It's sorting hat season. #IGTR

You're a new student and you're literally about to burst if you don't find out your residential college assignment right now.  It's been like... DAYS! and you still haven't found any magical emails. You've heard it would have gone to your Rice email, but you keep checking every single email account you own several times, just to be safe.

The anticipation waiting for the mail to arrive every morning is almost too much to bear.  You've taken to attempting to sleep in until the mailman gets to your house around 11am, just so you'll be able to see right away whether or not that wonderful letter has made its way to your mailbox.

You've even started having dreams about getting your letter.  Last night you dreamt that you finally got your assignment. The only problem is that it came written in cuneiform and on huge stone tablets which were too big to lift by yourself. You couldn't even read the first page. Very frustrating.

But when you wake up, you realize your mom has left a letter on your nightstand.  A letter with a Sid Richardson College return address label.  And instantly you know.  You're a Sidizen.  Not that you knew that term until you just opened the letter and read about it. Before this moment, the only time you've ever heard about Sid Rich was when your Lovett Owl Days host's friends tried to convince you that Sid is Lovett's colony.

But now you're set right. Now you know that Sid Rich is undeniably the biggest, baddest, BEST college.  Just as surely as you know Brown is undeniably the worst, or that Martel isn't even a college to begin with (you'd been holding off on that judgment until this moment, just in case you ended up placed there.  But now you're sure Martel is not a college).

You've been claimed by a taller and superior college, so now you can sit back and enjoy a restful summer before O-Week.  That is, until roommate assignments are mailed out.  At which point, you will probably revert to harassing the mailman and dreaming about cuneiform.  But that's okay.  It's all worth it. You Go To Rice.

Finals, told in GIFs. #IGTR

Finals at Rice.  It's go time.  Or alternatively, it's crapitsalreadySundaynight/MondaymorningIreallydoneedtogetgoingtime.  Some of you may even be finished already.  In that case, congratulations and cheers!  But for the rest of us, it's time to buckle down and get through it.  But before you applaud me for being so finalspirational, you should remember that I am currently writing a blog post instead of my two ten page papers. I doubt my English professor will accept this post as an appropriate alternative.  But I can't just ignore the plethora of awesome, witty .gifs exploding all over Tumblr these days, particularly not the Rice themed ones.  Last finals period, I gave y'all some Rice memes.  Why no one has made custom Rice .gifs yet is completely

to me.  But that is beyond the point.

What matters is that y'all clearly need some finals therapy.  Sitting around during breakfast (can we still call it breakfast? It makes me feel more productive, even though I technically woke up at noon), I hear stories of sleep deprivation and hours on end spent locked up in study rooms.  Some of you are even nearing delusional.

I get you.  I really do.  Because it's 1:45am and instead of continuing my paper, I am digging through my .gif file on my computer (which is apparently not a normal thing to have? My suitemates laughed for about two hours after they found out I had such a thing).  This is all gonna add up to delusion later.  The problem is that I just can't bring myself to do anything "productive."  I mean, sure, I've applied for summer jobs and internships, answered all my emails, and even did laundry, but when it comes time to actually sit down and write this essay, I just mope around the commons like:

I've only even started doing work in the commons because I feel like people will judge me if I just sit at my computer and goof off.  This is a good thing.  I need judging eyes to make me feel self-conscious enough to actually do work.  This:

is my motivator.  You know what is surprisingly unmotivating?  All the people who finished exams like a week ago and are now able to fully enjoy their summer.  This is my mental image of them... sitting there... taunting me.

It's like, yes, I am dying to join them, I just don't need to see it right now.  Not quite so right in front of me.  Not yet.

Tonight one of my favorite juniors asked if I wanted to go party/celebrate with some people and my first instinct was to be like:

But then I remembered about my papers.  And responsibility.  And what not.  Very important things.  And resisted.  Instead, I'm in the commons, emptying my second cup of coffee, on my second Diet Coke, and my first paragraph.  In case you were wondering,

A few things do help though.  For starters, there's primal scream at Sid.  If you show up to a floor balcony around midnight, you get to scream at the top of your lungs for a whole minute.  It's surprisingly therapeutic.  This is a pretty accurate depiction:

Also, just remembering that somewhere beyond my little table in the corner of my college commons,

and soon I'll get to join in on it.  Finals will be over soon enough (actually, perhaps too soon.  I am really legitimately concerned about my ability to finish these papers in time).  Then I, too, can join in on the post-finals festivities.  That's right:

I'll be seeing you Wednesday night, Rice!

Welcome to Willy Week. #IGTR

Happy Holidays! If you've just stumbled across this blog, you may be wondering why I am wishing everyone a merry Christmas in March.  But if you go to Rice, you likely know that I'm referring to an event affectionately referred to as "greater than Christmas."  Walking around campus, you've no doubt seen signs in college commons or on various windows proudly counting down the days, gradually watching as "63 days" turns into "24 DAYS!" and then into "8 DAYZ TIL BEER BIKE!!!"

Yes, Beer Bike.  Even the name itself sounds wonderful, doesn't it?  And many of us Rice students truly do cherish it as a second, bonus-round of Christmas.  You may have even seen Beer Bike trees affectionately decorated with cans of beers past (yes, at least one of these magical trees does exist!).

But the fun begins way before Willy Week even arrives.  One of the things that gives your college's beer bike such spectacular flare is that awesome theme you voted for.  Part of the fun includes turning regular cultural icons into witty alcohol-isms.  Hit Youtube video? Beer Intruder: Hide yo' kegs, hide yo' wine.  Iconic cartoon? Scooby Brew: Where Am I?  Most cherished book series of our generation?  Expecto Patron! Favorite childhood movie? Hakuna MaTaaka: What a wonderful case!

And of course you can't make it inside your college doors this week without being pelted with water balloons.  Having a backpack or electronics on you is (quite unfortunately) not a valid excuse.  You learn it's better to join in on the fun than spend an entire week avoiding it. You fill more water balloons in three hours than you have in your entire life.  Being outside with members of your college, listening to some jamZ, and filling balloons can be strangely therapeutic and relaxing.  Which is a good thing, because your college's freshman balloon captain has mandated that all "free time" shall henceforth be known as "balloon filling time."

Willy Week is like a giant vacation/celebration/festival in your college.  Schoolwork is irrelevant. (Okay, so maybe not.  But maybe, yes.  Do your homework though, kiddies.  But fill balloons and don't miss any awesome Willy Week events, either.  ... Figure that out and get back to me.)

Cases of beer randomly appear for dedicated water balloon fillers and at any time, some one may plop a drink in front of a member of the chug team and yell "CHUG PRACTICE!"  (Not sure if that was already an official thing, but it is now.)

And of course, who could forget about the jacks?  (Well, depending on the college you're from, it's quite possible you forget about jacks.  What are jacks again?)  Ranging from honestly not that impressive to seriously awe-invoking, jacks are a chance to vandalize another college and get away with it ("It's an approved jack!").

While Beer Bike is the main event, there is so much happiness to be found all Willy Week long.  The races are only fraction of the phenomenon (despite what any Will Ricers might tell you).  ...Fuck Will Rice.

Happy Willy Week!

Photo: Adara R.

Today, I swam across campus. #IGTR

It's your first day of classes of second semester! Even though you're technically back in school and will soon enough be back to your late nights at Club Fondy, you've currently forgot (or are at least attempting to emotionally bury) the horrors of the past finals week and probably even woke up with a slight spring in your step.  You may have even picked out something nice to wear for your first day of classes.

However, the weather outside was not on the same page as you.  As you walked to your 9a.m., thunder and lightning alerted you to the likelihood of an oncoming storm, but you feel prepared with a travel umbrella tucked away in your backpack. 

Your professor lets you out a little early (it needn't take fifty minutes to go over a syllabus) only for you to be greeted by SHEETS of rain.  Your brace yourself, open your umbrella, and begin the walk to your next class.  Luckily, you're just walking from HUMA to the Baker Institute, so it shouldn't be too bad.

But you soon realize your umbrella situation is not so prime. That perhaps investing in an umbrella other than the flimsy $6 one from CVS might have been a good idea.  Perhaps one that doesn't flip inside out when it's windy. Or one that actually blocks raindrops occasionally.

But as seconds pass, you realize that the problem is not limited to the rain falling from the sky, but the massive puddles, no, pools, no, rapids, that are forming all over campus, severely inhibiting your ability to make it from location to location with any dignity or dry clothing intact.

Once you reach your next class, you peel off what sopping wet layers you can and sit shuddering as you read an emergency alert text message from Rice telling you that the roads are flooded (you think?).

By the time it's 10:50, a river has formed between Wiess and the IM fields, standing in the way of the shortest route back to your residential college.  You feel bad for the guy who's standing helplessly by his submerged car, unsure of how to get it out of the river.  You feel less sympathy for the person in the truck who is barreling down the road and whose massive wave is about five seconds away from splashing you.

Not that it really matters. Every inch of you is already soaked.

When you get back to your room, you find that red Solo cups have many uses outside of beer pong games.  It seems your roof has sprung a small leak.

All in all, an eventful first day.

Unconventional procrastination. #IGTR

Finals: the time of year when everyone is trying so hard to stay focused, that they can't help but be distracted - where a five minute study break to check your Facebook turns into endless scrolling down the newsfeed.  In other words, the perfect breeding ground for memes.

This finals period, I noticed a lot of particularly funny memes spread through the Rice University interwebz.  Some were pretty generalized:

Evan A.

But soon, the majority of memes were based upon people's friends. 

Drew T.

Drew T.

Erika K.

Daniel E.

Drew T.

Graham W.

Graham W.

There were plenty more that I missed or did not collect here.  What were your favorite Rice memes from Finals '11?

Still studying?  Want to not be studying?  You can create your own Rice Owls meme here:
http://memegenerator.net/Rice-Owl

I can't get an LPAP. #IGTR

Twice a year, a frenzy hits Rice campus, flaring up in 15 minute intervals of panic, frustration, and occasionally, triumph.  While some Rice students have a calm registration experience ("I registered for next semester in 30 seconds.  Gee, that was easy."), others are not so fortunate.

The tension begins to slowly build as you wait for registration time to arrive, checking Schedule Planner every few minutes to see how many spots are left in your desired classes until:

Now what?  You check on your "back-up" classes.  Also full.  Great.  You open up the course catalog and stare blankly at the drop-down menus.  If you're an academ, you immediately rule out any subject that requires a lab, knowledge of computer coding, or upper level math.  If you're an S/E, you immediately rule out any subject that may force you to read something other than a textbook, write a paper longer than 3 pages, or anything with a class size small enough for the professor to notice when you skip it every other week.  So that leaves you with... hmm... uhh... well....  You'll just come  back to this later.  Right now, your registration time is about to be up and you've got to register for an LPAP within the first 5 seconds to have any hope at all!

You sit tensed at your desk, right hand poised on your click pad to hit register as soon as the time on your phone (most accurate clock you could find) flips over to the new minute. And YES, it's your turn!, it's your time!, nothing can stop you from getting this LPAP!!!

But wait!  There's a wait-list!  Surely seniors who are registered for more than one LPAP will eventually drop one and you'll be able to get in.  Yeah!  Problem solved! Except:

 

Okay, so admittedly you're over-reacting.  It's just an LPAP.  You'll get it next year.  ... Probably.

I love my body. #IGTR

Consent is Sexy.  Beer Bike is good.  Love Your Body.

There are many weeks or months at Rice that are focused on celebrating or educating people about a particular topic.  During Consent is Sexy week (conveniently, the week before NOD), students learn "what is consent?" and why consent is so important.  During Willy Week, we all come together and revel in how awesome it is to be students at Rice, and how people at lesser universities are grudgingly making their way through the week while we're blasting music, filling water balloons, and enjoying the antics of our RAs and Masters in the Beer Debates.

However, one particular cause gets not just a week, but a whole month.  All February, the Wellness Center schedules Love Your Body Month events that encourage students to develop positive body images and feel healthy and rejuvenated.  There's the Revitalize Day study break (free massages!), Yoga on the Lawn, Body Walks, the Love Your Body Monalogues, and more.  Plus, they give out those awesome sweatbands.

This is me hugging myself.  Because I love my body.  Like it says on my sweatband.

I recently talked to some Rice students about their conceptions of negative and positive body image, as well as Cristina, the Wellness Center Nutrition and Body Image Intern for 2011.  Take a listen:


Body Image at Rice University

[[If planning for Love Your Body Month is something you'd like to be involved with this year, contact Cristina at cbb2@rice.edu for an application to be a Coordinator or a General Committee Member.]]