High School
In High School and Visiting Cedarville? Read This First ...
09/26/08 03:09 PM Filed in: Academia
Greetings, youngins,
and welcome to our beautiful campus. We're glad
you're visiting, and we'd love for you to choose
Cedarville as your college destination in the years
to come. But here's the deal: We all know when you're
visiting. And, trust me, when you too become a
student here and find yourself looking at all the
guests, you'll see why it's blatently obvious that
you don't go here. So, here are a few tips for you to
follow while enjoying your stay at Cedarville. These
will help you blend in with the students better and
not stick out like an awkward, sore thumb. It will
also help you not annoy us quite so much ...
Lose the folders:
When you arrive, Admissions will give you a white folder which contains all of the information concerning you stay. Lose it as soon as possible. (Freshman, this actually applies to you too.) If you absolutely must carry the stuff with you, run down to our bookstore and buy a red folder. Just so it's not a white Cedarville folder. Seriously, we look for those. But an even better idea is to conceal the folder inside a ...
Backpack:
You're on a college campus. We're all business here. We go to classes and even do homework occassionally. So, how do we carry all our stuff around with us all day? In a backpack! Just like you do in high school, actually. So bring it with you. It's a place to stuff that white folder away, and it also makes you look like you mean business too!
Get rid of the lanyard:
I think you're only given these on CU Friday's, so they aren't as common as the white folders. But they're farm more visible. Get rid of it as soon as your guide turns their back to you. Honestly, girls, you can't expect attention from college guys if you have that wrapped around your neck. And, obviously, that must be what you want based upon what you choose to wear. Which brings us to ...
Dress code:
We don't have it on Fridays. We incorporate a lovely thing called "Casual Dress." So don't come wearing khakis and a collared shirt or you'll stand out in chapel and in Chuck's. On the flip side, still at least attempt to not look like a skank. Wearing your outfit with the least amount of thread probably isn't a good idea for two reasons: Since you're obviously still wearing it and haven't received demerits yet, you must not be a student here, and RAs will stop you far too often, thus souring your impression of Cedarville. Avoid contact with RAs at all costs ... They might give you a sour impression of Cedarville as well.
Along these lines, did you get a free Cedarville t-shirt? Don’t wear it. We all know what they look like, and you won’t be the only one who thought, “Oh, hey, I should wear this today.”
Lose the parents:
We know you love them. I love mine. And they love you. Now that we've established we all love eachother, and we're comfortable with that fact, lose them. Next to the white folders and lanyards, parents are the next biggest flag that says, "Hey, I don't go here." Not simply because of the fact that their parents. Obviously, I'll gladly walk around campus with my parents when they come visit. And many of the professors here are parents anyway. But parents, when visiting a college, have a tendency to ask too many questions, point at things and speak loudly about them, and ask you questions like, "So, what do you think?" "Do you want to go here?" "Chuck's was really good!" If you were a student, not a visitor, your parents would have heard from you that Chuck's, in fact, was not "really good" and they would not make the mistake of saying it quite so loud.
Still on the subject of parents, they slow you down immensley. When touring a campus, you really need to get away and explore for yourself. You're going to be here for four years, sans parents. You don't need them to help you on a tour. Additionally, when you're in the afformentioned Chuck's, your parents will slow you down in line. They'll try to talk to you about the day, the food, what you think of the college, and they'll forget that the line is supposed to be moving forward. Then it doesn't. Then you have plenty of angry Cedarville students in the line behind you, annoyed that you're here. And, honestly, we don't want to be annoyed that you're here! We want to like you! But when you make our life more difficult ... And it takes five times as long simply to get our food ...
Don't follow the tour guide:
A tour. Ah, someone walking backwards on the sidewalk in front of a group of fifteen people with white folders is predominantly the most obvious way to target visitors. Honestly, do you really want to know that ENS was built in 1992? Or that the SSC holds Chuck's (our cafeteria), the post office, the bookstore, The Hive (our campus restaraunt), Veccinos (mmm ... coffee), and the game room? Or that Milner is predominantly known as the Business Building? You'll figure all of that out on your own ...
Give yourself a self-guided tour with a couple of the friends you brought with you visit. You'll get to know all of the buildings better than you ever wanted to once you start having classes in them. Anyway, you'll probably get another "official" the first week of your Freshman year ... But you should skip that one too. Now, when you and your friends are giving yourselves a self-guided tour, be especially careful to ...
Know what you're doing:
Once you pull out that white piece of paper that has your schedule, a map of the campus, or a list of available classes you can sit in on on it, you're dead. If you absolutely have to look at that thing, go hide in a bathroom stall. It's a dead giveaway. Before taking your self-guided tour, find a corner somewhere to hide with your friends and look at the campus map. Memorize it before you arrive on campus (there’s a map at cedarville.edu), even write some information down on a sticky note if you absolutely need to. Anything so that you know what you're doing and where you're going.
There's a problem with that. How are you supposed to know what you're doing on a campus you've never even been to before? Answer: You're not. It's this fantastic this called "acting." Further explained in “Don’t draw undue attention to yourself.”
Don’t sit in your reserved section:
You have a reserved section in Chuck’s ... Don’t sit there. Could you be more obvious?
Don’t use the computer labs:
You can’t log on to the computers; you don’t have access. Walking in before realizing this will only make you stand out to the entire lab.
Don’t draw undue attention to yourself:
This sort of goes with “Know what you’re doing,” but I need to elaborate more. When you’re walking around campus, whether it’s giving yourself a tour or trying to visit a class, know where you’re going. Even if you don’t, you do. If you suddenly realize you’re lost, don’t stop in the middle of the sidewalk, look at the buildings, and say, “Wait, I think Apple’s over there ...” This is really only acceptable the first week of school, and, anyway, it would identify you as a Freshman even then, which is equally bad. If you realize your lost, just keep walking. If you make a full loop around the lake, who cares. Chances are nobody’s actually followed you that long, so they won’t realize you’re lost.
If you do get lost, don’t come to a class late. Not only is that annoying (I’m talking to YOU, students) for everyone who arrived on time (and for the professor), it makes you stand out. Then you go sit in the back. Everyone in class knows you don’t belong there. Oh, and don’t bring your parents to class with you.
When walking, be sure not to look around awkwardly, gawking at all the new attractions. Look ahead, or slightly down, and look up occasionally to nod at people you don’t know. It will make you look like you fit in.
Your cell phone is not your friend. Don’t pull it out to see if someone texted you, or to pretend your on the phone. We can tell you’re faking it and just trying to look cool.
I think that’s about it. Follow these guidelines and you’re off to a fantastic visit at Cedarville. Also, many of these tips can be applied to Freshman as well. Please understand, we students don’t hate you. Obviously, it’s awesome that Cedarville continues to grow so rapidly. But you must realize we break the bank every year to pay our tuition ... And we live here. You’re coming onto our turf. On the flip side, I’d love to have a CU Friday this year that hits, say, 750 visitors ... Then, maybe, they will see how horribly crowded our cafeteria is and how much our school has grown and they’ll build us another new one!
Lose the folders:
When you arrive, Admissions will give you a white folder which contains all of the information concerning you stay. Lose it as soon as possible. (Freshman, this actually applies to you too.) If you absolutely must carry the stuff with you, run down to our bookstore and buy a red folder. Just so it's not a white Cedarville folder. Seriously, we look for those. But an even better idea is to conceal the folder inside a ...
Backpack:
You're on a college campus. We're all business here. We go to classes and even do homework occassionally. So, how do we carry all our stuff around with us all day? In a backpack! Just like you do in high school, actually. So bring it with you. It's a place to stuff that white folder away, and it also makes you look like you mean business too!
Get rid of the lanyard:
I think you're only given these on CU Friday's, so they aren't as common as the white folders. But they're farm more visible. Get rid of it as soon as your guide turns their back to you. Honestly, girls, you can't expect attention from college guys if you have that wrapped around your neck. And, obviously, that must be what you want based upon what you choose to wear. Which brings us to ...
Dress code:
We don't have it on Fridays. We incorporate a lovely thing called "Casual Dress." So don't come wearing khakis and a collared shirt or you'll stand out in chapel and in Chuck's. On the flip side, still at least attempt to not look like a skank. Wearing your outfit with the least amount of thread probably isn't a good idea for two reasons: Since you're obviously still wearing it and haven't received demerits yet, you must not be a student here, and RAs will stop you far too often, thus souring your impression of Cedarville. Avoid contact with RAs at all costs ... They might give you a sour impression of Cedarville as well.
Along these lines, did you get a free Cedarville t-shirt? Don’t wear it. We all know what they look like, and you won’t be the only one who thought, “Oh, hey, I should wear this today.”
Lose the parents:
We know you love them. I love mine. And they love you. Now that we've established we all love eachother, and we're comfortable with that fact, lose them. Next to the white folders and lanyards, parents are the next biggest flag that says, "Hey, I don't go here." Not simply because of the fact that their parents. Obviously, I'll gladly walk around campus with my parents when they come visit. And many of the professors here are parents anyway. But parents, when visiting a college, have a tendency to ask too many questions, point at things and speak loudly about them, and ask you questions like, "So, what do you think?" "Do you want to go here?" "Chuck's was really good!" If you were a student, not a visitor, your parents would have heard from you that Chuck's, in fact, was not "really good" and they would not make the mistake of saying it quite so loud.
Still on the subject of parents, they slow you down immensley. When touring a campus, you really need to get away and explore for yourself. You're going to be here for four years, sans parents. You don't need them to help you on a tour. Additionally, when you're in the afformentioned Chuck's, your parents will slow you down in line. They'll try to talk to you about the day, the food, what you think of the college, and they'll forget that the line is supposed to be moving forward. Then it doesn't. Then you have plenty of angry Cedarville students in the line behind you, annoyed that you're here. And, honestly, we don't want to be annoyed that you're here! We want to like you! But when you make our life more difficult ... And it takes five times as long simply to get our food ...
Don't follow the tour guide:
A tour. Ah, someone walking backwards on the sidewalk in front of a group of fifteen people with white folders is predominantly the most obvious way to target visitors. Honestly, do you really want to know that ENS was built in 1992? Or that the SSC holds Chuck's (our cafeteria), the post office, the bookstore, The Hive (our campus restaraunt), Veccinos (mmm ... coffee), and the game room? Or that Milner is predominantly known as the Business Building? You'll figure all of that out on your own ...
Give yourself a self-guided tour with a couple of the friends you brought with you visit. You'll get to know all of the buildings better than you ever wanted to once you start having classes in them. Anyway, you'll probably get another "official" the first week of your Freshman year ... But you should skip that one too. Now, when you and your friends are giving yourselves a self-guided tour, be especially careful to ...
Know what you're doing:
Once you pull out that white piece of paper that has your schedule, a map of the campus, or a list of available classes you can sit in on on it, you're dead. If you absolutely have to look at that thing, go hide in a bathroom stall. It's a dead giveaway. Before taking your self-guided tour, find a corner somewhere to hide with your friends and look at the campus map. Memorize it before you arrive on campus (there’s a map at cedarville.edu), even write some information down on a sticky note if you absolutely need to. Anything so that you know what you're doing and where you're going.
There's a problem with that. How are you supposed to know what you're doing on a campus you've never even been to before? Answer: You're not. It's this fantastic this called "acting." Further explained in “Don’t draw undue attention to yourself.”
Don’t sit in your reserved section:
You have a reserved section in Chuck’s ... Don’t sit there. Could you be more obvious?
Don’t use the computer labs:
You can’t log on to the computers; you don’t have access. Walking in before realizing this will only make you stand out to the entire lab.
Don’t draw undue attention to yourself:
This sort of goes with “Know what you’re doing,” but I need to elaborate more. When you’re walking around campus, whether it’s giving yourself a tour or trying to visit a class, know where you’re going. Even if you don’t, you do. If you suddenly realize you’re lost, don’t stop in the middle of the sidewalk, look at the buildings, and say, “Wait, I think Apple’s over there ...” This is really only acceptable the first week of school, and, anyway, it would identify you as a Freshman even then, which is equally bad. If you realize your lost, just keep walking. If you make a full loop around the lake, who cares. Chances are nobody’s actually followed you that long, so they won’t realize you’re lost.
If you do get lost, don’t come to a class late. Not only is that annoying (I’m talking to YOU, students) for everyone who arrived on time (and for the professor), it makes you stand out. Then you go sit in the back. Everyone in class knows you don’t belong there. Oh, and don’t bring your parents to class with you.
When walking, be sure not to look around awkwardly, gawking at all the new attractions. Look ahead, or slightly down, and look up occasionally to nod at people you don’t know. It will make you look like you fit in.
Your cell phone is not your friend. Don’t pull it out to see if someone texted you, or to pretend your on the phone. We can tell you’re faking it and just trying to look cool.
I think that’s about it. Follow these guidelines and you’re off to a fantastic visit at Cedarville. Also, many of these tips can be applied to Freshman as well. Please understand, we students don’t hate you. Obviously, it’s awesome that Cedarville continues to grow so rapidly. But you must realize we break the bank every year to pay our tuition ... And we live here. You’re coming onto our turf. On the flip side, I’d love to have a CU Friday this year that hits, say, 750 visitors ... Then, maybe, they will see how horribly crowded our cafeteria is and how much our school has grown and they’ll build us another new one!
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My Pencil and I
10/12/06 10:45 AM Filed in: Stories
People ask me, "Why do
you buy refill lead and erasers for your mechanical
pencil when it's usually cheaper to just buy new
pencils?" It's really a very simple answer. I love my
mechanical pencil. I am loyal to my mechanical
pencil, something a lot of you can't claim. I'm not
just going to up and leave my pencil in the gutter
one day. I'll always be there for it, whenever it
needs me. Allow me to go into further detail about
the beauty of my pencil.
My Pentel SideFX 0.5 PD255 Mechanical Pencil has been by my side for the entirety of my high school career. The same one. My pencil knows me, and we've become pretty close friends over the past four years. I'm comfortable with my pencil, and it's comfortable with me. It's trusts what I'm going to write with it, it fits my hand nicely. In fact, my hand has gotten used to the general shape of my pencil, and when I use a pencil other than my favorite one my hand almost doesn't know what to do with it.
No, but seriously. I am used to my pencil. And here's what thing that's obvious about pencils. They change about once a week. Seriously, you finally get used to the shape of a pencil, and your hand is comfortable with it, and it breaks or something. You go in to buy a new one. All you want is the exact same pencil again. You find the same brand, and "same pencil", but apparently this the Third-Week-In-August model and, while it claims to be the same pencil, it's quite different. They changed the form to be more ergonomically correct or some such nonsense. In short, you're going to have to get used to another pencil.
Pencils are very important, and it's important you and your pencil get along! You can't just pick up a pencil anywhere and trust it right away! No, you would never do that! The pencil has to earn your trust, and you have to earn it's. This takes a while, and if you're constantly getting new pencils, you never have the chance to get to know one particular pencil. It's like having a different girlfriend every week! You just don't do that. (Smart people don't anyway.)
All this is why I pay $1.60 for three new erasers when I could get 3 brand new, non scratched pencils that even come with extra erasers for just over $3. I love my mechanical pencil. I hope it and I make it through college together as close as we've been through high school.
My Pentel SideFX 0.5 PD255 Mechanical Pencil has been by my side for the entirety of my high school career. The same one. My pencil knows me, and we've become pretty close friends over the past four years. I'm comfortable with my pencil, and it's comfortable with me. It's trusts what I'm going to write with it, it fits my hand nicely. In fact, my hand has gotten used to the general shape of my pencil, and when I use a pencil other than my favorite one my hand almost doesn't know what to do with it.
No, but seriously. I am used to my pencil. And here's what thing that's obvious about pencils. They change about once a week. Seriously, you finally get used to the shape of a pencil, and your hand is comfortable with it, and it breaks or something. You go in to buy a new one. All you want is the exact same pencil again. You find the same brand, and "same pencil", but apparently this the Third-Week-In-August model and, while it claims to be the same pencil, it's quite different. They changed the form to be more ergonomically correct or some such nonsense. In short, you're going to have to get used to another pencil.
Pencils are very important, and it's important you and your pencil get along! You can't just pick up a pencil anywhere and trust it right away! No, you would never do that! The pencil has to earn your trust, and you have to earn it's. This takes a while, and if you're constantly getting new pencils, you never have the chance to get to know one particular pencil. It's like having a different girlfriend every week! You just don't do that. (Smart people don't anyway.)
All this is why I pay $1.60 for three new erasers when I could get 3 brand new, non scratched pencils that even come with extra erasers for just over $3. I love my mechanical pencil. I hope it and I make it through college together as close as we've been through high school.