Reflections of a Freshman

This year flew by. It had its fair share of ups and downs as I gained a feel for not only the campus, but life on my own, and away from home.

But I would not change anything, because otherwise I may have been led along a different path.

It feels like just yesterday that I was jumping up and down because I had just received my acceptance letter from UNC Asheville. As soon as I had been accepted, I researched all that I could do to meet new people because that's the great thing about new towns and new schools. I found out more about these "Pre-Rendezblue"(http://transition.unca.edu/pre-rendezblue) activities when I attended orientation. But in quick summary, Pre-Rendezblue includes different activities aimed towards rising freshman that you can join for about a week before the start of school in Asheville and go on trips, eat great food, and so on. All of the groups' interests are extremely diverse. Being a city girl, I wanted to try camping, but not "hard-core-sleep-on-the-ground" camping. So I signed up for "Blue Ridge Sampler" which involved all the great outdoor activities with a shelter base camp included.
It was an amazing weeklong experience that I would not have missed. I started the first day of classes with new friends, and to this day continue to be best friends with some of the people I met.
Pre-Rendezblue is a must for any rising freshman.

A circle of Chacos - our shoes prepared for our adventures.

A day of canoeing included seeing the Biltmore Estate. 

Got to the top and celebrated the accomplishment.

When people ask me what my major is, it is a hard question to answer because I barely have a clue as a rising sophomore. But that is the beauty of being at a liberal arts school like UNC Asheville. In high school I would constantly switch between career ideas, and this trait carried on through to this year. I started school wanting to do photography or photojournalism, tried my hand at art classes, then really got into just writing, and am now into health classes. What continually changed my mind were two main factors. The first factor being that UNC Asheville requires students to take classes in each area, such as math, science, and literature, in order to create a well-rounded individual. The other major factor was the faculty. My teachers this year have been amazing in teaching me the material, answering my career questions, and helping me discover my strengths.

This year has flown by... Made great friendships and connections that were only strengthened through fun activities, not only on campus, but within walking distance of campus too.

Rollerskating night on campus. 

Local Greek festival, the food made the easy walk even easier. 

Met the producer of the "Batman" movies, Michael Uslan when he visited campus. 

School spirit with Rocky the mascot at a basketball game. 

Night yoga class on campus to calm down after a long day. 

Spring is welcomed in with a 90s themed lawn party! 

Everyone handles stress differently. Some eat more, some work out, some just clam up and be silent. However, no matter your preferred coping strategy, everyone love dogs. Around the time of exams, the campus has therapy dogs come and sit in an area, open and free for any student to come and spend some quality time with these loving canines. Most of the students have pets back home and miss them, so these dogs are not only helping calm students down from schoolwork, but also mitigate any homesickness.

When I first came to Asheville, I was impartial to the cold. However after a winter here, I actually prefer the cold to the heat now. There is just something magical and comforting to me about the briskness of the air when you first step outside into the snow, you feel your cheeks reddening, and see the warmth of your breath mixing in the air around you. A little snow never slowed down my friends and I. However, it was not all cold and snowing. A lot of the weather involved cherry blossoms, green grass, and afternoons sitting out in the quad listening to people play instruments or the birds chirping as you take a nap or study.

Fire Leaves.

Cold, but determined to get to the gym. 

Some much welcome blossoms. 

Ramsey library at its finest on a gorgeous day. 

Bustling day in the quad. 

With all of this said, it has been a year jam-packed with amazing opportunities, all of which have helped me grow as a new college student. I cannot wait for next year in order to add onto my college memories along with figuring out more about who I am, and who I want to be.

*As the summer break takes place, the school blog will also take a break, and will have new writings at the start of the school year.

Read more »

Bike Adventures

We had it all planned out.
My two friends and I would rent bikes on campus, our student benefits allow us to rent bikes for free, that would give us the bikes for one week.
With the bikes we would bike downtown to the bakery "Dough" Saturday morning.
The next day we would do volunteer work downtown for the Earth Day Festival, then enjoy dinner off-campus before biking back.

Saturday went great.
My roommate and I successfully navigated and survived the hills on Merrimon Avenue in order to devour our delicious baked goods breakfast.

After our appetites were satisfied, we biked to the nearby CVS, and back to campus - all of this was deemed our workout for the day.

Saturday night, we decided to leave the bikes on campus and walk to "Luella's BBQ".
It was only down the street from campus and the weather was gorgeous for the weekend.
As usual, "Luella's" did not disappoint, and my vegetarian friend loved her BBQ tempeh!

Dessert was some delicious ice cream from "The Hop", which is a local ice cream shop that serves only home-made products, and is owned by an UNC Asheville alum.

Then as Sunday morning rolled around, my friends and I decided to leave campus early enough in order to give ourselves enough time to bike up any hills on the way to downtown.

We walked in and window-shopped countless stores that I had never really even seen.
These were on Lexington, and I mainly walk around the main part of downtown near Merrimon.

We checked out the clothing stores "Virtue", "Minx", and "Mia".
Along with the arstsy mixture shops of "Kringle Candle Company", and "Cosmic Vision" that included clothes, candles, sculptures, along with adorable knick knacks.
Finally we browsed the adorable bookstore of "Downtown Books and News", I do not think I have ever been in a bookstore that feels more like an enormous home library rather than a store; this is most likely due to where I am from because we only have commercial bookstores near my house.
With all of this said, these stores were amazing.

My friends and I got lost in the sea of colors the stores had to offer, between the colored clothes, candles, books, and countless incense options - we were all taken back.
The best thing was that they were all a stone's throw away from one another so we did not have to go searching for other stores to look through.

Once hunger finally set in, we knew of our "usual" spots, but wanted to try something different, and decided to start walking and see what we came upon.
We wandered onto Patton Ave and saw "FarmBurger".
None of us had been there before, and decided the menu looked delicious.

My friends and I ate every last bite of our food.
I had gotten a chicken sandwich with countless delicious and local toppings, while my other friend got a burger.

There were also vegan and vegetarian options.
The thing that really differentiated this burger place apart from so many others was the amount of information you were given.
Most people do not like thinking about what they are eating, especially when it comes to meat.
However, here they told you the benefits of eating meat, especially when it was all natural, like theirs is.
As I said before, all delicious.

At this point, we were full and the sun had finally tired us out.
So we walked back to our bikes, and sailed back to campus.
Although the bike to downtown is kind of uphill, the ride back is a breeze.

The gorgeous new spring weather motivated us to plan weekend trips to utilize the free bikes, and go on all of these adventures, it all worked out in the end.

Read more »

Time for Class Registration

Returning to campus from spring break, a weeklong break in which everyone is meant to catch up on rest, perhaps get some sun, and overall relax. Yet as everyone sets foot back on campus, our rested glows may remain, but they are now accompanied by the return of daily routine, filled with classes and work. But despite this renewal of classes, summer vacation dawns in the future as a guaranteed promise. Although summer, or even spring seems far due to the brisk chill of the weather outside; looking at a calendar and counting the weeks makes it all seem close.

Midterms may have just occurred, but already the school has fallen into preparation for next year; reading emails about registering for classes, attending job fairs concerning future jobs or summer internships. So as the summer approaches, so does more plans.

The halls are filled with people discussing what courses to take next year; whether or not they have fulfilled all their requirements to graduate or not. Having enough courses to graduate at UNC Asheville is a major factor because as I have mentioned before, due to UNC Asheville's status as a liberal arts school, everyone has to take a little bit of every subject. This means every student must take core classes, such as math, foreign language, English, and so forth. Yet it takes more than just simple groundwork to create a well-rounded liberal arts student. Every student must also declare one cluster out of a list of many. A "cluster" in its simplest definition is a way for UNC Asheville to group courses together based on students' interests. Each cluster includes sciences, natural sciences, and others; asking students to chose one class from each heading to total three in one cluster. For example, my roommate is currently completing classes from the "Poverty and Human Capability" cluster; but there are countless areas of interest.

Here are some links to describe more in detail examples of courses: 

Academic Planning for Students 

DegPar

Clusters 

Course Catalog 

Now you might have seen the name "DegPar" and wondered what it was, but did not click on it. DegPar is this wonderful computer tool for students. The free program allows students to see lists of courses they need to take, to not only graduate, but also graduate with an intended major. DegPar allows students to run through "what if" scenarios... "what if" I want to be a literature major, what kind of classes would I be taking? DegPar allows you to see a list, and it takes your past courses into consideration to see if you have already unconsciously fulfilled a requirement.

Making sure you are a well-rounded and balanced student at UNC Asheville is a huge concern. But given the right tools and faculty advisers (everyone has an adviser), planning your class schedule does not need to be stress inducing. UNC Asheville wants you to feel comfortable, not only in your courses, but in preparation for them also.

Read more »

Let's RUN nearly NAKED FOR CHARITY

Running nearly naked for charity? 

Don't worry, the key word here is "nearly."
But you might as well have no clothes on due to the quick numbing sensation your body is sure to feel once you step outside for this run that had a kick off time of 10pm yesterday.

But it is all for charity... a fact of which I am sure the runners reminded themselves of as they made their late-night lap around the campus.

This was only the second year for the "Nearly Naked Mile Run."
Yet it was another hit.
The idea behind it is you show up to run about a mile around campus, just like any normal day at the gym.
Except you have to donate clothes that will go to the homeless shelter upon your registration for the run.
You can bring a pile of clothes, or just a T-shirt - anything.
But the humor behind this is that you wear what you will donate when you register, then strip down to your underwear (such as a bathing suit or compression shorts, etc) once you register.
So you donate the clothes off of your back.

But your options for running attire are not only limited to bathing suits.
You can wear anything and everything you want, as long as you are not literally naked.

Most people do sport bathing suit attire, but others are a bit more eccentric in their choosing of clothing.
This year there was a runner who wore a unicorn head prop while another group had painted their entire bodies to match one another.

With this said, you are not running alone by any means; but rather quite the opposite of alone, you are running with a pack of other dedicated students who are willing to brave the cold.
You can run with your friends, or pass them, your choice.

Two devoted Belly Dancers model their Naked Mile attire. 

Some people ran to represent their school clubs in order to spread the word. The Belly Dancing Club wrote their name on their backs in order to promote their love for this dance.  

Regardless of the differences in garments, everyone had one major thing in common - they all ran.

As I walked out of my room last night accompanying my roommate who was running, while I documented it all, it had begun to rain.

If that was not tough enough, it began to hail.

Thankfully about 30 minutes later when the race actually began, the hail subsided somewhat and the rain lessened to a drizzle.


Yet as my spectator friends and I eagerly awaited the return of all the runners, we did not have a problem enjoying the nice warm gym.

Once my roommate and I entered the registration area, I was taken aback by all the people!
There was still 35 minutes till the start of the race, and already it was booming with people.

Registration Bustle.

A great shirt to donate for this runner.

  The registration process was easy and quick for the runners to       follow as they were guided from table to table by smiling  
  student government officials.
 

Clothing donated!

Signing your name, putting valuables in a safe place that you  

were not donating, and then stripping down to your bare minimum clothing of your choosing, while donating the rest.


Easy enough.






After each runner registered, they walked downstairs to the gym floor in order to gather in a pre-freezing cold run pep talk.

Rainbow suspenders and a kilt to bear the cold.

Colorful to the max, with sass to match. 

The new bathing suit season.

Even standing upstairs with the other spectators, awaiting the start of the race, we could hear the boom of the pumped runners chanting for the start of the run.

Then, before I realized what was going on, they began to run back up the stairs leading from the gym floor, back through the lobby where the spectators were standing, and out the main door, into the cold.
The word run is an understatement though; they did not simply run, it was more of a stampede.

Just a little body paint to make things interesting.

They were all a blur... of skin and determinism. 

But you can bet that they stampeded with gusto.
I saw more people bolt by then I could have imagined, it was a rainbow of colors and spectacle of exposed skin - skin that was bracing itself for the undeniable cold that was waiting outside.

Once they all gathered outside at the official starting point, you could hear them pumping themselves up once more.

More pep talk to tolerate the cold!

Then it began.

As the other spectators and I walked downstairs, we were not sure how long the runners would take.
Sure enough, less than 8 minutes later - the first runner finished.
It was a friend of mine, a cross country runner, who lives for events like this.
Being able to look ridiculous, help charity, and the free T-shirt at the end was just icing on the cake of running to him.

Satisfaction is shown with good humor for these runners. 

No matter the differences between everyone's reason for running, the important thing was that everyone was together...
And once the race finished, everyone came together to munch on cookies, celebrate, and dance.

Accomplished runners strike a pose with their new T-shirts.

The nearly naked runners did not appear so naked once they clothed themselves with their victory T-shirts with cookies in hand, and large grins of pride spread across their faces.










Talk of next year's run was already bustling in the gym before the end of the night.

I have a feeling the 3rd annual run will have to work hard to top this one.

Read more »

What To Eat? On Campus Dining - The Down Under

Craving a sandwich? 

Maybe some ice cream? 

Or the complete opposite, 

and you want to grab some breakfast food - 

such as oatmeal and cereal for the next morning? 

Well "The Down Under" is your place.

In the morning it serves up breakfast sandwiches, and the rest of the time every type of sandwich from Philly cheesesteak to buffalo tempeh. 

Like any good sandwich shop, you can get your sandwich the way you want it. 

In a wrap, on a hoagie, on flatbread. 

Meat, cheese, tempeh, maybe just vegetables. 

Your choice. 

Want some other sides to go with your sandwich? 

Right next to the section where you order your sandwich, you can also grab other food - such as fruit, chips, cake, hummus, Nature Valley bars, and ice cream. 

They also sell good food for you to take back to your room - such as half gallons of milk, instant oatmeal, jam, soup cans, and so on. 

Conveniently located on the bottom floor of the newest residence hall, the Overlook, "The Down Under" is easy access for not only Overlook residents, but other UNC Asheville attendees. 

Their hours are also ideal for any college student with constant hunger. 

Monday - Thursday: 7am-2am

Friday: 7am-10pm

Saturday and Sunday: 10am-12am

So tonight with the cold rain outside and a day packed with studying, I was ready to grab a hot sandwich. 

I've tried numerous things on the menu from Italian sandwiches to a chicken wrap, all good. 

But my favorite is still the Philly cheesesteak sandwich. 

Nothing better than a toasted sandwich... 

Except maybe enjoying it with a bag of baked chips and a banana. 

So next time you're craving a sandwich, or a fruit cup, or maybe some instant oatmeal for later - try "The Down Under." 

Read more »

What To Eat? On Campus Dining - Rosetta's Kitchenette with Starbucks

When hunger strikes during the day, the question is - where should I eat?
There's the cafeteria, the café in the library, Down Under sandwich shop, Build-Your-Own Burger, Salsaritas, Build a Noodle Bowl, and Rosetta's.

Rosetta's Kitchen is actually a full vegan and vegetarian restaurant just down the street from the UNC Asheville campus, but they recently decided to make a kitchenette version with a Starbucks for on-campus, so people can grab it easily.

But you do not need to be a vegan, vegetarian, or even a health nut to enjoy this food.
They serve up the kind of comfort food you want to eat, and don't feel guilty about afterwards.

Comfort food is exactly what my friend, Olive, and I were looking for before a physics study session.

Rosetta's is near the gym area of campus, so it's easy to get after a health class, or working out - and a walk there from a residence hall is workout in itself with the hills and stairs.
But the walk gave Olive and I time to enjoy the nice weather we were having at the time, and by the time we made it to Rosetta's we were starving.

Olive has been a vegetarian all of her life, but you wouldn't be obviously aware of it since it is easy to find vegan and vegetarian options on campus, so students like her do not struggle trying to figure out what to order when eating.

We both did not need to stare at the menu to decide what we wanted.
I tend to eat lunch there everyday, and the menu has enough options that it never gets boring.

I was tempted to order a wrap with avocados, or my usual toasted bagel sandwich with cream cheese, and an oat bar for dessert. But I got the chili and cornbread, with a cookie for dessert instead.

Olive got "the mountain", which has flavored tempeh with mashed potatoes and gravy served with kale. She also decided on strawberry cake as her dessert choice.









I have tried countless things on the menu, and have never been disappointed.

As we grabbed our food, we tried to decide where to sit.
Did we want a window seat overlooking the people as they walked to the gym?
Or a seat in the middle?

We decided on a window seat. 

After we dug into our food, and recycled our trash, I could not help but start to think about what I would order the next day.

Read more »

Asheville Beauty - Weather Whirlwind

Hot. 

Cold. 

Ice. 

Snow. 

Wind. 

Rain. 

Heat again. 

Over the past few days, the weather has been bipolar with these weather patterns. 

Yet, even though I was changing outfits about three times a day last week - to either take off layers, or put more on due to the amount of sunshine, or the lack thereof; I didn't mind. 

Sure it may sound like a typical response to say the change keeps things interesting, but it really does. 

The ever-changing weather patterns of North Carolina, especially seen in the mountains, prevents routines from becoming "run of the mill." 

This is meant in the sense that one day you may be trekking to class in the snow, appreciating the heated sidewalks so you do not slip or fall, only to end your day in sweatpants, and with hot chocolate in hand. 

Meanwhile on another day you could be walking to class in shorts with a bounce in your step seeing everyone out in the quad, happy - getting their vitamin D, whether it is playing frisbee, reading, or taking a nap in a hammock. 

Due to the recently changing weather patterns, the variation in days has allowed none of these activities or social events to seem mundane. 

Sure, we may like the heat of the sunshine. 

But we also like the chill of snow. 

The weather adds variation to how we look at things in our daily routines... 

A clear sky leaves open the opportunity for a morning sunrise that is so colorful that the orange tones seep through my room's blinds in the morning, and make the clouds appear as if they have been painted by watercolors. 

Or a chilly morning leaves ice crystals coating the ground, left to sparkle in the sunlight and add beauty accompanied by a sense of serenity to an otherwise ordinary sidewalk. 

All of these attributes make Asheville what it is... an ever changing place that so many people call home.
Who knows, maybe we will wake up tomorrow to a bright shining sun?
Or perhaps an overcast blanket of clouds? 

Read more »

The Difference Between Loving Or Hating A Class

Teachers.

That is one of the main secrets of either loving or hating a class...
They have the power to either make you enthusiastic about coming to class every time or not.

My teachers this semester have gone above and beyond in making me want to come to class with their attention to my individual questions, eagerness for me to understand the material, engaging lessons, and so on.

I will admit that I am not a fan of math or science because the subjects come harder to me than others... yet this semester one of my favorite classes is actually a physics class called "Light and Visual Phenomena" with Professor Michael Ruiz.
Not only is his enthusiasm and passion for physics nice to see, but it is also contagious.
He puts the material into terminology that is relatable to everyday aspects of life, without losing the academics of the concepts.
With an easy to use website loaded with videos, demonstrations, activities, and short questions to check your comprehension - it is simple to keep up with the material.
Yet if you do not understand the material, just like all of the teachers here at UNC Asheville, they have office hours in which you can ask questions, set up an appointment, email, and so on.

The math department even has an open lab area with teachers to help with assignments when needed.
This will be a great help to me with my statistics class this semester.

With UNC Asheville's attentiveness to the individual student, it's easier for me to keep up with the material in my classes, no matter if it may originally appear as a daunting challenge such as math or science.

This semester, I walk into physics with an eager smile on, ready to learn about why light appears differently, such as in this photo I took one day.

Read more »

Life As A Literature Junky

With the new semester came rainy weather... but that did not deter my teachers and classmates from promoting a warm atmosphere for the first week of new classes.

Dreary Day On The Quad

I walk out of the rain, and into a room in which my classmates and I are discussing topics before class such as our favorite movie versions of Shakespeare's play "Hamlet," the tone the author took for the homework assignment, what kind of writing we love or hate, and most importantly our own type of writing style.

We may be a group of literature lovers in "Literature 240" class who become moved by a romanticized poem about a field of flowers, fall in love with an author's style of writing, or cry at moving points of a novel, such as the loss of a lover; but I feel like we can be considered more than that.

Everyone has their niche...
Something they take a profound pride in, whether it is enthusiasm about an algorithm for math, or a new piece of music - we all have something that moves us.

At UNC Asheville, students are able to find that niche...
Or multiple ones they love and find the one best for their future profession.

For instance, I'm an art lover and can talk constantly about it.
But writing moves me.

I become so passionate when I talk about readings I've done, pieces I've written, and things I cannot wait to write.

When you become so passionate about something that you just feel an emotional change in yourself, that is when you know it is an aspect to keep in your life.

I've known for awhile that I love to write and read, it's just a type of connection that is hard for me to find elsewhere... but all of my classes at school have only instilled this realization from this year...
Who knows, maybe I could have been a math lover?
That's what liberal arts schools want to make sure - that you know for sure what you are passionate about; this is one of the main goals of UNC Asheville that they fulfill by having you take a little bit of every subject.

As I sit here, I can't help but think of my favorite pieces of literature...
Shakespeare, Sylvia Plath, Lord Byron, Jane Austen; and then of course modern writers such as Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl, L.J. Smith, and so on.

Literature is a part of me, and I'm thankful that I can express it here.

Read more »

It Has Started

It has officially started...

It's the end of the semester and we have begun the dreaded exams that test our knowledge of what we have learned.
And as I walk around campus it's apparent that everyone is trying to remember all of the information that they have accumulated in their notebooks this semester.
From people in the residence hall study lounges to the tables at the Highsmith student union, I was not aware that so many people went to my school.

Yet despite all the stress and pressure... there is somehow a good feeling in the air.
The feeling that by finishing an exam, we cannot only say that we accomplished what we were fearful of, but also that we are closer to earning our winter break.

Our faculty is consciously aware of all these feelings, and are making the best possible efforts to make our lives easier.
For instance, yesterday was the school-wide "reading day," meaning no classes and no commitments, other than a day dedicated to studying, and for most - catching up on sleep before exams.
Sleep is such a crucial aspect, but what most people are not aware of is that it is not only the sleep the night before an exam that is important, but also two nights before.

Regardless of sleep, people are continuously hitting the books hard.
Tonight, as an opportunity to recuperate from the first day of exams, and all of the studying for the remaining exams, there is a free breakfast session tonight in the cafeteria at 8:30pm.
At this breakfast, teachers volunteer their time to serve the students food!
It's a time for the students to unwind with a few laughs.

No matter, how hard students are hitting the books, they always find time to relax a little.
Whether it is working out, grabbing a bite to eat with some friends, or watching a movie - remember to relax a little because stress kills, and you want to make it to winter break!

Read more »