Finals Week and Sickness

Hello readers, my name is Juan Dunlap and I will be filling you in about various aspects of my college life as a freshman at Muskingum University. I hope you enjoy and happy reading!

The first semester of college has gone by so fast, I have found students to study with and discuss homework assignment when I have trouble. I cannot believe it is time for final exams already. I have tried to study and maintain my grades, but I know the grade on the finals is very important, which, as it should, worries me a little. I contracted some sort of food poisoning when I was doing the play and then went a whole week untreated because I just thought I had a virus. Upon realizing that the problem was more serious, I went to the doctor and I was given an antibiotic. Unfortuantly, I had an allergic reaction to this antibiotic and had to switch after just a couple days. The second antibiotic worked well and I thought I was finally over my illness, but the week before Thanksgiving I began to have problems again and had to go see the doctor again. I was given another round of antibiotics, but unfortunately this also did not help for long. That leads to this week in which I have been quite ill. A day or so ago, I again saw the doctor again and was given even more antibiotics so I can hopefully make it through finals week without major problems because right now, I feel terrible. Next Monday I have an appointment in Wheeling with a specialist to try to hopefully find a diagnosis and a reason as to why I cannot seem to recover fully. This again makes me worried for finals, because if I am sick, taking test will be much more difficult and there is a chance I would have to leave during the testing period in order to use the restroom. Even studying for finals has been difficult because I am so tired from losing fluids. Also, I haven’t been able to eat much of anything for five days and I have lost seven pounds since this whole problem started.

As finals week moves closer, this will probably be one of my last posts for a while, maybe til next semester, or maybe longer. I hope anyone reading this enjoyed an insight to my life as freshman at Muskingum University!

Juan

The Muskingum University Bomb Threat

Hello readers, my name is Juan Dunlap and I will be filling you in about various aspects of my college life as a freshman at Muskingum University. I hope you enjoy and happy reading!

 It can be very scary to know that there is a possibility that your college may be bombed. It can be even scarier when you show up to college and are told by firemen to leave campus for reasons they cannot tell you. This is what happened to me one Thursday when I arrived on campus for the only class I had that day. It was shortly before 2PM and I knew something must be up when I was first driving towards campus, because the road leading from the interstate to New Concord was filled with cars; there are very rarely more than one to three cars on that road at a time. Everything looked normal in New Concord itself, but it was when I reached the street leading up to my usual parking that I knew something was definitely wrong. The road leading out of Muskingum was just a huge line of cars that reached back as far as I could see. I did not know what was wrong, but I was still going to go to class since I had driven all the way out to Muskingum. I parked, grabbed my backpack, and began the walk up Cambridge Hall hill to my class. I then saw the firetrucks and ambulances. A fireman came up to me and said, "You need to get off campus right now." When I asked what was going on, all he said was that he could not tell me. I could tell by then that the entire campus was being evacuated, so whatever the problem was, it must have been really serious. I went back to my car and drove home. Later that day I found out that there had been a bomb threat on campus and the caller had been identified as calling from New York. The campus was going to be closed until 6:30 the following morning. I also learned the college community had reached out to everyone who could not immediately go home and found places to stay for everyone, whether with staff, friends, or elsewhere. It really felt good to know that I am a part of a community of students and staff that really care about each other. Through the bomb threat, Muskingum's glory showed.

Well that's about all for this post. This blog will be updated rather regularly throughout the remainder of my Freshman year. See you next time!

Juan

Humans vs Zombies at Muskingum!

Hello readers, my name is Juan Dunlap and I will be filling you in about various aspects of my college life as a freshman at Muskingum University. I hope you enjoy and happy reading!

Imagine an entire college campus being taken over by a viscous swarm of flesh-eating zombies. Now imagine the remaining survivors agreeing to take up arms against this zombie horde, willing to fight to the death until the zombies are eliminated or more help arrives. Sounds scary, right? Well that is what happened earlier this year at Muskingum University. Of course there were not actual zombies and people were not really dying, but it still was very intense. Welcome to Humans vs Zombies. This is a game that has spread around college campuses all over the United States. From the beginning of the game, a few humans are selected to be Original Zombies. When the time comes, they are notified that they can begin their invasion. After this, all the other humans are to defend themselves from the recently released zombies; they do this by throwing socks, marshmallows, and other similar soft items. If they hit a zombie, the zombie is stunned for fifteen minutes and cannot attack anyone. However, if the human misses and the zombie tags them, the human then becomes a zombie with a one hour transformation period before they can begin attacking other humans. Great fun can be had on either side, so if you get turned to a zombie, you did not lose the game, you simply are on a new side to win.

In my first game of Humans vs Zombies, I started off as a human. It was fun being a human and trying to sneak from building to building to avoid zombies or to simply get chased by zombies across the Quad. Unfortunately, this did not last terribly long and I was ambushed by several zombies when leaving a building one day. I stunned one of them, but was overcome by the others. Now I was a zombie. On my way to class the next day, I saw an unarmed human walking alone across the Quad, not a very smart move in this game, so I attacked her and got my first kill as a zombie. Over the next day or two, I got two more tags and felt good to be doing well as a zombie. There were also missions to attend for both humans and zombies. These typically involved the zombies trying to stop the humans from getting something or someone crucial to their survival. I really enjoyed participating in this campus-wide game and I definitively intend to participate in future games. Maybe I'll even volunteer to be a game admin in the following years!

Well that's about all for this post. This blog will be updated rather regularly throughout the remainder of my Freshman year. See you next time!

Juan

More About Theatre

Hello readers, my name is Juan Dunlap and I will be filling you in about various aspects of my college life as a freshman at Muskingum University. I hope you enjoy and happy reading!

Theatre has always been of great interest to me. I have studied acting at Oglebay Institute since second grade, and I have been cast in several roles including Shakespeare plays for the last three summers. I was and still am considering theatre as a minor concentration. When I toured the campus last winter, I was able to speak to someone in the theatre department. I visited the theatre and saw the costumes they would be using for the play. I was impressed by the building that housed the theatre. When the opportunity came to audition for the play Almost Maine, I jumped at the chance. I have a friend who attends here and she also auditioned for the play. We were both cast and we were both excited. I would be acting with people I had never known and with a director with whom I had never worked. I enjoyed every minute of the experience. Since I commute, practice did not start until 7:00 PM and would not end sometimes until 10:00 PM. I would stay on campus and use the time waiting for practice to start to complete my homework and study my lines. The director was very nice, was very talented, and had much experience as an actor himself. It was very enjoyable working with him and as usual, I learned much from him and the other actors as well. I have not been able to participate in many activities since I don’t live on campus, so this was a good experience for me to meet people here. There is much preparation involved to make a play successful and since I had been involved in acting, I was used to the rigorous schedules. Another reason I liked doing the play was the fact I was able to act with my friend in a different setting from what we had done at Oglebay. This was a new experience for both of us. Opening night is always exciting and the whole cast was absolutely thrilled to see such a large crowd in attendance. What made this really exciting was the fact our drama coach from Wheeling came to see us in the play. He was able to talk to the director and they exchanged many ideas. I found this experience to be rewarding, and I hope to audition for roles in the future. 

Well that's about all for this post. This blog will be updated rather regularly throughout the remainder of my Freshman year. See you next time!

Juan

Deciding on Muskingum University!

Hello readers, my name is Juan Dunlap and I will be filling you in about various aspects of my college life as a freshman at Muskingum University. I hope you enjoy and happy reading!

 

The junior and senior years of high school are exciting. It is a time of decision-making about your future. After I had taken the PSAT and SAT I signed up for the College Board and would receive offers from different colleges to apply. This is how I became familiar with Muskingum University. It was in January of last year when I had the opportunity to apply here. I really didn’t think I would attend here, but because it was close to home and offered my major at the time, which was Pre-Pharmacy, I decided to apply. My original choice for college had been West Liberty University, which also offered my major. I had participated in science fairs there for several years, was familiar with the campus, and my mother graduated from there. I was accepted at six different colleges, and I had received scholarships from each of them. They all had positive points, and the decision was very difficult. I came for a campus visit during the winter and met with Mr. Gary Atkins. He was very nice as well as being informative. I toured the campus, and I liked the idea that it was small in size and I would be able to interact with the professors.  I also interviewed for a science scholarship while I was here. Mr. Atkins contacted me several times during the spring. I think he was a very positive influence as to why I chose to come here. When I shadowed in my chosen profession at school in the spring, but later was advised Pharmacy may not be a wise choice for a career at this time. I was told many Pharmacy students graduating this year would not be able to find jobs. In June I was still undecided about where I would attend. I decided to change my major to computer science. Unfortunately West Liberty did not offer that as a major. I then had narrowed my choices between Wheeling Jesuit University and Muskingum. Mr. Atkins was always very helpful to answer questions and he was very patient with me as I tried to make my decision. I felt Muskingum would be a better choice for me, and now that I have spent a semester here, I know I have made the right decision. I was told that it is very important to find a college where you feel you belong and are comfortable there. I feel that way every time I am on campus. Muskingum University is where I feel I belong and I will be proud to be a graduate from here. 

Well that's about all for this post. This blog will be updated rather regularly throughout the remainder of my Freshman year. See you next time!

Juan

The Usefulness of Post-Secondary

Hello readers, my name is Juan Dunlap and I will be filling you in about various aspects of my college life as a freshman at Muskingum University. I hope you enjoy and happy reading!

Post-secondary education is very beneficial if you are planning to attend college. I found this out first hand. During my sophomore year, I started taking college classes at Belmont College as well as at our school, where the professors came there to teach.  I also took advantage of the Summer Scholar Program at Ohio University Eastern, which I attended for three years. I also completed post-secondary at Ohio University Eastern during the school year. Taking these classes provided me with a challenge. It also provided me with the opportunity to experience what the workload was like at the college level. In addition, I learned time management skills, balancing both high school and college courses. Being involved in these classes helped develop good study habits. I also learned independence and that I was responsible totally if the work was or was not completed. This was different from high school where the teaches remind you and to some degree oversee you to make sure the work was finished. I had the opportunity to take two composition courses, which greatly helped my writing and where I became familiar with the MLA style of writing. I found this helpful with the last paper I wrote here at the college. I also had a junior level English literature class in which I had a writing assignment for each day of class. The class was very demanding and I feel this really made me a better writer. Taking college classes while in high school is a financial benefit. During the school year, the cost of classes and textbooks is free and with the summer program, the only cost was buying or renting the book. Muskingum University accepted all the hours I had completed. After talking with my advisor to schedule future classes, I was hoping to be able to finish college a year earlier. Instead I found that I may be able to finish college with a second major. I am still trying to make a decision which second major I may choose or if this would be the right decision for me. After completing my first semester in college, I am thankful I participated in the post-secondary program. I can see the benefits I have gained from it and would encourage any high school student to take advantage of the program to gain experience at the college level. The program is both challenging and rewarding.

Well that's about all for this post. This blog will be updated rather regularly throughout the remainder of my Freshman year. See you next time!

Juan

Being a Commuter at Muskingum

Hello readers, my name is Juan Dunlap and I will be filling you in about various aspects of my college life as a freshman at Muskingum University. I hope you enjoy and happy reading!

Today I'm going to speak about commuting to college. At first I was pretty adverse to the idea, but now that I have have been doing it for awhile, commuting is not all that bad. The two toughest things are probably getting up earlier in order to ensure I can get to Muskingum in time and then finding a parking space once I get to Muskingum. I do not really know if you can even call these problems, because I never have any classes before 10 and there is always parking for commuters, just maybe not in as ideal of places as I would like. I have never been late to college, so I guess I have a good schedule down for waking up, showering, and preparing to leave. Even through roadwork, I have always been on time. As for the parking, the closest parking area to all my classes is in the lot below Cambridge Hall. Unfortunately, this lot is nearly always full, because it also happens to be the closest for just about every other commuter. My next option is the Stag and Ulster lot. This lot is further away, but still within reasonable walking distance. Unfortunately, it also adds a small hill to my walk to class; this hill happens to be right in the middle, so I walk up it both on the way to classes and on my way back to my car. For the Cambridge Hall lot, I only have to walk uphill one way. Also, the Stag and Ulster lot is never full, so I can always park there. I normally do park there unless I am lucky enough to find an open space in the Cambridge Hall lot.

Being a commuter does have disadvantages. For instance, a lot of campus events happen later in the evenings. Since my classes all end at around three, if I want to attend one of these events, I have to either hang around until the event or drive home only to drive right back a few hours later. Because of this, I have very rarely attended evening events at Muskingum. Even though, I still enjoy being a commuter. I do intend to live on campus next year, but I have no negativity towards being a commuter.
 
Well that's about all for this post. This blog will be updated rather regularly throughout the remainder of my Freshman year. See you next time!

Juan

Things to Do on Campus!

Hello readers, my name is Juan Dunlap and I will be filling you in about various aspects of my college life as a freshman at Muskingum University. I hope you enjoy and happy reading!

After just a few weeks, it became very apparent that there were tons of things to do on campus. As mentioned in my last post, one of these events was the Hot Topic Tuesdays. To go a little more in depth, each Hot Topic Tuesday was covering a certain issue or helpful thing about college. These included Greek Life, managing money, good study habits, employer expectations, plagiarism, A.L.I.C.E. training, and other similar things. For the most part, I found these to be rather informative and helpful.

Another event that quickly became one of my favorites was the church service on Thursdays. I always had a big break on Thursdays, much longer than I needed for lunch, so Chapel was perfect to fill some of the space. I have always been a Christian and from the beginning of college, I was hoping to find a nice church family on campus, and I believe I have done so with the services in Brown Chapel. Their services are nice, because they combine various elements of several different denominations and traditions. There are hymns some weeks and contemporary songs other weeks. After some music, there is a message. Communion is held at every service as well. After the message, a free lunch is offered downstairs and is usually quite good. Thursday Chapels have become a regular for me.

Many times comedians, singers, or magicians are also brought onto campus for student entertainment. During the first couple weeks of college, I attended a comedian's performance in the bottom of the Chess Center. There were actually two comedians, one opening act, and then the main act, Wil Sylvince. They were both very funny. Besides entertainers, movies and other events also happen in the bottom of the Chess Center.

If you get involved in a club, that opens many new doors for other events to attend on campus. The game club has board game days, the ACM hosts the Robot Wars, the commuters have Taco Tuesdays, and many clubs have bingo and other similar events.

At Muskingum, there is almost always something to do somewhere on campus and that's one thing that I love about the college.

Well that's about all for this post. This blog will be updated rather regularly throughout the remainder of my Freshman year. See you next time!

Juan

Day 2 As a Muskie

Hello readers, my name is Juan Dunlap and I will be filling you in about various aspects of my college life as a freshman at Muskingum University. I hope you enjoy and happy reading!

Aside from new classes, my second day of college was not much different from my first. Upon arrival, I went to my first scheduled class, First Year Seminar. This class was with the same teacher as the previous day's Computer Science class, so I already knew I'd like the teacher. Basically Muskingum's First Year Seminar is the same as just about any other college's intro to college class. Throughout it, we are supposed to learn where all the buildings are on campus, learn about campus services, learn about fun and interesting events to go to, and basically make a smooth transition into college. It seemed like a pretty easy class, so I was not worried much about it. My only problem, if any would be putting work off until the end; I am a terrible procrastinator. Next, I had two hours in which I could eat. I also learned that on Tuesdays, there would be informational meetings for the freshman class called Hot Topic Tuesdays; I would attend these in the future. Also, I learned that there were meetings for the Association for Computing Machinery held on Tuesdays, so when I had attended enough Hot Topic Tuesdays, I could also attend the ACM meetings. I had lunch by myself on this day. I looked around the Bait Shop for familiar faces, but I did not recognize anyone. This was okay, as I spoke to a few people in line. After lunch, I again had Calculus class. Calculus was held four days a week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. After Calculus, I had what is probably one of my favorite classes at Muskingum. This was Emergence of the Modern World. As an LAE, some people might find this class annoying to attend, but with Dr. Hilton, the class is great! She is really passionate about the subject matter and always keeps class interesting. It also helps that several of the students in the class contribute to the discussion daily, myself included. So far, Dr. Hilton's class is the most engaging of all the classes I have taken at Muskingum. I will admit, Emergence is challenging, but the tests are fair and if you put the effort into attending class, taking notes, and studying, you should do well. And so concluded my second day of college.

Well that's about all for this post. This blog will be updated rather regularly throughout the remainder of my Freshman year. See you next time!

Juan

First Day as a Muskie

Hello readers, my name is Juan Dunlap and I will be filling you in about various aspects of my college life as a freshman at Muskingum University. I hope you enjoy and happy reading!

My first day as a Muskie was definitely interesting. I will admit that though I enjoyed, it was a bit intimidating. I did not really know anyone. Normally I am super social and easily make friends, but this time something seemed different; I did not talk to nearly as many people as I would have expected (by now, I  have made a ton of friends). From both the campus tour and my schedule, I knew where all my classes were located, so finding them was not a problem. My first class was Computer Science and I really enjoyed this one and I expected that it would be one of my favorite classes; the teacher was nice and of course, the subject was part of my Computer Science major. I was correct in my assumption. I then had a break in which I could go get lunch. Luckily, I did know one person well at at Muskingum, so lunch for that day would not be alone. My friend Mallory and I had been involved in acting at a community theatre, Towngate Theatre for years. I found Mallory and her roommate Kassy and the three of us had lunch in a restaurant on campus, the Bait Shop. After lunch, I prepared for my next class, which was Calculus. From the beginning I knew that class would be a challenge, simply because Calculus is a difficult subject. The teacher seemed nice, so I decided I would like that class too. It has been a challenge, but I am still doing pretty well in Calculus. Finally, my last class of the day was Arts and Humanities. I immediately decided that I liked the teacher, Dr. Kaluhiokalani. His class was also challenging (mostly in remembering all the names of painters, sculptors, and authors) but I found (and continue to find) the class really interesting. I know from past experience that if it seems you and a teacher will not work well together, you should drop the class. Luckily none of teachers thus far were bad. As I prepared to drive home from my first day of college, I was glad that I had chosen Muskingum University as my college and I believed that the remainder of my time at Muskingum would be wonderful.

Well that's about all for this post. This blog will be updated rather regularly throughout the remainder of my Freshman year. See you next time!

Juan