Well...I'm here now

Parents Forum
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<p>I had my first day of classes yesterday and I thoguht i'd check in. Funny how I spent five years on here, and now it means so little to me :p</p>

<p>I'm taking 15 credits:
calc 1 for science/engineering students
spanish 201 (intermediate spanish 1)
SAGES: life of the mind (basically an english literature discussion based class)
cardio
principles of chemistry 1</p>

<p>I will now say something I've never said before: Calculus is my favorite class. I also l-o-v-e my chem class. For all the bad stuff that people say about large classses, I love my 240-person math class and my 317-person chemistry class. Spanish....well I don't really like my professor so much, so even though the class kind of seems like a joke, it won't be a fun easy class. And my SAGES class is incredibly boring, and I just don't know what to think of it. As of now, I'm a biochem major/spanish minor, but we'll see.</p>

<p>I've had trouble making friends, but I knew I would. I have a few friends, but it hasn't been an easy transition. I originally had a single, but the day before move-in they found they made a mistake. I don't really like my new dorm. I'm in the arts community, and I loathe art, especially theatre, which is the theme of my dorm. My roommate and me in a week have said maybe 20 words to each other. Everyone else is best friends with their roommate, but I can't help feeling like they made a mistake. We're complete opposites. </p>

<p>And how cc has changed! I got this message today: Hello, celebrian25, it appears that you have not posted on our forums in several weeks, why not take a few moments to ask a question, help solve another member's problem, or just join a conversation?</p>

<p>good stuff :) </p>

<p>Oh, and I LOVE Cleveland. It's awesome here. It's seriously cooler here than in Columbus! Obviously not much, but still I can feel a difference. And I rode public transportation (buses!) a few days ago! It was pretty exciting. I thought I would never be able to figure out Case, as it's so much bigger than it looks, but I now feel very comfortable crossing streets. </p>

<p>So I'm still alive, and I'll come back every now and again, just to say hi. :D</p>

<p>:p :p :p</p>

<p>~Celeb</p>

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<p>Thanks for letting us know, Celebrian! Early days yet for worrying about not having enough friends. Most of mine were made through activities rather than on my floor. So I hope you join a few clubs.
Good luck for the rest of the year.</p>

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<p>Hey, great job. Sound like 6/8 of the cylinders are firing. </p>

<p>On the roomie thing</p>

<p>Remember you don't have to be friends with your roomie. It's like a team mate. They can be totally opposite everything you are and still be a very good teammate . Friend is an important relationship, but so is roommate. Work on it with an eye towards teammate, not friend and I think it might go better.</p>

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<p>I had sort of hoped my daughter would end up rooming with an athlete, since sports is something she has no interest in. I thought having a roommate with totally disparate interests would be a good thing--one could go to the other's sporting events; the other could go to the roommate's violin concerts or whatever. Maybe you would end up loathing art & the theatre a little less if you went to a play or an exhibit with your roommate or someone else in your dorm. And then whole new worlds of experience might open for you. In other words, maybe you're too young to write off such huge segments of human creativity?? (I hope you don't mind my saying that....)</p>

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<p><strong><em>CELEBRIAN</em></strong>*!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</p>

<p><em>GREAT</em> to hear from you!! It sounds like things are going generally well, and I'm SO glad to hear that you love your calc and chem classes!! Of course you won't love every class, but if each semester you can manage to find a couple that you really enjoy, you will do fine!</p>

<p>Like yours, my son's roommate was a poor match last year. They had no <em>problems</em>, but his roomie was <em>very</em> quiet and totally studious and very, very serious. My son, who is a serious <em>student</em>, is also a gregarious, fun-loving kid, and was hoping to <em>really</em> connect with his freshman roommate. It didn't happen. HOWEVER, he DID connect with some others in his freshman dorm and now, he has his BEST friend for a roommate this year, and he (and I) couldn't be happier. So, honey, hang in there...it will only get better from this point and by next year, you will feel SO much more at home!</p>

<p>Keep us posted. It was <em>SO</em> great to hear from you! love, ~berurah</p>

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<p>So good to hear from you Celebrian! Give the roomie thing some time, and get to know as many people as you can. Best friends as roomies isn't always what it is cracked up to be either, so just keep meeting people. Glad to hear classes are going well.</p>

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<p>Good to hear from you Celebrian. Sounds like you are settling in well. Are you pushing to get your single room back? </p>

<p>What is the scoop with SAGES? It sounds like such a good idea, but kids don't seem to like it at all.</p>

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<p>Glad to hear most things are going well, celebrian. I can relate to the friends/roommate problem, as I had trouble making friends when I started college way back when. Eventually my roommate asked me to change rooms--and my new roommate, whom I didn't know at all, became my best friend there. So all worked out in the end. Some of us take a little longer to make friends than others, but eventually we do. Enjoy classes, find some clubs or activities to be a part of, and maybe see if you can move to a dorm that matches your interests better. College is all about new experiences, and you are definitely having those. Have a great year!</p>

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<p>A word about SAGES, the first semester SAGES is pretty much a joke, so my now sophomore S said, and Case students in general. However, you have to take it, so make the most of it, but be selective w/the second semester choice. My S's SAGES experience improved greatly second semester, and he is actually looking forward to the current class as it is the Rock N Roll SAGES.</p>

<p>FYI, SAGES is Case Western's unique approach to general ed. It is a small seminar based class that is discussion and writing intense. I believe 3 or 4 semesters are required in place of general ed courses.</p>

<p>Also, S did not have good roomie experience last year, but is "suiting" with selected group of friends this year. Sounds so much better already, less than a week into the return to Case.</p>

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<p>Celebrian: well done to you! You are THERE! How fantastic is that?</p>

<p>I love it that you are surprising yourself--loving classes and situations you didn't expect to love. Keep that attitude and you'll have a wonderful life!</p>

<p>As for finding your people: keep up an explorers attitude. Check out groups and clubs until you settle on some nice folks. Don't expect too much. Let them surprise you.</p>

<p>Also, in an experiment, why don't you attend one of the dramatic theatre presentations? College theatre is hugely different from high school theatre. there might be some serious playwrights in your midst. Wouldn't it be a shame if you missed meeting them?</p>

<p>Keep in touch!</p>

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<p>Good to hear you're liking it up there. My roommate situtation was just like berurah's son - eventually, we ended up talking a lot more, though we never really became good "friends". My suitemate on the other hand, I spoke to him a grand total of four times over the entire year... we shared a hallway and a bathroom, but I rarely ever saw him around. Regardless, I still got to be really good friends with a lot of people who lived around me and with people I met from classes, clubs etc. So don't worry - you'll end up meeting tons of people over the first few weeks. Well, good luck and enjoy the year!</p>

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<p>Hey, Celebrian. Great to see your phosphors. I hope things work out a little better with roommate, etc., in the long run. But it's so nice to hear from you after you're on campus.</p>

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<p>Celebrian:
Glad you like Cleveland and some of your new classes. You are in a great place to get your education and to grow on your own. You absolutely don't have to "get it all right" and it is perfectly OK to be a bit at loose ends socially..lots of kids are just faking it anyway, or will try to ease out of one set of people and ease into another better fit soon enough. I am from the psychobabbble sixties generation. Here is a secret mental health shorthand..people who have a high opinion of others generally attract and maintain friends. You are a super guy with some talents that will take you places. Even if you have to pretend you have had a lobotomy sometimes, try to imagine "the best" of your hallmates and peers and to overlook annoying, goofy or intrusive behavior with some tolerance. Ask a question of everyone you meet, then ask a follow up question. Then say something about yourself (ie "don't be a Stranger!"). Socializing at this point is information exchange. It feels a bit false but its a start. Freshman year can be lonely here and there for all people with many shifts around with friends and filled with misperceptions and missteps. Sometimes it is actually smart to sit back and settle in before making a lot of overtures. The people that seem so outgoing and easy re socializing now may not be the people you notice in six months. Lots of gifted students have introverted aspects of personality which I like to frame as "more selective" re socializing. You will be thrown together with people your age all day..don't worry..opportunities continue to present themselves to you day after day. But you do have to initiate some. Stay open. Be interested in how others are "doing." Give it time for them to get interested in you.<br>
You have a theater roommie and it is not your scene. This will be funny some day. But you can turn it into something decent if you allow yourself to show a little polite interest in what the theater kids are up to.<br>
My freshman roomie was the daughter of the state chair of the American Lung Association. I secretly smoked (lied on my info card, too) and wafted in smelling like an ashtray all year. I think she finally thinks that was funny. At the time, it was sorta like having a mistake/loser for a roommate for her. She found a few redeeming things to like about me. She was generous. We were friendly if not friends.<br>
Here is another tip. You will be seeing a lot of these people for the next fifty years..at reunions, weddings and other ways people cross paths. I am still apologizing to freshman roommie at a few alum events every five years or so.
It takes energy to get interested in others en masse like in a freshman orientation week. The herd behavior thing fades out after first and second semeseter and you won't feel like you are forced to socialize with a pack anymore. People will have a million different ways to connect. Give it time.
fun to hear from you and keep us informed. Lots of cool cultural stuff in Cleveland.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the update. So happy you like chem. I never liked it, pharmacy school would have been nicer if I did.</p>

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<p>Okay, you hate the theatre.....you need to get over that...i would bet your disdain comes through loud and clear</p>

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<p>

GOOD GRIEF! Is this <em>ALL</em> you could think of to say to celebrian? Tell us now, just HOW HARD do you have to think to come up with THAT offensive and tangential a comment? Surely you MUST work at this, CGM. :)</p>

<p>I myself have THREE daughters who are HEAVILY involved in musical theater, and even <em>I</em> recognize that theater people can be a bit eccentric, and the scene isn't for everyone. I hope celebrian makes the best of this situation, and I'm sure she will, but she is MORE than entitled to her feelings.</p>

<p>C'mon, aren't liberals supposed to be the warm, fuzzy, sympathetic types? Get with the program! <em>lol</em> ;)</p>