 introduces his or her self to each other. Specifically, you bump knuckles. Originally (like back in the day originally) you would hug, but then it changed to hand shakes up until this year. The threat of swine flu prompted the change this year to knuckle bumping. It was more sanitary, yes, but after numerous bumps my knuckles were pretty sore.

There was also a discussion about Greek Life. At the moment I am almost positive I will stay indie (that is not a part of any Greek organization). However, some people, mainly the FUP leaders, have me almost convinced to at least go through recruitment and see what I think. The jury is still deliberating on that one, but I will definitely let you know how it goes. After the Greek presentation there was an appetizing pleasure: “Slice of Transy.” Which is a very fun pizza social. Several local pizza joints have their cuisine represented and we all get to eat as much as we want. I have to say Mad Mushroom probably had the best pizza.

I have saved the best event for last: Bubblepalooza. It is the absolute most awesome thing known to man. Outside there is a giant inflatable cage and there is this huge pump literally filling the cage with thick, foamy bubbles. Now you add music brought to you by WTLEX (Transy’s own radio station) and the majority of the first-years, and you have the most massive rave known to man. This, I have to say, is reason enough to come to Transy (Well, maybe not. Almost, though, almost).

Anyway guys, remember the drill. COMMENT! I'll talk to you all next week.

-Jake

The Start of Something New...

Hello everyone! Before I say anything else I want to express my gratitude that you are here reading my blog. This is all very new to me, and I am so excited to be able to share my new experiences with you. I am sure you are curious to know a little about me. If not, well, indulge my apparent narcissism. My name is Jake Ryan Hawkins. I am 18 years old, and I am from the very small, western Kentucky town of Princeton. Though at the time it is undeclared, I plan to double major in Political Science and Writing, Rhetoric, and Communications (A Transy original oft referred to simply as WRC). Those are really the only things I can think to say at the moment. If you look to the left of the page you will see a bit more, though.

Now that all that is out of the way let’s jump in and talk Transy. I have been here a week, so far, and it is completely awesome. I moved in a week before most students for a pre-orientation program called FUP, which stands for “First-Year Urban Program”. It is a week long program designed to acclimate first-year students to a new learning environment, city, and group of peers. Throughout the week all the fuppers, as we call ourselves, go out into the Lexington community and help different civic organizations. We painted (as you can see from the picture, to the upper left of my fellow fuppers) cleaned, landscaped, organized, and sorted all at some point throughout the week.
I could go into the day by day activities of FUP, but that would make this blog err on the side of lengthy. Just rest assured that it was blast! I learned a lot about the community, Transy, and even myself. I would definitely recommend this program to you should you decided to attend Transy.

Anyway, FUP was a definite blast. Stay tuned, next week I will be talking about orientation which is a blast. Please leave a comment about anything your heart desires!
(Pictured below is a goofy group photo of all of us FUPPERS outside of God's Nest- a food closet for the homeless)

-Jake