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