Reflection

by Grant, a Patriot Blogger

A song in my fraternity has lyrics that encourage reflection.  As it is the end of spring semester, it is a great time for a reflection about my year.  So I lit up a cigar, put on some smooth jazz and began to think.

It was exceptionally hard for me to leave this year.   The last night I was on campus, I was all alone in my apartment and the walls were bare.  I couldn’t understand why I was upset and couldn’t sleep.  It wasn’t stress, all my exams were done, ans it wasn’t because something bad had actually happened.  Finally, I realized what it was, I was leaving home.  Now to most of you this will make no sense. I was going back to Richmond where my family lives and where my high school friends are.  However, I was leaving the community I love, no more ultimate practices where we commiserate about homework and girls.  No more late nights talking about everything and nothing with my brothers, and no more classes. Ok so getting a break from classes is not that devastating, finals were vicious but all of my experiences through the year became another closed chapter.  This year was a great year for me, many accomplishments and goals met, I got good grades and got a job for this summer.  Some surprises too, like joining the ultimate team and getting a high position in my fraternity.  Those aren’t the things that made this year great though.  It was the random lunch encounters with friends, meeting new people, finding a minor that I love, having stupidly funny arguments with my roommates, and falling into bed exhausted but happy.  People always say that the little things matter the most and that is what I love about Mason.  The little things. The big events may mark my resume and my calender but it is the small things that will mark my heart for the rest of my life.

Sorry this was not a super long post about how hard exams were or how excited I am to meet the new freshmen over the summer.  But I mean it is the summer so I don’t want you to do much reading.  Plow through the senioritis folks.  Make good friends.  Spend your time doing the things you love.  Then when it is all over, sit back, and reflect.  It is worth every minute.

Cherry Blossoms

by Grant, a Patriot Blogger

Welcome to spring! Bring out the florescent button downs, khakis and boat shoes.  Spring is my favorite season and this year was the first year where I made it a priority to go out to the Cherry Blossoms.  This was extra special because it was the 100th year of the cherry blossom trees.  So to give you a little history lesson, the Cherry Blossom trees, no they don’t produce cherries, were given to the city of Washington by the Mayor of Tokyo in 1912.  3,000 trees were in the original bunch and now only 30 of the original group remain but they try to keep it around 3,000 trees total.  Another interesting point about this year is the fact that they bloomed a week earlier than usual and this is chalked up to our mild winter.  So first thing I did was get out of my room and go to the bus stop.

So as you can see there is construction going on right outside my room.  This has its positives and negatives.  Some negatives include, difficulty getting to class and jackhammering at 9 am.  There are some positives though.  Mason is all about construction, at one point Mason had the most money from the state to expand as a university.  One of my friends said the day Mason stops construction is the day that he stops believing in Mason.  As a university we are constantly striving to develop and grow, and that means construction, and lots of it.  Alumni sometimes don’t even recognize what the campus looks like.  To me, this is super positive.  I don’t want a stagnant place where things stay the same because that is how they have always been.  Construction is just the symbol in my mind of the advancement of the university as a whole.  But yes, it does get annoying sometimes.  So a took a shuttle FOR FREE to the metro.  It takes around 30 minutes to get there.

So I go to the stop and rub my wallet against the scanner.  Now to the untrained eye this seems really ridiculous but to me it means I have my smart trip metro card.  Of course you could buy a ticket or a day pass but I have found it easier to buy this card and reload it with cash whenever I need it.  Also, it makes me feel super cool and less like a tourist.  So I went down the escalator and people started running at the bottom and you come to realize that running means that they heard the little ding dong of the metro doors are about to close.  So, I booked it and got on the train.  During my ride, I talked to some other Mason students that I had met over the summer.  It was cool to see them heading into the city.  The cherry blossom festival brings in more people then almost any other event in DC and the metro was packed.  Although last year when I went to the rally to restore sanity it was much worse, so I counted my blessings.  I got off of the metro and headed up to the mall.

I sat under a tree and read my Time magazine and marveled at the fact that I can come to one of the best cities in the world whenever I want.  Later, I got a text to meet my girlfriend where she parked and I noticed two things as I was walking up the mall:

1. Ultimate players on the mall.  How I wish I could be playing sports on the mall.  I just think it is neat because they call the mall our national back yard and I wish I could treat it as such sometimes.

2. That there is still a tourist in me that wants to take pictures of the capitol just because it is so cool.  Also, something this picture doesn’t show, is that there is construction on the mall.  They are trying to renovate and do some upkeep.  So Mason isn’t alone.

After grabbing her and beginning to walk around I took a ton of pictures of cherry blossoms.

Ok sorry those last ones are the first pictures from earlier but just move past that because I can’t figure out how to make them go away so just look at the pretty ones.  There were a ton of people there so it was hard to get pictures without others in it.  However, some of them turned out pretty ok.

Later that day, my girlfriend left and my coworkers came.  We had a scavenger hunt in DC so here are a few pictures from that.

So one of our tasks was to find Mason students, and luckily enough we ran into a few at the Blossoms.

Another thing we had to do was take pictures with people in Washington area team shirts.  This dude agreed to do the picture even when on his phone.

We had to join in with a street performer and so we found a violinist just chilling and played with him.  Some of us are playing full violins and others are playing the world’s smallest.

So this one has a funny story.  We thought that we were supposed to take a picture with people enjoying their refreshments, but actually we didn’t have to do that.  However, we made these ladies very happy and now they are famous.

So if you don’t know, there are two Mason statues in the world, well at least two that I know of.  One is in the center of campus beside the JC.  The other is just chilling by the Jefferson Memorial.  So we took a picture trying to imitate his swag style.

After all this was said and done, I had a major sunburn and my feet felt like they were about to fall off but it was a ton of fun.  We went out to eat and had a really good burger in the middle of the city and then we headed home.  So DC trip was a major success and it was easy to do.

Some other notes: I might be able to get two bachelors degrees at Mason by the time I graduate, I am super excited.  Unfortunately I can’t go to national convention this summer for Phi Mu Alpha because of work but that’s ok.  I love my job and Fraternity events will happen again in the future.  Also, life is going by fast and I can’t believe Easter is coming up in two weeks.  Hopefully I can make it down to my grandparents like I do every year for that.  Although the semester is not even close to done, I feel like I am losing steam, so hopefully I can keep it up down the stretch until summer.  I have heard a lot about people getting into college and I hope that yall have gotten in where you wanted and that I will have the pleasure of seeing you this Summer at Orientation.

Great Falls

by Grant, a Patriot Blogger

So I promised a picture blog and here it is.  I took a hiking trip with my girlfriend and her dog to Great Falls which is a national park only 12 miles from Mason.  The day was beautiful and the scenery was even better.  So I hope you like it.  The last couple of pictures are  from a tree right beside my residence hall that is blooming in our early spring.

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True Life: I am a PL and I am a Fraternity Man

by Grant, a Patriot Blogger

This weekend was one of the craziest weekends I have had as a college student in a while.  The story starts on Wednesday.  So twas the night after Valentine’s Day and all through the house work was being done.  As you may know from reading my previous blog posts, I went on a study abroad trip this winter.  As part of the study trip I have to complete some requirements back in the states.  For my particular trip I had to write four papers.  One was a reflection essay of the whole experience, two eastern European movie reviews, and finally a research paper.  My research paper was on East and West German Art and how it was different from the time of their seperation all the way through to modern times.  This was a hefty project, and to be honest, I thought it was a little much to ask.  However, it was due on Wednesday so I finished it that day obviously.  Thankfully I had no classes so it was easily done.  After turning it all these papers in, I felt so relieved and free of worries.

Well free of all but one worry.  As you may know, I applied to be a second year patriot leader.  The results came out Friday.  I have great relationships with all the people who work in the office so I was not as worried about getting the job but more worried that I would not be able to have a good relationship with them anymore.  I visit on average about twice a week just to talk to them and I couldn’t bear it to lose that.  Plus, the job is pretty amazing.  For the days leading up to my picking up the letter, I actually began dreaming of getting the new one way or the other it was terrible.  My only escape is class which is less of an escape and more of a cover up.  I entered into the office and asked for my letter. It took a while to find my letter.  My fingers curled around the envelop and I could not bear to open it.  As I took the short walk to one of the professional staff, I decided that I had to open before I talked to her so she wouldn’t ruin the surprise. I slowly opened it and only had to read one word.  Congratulations!  When I stepped into the room, I did the tiger woods fist pump in celebration.  I talked to Kaitlin (my pro staff friend) for a long time which was great and now I am patiently waiting for summer and the first day of spring training.

Over the weekend, I took a trip to Baltimore for a fraternity event.  At first one would think that it would be a crazy party all weekend.  However, as I have said before, my fraternity is not all about that.  So the weekend involved meetings and chilling in the hot tub.  This is a time when brothers from all over the region get together to do business and hang out together.  So brothers come from Shepard University, Shenandoah conservatory, University of Delaware, Howard, and Morgan State.  Our major business is elections for officers for the next year and also this year we were talking about national convention.  National convention is only held once every three years, so it is exciting to go to one and hopefully I can make it down to Orlando this summer for the big event.  In Baltimore we basically talked about some of the legislation that will be brought up during the convention this summer.  Nothing too major, but still it was worth the look over.  The elections were a big deal.  Maybe I am skewed because I was in all of them.  That’s right, I was nominated for every position in our province.  Which is a big deal to me at least.  Even better, I won.  I won the granddaddy of all positions the Collegiate Province Representative which basically means I am the head college brother for the entire area which is cool but is also a lot of responsibility.  Hopefully I can live up to it.

Overall, a pretty spectacular weekend, but now comes the hard work and extra responibility added to my already hectic schedule.  I will keep you updated.  Next blog I think will all be pictures idk of what but we’ll see I guess.

Homecoming and Valentine’s Day

by Grant, a Patriot Blogger

Two major events happened back to back.  Homecoming and Valentine’s Day.  Yes, in my world over a week apart is back to back.  Finally I have gotten the opportunity to slow down and reflect on everything.

Homecoming is a huge deal for the school and it is very important for me in particular.  Of course, as a basketball fan this is one of the biggest games of the year.  We played ODU and we needed to have this win.  The CAA (Colonial Athletic Association) is the conference we are in.  So this means that we play VCU, ODU, Delaware, Hofstra, Towson, William and Mary, JMU, Georgia State, Drexel, Northeastern, and North Carolina-Wilmington.  VCU, ODU, and Mason are the big three of the CAA and are perennially good.  So these games automatically become important even without the extra stigma of it being homecoming.  My homecoming preparations started at around  noon for the game.  The tailgating before the game is almost as important as the game itself.  So, my fraternity, Phi Mu Alpha, of course had prepared.  We made it a rush/recruitment event and had burgers and hot dogs along with frisbee and soccer.  We did run into one major problem though, no one remembered to bring a spatula for the grill.  Many solutions were attempted.  Such as an ice scrapper (not actually used), bare hands (only used once), an old picture on a stick of Coach Larranaga’s face (until it melted, and yes we are still upset he left), until finally we got someone to run over to Giant and buy a spatula.  After that all went well.  One of the main problems with homecoming is a personal vendetta I have against the weather.  Last year it sleeted and this year it was frigid.  I understand that it is winter and that at some point I need to accepted that it can’t be 80 degrees everyday but I have not reached that point yet.  So as the tailgate began to wind down we huddled together for warmth.  This didn’t last too long though because being a member of the pep band gets you into the game early.  But of course, the downside to this is the fact that we have to set up everything.

If you  have never been to a game and seen it, the pep band has a lot of gear.  We boast somewhere between 60 and 150 a game.  This means we need mics, stands, huge amps, a drum set, tubas, and music books.  Of course because of the nature of homecoming, there are loads more people in the pep band.  Our numbers sky rocket but that is part of the fun.  You are shoved between your best friends all screaming at the top of your lungs and trying to coach the team from twenty rows up.  Part of my pre-game ritual is to put on face paint.  Every game this year I have tried something different so here is the picture from homecoming.  I know taking a picture of myself in a mirror is myspace-worthy but the paint ended up looking pretty ok.  The game was a blast and the game went with tradition.  At Mason we have a tradition of beating everyone who comes into the Patriot Center.  So overall it was a great homecoming.

The next major thing was valentines day.  I have been so busy that the weeks have flown by and it was upon me too quickly.  My first thought was flowers, I love flowers and this makes me assume that women also like them.  However, I felt like this was not enough so I insisted on doing something super cheesy and take her to dinner.  This was no ordinary dinner, this was an exclusive restaurant built for only two.  The restaurant was my room.  If you read my first post, you know that my roommates and I cook often and so I believed that instead of trying to get a reservation we would just stay in.  After consulting with one of my roommates I decided that it was seafood for dinner, and we went online to get a recipe for lemon herb salmon.  Although the shopping was a little costly, the results were spectacular.  We served it with fresh herbs, asparagus, wild rice, and mushrooms.  Knowing me, I did not look at the time this would all take and I realized that it took over four hours to make.  So my gracious roommate helped me out and cooked.  After getting back from ultimate, I got dressed finished cooking and walked my girlfriend from her car to the hip new restaurant.  Our waiter, my same roommate, was waiting to seat us at the table and then proceeded to give us drinks and let us look at the menu.  It only had one item on it but he still asked if we needed more time.  After serving us he went into our room to watch minecraft videos on youtube.  We spent a lovely evening together and after finishing our meal, which was spectacular, we played words with friends together.  An amazing few weeks.  However the world rolled on and now there is more big news to report but avid readers will have to wait for my next post entitled.  Real Life: I am a PL and a Fraternity Man

The week that started it all

by Grant, a Patriot Blogger

Ok well it didn’t start it all, it just started this semester, but it was still pretty epic.  For those of you looking for my thoughts about Budapest, sorry man, life came at me and I couldn’t get it done.  This semester I only have class on two days a week!  Well basically, I have a class Wednesday night but that isn’t that big a deal.  Now let me explain something about scheduling.  We use a website that allows you to register for classes online and change your schedule as much as you want up until a certain day.  However, the fewer credits you have, the later you can register.  So as a freshman coming in, you get a later pick then all of us who are already here.  This usually isn’t so bad.  It isn’t great (yes you will probably have class before 12) but it isn’t bad.  So the only way I got the schedule I got is because I am a little older and I was able to work my schedule around.  This however has a major downside.  On tuesdays and thursdays I have class and chi alpha or “ultimate” until from 12 to 10 at night.  But in the end I picked it, so this is what I am going to deal with for the next fourteen weeks.

I have decided to turn over a new stone though and actually do all of my homework.  My brother is applying for grad school and I realized I need to start getting my life together.  My GPA rose last semester to a 3.08 but still that is not as good as I would want it to be.  I am searching for the perfection of the 4.0 this semester.  This involves me reading at least a hundred pages on every off day.  Which is actually happening to the surprise of everyone around me.  I can’t stop doing homework.  I am already three days ahead and I am finding ways to be more productive in my downtime.  No more three hour Xbox sessions.  The feeling of getting ahead is amazing.

The final thing that I want to discuss is being a Patriot Leader.  It was an amazing experience that gives you a family of coworkers and a pride for our school that is unrelenting.  So, I decided to apply again.  The interview process involves a group interview, an individual interview, and then the final decisions.  Even as a second year, I have to apply and interview just like everyone else.  This is a major headache for me because I am a worrier.  Yes, everyone told me that I would do great and that I would get the job but nothing is guaranteed.  So I worried about it all weekend.  Even during homecoming, I was thinking about this job.  Thankfully I made it past the group interview, so now I just have the individual interview left.  If I manage to get this job, you might see me this summer.

Ok, I will break it off there so that I can make a whole blog post about HOMECOMING.  So that is coming down the pipeline soon.  Keep your eyes peeled.

witam z Gdańska i Krakowa

by Grant, a Patriot Blogger

Right when we got to Gdansk (which is a port city in the very north of Poland) I was worried.  There were still buildings with WWII damage.  Not only was there damage but there were destroyed buildings everywhere.  The first night we got there we headed out in search of a bar.  We ended up finding something much more awesome.  There were swarms of people in the main part of the town just flocking away from something and they all had little heart stickers on.  We assumed that there was something cool going on so we walked to where they were leaving from.  After finding a place to change money (Poland isn’t on the euro) we ended up walking into what was one of the most interesting scenes ever.  Later, our tour guide told us that we had stumbled upon a benefit concert for sick children that goes on in cities all over Poland.   

As you can see in the picture, the stage was huge and the crowd was massive.  The band we watched was pretty interesting because it had a fiddle, flute, accordion, drums, and bass.  The sound can only be described as gypsy.  Something I learned quickly was that the Polish people are not a dancing culture.  I learned this by dancing by myself in a crowd of at least three thousand other people.   After chilling there for a while we left and went out to dinner with part of the group.  I ordered fish and wasn’t expecting what I got.    It was a fish alright.  I was so surprised that I did not know what to do.  But I did what nature told me to do and I pigged out on that thing.  It was so delicious.  The Poles really know how to cook fish.  This trip is really making me step out of my box when it comes to eating.  At home I am so picky but here I feel like I should try new things and I have come up with more successes then not.

The next day was just a tour.    The harbor was probably the best part of the tour.  The majority of the city was either really old (like medieval level) which really isn’t my focus area or it was still destroyed from the War.  Gdansk was much more laid back then Berlin there weren’t as many people or as much action going on.  Although there weren’t many people there were so many kids.  We did not realize this until we got to Poland but Germany has very few young kids.  I kind of liked the break from all the hustle and bustle.

Another difference between Poland and Germany is the fact that Polish people are much more heavily religious.  There are so many churches in Poland that you can walk out the back door of one and into the front door of another.  The artwork in the churches was just amazing.  It was almost unbelievable that people would actually praise Jesus in these spaces.  My church is so plain in comparison.  Going into these churches did cause me to feel a little awkward though.  If you have never been into a Catholic church, there a few things that you need to do to be respectful and as a christian I feel that I should be even more respectful.  However some in our group aren’t very religious and they don’t know the protocol and being loud in a church where people are praying in makes me upset.  I understand that we needed to go in though because that is such an important part of their culture but it was just a little much for me.  The best thing we did in one of the churches was listen to an organ concert.  The organist only played five or six songs but the church just quaked at the power of the organ.  It really made me miss home and all the things that church means to me at home.

After a trip to the Baltic sea, a lecture, and a museum we left to go to Krakow.  It was about a eight hour trip because we had to cross the entirety of Poland.  The land was the flattest I have ever seen.

Krakow was an amazing historical city.  The two things that stuck out to me the most were the jazz club we went to and KFC.  So the first night, as usual, we went out to have a local beer and wondered upon a jazz club.  After much deliberation we wondered in.  As a musician there are not many times when you can pass up an experience like this.  So we headed down the stairs to the bar.  The band was killer.  Jazz is the reason I got into music and so it was an amazing experience to be able to hear it in another country.  If only I had brought my trumpet! The bar was crowded and it stayed open till 12 am which is a big deal because everywhere else in the countries we had visited shut down by like 10.  They had pictures of Marvin Gaye and Louis Armstrong on the wall and it just made me feel like home.  The second major thing was going to KFC for lunch.  We have all been missing home a lot so we decided for a taste of home with a little Kentucky Fried.  I am not a huge fan of KFC when I am home but I have gotten so desperate that I had to have something.  If you ever travel abroad the one thing you need to know is that American food is generally worse, if that is possible, in other countries.  The chicken was floppy and had no meat to it at all.  The problem was, I bought a whole bucket because I was super hungry.  Another thing about traveling abroad is remembering to always convert prices into dollars in your head.  We have started calling the money over here funny money or monopoly money because that is the way it look and feels.  So sometimes I worry about using too much of it.  I just know that when I cash out at home I will have spent way too much.

I am finishing this post as I am getting ready to leave Hungary and finally head home so I will write another post about the trip and then we’ll dive right into the semester.

Guten Tag von Deutschland

by Grant, a Patriot Blogger

Wow I can’t believe I finally made it here.  It has only been a few days and I have already fallen in love with Berlin.  The culture, the architecture, the people.  Just everything has been so amazing. So the flight over was  not so amazing.  It was my first time flying and being tall made it impossible to sleep.  Also the fact that there were three babies around me did not help. However, after I made it to Germany, I found a bus to get to the hotel.  The bus driver probably has one of the best mustaches of all time.  It is curled and I asked how much it costs and he answered back in English which was great.  I speak German at a very basic level but everyone spoke English so it was not a big deal.  Anyway, I get to the zoo station (right by the hotel) and I am starving.  Of course the first thing I see is McDonalds, so I go in.  My addiction has no bounds.  It is pretty much the same and so I get my usual and walk to the hotel.  It was a four or five star so I was chilling in a very very fancy lobby eating the cheapest food.  There was no one to be seen so I waited patiently and after fifteen minutes luckily enough, my roommate came in the door.  He is a senior at Old Miss (everyone wants to be a part of the mason nation right?) and we went up to our room and got settled.  After a quick meeting with the rest of the group, we headed out to a dive bar.    It was one of the most interesting looking places I have ever stepped into.  So we had a beer (which is legal in Germany for me) and had a long discussion.  He is also involved in on campus ministry and so that was cool that we were able to connect on that point.  We then moved from the bar to a restaurant to get some food.  I am very picky so I was really worried about trying the German food.  As you can see I got the Curry Wurst.  This is one of the main dishes in Berlin.  It is sausage with curry on top.  They don’t really use disposable utensils so that is why you see the weird popsicle thing coming out of it.  I ordered almost my entire meal in German but then the guy behind the counter asked whether I wanted sparkling water or still water (still is no bubbly) and I just didn’t understand the German words and he kindly switched to English.  After that we walked back to the hotel and fell asleep.  Little did I know that Jet Lag effects me really badly.  I haven’t had a full night’s sleep since I have arrived in Europe.  The hotel for all its glory and wonder it had no free wifi so staying up late was also really boring.  The next three days were all tours all day.  The first day was about the World War Two era which was really cool but many buildings were either torn down or destroyed.  Because I don’t drink soda, I ended up drinking water and beer basically.  This is not a big deal but I was very worried about sending those pictures back home and my parents thinking I am a heavy drinker.  The days were very long and tiring so there was not much going out at night.  The next day was cold war era Germany and we saw the wall and a secret communist prison.  Our tour guide was super knowledgeable and spoke amazing English.  The prison tour guide only spoke decent English so our full tour guide had to translate which had some interesting moments.  The third day was modern Germany.  All the architecture was amazing.    Here is their congress building.  We actually had an opportunity to meet with a German member of parliament.  He spoke about all the foreign policy of Germany which was really interesting.  It made me more excited about getting into international relations.  We had gotten really close to the tour guide. We talked and asked him where to go and hang out at night.  He told us places to go and because we had a hard time reading the sign and map, we got a little lost in East Berlin which is a little sketch.  Overall though, I enjoy getting lost in the city so wondering around by ourselves was awesome.  The next day we got a lecture from a professor at the free university of Berlin which is where there is a semester exchange program.  I want to go. I feel like in order to get a job in the state department, I need to have more experience abroad. So that is running around my head.  That night was the most fun of all.  We decided to hit the club  in Berlin.  Our first stop was to tango.  Yes I said tango. Our tour guide knew of an amazing place.  So we followed him and ended up at the oldest dance hall in Berlin.  It was shut down in the 1940s and only reopened in 2005.  It looked as if we took a time machine back to the war.  It was amazing.  I was not so good at tango but it was alot of fun.  Our next move was to “the hardest door in the World”  everyone said they turned away ugly people and the dj at the tango told us “Good Luck.  I hope your tour guide knows a good bar near by or better yet, the door man”  I was incredibly worried and afraid of being turned away.  The main group of fourteenish split up into smaller groups.  Only four of us got in.  I WAS ONE OF THEM! AHHHHHHH I felt so good about myself.  The inside wasn’t really amazing.  It was an old factory playing techno music which was really cool but not my scene.  So after a while the four of us left and we ended up at a student club with the others.  The student club played American music and German pop stuff.  That was really cool too.  One of my best club experiences.  We danced until five in the morning.  The next day I basically slept all day so it was boring.  Then we drove to Poland.  That will be part of my next post.

For the class we have to write a blog/journal which was very hard to do since there was no internet.  So we ended up sitting in starbucks for a couple of hours.  This time was extended because I have been applying for jobs at home and sending a ton of emails and getting emails.  It is so much harder to do work from home when the time difference is five hours.  Also, trying to keep my family informed is hard because I don’t know what to tell them.  I don’t have time to go into to much detail but I am afraid I’ll forget it all by the time I get back.  So I am sending them a ton of pictures and I hope that is enough.

It isn’t all amazing over here.  The weather is frigid even though it is abnormally warm.  I have to wear about three layers.  Also, I miss home and it stinks to see all my friends having fun with each other on break and also seeing status updates from the Mason Basketball games.  Although I would love to stay here for a semester, I just don’t know if I could leave America behind.  Overall though, I am having a good time and I hope your break is going well.  Hold down the fort until I get back.  Next post will be Witam z Gdańska i Krakowa.

I’ll be home for Christmas and how school followed me home

by Grant, a Patriot Blogger

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! If you didn’t get it from my last post, I am a huge fan of Christmas. (It is my second favorite holiday)  It means family and fun and presents and lots of love.  This year, my family arrived in the small town of Boykins Virginia at around 4 on Christmas Eve.  My Grandparents and my Aunt and her family live in this town.  My Dad’s folks and sisters are all over the country so it is much easier to go to my Mom’s family.  Our first tradition was at 8:30 p.m. that night.  We headed over to the Methodist Church to take communion.  Although we are Baptists, we go to the Methodist church on Christmas Eve because every year they have communion laid out for anyone to take at any time.  They have their Chrismon tree set up and we always go as a family.  My Mom, Dad, Brother, Uncle, Grandparents, and My Aunt and her Husband and three kids all try to pile onto this tiny alter to kneel to take communion.  We have all gotten big and the average height in the room is around 6 feet tall so it is a tight fit but we can always manage.  Gramps is a life-long deacon at Church so he administers communion and it is a really deep time for reflection about the year and the blessings I have.  After heading back to my Grandparents house, my nuclear family exchanged some gifts.  My parents always gave us the same thing every year,  pajamas.  I was expectantly waiting for my new pair of flannels but they had gotten us underwear and socks.  To be fair, I needed them.  After a couple longboarding accidents and playing sports for years, I had begun to run low.  This utilitarian theme lasted throughout the gift giving.  Santa brought me a sweater, a shirt and tie, new shoes, new guitar strings, and a book.  There was no time to enjoy any of my new toys though because my grandparents, uncle, and nuclear family had to ride over to my aunt’s for breakfast, yet another tradition.  They have been remolding so their tree wasn’t as good as mine in the apartment (Yes, I am a tree snob) but they got some pretty neat stuff.  My oldest cousin (who is a senior this year) got a pair of waders for hunting.  The middle one got a wii game called big game shooter and the youngest one got a game called just dance.  I will give you one guess as to which one is the girl.  We enjoyed their company for about an hour before we had to go back to my Grandparent’s house to get ready for the big show.  Every Sunday after Christmas, or the day of, my Grandparent’s Church puts on a Contada.  This just means that the choir sings about six or seven songs and there isn’t a sermon.  The Contada is such a big deal because my brother, father, and I join the choir.  Now the average age of the church is at least 50 and the choir has about 10 members on a good day so they love it when we come and sing.  Having only gotten the music the day before, the singing went good enough.  A major Christmas wish would be for my fraternity brothers to come and sing with their choir.  I could only imagine the looks from the congregation when we would start to sing.  But alas this will probably stay a Christmas wish.  The next move for us is to wait.  Although church ended at around noon, there is always a period of talking.  As small town southerners, there is a lot of chatting going on between the families that have left and come home and the people that have stuck around town.  After shaking every hand in the place and giving hugs to many an old lady, which is especially awkward for me because they have shrunk over the years and I have not, we finally left.  We ate our large meal and began the second round of gift giving.  It always starts with my youngest cousin and goes up to my grandparents.  The process takes forever because each person has to unwrap all their gifts and then thank everyone for everything.  Finally, my turn.  I was expecting some Phi Mu Alpha stuff or maybe some books or something cool.  I got a gift card to Mcdonalds (actually this is the perfect gift for me), a new dress shirt with purple stripes, and a mixer.  That is right ladies and gentlemen, I got a mixer, with a carrying case.  Be Jealous.  No more throwing pancake batter around our apartment at mere human speed.  No, now my roommates and I can use the power boost (possibly the best feature on a mixer) to paint the walls with our future culinary disasters.  Ok please do not think I am ungrateful.  Everything I got this year was something I had needed or asked for and I am blessed to have a big family and be going on a couple of trips this year.  So overall, it was a great Christmas and when I wear that sweater in Germany and my Mom gets the picture, she will be so happy.  I think I just realized that I have gotten past the wonder of Christmas and hit the place where your family gives you the things that you need.  To be fair, I think it is reasonable.  I am so blessed to go to school for free (my parents pay for it) and to pretty much do what I want (within reason) that I can’t complain that my Christmas isn’t what it was.  Here is the most important part of Christmas, prior to the family exchange after lunch we read the Christmas story.  I was elected this year and I bumbled my way through Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus.  This is what makes Christmas so important to me because of what we celebrate as a Christian Family, together.  I said that Christmas is my second favorite holiday.  The top spot is claimed by Easter but that will be for another post.

The other part of Christmas is break.  Everyone floods back into their Parent’s houses and seeks out their high school friends to hang out with and spends most of the time laying on their couch.  For me this year, break has been shortened because of my trip and so I must push all my hangout time into one or two days.  I didn’t really catch my high school friends at thanksgiving so I am desperate to see them again.  Having been absent most of the summer because of work, I feel like I haven’t seen them in ages.  Thankfully I will catch them once before I head out on my trip.  The relationship with my friends from high school has changed a lot since I have left.  We created a facebook group (we are kinda a big group) to make sure everyone knew what was up.  I haven’t really kept up with it all and I don’t really talk to them all that much.  My two best friends are at West Point and PSU respectively and it is just hard for me to come up with things to talk to them about so I just avoid talking to them.  To be completely honest, I miss them but it is not killing me to be away from them.  With all our busy schedules though it is a wonder that I can even get this one opportunity to see people.  I volunteered to work at my youth group’s winter retreat so I have yet another bit of my break taken away and right after that, I hop on a plane and go on my trip.  I love my youth group and this retreat means so much to everyone so we have been doing it for decades.  As a college kid I get to run some of it so that is cool.  Also seeing kids growing up is cool too.

Along with all the home stuff, school has followed me home.  The trip is also a class so I have had reading to do for it which is incredibly hard to do when on break.  My procrastination is so much worse during break.  I have been trying to fight it though because I have set a goal to get a 4.0 next semester so I am trying my best in this winter class.  The other part of it is talking to my brothers/roommates.  I miss them all terribly and after living with someone for a while it is sad when you leave them.  So we texted each other Merry Christmas and have texted back and forth a couple of times.  Mainly we talked because we are looking to rent a house next year and so we have begun the search.  School also followed me through the form of looking for a job.  I basically don’t have class Monday, Wednesday, and Friday so I am looking for a job.  (This isn’t because I am not taking many classes but I overloaded all of them on two days, I would not recommend it for everyone)  I uploaded my resume to the Hiremason website, where you can apply for on-campus jobs.  Hopefully, I can land one of these jobs so I can make some cash to cover for this trip.  The other job is Fraternity jobs.  Each chapter of Phi Mu Alpha is part of a province which is the chapters in the area.  So we have Howard, Sheppard, Shenandoah, Morgan State, and University of Delaware in our province.  We get together twice a year for business and just to hang out and when we get together in the spring a job has opened up.  These positions are filled for three years and I want one.  The job is colony development chair.  This means that I would basically go to other schools and help out groups who wanted to be chapters.  It is like a dream for me to do this because I love my fraternity and I love seeing it grow and traveling.  The job is unpaid but time consuming so my parents are wary but I think it will be fine.  Now add these three or four job applications and hanging out with friends on top of getting ready for this trip and you will get a small picture of my life at this very moment.  My breaks never really turn out to be breaks but if I have learned anything from school it is that there are a ton of very smart and dedicated people and in order for me to succeed, I have to work hard and put in the time when I can.  This break is hopefully going to springboard me into my most successful semester yet.  I have bring plans for this New Year and I am setting myself up for success.  Now I will let you go and enjoy your much deserved break as well.  Have fun and enjoy it! I know I will.  My next post will be focused all on my trip because I will probably be in Germany when I get around to it.  So stay tuned in Mason Nation and Happy New Year.

A story about finals in photos

by Grant, a Patriot Blogger

So now that you have viewed some of the photos, I will explain them.  The first photo is of our messy apartment.  If you can’t tell, it is a little messy but we have gotten into the spirit.  One of my roommates and I love Christmas so of course we have to decorate.  It also makes the room more liveable especially during this stressful time.  My second exam was take home so I began my trip to deliver it at around 11:55.  The second picture is of the view once I get out of my apartment.  I really like the location of my apartment because it is so close to the center of campus.  There are not many people walking around during finals because everyone is either studying, in class, or at home.  So I began my walk across campus but I always try to get the most out of my trips so I had to do other things while I was out.  First I dropped by the PAB (or the Preforming Arts building for those not down with acronyms).  The great thing about being in with the music department folks is the free snakcs and lounge.  There is always someone hanging out or something going on.  Luckily for me, during finals, the friends of music give free food to the music department and they leave it for people to snack on.  Although this is far from the only source of free food on campus during finals, being a part of the music department makes me feel less like a jerk for taking it.  After only seeing one brother hanging out I had to move on.  The next two pictures, number four and number five, are walking shots from both corners of the Johnson Center, called fondly the JC.  My destination was the science and technology building 1, pictured in the right hand side of photo number six.  So after making it to Science and Tech 1, I walked in and handed in my final, two 3-5 pages essays.  To be perfectly honest, I did not put in as much effort into this class as I should have but after having a late night chat with my brothers, I destroied my final.  So I happily turned in the paper and walked out of the building and towards the mail room.  Number seven is a picture of construction going on to add to the back of the Science and Tech buildings.  Construction is just something you gotta get used to here.  With a place like Mason, the updating, renovating, and innovating never stops and that is just the way I like it.  Seeing the planned buildings is interesting and I can’t wait to see them in real life.  Picture number eight is a nice shot of Southside.  One of the best places to eat on campus and a nice looking bulding to boot.  One of the coolest things that has happened to me at Southside is that I was allowed to go onto the second floor patio.  This is usually blocked off but my fraternity was allowed to give a rooftop mini-concert for a scavenger hunt earlier this year.  The next picture, number 9 if you are following along at home, is of the newly renovated side of Student Union Building Two called SUB 2 or now The Hub.  As you can see there is a class of 2014 sign.  Each year during orientation, the freshmen sign their sign and it stays by George all year and then it gets moved around.  It is just a real reminder of how excited I was to come to Mason and how much I love it and my goal of graduation.  The next picture, number 10, is a picture of the mailroom.  It isn’t much to look at but I am there all the time.  If you live on campus you get a mailbox and an address.  I get cards from my family and magazines so I am a frequent visitor.  The whole reason I was down there was to pick up a package.  It ended up being a book for my study abroad.  This may come as a surprise but study abroads are not vacations.  You get credit and you have to do work.  The 15 page paper I am doing for mine is not exciting but I can’t wait to get on the plane and take my talents to the fatherland.  The next two pictures are pictures of the office.  Orientation was one of the best experiences of my life and working in this section of Student Life was amazing.  Although I am not employed there at the moment, I still drop by at least once a week to talk to people and hang out.  I go from right to left and hit every office and talk to everyone.  Having such a tight relationship with my old bosses is the best.  ’They have really helped me make decisions and just been good listeners to my problems.  I am applying to work there again so wish me luck and you may see me when you eventually come to Mason.  So I made my way back from the office and hit up the JC for lunch.  There were a ton of people there, see picture 13.  At the end of the semester everyone tries to get rid of their meal plans so they buy a lot of food and it is also finals week so people are there studying.  One of the coolest things about Mason is that, although it is huge, I always see at least one person I know every time I go to the JC.  After buying my lunch, I walked home and ended up stopping to two friends on the way back.  Picture 14 is my desk and my food.  I have become addicted to the Italian place and I eat there at least once a day.  Also, you will notice that I am a little messy.  I am never super neat but I try to keep all my things in order but studying for finals has kept me from really picking up at much as I want to.  The last three shots are on my walk to my penultimate exam.  I was super worried about it and I studied very hard for it.  Luckily it turned out ok and I am expecting a good grade on it.  I still have one exam left and I am studying all weekend for it.  I wish you the best as we wrap up the year and a much deserved break to all the students.  Happy Holidays.  I have no planned idea for what my next blog will be about but it will probably be things from my study abroad.  So stay tuned, get excited , and enjoy.