Disclaimer: For my last entry I decided to just let you in on some honest secrets. Below I have listed a summary of the things I have learned through my many experiences –successes and failures- as a freshman in college. They compile and become the results of my freshman year. There are many things listed that could potentially help you. And there are many things listed that I feel are necessary for you to do or to be prepared for. Before I put them on here, I made sure at least 3 out of 5 of my patient freshmen friends agreed on them. They are a heads up to you. Take them with a grain of salt, because they are completely based on my personal opinion and past experiences. Please don’t take offense to anything said, and I hope this information helps prepare you for one of the most exhilarating years of your life so far! Is the anticipation killing you?!

Here they are:

• Tell your parents thank you.
• College is not high school, it is better in every single little itty bitty way.
• Target is more expensive than wal-mart, and x-cetera (the grocery store in Walker tower) is more expensive than the two combined.
• The campus police officers do not ticket priority on the weekends
• Couch dorms are the nicest. Walker has the most character- but is a furnace in the winter, and Adams smells like Burger King.
• Norman does not have a Whataburger.
• You will probably bawl your eyes out… at in inappropriate time, in an inappropriate place, in front of inappropriate people during the first month of school.
• Facebook is distracting.
• Call your grandparents.
• Give your phone #, get other people’s phone #s, it’s stupid not to- u have to start a friendship somehow.
• Don’t overdraw.
• Don’t be in denial about your financial status. Unless you are extremely fortunate, you are probably broke and will be for the next four year.
• Laundry is .25 cents less if you pay for it with sooner cents.
• If you wash your white clothes with ONE red sock… everything turns out a repulsive shade of pink.
• Find a place of worship; whether it is a Temple, a Church, a spot on campus, your car, a Synagogue, or in a tree… you will need a refuge.
• You will miss your family, and your dog. Actually, you will miss any dog.
• You will need an umbrella
• You will get caught in the rain without your umbrella and hopefully accept it and enjoy it.
• Buy rain boots. The campus floods.

• Ramen noodles are good.
• The dollar theater is better.
• And the free screenings in the union are the best.
• There is not Dr. Pepper anywhere on campus.
• Go listen to the speakers.
• Go watch the plays.
• Go browse the museums- they are all amazing.
• Just because a class has “beginning”, “for non majors”, “elementary”, “intro”, “understanding of”, or “principle” in the title, does not mean it will be easy.
• The “stupidest” kid in the class is most likely a genius.
• The dorms are quietest from 9am-4pm… after that…u will probably not sleep.
• You will also probably have at least one all nighter due to your own procrastination.
• Hopefully, it will only take one for you to learn that lesson.
• There have been no documented cases of people dying from lack of sleep
• Only go to WINSTAR casino once a semester. And do it on a Monday morning.
• Listen to any senior you might meet- they know.
  

• Apply.
• You will get denied.
• You will get accepted.
• It works out, and the risk is well worth it.
• Be bold.
• Opportunity is everywhere.
• Professors like to intimidate you on the first day of class.
• But they will help you. They are ur friend.
• Your high school teachers lied. There is extra credit. Do it.
• You will probably accidentally see a naked person. Hope that it is your roommate.
• Some of the best memories are made late on weeknights, and early on week mornings.
• President Boren cares.
• The OU staff is amazing and friendly.
• By the end of the year, you will owe the cleaning lady on your floor a trillion hugs and a million dollars- tell her thank u.
• You will probably take a class that you think counts toward your major… and at the end of the semester, find out it does not.
• Meal points do run out.
• This is the only time in your life thus far where u will be expected to blow people away, and to screw up massively all at the same time.
• Earplugs look weird, feel weird, and are weird- but work.
• Your friends become your family.
• The freshman fifteen is not a myth and it sucks.
• By your second semester, you will be able to spot a high-school student from a mile away.
• You will also look haggard and bloated.
• Contrary to prior belief, college is hard work.
• Not contrary to prior belief, college is SO SO SO much fun!
• If it might be strep, a sinus infection, or the flu… go to Goddard… if it might be anything else, go to Norman Memorial Hospital.
• Know how to get to Norman Memorial Hospital.
• If you wake up early on Saturday, and look outside the window… you will see something highly entertaining.
• Instead of asking why, learn to ask why not, it will help your outlook.
• Be yourself, and then find friends who like who you are.
• Live it up.
• And always remember the wise words of Robert Frost, “In three words I can sum up everything I have learned about life: it goes on.”

Good Luck!

<<< Me and Morgan’s first time at Riverwind casino. It could not have been more obvious… that is where a regular told me it was best to come back on a Monday. I think she just wanted the machine I was on.

 

 

 

Okay… so many things have happened in the past few weeks, I just don’t know how I can catch you guys up, haha but… I will try!

My appearance
            Well, I dyed my hair brown. I decided I was living a lie. Since middle school, I have been putting blonde highlights in my hair- to “accentuate” my “natural” color. I continued doing this until last semester. Then it suddenly struck me (largely due to the damage getting new highlights did to my measly college bank account) that I have absolutely no natural blonde hair anymore. So, I dyed my hair. Everyone has had their own opinion about it, and they have not been shy to tell me. My parents hated it at first. My dad, and one of my best guy friends, Corby, both commented on how sad they were now that their “little Sarah was no longer a blonde”. Ah, they’ll get over it. I like it. I am in college now; it’s time for brown hair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me – w/ the brown hair of course- & Heather!!! (She is just one of the lovely girls who live on my floor!)

Dance Marathon
            In case you are unfamiliar with one of the biggest fundraisers OU has to offer, I will fill you in. It is called Dance Marathon. Dance Marathon is completely headed by a group of OU students who applied and were chosen to help in different areas of Dance Marathon preparation. I was lucky enough to be on this committee, and cannot explain to you how rewarding the entire experience was. It is basically an all night carnival which benefits the Children’s Miracle Network. Every participating student is encouraged to raise money for the event, and then is expected to stay up till 3 am learning a dance, doing arts and crafts, playing dance revolution, and doing other fun activities. The organization that the money goes to, Children’s Miracle Network, is an organization that helps financially with kids who are suffering from any kind of terminal disease. The OU students and the executive committee raised thousands of dollars! The University tripled whatever we raised, so all in all, I think that money will be able to help many, many people!

I am in the pict. with some of my Kappa sisters & some OU football players @ Dance Marathon!

Hospital Visits
            During the month of February, I had what many would qualify as “family & friend emergencies”. My grandpa was diagnosed with cancer, and had to have an emergency surgery to remove his tumor filled kidney. A week later, my 15 year old cousin had to have two different brain surgeries to remove an AVM from his brain. About a week and a half after that, my best friend, Morgan, slipped on some wet stairs and literally broke her back. Thankfully, everyone’s surgeries wound up wonderfully, and everyone is doing great.
 I am not trying to be a downer, but I decided to write about those things as a reminder that college can get extremely tough. It is so hard to remember that “life” doesn’t decide to let up just because you are in college. It’s very easy to think that because you’re off in a collegiate bubble, you and your family are invincible from tragedies. Unfortunately, that’s not the case, but if anything like that happens to any of you your freshman year, try and remember that you can get through it. If I can do it, you can do it. J

 

It is STILL icy today! But no sir, that did not stop school from shutting down. I have decided OU is like the mail…just like the US postal service; school will prevail through sleet, rain, or snow. In this case, OU is prevailing through all three at once. Anyways, today was my second day of school! Oh, how I have missed school! My classes are hard this semester. I am taking Chinese, and to be honest I am not sure why. The way I think about it is, since they are on their way to world domination economically; I should probably learn their language. Today I also was accepted into the Gaylord College of mass communication. I had to pass the entrance exam and make a certain GPA (All of which I did). The college is so beautiful. I absolutely cannot wait to begin classes there. I also managed to make another stride in my academic career. Well… it might not be a stride just yet, but I applied to be in the honors college here. I am waiting to hear back from them, so I am kind of anxious. Don’t fret- I will keep you guys posted… haha because I know ya’ll are just as anxious as I am huh?

 

The beautiful Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication!

In case you did not hear, there has been a state of emergency issued for Oklahoma. I am stuck in this state of emergency. Yes… I know what you are all thinking, I am from Texas. But, my mother woke me up on this past Friday morning and told me that I could either leave right then to beat the ice storm, or I could leave on Tuesday. Since my entire break has consisted of watching National Geographic till days on end, you can imagine the panic I went to in order to leave on Friday. So now, I am here, and it is icy. I have managed to find two friends MK and Matthew, and we basically are together non stop. We were so bored this weekend that we went on love@aol and registered ourselves in the 30s love chat room. Don’t worry, none of us are 30, and none of us went there to find love. We really were just THAT bored. The thirty year olds were not very exciting. Anyways, the ice storm is bad… but being stuck at home with absolutely nothing to do was worse.

Mathew and MK… trying to warm themselves next to the candle… shhhhh don’t tell- those aren’t allowed

So, I’m having a lot of trouble getting back into the swing of things this week. On Thursday and Friday of last week OU closed its campus in honor of the snow! I, being from Texas, usually refer to any kind of frozen moisture as snow. I mean, the closest thing to snow we get is hail, so whenever someone told me it was going to snow here, hail is what I expected. But, I was proven wrong when, for two days strait, it snowed legitimate snow flakes! It was fabulous! As seen in the picture, my friends and I took advantage of the snow break. On Wednesday night we made gingerbread houses at the bottom of my dorm tower and went over to our friend’s house to play! Then on Thursday we walked to Café Plaid, a cute little café on campus corner. After Café Plaid we went to take pictures at the Kappa house in the snow. This is also when my roommate and friend Ellie decided it was a good idea to try and sled behind a car. The Sig Ep pledges came outside one by one to antagonize them until they were all outside watching- needless to say I was sufficiently embarrassed. They were extremely disappointed when the sweater Katie used to tie Ellie’s sled to the car with broke within twenty feet of their starting point. That was also about the point when the boys attacked Katie’s car with snow balls. Don’t worry we quickly retaliated by gathering snowballs and putting them in Katie’s car. We then drove around the block and sneakily came back to bombarded them with the snowballs we made. Unfortunately, we were not that sneaky about it, and Sara and Ellie ( the girls with the snowballs) apparently had not worked on their aim in a while, so they ended up hitting the ceiling of our car and dripping all over us. Overall though, I think we made our message clear- haha! Following this excitement we went and sled down the iced over hills at the OU stadium. I had so much fun with all the snow! I hope it comes back!

       

This past weekend I went to A&M for the game with my friend Morgan. I figured out that our road trop was cursed. On the way down, there was a wreck in Waco, TX and the loop we needed to go on was completely shut down. There seriously were cars as far as the eye could see behind us and in front of us. So, we did the practical thing and drove over the grassy median and turned around to find directions for an alternate route. We pulled over at a gas station and the attendant made us and everyone else pay $0.30 just for four lines of directions. But, we did pay, and not to our surprise our “hidden route” took us 3 hours to get off of. We left Norman on Thursday, and spend the night in Forth Worth. The, we left Fort Worth for College Station at 1:30 pm, and we did not arrive until 8:30. Usually Fort Worth to College Station is only three hours. The only thing that kept us sane in grid lock traffic was the idea that at least we were not the people who were in the wreck. Oh yah, and Matt Kearny’s music had a lot to do with that. When we got there it was all worth it! I almost went to A&M along with the other 100 members of my class who actually did. I was so happy to see all of them, but the visit also reinforced that I made the right choice. It took me about .25 seconds to figure out there is not one aggie bone in my body. Boomer Sooner!

Also this past week we had Halloween! Halloween is not as much fun in college, I miss seeing all the kids at my door and having all of the decorations up. But. It still was fun we all dressed up and went out to Halloween Parties! I was a frat boy with two of my closest friends Alexandra and Katie! We bought the costumes at Good Will for like twelve dollars. It was a blast, and the clothes were more comfortable than my pajamas. In this pict. – if you couldn’t tell- we were trying to look as fratty as possible.

No, I didn’t take this pic (on the left). I forgot my camera and had to borrow it from the OU website. Larry Birdine took this pic for me!

 

 

 

So I have come to the conclusion I love this place! There have been so many things that have happened in the last few weeks. I have had my first midterms, been to the first Kappa date party, interned for OU nightly news, randomly been put in the background of a photo shoot for Adrian Peterson in Sports Illustrated with my friend Kathleen, and have caught my first sickness away from my momma!
            For the last few weeks, I have been a walking virus. I went to the school’s clinic to see what was wrong. This was after I had already been sick a week, because I think that going to the doctor is a hassle. It turns out being sick is more of a hassle so I caved in and made an appointment. I went to the doctor here and instead of giving me an anti-biotic, he took my white blood cell count. He looked at the chart which seemed to be overflowing with white blood cells and told me that whatever infection I had my white blood cells could fight it off NATURUALLY.  I’m not a big fan of NATURAL healing. I firmly believe in band-aids, rubbing alcohol, and ANTIBIODICS. So, instead of going to Dallas with all my friends for OU-TX weekend, I went home to Fort Worth and let Mom and Dad take care of me so I could heal naturally. Despite their best efforts, I was still sick and ended up having my good friend Lauren take me to the emergency care clinic a week after I had gotten back to Norman. I was given anti- biotics and I am good to go. Moral of the story is its hard being sick away from home. It’s the natural college tendency to procrastinate a doctor visit, and to push until you’re too sick to recover for fun weekends like OU vs. TX. ^^ Goddard health center! Just thought I would throw that out there!

 

 

           

So, it was kinda crummy being sick, but before that escapade, the Kappa Kappa Gammas had our first date party! The theme was “Where the Wild Things Are” and I was a lady bug. Yea- a lady bug technically is wild; I mean it’s not domestic. If it doesn’t make sense to you- you’re not the only one- no worries!

 

 

 

 

 

 

These past few weeks I have also passed another mile stone. I managed to take my first mid terms and make an A on almost all of them! They were very hard and I left the classrooms after taking the tests and thought I failed them. Fortunately, I studied for them pretty intensely so I managed pretty okay I guess. A thing about college no one ever told me was how hard it is. The common saying from the awesome girls who live on my floor is, “college sucks.” It doesn’t, and we all know that and just say it anyway. College takes more studying then anyone ever told me, and it brings along with it responsibilities that no one can prepare you for.
           

All in all, these past few weeks have been awesome. When I was sick, I had new friends bring me slushies and cough drops. I had phone calls from people up dating me on the OU vs. TX fun, and I was able to go out and mingle this last weekend since I had the tests over with. I guess now that I have gotten to know so many people that I love, college has come together. The first few weeks were tough, but I have made so many awesome friends, and have gotten used to living without my twin sister and instead with my roommate Katie!
           
Funny- quick story, Katie and I thought it was a good idea to steal mattresses from the boy’s side of the dorms I am in. I mean, they weren’t being used and we wanted our beds to be higher. So I already have mine. But, Katie had to go get hers. So, Katie went to the other side and drug the mattress down the hallway not knowing that every guy in the hall was home and heard the commotion she was making. You know the other guy Brian who is on Boomer Bytes, well he lives on my floor and came out and yelled at my roomy. I haven’t talked to him yet, but it’s funny. Katie left with the mattress anyway, but all the boys on that hall came out to yell at her. They probably are no longer a big fan of us…. Woops.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My roomy Katie! On her beautiful two mattresses high bed!

I have just finished rush and I love my house! Believe it or not, all of you skeptics, I think girls usually end up in the house that is best. I don’t really know how I feel about it rush ending. I think I feel as if I have just had a huge corset taken off or something haha. If you do not know what that is 1) start reading books and 2) go watch the first Pirates of the Caribbean for about 15 minutes. Anyways, I am finally able to breathe. Rush was great, and I would recommend it for anyone who wants to find a place to belong. Really, every girl, and every house that I came across was seriously exploding with sweet girls. I learned a few things during rush though.
1) Bring band-aides
2) Bring flip flops to wear from house to house and whenever you get to the house… put on your heals. NO one will ever know!
3) Everyone gets cut from someone.  If you meet a girl who says that no one cut her, you should feel happy to know that she is lying haha.
4) Be yourself.
5) uhm… before you come, be prepared to smile. Smile almost as if your life depends on it- it makes a difference.
6) Have fun with it, in all reality rush is not worth developing a stomach ulcer, going broke, or having a mental breakdown.
7) Don’t go into rush with preconceived notions on which house is good, popular, or exactly right for you. An open mind is defiantly key to any good rush experience.
8) Do not care about how badly any alumni, aunt, sister, mom, old friend, new friend, or grandmother wants you to go into any certain house. It’s really confusing when you have pressure from just about everyone you know, because everyone does have their own opinion about each house. But, as cheesy as it is, following your heart probably would work best. ORRR my solution was figuring out which one of the houses I could walk around in my socks and pajamas in and still feel comfortable. Haha yea that one worked.
           
Sooooo, I’m pretty sure I would have paid a lot of money for that information before actual rush. But… then again that would have caused me to go broke, and I would have been violating tip number 6. haha oh well!

            This above is me and a few of my sorority sisters! I <3 them!!!!

Today is Tuesday the twenty second of August. Yesterday was Monday the twenty first, and it was the first day of class. I am so happy that I did not write this yesterday. I am not a person who gets overwhelmed easily. Knowing that, I would like to tell you yesterday was probably one of the most overwhelming days of my life. Yesterday was my first day of college, one in which I had four classes. Yesterday was also my first chapter meeting for my sorority. Now, I did love every minute of yesterday, but haha my planner however, did not enjoy yesterday as much. The multitude of syllabi being passed your way can get overwhelming- if you do not already understand that. My advice is to remember that after Monday comes Tuesday, and after Tuesday comes Wednesday. In other words, I woke up this morning at 10:15 a.m. and only had two classes to go to, since I went to four yesterday. Today, I had time to study, read, workout, and take a short nap. I also had time to write down in my planner every quiz, exam, paper, reading assignment, sorority chapter meeting, and football game I will ever have this semester.
            Now, since that ugly above paragraph is off my chest, haha I can finally write about how much I love this college. Having the freedom to float around campus aimlessly- if youre into that- is one of the most fun scholastic experiences- if you would call it that- a girl could have. While I was floating around campus aimlessly, I stumbled into the library and found a big, brown, mushy, marshmallow leather chair. One in which I sat in for about two hours. I saw people who lingered onto a bench and took a nap outside, people who sat on the stoop and talked to others from below (totally reminded me of “Hey Arnold!”) and – my personal fav. - people who were talking to squirrels. The whole experience is eye opening and exciting, especially at a campus in which you love.
            Another thing I love about college is the people you get to meet. I have now met a guy whose aunt lives in a nudist colony, and I have met a girl named Kathleen, (one of my complete new best friends) whose sister is becoming a nun- haha yeah, two very extremes. I have met a guy with a very cool accent from London. He thinks I’m weird because I like hearing him talk… but whatever I’m from Texas, I kinda freak out whenever I hear someone talking without a Southern drawl.
 Also, this week I was able to go the big red rally! This is basically like a huge pep- rally, and it was a lot of fun. It was pretty cool to see some people you know down on the field doing whatever it is they do. Haha, the people on the field – no matter if they simply fell onto the feild- automatically have VIP status in my book. I completely enjoyed seeing some girls on the pom and cheerleading squad that I knew. It was also the first time we (freshman) were able to attempt (key word) to do all the traditions, and everything! Our first football game is next weekend, and I absolutely can’t wait!

       This is just some of the action that was going on during the rally…!

            Okay, so apparently college is not just about the people you meet, the sorority you join, or the freedom from home – I was completely misinformed. I think they want some academic achievements or something thrown in to the college experience too? haha ( MOM THAT WAS A JOKE.) Anyways the academic environment here is awesome. The fact that everyone who is here, is here to learn excites me. The campus is thriving with some kind of stimulating vibe that makes you want to learn. This could just be I feel this way because I am an inexperienced freshman, or because I am a huge nerd. But, honestly I think everyone here is excited about the school year, and the classes, and the enrichment. Uhm… speaking of enrichment, I’m pretty sure I have a JMC book that needs about 2 chapters of enriching right now.

It is ten o’ clock at night, and I leave for OU tomorrow. I will be driving that stretch from Fort Worth to Norman in only about forty- eight hours. To me it’s more of a drive down I-35 which starts at childhood and ends at adulthood. Maybe not exactly adulthood yet, but haha it is definitely more-responsibility-hood. I absolutely cannot wait! I will
The weeks before you leave for school consist of many, many, many things. Some of them very fun, and some of them uhm.. very burdensome- yeah get excited. One of the best things that I was able to do before I have to leave was camp crimson!
            I cannot express to you the feeling of camp crimson. I do not even know where to start. Let me start it out by telling you about the fact that I could not talk about my glorious experience without crying for days. It was not an Oprah cry ( I am infamous for crying every day at 4:00 about her show), it was not the I can’t believe that I am hitting this stage in my life cry ( because I have had a lot of those too), but this was more of a I can’t believe how lucky I am to have, through fate or fortune, ended up at this school cry. I truly and very passionately believe this school is a blessing to everyone who attends it. I do not know your religion; you may not believe in “blessings” so to put it in another light... this school is a gift. No really, I think it should have a bow on the top of the library :). While I was at camp crimson, I managed to meet some of the neatest people I have ever been exposed to. The girls, the guys, the counselors, the staff, everyone cared. Everyone genuinely cared about the time you were having, and the lessons you were learning to better prepare yourself for college. I would recommend camp crimson for every one planning on going to OU. It makes you sad to leave; it makes you focus on the four years ahead of you, and it makes you leave there feeling as if you have joined a very large family.
 Well, believe it or not, the dorms have climbed their way onto my little excitement list. I have just gotten here and unpacked, but I do really like them! The new rooms are beautiful, spacious, and ergonomic. I… did not get one of those rooms. I am living in Walker tower otherwise known as “throwback tower” or, “the penthouse.” Every other tower has been renovated except for Walker. Don’t worry, they are working on it, it should be finished by next year. Hooray for you! In its own weird way I have learned to embrace the dirt and have somehow managed to become ecstatic about the dorms.  I have met at least 40 girls before school has even started who are also embracing the dirt, and my roommate is probably the sweetest girl alive. Moving into the dorms was not nearly as stressful as every has made it out to be. The lobby was crowded of course, but it was not impossible to get an elevator ride to the tenth floor. In fact, I even had time to take a picture of me, my sister, and my dad during move in day! I must go finish running my errands, but I can’t wait to keep you updated! Until next time, Peace out!

         Haha my sister (in the dark blue) was a little wiped out from moving in!