The International Student's Break

Spring break just ended and I just moved my things back from Miller to Ylvi Residence Hall. Like during the Christmas break, most of the Residence Halls at Luther were closed and people who intended to stay on campus (mostly international students) were required to move their things to the Towers (Miller and Dieseth), Baker Village, or College Apartments, to stay during the break. This is usually the case during long breaks when some maintenance work is to be done around campus.

This provides an opportunity for the international students and the few people staying on the almost empty Luther campus to come together, thus making the break seem less lonely. Also, considering the fact that the cafeteria is closed, people are able to cook together and it makes things more manageable. However, it could get slightly inconvenient. Searching for a room and moving your things from hall to hall could be slightly tedious [everyone eventually finds a room, though]. Nonetheless, after my first break, I kind of got used to how things worked and got a feel of what I needed to do.

Contrary to what people might think, it's possible to have lots of fun remaining on campus during the break; I actually did some really fun things this break. On Tuesday, my host parents and I went to see the Mississippi river. We ate lunch at a Restaurant just at the bank of the river. After that, we went eagle-watching. Tuesday was actually the closest I've ever gotten to an eagle. They're really amazing. We also saw other birds like cranes and pelicans. Then we had some ice cream and I returned to Luther.

Also, the break is a good opportunity to get together with your professors. Yesterday, my Paideia professor invited Kyo Suk [in my Paideia class] and me to have dinner at his house. He came to pick us up around 6:00pm and showed us round his house. It was really cool. We met his wife and talked about so many interesting things; time flew by so fast. The food was also really good.

Overall, I would say I had a good break. I had time to hang out with my friends and do things I would not have had time to do when school was in session. As a nice conclusion to the break, my friends and I went over to have breakfast in a Chinese restaurant. Really good food.

Now that the break is over, I have to start doing the new Paideia reading and getting my room back in order...

Take Care!

My Craziest Week at Luther

Welcome again to my blog. It's finally Spring break. Although I am writing in the peace of mind and euphoria that usually accompany times like this, I have to emphasize the fact that the path to this break was extremely torturous. This week was, in fact, my most stressful week at Luther so far; you'll be surprised how many things happened...

Last Friday, I felt no excitement for going into the weekend because I knew the enormous amount of work that lay before me. Apart from the fact that I was going into the week of Midterms, just so many projects were due that week. I had a Religion paper due on Tuesday, a Paideia Paper due on Wednesday, a Physic exam that same day, and Paideia and Calculus exams on Friday! I frankly wondered if it was humanly possible to carry out every one of those tasks effectively.

I spent my whole weekend working on my Religion and Paideia papers but had almost no time to study Physics. As you can imangine, I worked tirelesely throughout the day with only very little sleep. On Monday, I explained my situation to my Religion professor and asked if I could get an extension to turn in my paper. He said I could get one, but I would lose half a letter grade for late submission. So, if I was supposed to get an 'A,' I would get an 'A-' instead. After considering my options, I decided it was better to just submit the paper with whatever I had. At the brink of time on Wednesday, I was also able to finish my Paideia paper and turn it in at the right time. The only problem was that I had to take my Physics exam without having studied for it [I probably shouldn't tell you how that went].

But that wasn't all my week was about. On Wednesday night, after the first half of that monstrous week, the Ylvi Hall Council organized a "Stress Relief" for all Ylvi Residents. We had peanut butter and jelly sandwich with kool-aid, while watching The Office. It was very well attended. Personally, I was really stressed out and starved of sleep, so the Stress Relief was something I really needed.

On Thursday, the results of our RA application came out. The anxiety about the results of the application must have also added a lot to my stress level. Nevertheless, I got the job! I'm going to be a Resident Assistant in Ylvi next year! Just looking at the letter I got, I stood there beside my SPO [Student Post Office], not know what to do. I was ecstatic. I spent my whole morning thinking about it and trying to take the news in and, as a result, I didn't finish my Religion homework in time for class. I had to turn that one in late and receive the late penalty [crazy week indeed!]

This morning, I had a calculus exam. It wasn't the hardest of exams, but after all the twists and turns of the week, all that was on my mind was to get it over with. It was with this same state of mind that I took my Paideia exam. To me, all that mattered was leaving that class and knowing that it was Spring break. And I think I was right. I just went through my craziest week at Luther so far and all I want to do right now is relax, catch my breath, and have fun...

Enjoy your Spring break!

Could Profs get any more Approachable?

After two days of perfect weather, I was shocked to come out of my room to face the cold angry winds again. I thought the Winter had finally gone and Spring had come to stay. It's actually funny how our minds and bodies work. Back in Nigeria, there were times when it was so hot that I sweated and wished so much that it were colder. But now, I remember those moments with nostalgia. I wish it were so hot that I would have to wear a T-shirt, shorts, and slippers [not a winter coat and boot] to go out...

On Monday, we turned in the drafts of our Paideia research paper. After lots of workshops, searching for sources, and reading books, it was indeed gratifying to finally write that draft and take it to class. But you know how papers are: The first time you write them, you think it's the best piece of writing ever made, but after a couple days, you realize that it is highly flawed. That was exactly what happened to me. Last night, I reread my paper and realized that I had a lot more work to do. I immediately scheduled an appointment with my Paideia professor because I really needed help restructuring my paper.

At 1pm today, my Paideia professor discussed my arguments with me, read through my paper and made important recommendations. He even suggested some sources that would be useful to my topic. Overall, I was in his office for about an hour and a half and I left there with a clearer sense of direction, knowing just what I needed to do to improve the quality of my paper.

Throughout my stay at Luther, it is difficult to imagine how hard my classes would have been if I was unable to get this kind of help from my professors. Often times, you'll be working on your Physics homework in Valders [Physics building] and your professor walks by and actually stops to ask if you're having any problems with your work. He/she is willing to work with you outside the classroom to make sure you understand the concepts and the class isn't more strenuous than it needs to be. These are the things make the academic rigors at Luther so much more bearable and I really appreciate the fact that you have professors eager to make your work easier...

Wish I had 4 more Hours in my Day!

Right now, I can't wait till it's Spring break. I just need an escape from all the things going on around me right now. Of course, some are actually interesting. But some are just nerve recking. It's funny how sometimes all the difficult papers, exams, and projects seem to come together in one week!  

On Friday, I'll have a Calculus exam covering all we've done in the semester so far. It helps that I actually like the class and I don't think I'm lost. Nonetheless, there's still a significant amount of studying to be done. I have to review the homework and practice tests posted on Katie. On that same day, the introductory section (first 2 pages) of my Paideia research paper [on the blues] is due, and I don't feel like I'm ready to write anything at all. I still have a lot of research to do and I still have to look for sources to support my thesis. We have a draft due on Monday, the same day my Religion paper is due [this weekend should be fun!]

It's interesting how I actually haven't been spending any time in my room lately. In the past few days, I've been using my room just for sleeping. The routine is: I go out for classes by 8:00 am, go for work-study, get bogged down doing homework in the library, go for dinner, return to the library, the library closes 12:00 am, and I go to bed! I know this isn't a good habit and I should probably loosen up a bit. But, given the present conditions this is the best option, until I can get about 4 extra hours in my day...

I'm excited for tomorrow, though. I'm going to have my final one-on-one Resident Assistant (RA) interview. I don't really know what questions to expect, but after coming this far in the whole process, I'm just happy to give the final push. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep my nerves down and do a convincing job in spite of all this stress.

That's all for now.

Take Care!

Thinkin' about RA application, Black-out Party, Physics exam, Math quiz, Paideia Paper!

Trust me when I say this past week has been extremely hectic for me. I spent my weekend studying for my Physics test on Monday. Our Physics Professor already told us it was going to be HARD and told us the usual average in his tests [I won't give you the figures but trust me it's not very encouraging]. So, full of anxiety for this test, I spent my whole weekend studying thoroughly. On Sunday night (around 8 pm), the Professor actually came to do some final revision with us [really nice of him]. 

On Monday morning, we took the test and it was actually harder than I had expected. There were several of those times where you look at a problem but just cannot figure out what to do [absolute brain freeze!] I left that exam knowing that I had bombed it. And that has kept me a little down for a while. In any case today, two days after the exam, the Professor returned our sheets to us and it wasn't nearly as bad as I had thought it would be. Here's the thing with my Physics class and many other similar classes at Luther. Sometimes, there's no fixed boundary for grades. What happens is grades are curved and an individual's grade is determined based on the performance of the entire class. So, although my score wasn't very high, I'm glad that based on the curve, the grade it will get me won't be that bad.

Now, about more fun stuff. Yesterday, I had my Resident Assistant (RA) interview. As of yesterday, there were a hundred and fourteen applicants for just twenty-eight slots! This is clearly extremely competitive. So, after turning in my application form and three recommendation letters, the next phase was to go for a group interview. The idea behind this interview was to assess how well we could work each other to carry out a task. Overall, I would say it went okay. However, I also think so many other people did well and these group interviews might not be sufficient to select the twenty-eight needed. And this explains why we have private interviews next week.

At this point, I realize that many times, all that is required in college is having so many projects, exams, and deadlines looming and still being able to manage all this and stay on top of things. Right now, I'm in such a situation where I really need to stay on top of things. On Saturday, the Hall Council is organizing a Black-out Party for Energy Evolution Month [and I'm sort of heading that]. In Paideia, we're currently working on a Research Paper and I don't seem to be making that much progress [I've been distracted so much by the demands of other classes]. I also have a Math quiz on Friday to think about... 

Nevertheless, the good thing about all this is that you get better and better at managing your time. You keep discovering new techniques to make your schoolwork easier and you find out what work is necessary and what is not necessary to do. For example, I realize that there are clearly some reading assignments that you don't really need to do; many times, all you need to do to keep up in class is just a quick skim [take note, though, that this doesn't necessarily apply to Paideia; it's almost like you have to read everything]. So, although work load increases, you'll find that things get easier. 

Take Care!

Ethnic Arts Festival - "Love"

Hi. Last week, the diversity center held an ethnic arts festival themed 'love.' It was on Valentine’s Day, and being my first Ethnic Arts Festival at Luther, I was both curious and excited about seeing how it would turn out. The festival comprised many events, including cultural display, a dinner, and an evening show. It was indeed a colorful day at Luther, with the international students beautifully dressed in their cultural attires [I know... This isn't my cultural attire. I later went to change clothes]. I had my Ankara and local beads on.

At one o’clock that Saturday afternoon, international students set up tables for the various countries represented at Luther, displaying items peculiar to their home cultures. A student was present at each table to talk about his/her country and the various items displayed. These items included works of art, clothing, musical instruments, jewelry, photographs, maps, currency and lots more. And while some of these items were provided by the Diversity Center, some were brought from home by students. At the Nigerian table, I actually had a slingshot [I played with that a lot as a child] and many records from Nigerian artistes. More people than I had expected – both Luther students and visitors – came and were very interested in knowing more about my country. With great passion, I told them even more than they needed to know!

At four o’clock, we dissembled our tables and headed to the dinner in the Noble Room at four thirty. Tickets for the dinner were available for sale (although I got a free ticket for participating in the events). I don’t think I’ve ever eaten as ‘diverse’ a meal! It was a really nice buffet with delicacies from India, Ghana, Jamaica, Mexico and other countries. It was really good food, too. Although there were so many people there at the Noble Room, there was more than enough to eat. After the meal, we spent time taking lots of pictures, after which we went to the Center for Faith and Life (CFL) for the performances to start at seven o’clock.

The event kicked off with a display of each country’s flag. At the mention of our countries’ names, “flag-bearers” walked into the CFL to display our countries’ flags and walked across the stage. Written beautifully on the stage was the word ‘love’ translated into several languages. Following the flag-carrying were presentations from various groups. Among the presentations were dances, songs, dramas, a fashion parade and more. The presentations were indeed amazing and the audience seemed electrified by the performance. There was an interesting slide show presentation titled “The Africa They Don’t Show You.” It displayed pictures of really stunning sites in Africa and their exact locations. I was so excited when I saw the picture of Zuma Rock in Abuja! After two hours of presentations that had been nothing short of extraordinary, the Ethnic Arts Festival came to a close.

Concerning school work, right now in Paideia, we are supposed to be researching about a particular topic of interest. Each Paideia class has a topic chosen by the professor and my class is focusing on the Blues. Our research paper is supposed to take about 35% of our final grade. Frankly, I think this will be a lot of work, probably more work than I will have to do in my other classes. I really have to try to find a balance because my other classes are also pretty demanding. On Monday, we'll have our first Physics exam. Our professor already told us outright that he likes to set HARD questions so I have to stick my nose to that huge physics textbook all weekend [I don't expect it will be so fun a weekend]...

My First Birthday at Luther

Welcome to my blog. The Spring Semester has just started and I'm already feeling overwhelmed by homework. It seems like this semester might be a lot more challenging than last semester; and certainly, the classes are much more difficult.

Yesterday (Tuesday), I had about 15 calculus homework problems, a calculus mastery test, a religion homework that took forever to do, and seventy pages of Paideia reading! As you might expect, I wasn't able to finish all my homework; I still had to finish it up today. Nonetheless, I was glad I took the mastery test and passed [a mastery test is an optional test in my Calculus II class; you get 15 extra credit points if you pass it the first time]. So, I can slack a bit on my future calculus homework [well...not really].

Last Sunday was my birthday. I turned 19 [the legal clubbing age here in Iowa] and I wanted to exercise this legal right by going to Roscoe's on Saturday night/Sunday morning [In case you're wondering, Roscoe's is pretty much the club in Decorah - patronized primarily by Luther College students]. It would not have been a prudent use of my time [and money] to go after 12:00 midnight so I had to go around 11:00pm. The problem, however, was that if I went at 11:00pm on Saturday, I would technically be an hour short of being 19 years old. All the same, I still decided to go, keeping in mind that I was born in Nigeria [currently 7 hours ahead in time]; which means I was actually already 19 years old by 11:00pm. But now, when I come to think of it: Why was I even bothering myself about all these things? I would have been let in anyway...

It turns out, I was indeed bothering about things that didn't matter at all. The guy collecting the money simply looked at my ID and let me pass without asking anything. I was very curious to see this Roscoe's that everyone talks so much about. And, apparently, it isn't famous for its beauty or any rare marbles in it. What makes it fun, as I discovered that night/morning, is the fact that the place is full of many of your friends who, like you, want to have a good time and relax from the rigors of college work. And Roscoe's is certainly efficacious for that purpose; I really had fun. I got back to my room around 1:00am and, fully aware that I had lots of events lined up for that day, I set my alarm to wake up 8:30am [I had no choice; there was so much homework to do].

I had received a heart-warming call from my parents at 10:30pm the previous night to wish me happy birthday [I was already 19 in Nigeria] and my brother and sister also called me in the morning. After doing homework till about 11:00am, I went with my friends to the Noble Room for Peace Brunch for two of my other friends' and my birthday. [Peace Brunch is a really fancy meal on Sunday; it's much more expensive than regular meals, but the food is great]. We ate, made jokes, had fun, and everyone sang happy birthday to the three celebrants [although there was a bit of confusion at the "Happy birthday dear........." part]. I wish the celebrations continued till now but, sadly, I'm back to dealing with the challenges of college life.

I am currently applying to become a Resident Assistant (RA) for the next academic year. Although there's a lot of sacrifice involved, it gives you a lot of leadership experience and the pay is quite attractive [free room and board]. However, from what I can see so far, it's going to be really competitive, with over 200 people expressing interest and only 20-30 available slots! It seems like it's going to be interesting, though; we are going to have group interviews and private interviews and we have to ask our current RA's and Professors to write recommendations for us. By Spring break, we'll know whether we were selected or not...

Thanks for reading...
Take Care!