KentNewsNet Blogs

Sara Scanes | Daily Kent Stater

I have a confession to make: I went home this weekend.

Yes, I know that all of you who have met me and heard me talk about my unbearable family are probably rolling your eyes and cursing my weakness, but I missed my grandma (and her cooking).

Plus, I had made a date with a cute boy (which went swimmingly).

Wouldn’t you have gone home, too?

Since I’m betting a majority of you don’t really care about the two-hour trip I made back home to Toledo, I’ll just highlight some of the general perks (and pitfalls) to a trip home, so that you may reap the benefits of my discoveries, both good and bad.

1) Even if you are pretty sure that NO ONE missed you, I’ve got news: EVERYONE DID. For example, my brother and I aren’t particularly affectionate with one another, and he hugged me voluntarily when I walked through my front door. Another example: my father and I aren’t on speaking terms, but when he found out I was coming home, he dropped $130 into my checking account. Ka-ching. In addition to the possibility of money, going home kind of makes you feel like the most popular person in town, so if you are suffering from a little low self-esteem (or an empty wallet), take a trip home, and you will surely be cured.

2) Parents and grandparents are convinced that you are both a) starving and b) isolated from civilization (i.e. Walmart, Target, or any other all-purpose store). I’m not saying take advantage of their misinformed state, but if you need something for your dorm, miss eating at your favorite restaurant or you have realized that galoshes are a must-have at KSU, let them know; they will surely help you out.

On that same note, make sure that you give your parents and grandparents your address here at school. You’ll receive mail within the week, and if you’re lucky, they’ll send you cookies like my grandma did.

3) Your own bed may not be as comfortable or as easy to sleep in as it once was. I know this may seem hard to believe, but trust me. At home, I have a queen-sized tempurpedic mattress with these super fuzzy blankets, and from night one in my dorm room, I’ve been missing it (for obvious reasons). Sadly, however, I had already gotten used to my bed in the dorm, and, for some odd reason, I couldn’t manage to get more than a few hours of sleep each night. (Saturday I went to bed at 4am, and I could only stay asleep until 9, when my eyes popped open and wouldn’t close again, despite my efforts).

My advice? Take a pillow or blanket or something from your dorm to try and combat this inexplicable phenomenon.

4) Take your laundry home. Someone else will do it.

5) If your car is a bit of a senior citizen, stop every hour or so to let her catch her breath and rest (and take the opportunity to get yourself Starbucks if you happen to be traveling the luxurious Ohio Turnpike). If you don’t, I can’t promise you that Molly, or Suzie, or whatever you named her, will make it all the way home. My car (which I still have yet to christen with a proper name) didn’t fair so well when I tried to make the whole trip back to campus without stopping: she sputtered, she jerked, she stalled, and she smoked. On the way home to Toledo, however, I had made a pit-stop halfway, and my baby was fine.

You live and you learn, eh?

I hope those little tidbits will help you out when you make your first trek home. I wish someone had told me about the last one… F minus.

Lauren Spilar | KentNewsNet.com

You can only survive on dorm room munchies for so long before you have to brave the weather and get yourself out for some real food.

Ironically, I broke my umbrella this morning so it was a long and wet walk to the student center tonight. I guess I shouldn’t complain though – winter will roll around much too soon, and I’ve already been warned about those walks across campus.

Speaking of food, I’ve been trying out the places around here and I’m really not sure what to think. Minus the long lines and the occasional slow service, every place I’ve eaten at so far has been at least semi-decent. The food has been good and all, but where can you go when you want to dodge the greasy and pre-processed menu options? Is there such a place? By no means am I a big, healthy eater. There is so much delicious junk food available, and believe me, I’m giving in to it. I think like most of us, however, I am really trying to avoid the “freshman 15”. The best place I’ve found is the Kent Market, but hours are limited - especially without the dining plan option from 11-2. I guess I will figure these things out with time. Eventually, I will find the best places to go and will learn to eat right. But as of today, I learned that I should always keep the freezer well-stocked with Stouffers – sometimes it is simply not worth it to go trudging out in the rain.

 I walked into my very first lecture class today.

For some of you, the sentence above is just an average statement. You feel nothing significant when you read it. For others, like me, it is packed with meaning. Now, I’m not saying my emotions swell when I read it, or it inspires me to do great things. It is simply a symbol of how many things have changed in my life in such a short time. 

How many people graduated in your senior class? One thousand? Five hundred? Two hundred? How about seventeen?

 You’re laughing, right?

When I graduated, that is how many fellow classmates followed me to receive their diplomas, and no, my school didn’t have a high drop-out rate. The entire student body only consisted of about sixty.

My Introduction to Mass Communication class has nearly one hundred fifty students. One hundred and fifty! That is more than twice the size of my high school. I felt so small amid the mass of kids who crowded to their seats. The professor even needed a microphone to reach the people in the back row.

Of my one hundred fifty classmates, I probably knew the first name of about three of them. In high school, I could give you every one’s first, last and middle name, phone number and probably address off the top of my head. I knew everyone and they knew me.

Now it’s time to start all over…

I walked into my very first lecture class today.

Can you feel it now?

Michael Moses | KentNewsNet.com

I’ll be the first to admit: I didn’t watch any Presidential stuff tonight, I don’t understand politics, never dreamed I would have, and I’ll probably end up knowing it in and out by the time I graduate.

See, I know things. Madden, Sportscenter, XBOX, Photoshop, Illustrator, how to text, how to do my laundry (just learned- thanks mommy). I wake myself up in the morning (might fall back asleep, but oh well), I remember birthdays, I like to be lazy, but I also like to work out. I like little kids (not in THAT Michael kind of way), I like movies, and I love to read (only special kinds of reading though… like, Sports Illustrated, GQ, and Slam). But if there’s one thing in the world that I do not like, but should, it’s politics.

It makes my head hurt to see people screaming at each other over something as silly as our government, like these decisions will actually have an effect on our lives, or which party wins the election, as if that will cause the gas prices to change. I mean, I can see how people fight about sports. Look where I’m at now-Kent, Ohio. It’s close to Cleveland. People are actually trying to give me a hard time about my Steeler apparel, when we have won five (iced out, baby) Super Bowl rings. Cleveland? They have a goose egg (0). Super Bowl wins equal world domination- it sets our city above powers such as Iran, Iraq, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and anywhere else in the Middle East. These places got nothin’ on us. We da BOMB! We have weapons of mass destruction in Ben Roethlisberger, Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes, James Harrison, Willie Parker and now Rashard Mendenhall! That means we pass the laws. We sign the bills. We sign the treaties.

I just learned tonight that in my field, Broadcast Journalism, I’m required to take four political science courses. Looks like Kent State professors will have a lot of convincing to do.

My first week at Kent State went much like every other freshman’s, littered with early morning mandatory meetings and late nights with new friends (raise your hand if you skipped any of the “required” events. Convocation, for instance? Okay, maybe you only wish you had).

Although the weekdays were rather boring (even if informative), I was quite excited about learning new lingo from locals. Apparently, Copley kids “don’t have time” to fully pronounce words like ‘figures’, ‘probably’, and ‘whatever’. When asked if I said ‘figs’, I was really confused; I didn’t think that there were different names for fruit; didn’t everyone call them figs? My bewilderment continued when I was introduced to the phrase “cool life”. Apparently it is an ironic statement meant to express how truly something sucks, but I still can’t use it right, despite my love of sarcasm.

On top of unusual slang, the fact that not all eateries I have back home exist in other states was truly astounding. For instance, there are no Steak ‘n’ Shakes in Pocono, and not everyone knows that Checker’s and Rally’s are the same restaurant. Also, I’m apparently out of the loop, having never heard of Sheetz; honestly, I thought I was a gas station.

F minus.

(more…)

First day of classes.

I wasn’t at all nervous – maybe excited if anything. My first one was bright and early though; everyone looked like zombies walking down the esplanade.

I didn’t get lost and I wasn’t late to anything. The professors were all very nice and I think I’m going to like all of my classes so far. Except maybe my math class - depending on how lost I get.

I remember in high school when our classes would complain about homework and the teachers would go off on the college lecture: “In COLLEGE…”

I have to say though, they were right.

Today I was assigned a lot of reading, a lot of writing, and wasn’t given a lot of time to get it done. I think tomorrow I am going to find myself a nice tree and sit down with a large stack of books. I might as well take advantage of this beautiful weather.

Lauren Spilar | KentNewsNet

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared
to what lies within us. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

It has been a week of teary goodbyes, chaotic move-ins, and fresh
beginnings. Tuesday afternoon, college hit me in the face and I found
myself alone in a half-empty dorm room. It was quite an adjustment
for someone so attached to home, but it would seem that so far I’ve
survived just fine. (more…)

Michael Moses | KentNewsNet.com

Alright, it’s hot as hell. I sweat from the second I step into my dorm till I get out of Manchester Hall.

Other than the fact that I feel like I’m in a Sahara sauna, college life is amazing. I was expecting the move-in to be long and complicated. Well, that was far from the truth. It was like checking into a hotel. All worries about the campus basically shot out of my head from that moment on. (more…)

Jenny Brant | KentNewsNet.com

The last week has gone by like a blur. My head is still spinning as I sit down for a much-needed break from the busy schedule of a college newbie.

Move-In Day was just the start. Yes, it was filled with goodbyes, choked-back tears, and, let’s face it, utter chaos in the residence halls and parking lots, but it didn’t set in that I was actually on my own until I awoke the next morning to an unfamiliar dorm room and nothing but the sound of my own breathing in my ears. (more…)