College Days pt 1

Originally written November 2007

Dark, menacing clouds glared at me through my window as I awoke this morning. Normally, I'd appreciate and welcome the rainy weather, because it meant I could sit inside, sip hot cocoa and listen to the raindrops on my window. But today I had to go to the JC, and one of my classes is outside. Rain would not make things fun.

To top things off, I had my midterm oral presentation due today, and a math quiz I was sure I wasn't going to do very well on....
I figured I was probably going to have a pretty lousy day.
I was dropped off in front of the language department. I walked into my class dripping. I sat and watched a few presentations. I wasn't nervous, considering I had practiced it several times the night before. All I have to do is give an oral presentation in a foreign language, no sweat! I got up. I began speaking.
"Bonjour, étudiants! Aujourd'hui je vais parler d'Yolanda. Yolanda est un ami de mes parents. Elle est du Mexique. Elle est venue ici en 1962. Elle parle l'espagnol."
I tell ya, it was a fantastic presentation. So great it would have earned an A+ had I been taking French instead of Spanish...

...Oui...

After Spanish I ran to change into gym clothes and then headed all the way across campus to the track. This made me more wet and cold. Believe it or not, running around the track in the rain made me even more wet and cold!
I've never looked forward to P.E. class. Don't get me wrong, I believe exercise is good for you. And my P.E. teacher is the most encouraging I've ever had. (Maybe that's because I lost my cookies on the first day of class...)
But we run in circles. Then we stretch. Then we spend the next half hour setting muscles we never knew we had on fire.

My least favorite part is the running. I'm usually fine with running. It's wonderful along the beach or through a meadow or on a college campus after 3 days in debate shoes. But there's something so terribly boring about running around the same track again...and again...and again...for half an hour. Stopping every 10 minutes to check your pulse and make sure you still, in fact, have one.
One of my classmates passes me...
"Haw haw, I've lapped you 6 times already."

"Indeed you have. And looky here. We're both in the exact same place, going to the exact same destination, but the only difference here is that I've spared enough energy to make sure my brain still functions properly."
I guess it took him a while to understand I had just insulted him...because he didn't punch my lights out until he lapped me a 7th time.
After P.E. was my brief 30 minute lunch break. My usual eating locations are under a tree in between the administration building and my math building.

(Note: My math building is called "Shuhaw". I'm telling you this because I wanted to give you a chance to say it out loud. "Shuhaw...Shuhaw..." teeheehee. Great huh?)

Unfortunately, due to the rain, sitting under a tree was not a great idea. In fact, it was a terrible one. I didn't know of any nearby indoor facility I would be allowed to eat in, so I took shelter under an awning of a neighboring building with Jerry, the shirtless campus propagandist who talks to the stuffed tiger wallet attached to my backpack. (The tiger's name is "Tigre: el encargado de las tarjetas de Starbucks", but I didn't tell Jerry this.)
"Would you like to sign this petition?" Jerry asked.
"No, I'm still not interested in signing your petition."
Jerry looked at me.
"I wasn't talking to you."
I sighed and ate the rest of my sandwich, dropping crumbs on the math notes I was studying for the quiz. When I finished I slouched over to Shuhaw, Tigre: el encargado de las tarjetas de Starbucks was getting as wet as I was, but he had it worse considering he absorbs water much better than I do.

I reached the building. I slinked into the room. I slumped into my seat.
Before class began we received our quizzes from last week back. I don't let the letter grade dishearten me anymore. In fact, I've convinced myself that it stand for "delightful" or...or...
There really aren't many nice things that start with "D".
"Good afternoon class." my profesor began, garbed in bright blue, "Today's quiz is going to cover what I went over with the honors advanced trigonometry class. You should be able to apply your basic Algebra skills to it. After the quiz, we will go outside and each launch our own rocket to space. If yours crashes, you will fail the semester. Any questions?"
I raised my hand.
"Yes?"
"Can you shoot me? Please?"
Math was my last class of the day. Thank heavens. After getting another "Delightful" on a quiz and crashing a rocket in a magnificent explosion, I fled Shuhaw. The rain had cleared up, and I could feel the warmth of the sun against my face. Tigre: el encargado de las tarjetas de Starbucks bounced along on my backpack happily with every step I took.


I survived.