Blogs

The Undisputed Truth

Viewing Posts Tagged "college" View All

Hassles of the Moment

March 20, 2008 | Tags: college

Before anyone says shit…I know. I said I was back in full force and obviously I haven’t been. In a questionably unfortunate turn of events, my life has gotten busier than ever. Normally I wouldn’t gripe about this on the blog (…or would I?) but somewhat surprisingly, there have been people out there in the world that seem to find my college rants to be interesting. So for the benefit of those readers, I’ll discuss a bit of my college life at the moment. Anyone who hasn’t made it to college yet but sees themselves doing so in the near future – take notes.

The first and most important thing to remember about college is that the institution that you attend is, for all intents and purposes, a business. They’ll never admit it out loud, but the university cares more about making money and staying afloat than it does about educating your young, pliable minds. It is that reasoning that leads me to believe that I have been bamboozled into having to pay those educational TI’s a full year extra of tuition. That’s right folks, your girl just got confirmation that I am stuck on the five year plan. Sure, I slacked one semester and only took six credits. But I could be out by next fall (as opposed to next Spring) if the university would just offer the last two required classes that I need. But no, I’m stuck taking fluff until they do. And thus, I’m stuck there an extra semester. *Sigh*

On the other hand though, college has treated me well in another regard. You know that .edu e-mail address they hook you up with? It may be in your best interest to check it every now and then. I get a lot of job or internship offers sent to me, and for years I ignored them, but I recently changed my mind and pursued a few for the hell of it. And they’re actually legitimate! Whodathunkit? Needless to say, my little bamcy may be sitting pretty this summer.

Which brings me to my next point. How busy can a person be before they lose their mind? I feel like I’m coming close these days. And then to think about not having much of a vacation this summer…not very comforting. By the last weekend of March I’ll have started a part time gig in addition to this writing thing and a full time schedule of upper level courses at school. Sometimes I wonder what I’ve gotten myself into. But that’s just the way it is when you’re in that resume-building stage of your existence on this planet.

Another thing some of you wanted an update on was the hip hop class I'm taking. The class is pretty chill actually, but the midterm for that joint was one of the hardest exams I’ve taken in my four years at college. Seriously. I know, “what the fuck son, if you can’t breeze through a midterm for hip hop class why the hell did they give you this blog?”. Well, first of all at least I passed it, and passed it fairly decently (B+), but I’d like to see you do that shit! Sample question:

Which group(s) of terms is(are)most internally consistent (i.e., go together)?

a) cocaine | Reagan | starwars

b) Nixon | Vietnam | resignation

c) Iran hostages | Carter | disco

d) all of the above

e) none of the above

Exactly. They should cross-list that course as a History class. That "d" or "e" option though, that's always a killer. And it was an exam full of that shit.

And last but not least, I'm writing this blog as I watch the GMU vs. Notre Dame game in the NCAA tournament...shit is rough, fam. Rough. Painful to watch. Anyone debating on what schools they want to attend though - going to a school that does well in the NCAA tournament can be fun as hell. It's definitely one of the cooler aspects of the "college experience". Winning the NCAA tournament and having your school gain notoriety and in effect a nice amount of loot > catching the dorm room itch.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

Hip Hop 101

January 21, 2008 | Tags: Hip Hop, college

It’s no secret that I am dreading my return to school this week*. Seeing as how I’m four years deep into the pursuit of my undergraduate degree, I’m now at that point where I only need something like two more classes to finish my major’s requirements (in this case, and in true college system fashion, one is a prerequisite to the other and the prereq isn’t being offered this semester – another plot to keep me there longer and keep yanking my loot). You know what this means? Time to load up on the most random of classes, with the most wonderfully rated** professors that I can find.

One of these classes ended up being a course on hip hop that happened to fit nicely into my schedule. I should be excited about this, but I’m afraid it may end up being the first thing I drop in my frenzy to reduce my credit load to the lowest level possible that it can be in order to still maintain a full-time student status. See, I love hip hop. I truly love it. Why? Because it’s a part of my life. I don’t “research” hip hop by reading books on it or sitting through lectures. I live it, by having immersed myself in its elements firsthand. I really believe that it is damn near impossible to do the culture justice when you’re confined to the walls of a classroom. Just ask anybody that’s ever participated in a study abroad program.

Basically, I feel that the course may prove to be a large disappointment. Not only that, but I really detest classes at this point in my college career. And I’ll be damned if I ever experience an ounce of dislike towards hip hop, even if it’s just the fact that I may dread attending a class on the subject.

On top of all of that, I can’t even begin to fathom how I would feel if I had to start writing papers or something for this course. Imagine pouring your passionate thoughts onto paper about something near and dear to your heart…only to have them graded? By somebody supposedly “superior” to you? That thought alone makes me want to throw the textbooks (that I haven’t even purchased yet) at the nearest wall.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that I don’t have anything to learn. I’m sure there’s something I could take away from the class – I’m certainly no genius. However, the concept of literally being schooled on hip hop is unappealing to me. So is it just me, or does sitting through a class about a certain topic take the enjoyment out of it?

*Parking services – you can eat shit. That is all.

**Read: lenient, not caring about attendance, easy grading, low workload giving, etc...

------------------------------------------------------------

I'm going to keep doing this until I get word that Mr. Paniccioli is getting the support that he deserves. So on that note...have you bought one of Ernie's books yet? By the time you answer that question out loud, he may have released another. Keep your eyes on lulu.com for his latest.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

(College) BALLIN!

November 22, 2007 | Tags: basketball, college

After my last blog, I discovered that there are some college hoops fans in the building. So, this blog is for you guys. I mean it’s Thanksgiving after all*, and technically I’m on a little vacation (yeah right, no such thing) so let’s just talk about something different for a change.

I mentioned in my last post that everybody should be watching ESPN2 at 9pm tonight. I hope you did. Well, actually, I hope you tuned in late because the Villanova game went late and so the GMU v. Kansas State game didn’t start until like 9:30. And to think, I was hitting some serious speeds on the highways to make it back home in time to watch. Oh well, at least the normally excessive police force around here was seriously lacking tonight.

Oh, my bad. I’m rambling. I tend to do that when I eat too much. Aw, fuck it, I actually do that all the time. You’ll learn to love my random BS talk. Anyways, back to basketball. I’m supposed to be thankful for something today, right? Aside from the usual sappy melt-your-heart type shit that I was raised to be thankful for, I’m also thankful for this Kansas State game. Why? This shit is hilarious.

The humidity down at Disney’s Milk House must be off the chains tonight or something. People keep hitting the floor, and they keep wiping it down (word to Boosie), but these guys just keep on slippin, fallin, and not getting up (what up DMX!). Hell, GMU’s Chris Fleming ate hardwood just trying to inbound the ball. It came out of nowhere! And aside from the hilarity of watching it happen, think about that concept. He’s falling face down into somebody’s sweat that was half wiped down by some towel that wiped up somebody’s sweat before that. Um…ew? Fleming, I feel for you man.

The other thing that makes me laugh is the fact that the announcers keep referring to Mason as this great, strong, experienced team. Word? I recall less than two years ago you guys were pretty much laughing at GMU, while everybody was yapping about how “lucky” the Patriots were**. I tried to tell y’all…it ain’t luck. But no, it took everybody two years to figure that out.

And the silliness never ends. There goes Vlad Moldoveanu passing the ball to…wait for it…a REFEREE. I’m loving watching this kid adjust to the flow of things and I really have a lot of hope for him, but…you just gotta laugh at that. Oh, and five seconds later the floor is getting wiped again. HA. EW.

I like college hoops for all the serious reasons that were mentioned in the last blog’s comments, but I also like it because it will almost always make me laugh. I’m hoping for more games like this one this season. Especially since the Patriots put up some serious points and are walking away from this with a 4-0 record – the first in the school’s history. Peep the GMU vs. Villanova game at 5pm EST on ESPN2 on Friday!

*Although it may not be by the time I actually post this…

**Meanwhile GMU was knocking most of your favorite teams out of the tournament. Damn that Florida team though. Damn that Joakim Noah and his damn dancing.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

I Declare War

November 12, 2007 | Tags: college

I’ve mentioned various college experiences of mine on this little corner of the internet quite a few times, but there’s one very significant thing I left out: the TI’s of the college world seem to think they can take federal holidays away from their staff and students. Come on, how fucked up is that?

I remember a professor of mine was a veteran. Funny I should remember that, because I don’t remember a damn thing he tried to teach me in class*. And maybe this is a moot point because the professor I’m using as an example died the semester after I had him as a teacher (R.I.P.**). Either way, he was working at the school, he was a veteran, and he got dicked (no John Amaechi) by the college system. He served in a war, go figure which one because I wasn’t paying enough attention to be able to tell you, and he couldn’t even get the three day weekend he deserved for it. You better believe that if I was performing surgery on people in tents in the middle of a desert, dodging napalm in a jungle, or running down rock-throwing jihadists in my heavily armored tank (marinate on that for a moment), that I’d for damn sure want my three day weekend that’s supposed to honor me.

Now, seeing as how some people like to casually read these blogs and then comment on them, trying to argue asinine points that would make no sort of sense whatsoever if they actually sat and comprehended my words rather than just looking at the pretty colors and font, let me get something out of the way for all of you.

Potential comment I’m sure to receive says: ”Amanda, Ambassador, whatever the hell you call yourself, why you gotta be such a hypocrite? You ain’t no veteran. I don’t see your ass fighting in any wars. I don’t see you carrying around a military ID card. You don’t deserve a damn holiday. Jay-Z ? That man deserves a holiday. Why don’t you shut your ass up with that complainin’ mess, talk about some Lil Wayne like you’re supposed to on a hip hop site, and keep it relevant! And don’t forget to check out my myspace [insert random link here]!”

My response to you? Too bad! If you want to get real deep in thought, I deserve this holiday too. Not just because it’s a federal holiday and federal holidays are intended to shut everything the fuck down for an extra day, including schools. And not just because it’s not even a religious holiday so separation of church and state doesn’t really apply (yet you know we get winter breaks with the goal that you get Christmas off of work/school! Whatever though). Not even because I think it’s crazy that I get a holiday as random as Columbus Day off, yet they can’t give me my three day weekend for (get ready for the old school) Armistice Day. Those are good points and all but that’s not what I’m getting at.

Every drop of blood in my body is filled with the DNA that I inherited from some ancestor that came from a country that at some point in time had some serious beef with the United States. I mean serious, serious beef with the United States. And you know what comes from serious issues like that? War. Is that not the reason that we have a military in the first place? To fight wars to defend our country? Without wars there would be no veterans. Without tensions there would be no war. Without people there would be no tensions. See where I’m going with this? The transitive property of unnecessary logic thus states that without my ancestors, there would be no Veterans Day. And seeing as how I’m carrying on their heritage, I deserve some time off to acknowledge Veterans Day just as much as anybody else who gets the day off does.

Anyway, shit, I’m paying money for my diploma. I think that getting Veterans Day off should be part of what I get out of that tuition payment. So, all you non-Veterans Day-celebrating universities out there? Give it up. Give the vets that day that they deserve.

*And I really could use that knowledge now thanks to a project I need to do. If anybody has any statistics knowledge, it’d be really handy if you could hit up that e-mail address located in the top left part of this page…

**Is it bad that I don't remember his name now? Consider that "R.I.P." a general one for all the American war veteran college professors we've lost.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

The Idiot's Guide to College

October 25, 2007 | Tags: college

It’s been quite a long week for me, and once again I apologize for the absence and rushed blogs. But midterms are officially over for me now, and after some time to myself to breathe and get some energy back after all the practically sleepless nights filled with caffeine boosts and headaches* I’m back on DX, ready to release the most random of my thoughts into pixel form. Naturally though, after all the stress I still kind of have school on the brain. So, in hopes of getting it all out of my system, I thought I’d share with you some of the valuable lessons I’ve learned throughout my three and some change years of college so far. These rules, although seemingly questionable on the surface, have gotten me many an effortless good grade. Treasure these. I wish I had known these before I went into the whole thing…my first year would have been a lot better. Anyway…

1. Take the easy opportunities to make yourself sound interested with the least effort possible. During the first week of classes, don’t skip the first class or two knowing you’re not going to do anything except get a syllabus and listen to how much work you have to do. No. Banish the thought of sleeping in and then going in next week saying you just added the class. The first week is your time to shine. See, the first week of damn near every class you’ll take is either fluff with the teacher reading the syllabus to you despite the fact you can do it yourself, or a review of common sense knowledge you should already know. If the first week of class material is over your head, drop the class immediately. This rule will not work for you. During this first week, despite the fact that you probably know everything already, act like you don’t. You heard me. Act like an idiot and it will help your grade. Ask questions about the material even if you know the answer to your own question. Make eye contact with the professor. Write vigorously, as if you’re taking very detailed notes, even if you’re just doodling in a notebook or writing a rhyme for some beat you just made. You’ll look like you’re interested in the class, paying attention, and putting effort into comprehending the material. But we all know you’re really daydreaming, not learning shit, and could care less anyway.

2. Learn your parking lot etiquette. This may not apply to some of you if you live on campus at a school that doesn’t have many commuters…but for those that do? Listen up. It’s a warzone out there sometimes. And people who don’t follow the unspoken rules of the parking lot are going to waste a lot of time and deal with a lot of fights.

2A. Learn to stalk people…but don’t scare them. Be polite. If you see somebody walking towards the parking lot looking like they’re going to leave, put your window down, and with a smile on your face ask them if they’re leaving. At this point it may be a good idea to turn down the Necro and Ill Bill, because if they listen to the sick, twisted music that you have on, they may run away scared. If they say that they’re leaving though, the battle is halfway over. Follow them, going 2mph or so with your turn signal blinking in their direction, until they make it to their car. If you feel that you’re capable of defending yourself without fail, you may want to offer your catch a ride, so as to reduce the risk of your spot being intercepted by somebody else.

2B. Realize just because you found somebody, the spot is not guaranteed. This means step your parking lot stalking game up. Learn how to not lose sight of them when they turn a corner. Know the logistics of your parking lots. If you know that the catch has to walk down a path that doesn’t quite follow the road, and perhaps goes through some trees for a little bit, the second they hit the path (when nobody else can follow them properly either), put your rpm’s to good use and get to where that path ends as fast as possible. You don’t want somebody else waiting on the other end for them.

2C. If you lose sight of your catch, and somebody else finds them? Admit defeat. You didn’t properly stalk your catch and you lost your chance. It’s survival of the fittest out here, parking lot stalkers, so you have to give credit where it’s due. Keep driving and you’ll find one eventually. Failure to adhere to this rule will result in some quite nasty fights in the parking lot, and games of chicken for the spot. It never ends well.

2D. Correct your parking. Please. There is nothing more frustrating than when there’s an empty spot next to somebody, and they chose to park just a little too far over the line and you can’t fit your car in the empty spot. Please don’t cause this problem for people. It kills the efficiency of the parking lot, as it reduces the number of spots available. It also messes up the stalking process, because you may see the open spot thinking you can fit in it, and thus leaving your catch for somebody else to find.

3. Acquaint yourself with your textbook. This step will save your ass on tests. In our technology obsessed society, most textbooks now are affiliated with their own website. Somewhere in the pages of the book you’ll find that website. Find it. Immediately. Become one with it. These websites hold treasure chests of cramming materials. Online quizzes, sample test questions, simplistic activities that don’t take a while to do, etc. In more cases than not, in my experiences at least, a lot of exams that I take end up being very similar to the ones found on these websites. When it’s 3 in the morning, you realize you took shitty notes, and you don’t know what you’re going to do? Hit up one of those practice tests on the website for 10 minutes. Review the ones you got wrong. It helps more than you’ll probably realize.

4. Visit 2dopeboyz.com on your free time. Enhance your mind with the latest happenings in hip hop, learn about the sampling history behind some of your favorite songs, and let the verbal stylings of Shake and Meka quench your entertainment thirst. Yeah, this one was an advertisement. Get over it. Go to their site.

5. Try not to wait until the last minute to do things. Yeah, I know, people have been telling you this your whole life. And believe me when I tell you, it’s a hard habit to kick. I still haven’t done it. But I know that if I didn’t wait until the last minute, I’d be a lot less stressed. Stay on your grind hard for at least the first couple weeks of classes when the work is still pretty easy and just get a lot of it out of the way. Come midterm season, you’ll be very happy that you did.

Keep an eye out for Part Deux.

*I am the queen of staying up late. Seriously. I don’t care how long you think you can make it…I can take you. I stay up when I don’t even have anything to do. Most nights, I’ll be awake to see the sun come up. I dare you, try to stay on my schedule and still function in your daily life.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

	July 2008
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31
« Jun

Use these links on your blogs, messageboard posts, etc.
URL
HTML
BBCode

Your Name: (Required)
Friends Email Addresses: (Comma Seperated)
Message:
Verification Code:

Use these links on your blogs, messageboard posts, etc.
URL
HTML
BBCode

Your Name: (Required)
Friends Email Addresses: (Comma Seperated)
Message:
Verification Code:

Blogs

The Undisputed Truth

Hassles of the Moment

Share Blog Link

Hip Hop 101

Share Blog Link

(College) BALLIN!

Share Blog Link

I Declare War

Share Blog Link

The Idiot's Guide to College

Share Blog Link