The Crapshoot that is the Student Lottery

I just came back from the Virginia Tech, University of Maryland game, and the first thing I have to say is great job Hokies! What's even more astounding is that Darren Evans ran for 253 yards, breaking the record of 243 yards set by Mike Imoh in 2004. I'd also like to thank my friend Ana Snelling for giving me a ticket to the game. Without her, I was sure to have paid 50 dollars for a ticket or perhaps even been forced to watch the game in the confines of the 4th floor Pritchard lounge, alone. I definitely owe Ana a favor, if not multiple favors, because this is not the first time she has come through for me. Thanks again Ana!
The uncertainty of me attending tonight's game brings me to the topic I've chosen for the initiating action project. As a freshman at Tech, you cannot sign up for a student season ticket package. Instead, individual game student tickets are issued by means of an online electronic lottery. The first frustration I have with the student lottery is that most of the time you never know when a game has opened up. Because there is no listserv or email notification, you have to constantly be checking the Hokie Tickets site. If it wasn't for reminders from my friends, I would have surely missed the deadline for signing up. Secondly, the lottery is open to all Tech students, not just freshmen. Even though an upperclassman may have a ticket to a game through their student season ticket package, they can still sign up for a chance to win another free ticket through the lottery. This definitely seems unfair to us freshmen. Thirdly, even though Tech has a whopping 30,000 students, Lane Stadium has a capacity of over 66,000. Why can't the university guarantee tickets for all students.
I am planning on writing a letter to Dr. Steger asking for a change to the student lottery. I will propose a new system where each student has the ability to go to each game so long as they pick up their ticket some time in advance. If their tickets have not been redeemed after that time they will be put up for sale. Included with this letter will be a petition signed by current Tech students calling for this initiative. I know I speak for all my fellow freshmen when I say that we are fed up with the current lottery system. It's time for change.

Change At Last

As we sat there watching the returns, we did so in disbelief. Obama had not only secured the Northeastern states that the Democratics usually won uncontested, but he also had gotten New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and the battleground state of Ohio. It was nearing the 11 o'clock hour and the closing of the polls on the West Coast. At that time, Obama was up in Florida by a difference of 2 to 3 percent, and had pulled ahead in Virginia by 10 or so thousand votes, which continued to climb with each minute. We were all glued to the television and our computer screens as we crosschecked information from all the various news organizations. All of a sudden, Pete tells me that according to Yahoo the AP declared Obama the winner of Virginia. Although nobody else could verify this, in my state of utmost excitement I texted everyone I knew to give them the news. For the first time since Lyndon B. Johnson, Virginia had gone blue. It was astonishing, and exciting to say the least. What had happened, though, was to pale in comparison with the news that was only seconds away. We watched as CNN finally broke the news about Virginia. Right on the heels of that they declared the battleground state of Florida to be awarded to Obama. I was in a hysteria of happiness as I grabbed my phone ready to call my girlfriend Louisa to tell her that he had this, that we had this. However, in the time it took me to grab my phone adjacent to me, the clock struck 11, and, although expected, the AP declared Obama the winner of the state of California and its 55 electoral votes. On the screen, a set of new words rang out. Obama is the 44th President Elect of the United States. It all seemed to hit me like a pile of bricks. I dropped the phone I had just picked up and fell to my knees on the verge of crying tears of sweet sweet happiness. I grasped my friend Ana and embraced her in a hug that I'm sure couldn't have been too comfortable for her. It had happened! The once improbable, unthinkable dream had culminated in the now famous chant of Obama and his entire campaign: Yes We Can!

Trick or Treat: A Halloween Away from Home...Part 1

The span of time between late October and late December is one of my favorite times of the year. There are so many holidays, including Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, et cetera. The first of these holidays, Halloween, is in fact not a holiday at all. It is the evening before All Hollows Day, also known as All Saints' Day. Nowadays, it is celebrated with activities such as trick-or-treating, costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, reading scary stories, and watching horror movies. This year was my first Halloween away from home. For a time, I didn't know exactly what to do. Was I supposed to go trick-or-treating in the dorm? I hadn't gone trick-or-treating in years, even before heading off to college. Did people still dress up? Perhaps it was considered too childish at our age? I guess in the end, I knew in my heart of hearts that the one thing we would be doing, like most all other college students, was partying.
My friends and I were going to head to the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity in Christiansburg. They were hosting a Halloween party that was going to last from 10:00pm to 3:00am the next day. We all coordinated our outfits. Instead of having a bunch of disjointed costumes we all decided to dress up as one of the parts of the Pacman game. We had four ghosts, Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Pete, and the honor of Pacman was bestowed upon yours truly. For the ghosts we bought solid-colored t-shirts from Michaels and then cut out a series of triangles all the way along the bottom to make a zigzag pattern. We also stuck two googly eyes nipples length apart on the chest. For my Pacman costume I had a yellow solid-colored t-shirt, but instead of doing any cutting or embroidery, I simply stuffed two massive pillows between the shirt and myself creating the roundish plump physique I was trying to portray.
When it was getting to be that time, we headed to the cage and loaded into my car. We drove from 460, got off the for downtown Christiansburg, took a left on Yellow Sulfur Road, took a right onto Janelle, and then, I missed the last turn onto Cinnabar. I drove a little further, until we came to a somewhat abandoned looking warehouse, where I thereby proceeded to make a uey. As I did this, there was a loud explosion, and the car was rocked and keeled over to its right side. The car resisted moving forward and gave a loud screech as if in agony. It was at this point that I realized we had a flat tire. To be continued...

Drafts Are Back: Back Again!

I'm actually writing this blog post in my English class right now, which is a first for me. We just exchanged our feedback on each others essays and read over them. First off, I thought it was mere coincidence when I learned that the person's essay I responded to was the same one that responded to my essay. However, as I soon found out, Professor Scott had done the same thing with everybody else in the class. As far as the response goes, it was more or less what I expected.
For my research this semester I have been looking at the Virginia Tech Community and what sets it apart from other college communities. However, one of the things I learned long ago was that it always important to know both sides of what you are trying to argue. I saw the essay as my ability to do just that. The main idea of my essay was to present my frustrations at Tech in order to show the school in a less than pleasing light. I weaved my thoughts into my own personal story of how I got a judicial review (J.R.).
I believe Emily did a great job analyzing my essay seeing that it wasn't completed. She described my larger theme as "something like getting in trouble for something, while in the act, you would have never expected to get in trouble for, but when thinking back realizing it was technically breaking rules". While I definitely can agree with that statement, it ultimately wasn't what I was trying to say. In all fairness to Emily, though, the main reason she wasn't able to pick up my message was because I hadn't yet fit my story into the larger context of Virginia Tech. I had talked a little about my successful moments in my first months at Tech but I hadn't yet contrasted it with the frustrations that overwhelmed me after getting the J.R. What was really great about Emily's feedback was that she seemed to enjoy the personal story setting and the "coffee shop conversation" feel, which was exactly what I was aiming for. It makes me more confident that I will be able to draw in and maintain the attention of my readers.

Bubba is finally carved!

It's Halloween this Friday and I have really been working hard to get ready for the big day. Not only have I purchased a blue 36B sports bra, a pair of blue valor sweatpants, and a black wig for my Sporty Spice outfit, but my hallmates and I bought a giant pumpkin. We named him Bubba (although others have referred to him as The Great Pumpkin) and we got the whole hall to carve him up this evening. Let's just say it is much harder to carve a pumpkin when all you have is a pocket knife and a cereal spoon. It took us a while to gut it out and make sure it was clean and ready for carving. As far as the actual carving went, we made four designs. The centerpiece was the mudflap girl, with a big four to its left, as well as two VT's in the upper right and left hand corners. We plan on entering Bubba into the pumpkin carving contest held on Wednesday, and we believe he should win hands down.

My Roommate

What's great about my roommate, Dave Wessner? Well, thankfully he's fun to hang around with. He may not be the most organized and he definitely isn't the most considerate individual, but I know that I got the pick of the litter compared to many people. What's really funny about the boy though is that he is incredibly smart. However, he is probably the worst procrastinator I have ever had the pleasure to meet. This morning when I got up at eight o clock he was still asleep. When I left for English he was still asleep. When I cam back from English he was still asleep. When I left for Theatre he was still asleep. And when I got back from Theatre he was still asleep. He not only slept through his classes but he slept straight through the day. I finally took the liberty of waking him up by throwing my friends stuffed lion, named Sasha, on top of him. Now that he has finally gotten moving, he is preparing himself a bowl of easy mac and has started playing his new video game, Far Cry 2. Let's just say I have my doubts that he will be passing by the end of the semester.

Make a Wish on the Meteor Shower

Although I am a huge aerospace and space geek, until yesterday I had never personally witnessed a meteor shower. A bunch of my hallmates and I, after completing, or in some cases putting off our homework, bundled up and trekked out to the field between Pritchard and Ambler Johnston. We all took a space in the wet dewy grass and laid down to get a better view of the night sky. We eagerly watched, and watched, and watched, waiting for a shimmer of light to streak from one end of the blackness to the other. But nothing came. It was frigid and we were all beginning to feel the ache of the cold in our bones. We were about to call it quits when suddenly Sam and Eddie jumped up in a frenzy, hooting and hollering and exchanging exclamations. Although everyone else had lost focus, they had apparently caught a glimpse of one of the falling meteors. I was supremely jealous and I vowed to myself that I would not leave the plot I lay on until I had personally witnessed one of the falling meteors. As we waited anxiously onward, time seemed to pass more and more slowly. We passed the time joking, making up our own constellations, and talking about nostalgic things such as Pokemon. During all of this I got very excited when I saw something fast streak into and out of my sight. Sadly, though very funny, it turned out not to be a meteor but a bat. However, I did manage to eventually catch a glimpse of a falling meteor. It was the same size as the stars that dotted the sky, yet it was there and gone in a split second. It was as if a person was drawing a line across the sky, one that while not forever written overhead was forever to be written in my head.