Campus Conversations

Ending On a High Note

December 19, 2012

Blogger: Maddy Farkas

 

 

Hello! It’s a slightly more chipmunk’d version of Maddy here, reporting for duty. While I’m sure my parents are thankful that this wisdom teeth removal surgery has inhibited my ability to burst out singing the “Book of Mormon” soundtrack, I’m personally thankful that I still have my Admissions blog to come to for the purpose of mindless drivel. And there’s not much else to do while sitting on the couch surrounded by pudding and Advil.

When I was notified that this would be the week that Early Decision I applicants would receive their letters, I could not wait to write my blog post. For those of you that don’t know, I applied to Oxy through Early Decision and my letter came in the mail on December 12, 2011. Needless to say, it was a relief to not have to start any of those other college applications that I had put off for three months. If you were directed to this blog because you were just accepted to Oxy, I want to formally congratulate you on making the best decision of your life! But remember, as tempting as it will be to taunt your friends who still have to apply and await decisions for many more months, it is equally hilarious. So go ahead with that one.

Winter break just began for Oxy students, and my last final was this past Friday. Finals week, although incredibly stressful, was especially interesting in terms of shifts in campus life. Four floors of the library and absolutely no spots left to sit at? Completely normal. Empty refrigerators and shelves in the Marketplace? Also typical. Of course many people were buying snacks to store with them while confining themselves to a remote spot on campus to study, but most others, myself included, were buying food for the sake of spending meal plan money. You see, only a certain amount of money will rollover to next semester, so I made it my mission to get through those last few hundred dollars to hit that total. Whether it was through buying meals for my friends, or the awesome cashier at the Green Bean who bought himself and the other employees drinks and snacks with my card, I made it two dollars past where I needed to be. And that was probably one of my proudest accomplishments of the semester.

Otherwise, I labeled the past few weeks as the “getting off campus” weeks. My friends and I decided to start exploring the surrounding Los Angeles area more often, largely in part to a need for meal variety, but also as an escape from the monotony of studying and walking up and down campus every other hour. These excursions have resulted in some delicious meals, hilarious comedy shows, and the occasional celebrity sighting. (Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys, to be exact. Still not completely recovered from that one.)

However, spending every waking moment of my life with the people at Oxy has its downside. Yes, I made that word singular on purpose. This five-week break could not seem to be going any slower, and although I abhor having to part from my family, friends, and delightfully overweight cat, I feel blessed to have been accepted to a school where the people are so fantastic that I miss them after merely one day of being apart. To the people I only see in passing between classes and meals, to the people who are consistently studying in the Green Bean, to the people who yell at me for spending too much time in a different hall’s common room, and to the people who I’m with 18/7: life without you is pretty dull. And although I hate to discard my wit and end blog posts on a sappy note, I can’t wait for January 21st to arrive so I can see you all again. And if the world does end on Friday (knock on wood), I want to thank you, Oxy, for making my first, and only, semester of college the absolute best.