Kickboxing, Italian Food, and Politics

This past week was another busy, quick-paced, and exciting week. I was appointed to the executive board of the College Democrats as the Speakers and Debates coordinator, which I’m very excited about. I wrote my first article for The Stillman Exchange covering the pirates in Somalia. I received high marks on my Honors Calculus test and my Russian quizzes, as well as positive feedback on my essay for English, and I completed my first of three film critiques for Journeys of Transformation, one of the signature core classes.

For College English I and II, students are required to visit the Writing Center at least twice during the semester. I scheduled my first appointment for Monday, and because I had the rough draft written, I had the writing tutor (a senior, Jackie) read it over for me. In class that day, we ran a “peer review workshop”, and both my peer reviewers were really impressed by my essay. Luckily, the writing tutor was also impressed, and she thanked me for presenting to her an interesting paper to read. She made a few suggestions to strengthen it, as well as point out a formatting note. I was relieved to know that all my hard work last Sunday trying to make sense out of what was seemingly an incoherently organized essay paid off!

Thursday evening was packed with plenty of events. First, I attended a lecture of Dr. Nina Khrushcheva, the great-granddaughter of former Soviet leader Nikita Khruscheva. The Slavic Club sponsored the lecture, so our professor provided a lot of homemade snacks as always-kielbasa, chocolate peanut butter balls, and cookies. I wound up leaving about twenty minutes early to attend Poetry-in-the-Round, which was very interesting. The story that was shared was very poetic, realistic, and at the same time, shockingly disturbing. I was surprised that it was being read! Afterwards, I headed over to the Cove to watch the Vice-Presidential Debate. I enjoy following politics, especially for the Presidential Election, but watching the debate live with other college students makes it more exciting. The addition of students’ random applause, laughter, and comments adds an extra layer of fun.

On Friday, I went to the gym to exercise and I noticed the fitness class schedule had finally been printed. I noticed there was actually a kickboxing class on Friday afternoon, so I decided to give it a shot. I haven’t kickboxed since my freshmen year of high school, but I wasn’t intimidated by it…until I actually began working out! It was an intense one-hour workout that pushed me more than my simple twenty minutes on the Elliptical three times a week. I remember at orientation our mentor told us that when we get stressed out, we should go to the gym and work out to the point that we’re sweating and can barely walk. Well, by the time I was finished with this workout, I definitely achieved that level. I felt like I lost the ability to walk on the way back to Boland Hall, but I was proud, knowing that I got a good work-out. I woke up on Saturday morning completely sore in my quads, back, and abs. I’m a bit afraid to stop by the intense Pilates session on Monday, but I’m also really intrigued. One thing I do know is that I won’t be doing the hardcore kickboxing class this Friday before seeing Spring Awakening-I don’t want to be too sore to walk through New York City!

Saturday was University Day/Family Day. Unfortunately, my parents weren’t able to make it, but I still had fun. Because the dining room does not open until 10:30 on the weekend, I walked downtown to get a bagel for breakfast, and then, I met up with other members of the executive board for College Democrats in the morning for the university parade. One member, David, lended us his blue jeep for us to decorate and walk with. Various townspeople applauded us as we walked through town, which was cool, and a few members would randomly lead Obama cheers. Afterwards, I helped out with the College Democrats booth for the afternoon. Pretty much, it consisted of a bunch of good friends lounging around and having fun. After all, who can argue with that?

I briefly stopped by for editing day for The Stillman Exchange and met with my editor, Danielle. I had emailed her my article slightly earlier than others did, so our meeting moved quickly and I helped her edit another article. We took a break and listened to a lecture one of the business professors gave on socially responsible investments, which was interesting. It was mainly for parents, but a few of us stopped in to enjoy the lecture.

On Sunday, I was destined to finish tweaking my essay, but I felt stuck so I contacted my friend, Shaina, who is a tutor in the Writing Center. Luckily, she was more than willing to read over my paper and give comments to play around with. Because her room is basically the E-board meeting room for College Dems, a few of us wound up hanging out together afterwards and watching CNN. We did some brief canvassing by Grove Park for the Obama Rally for Change on Tuesday to inform the local residents about what will be going on.

Throughout the weekend, I had a strange craving for baklava. Granted, I only had it about three times in my life, but I was destined to get some. On Monday, I stopped at a local bakery to see if it was there. Out of countless goodies, baklava was the one thing not there! (I still spoiled myself with a canoli. So much for the kickboxing class on Friday!) Afterwards, I stopped across the street at a market, Eden’s Gourmet. It was heaven inside! Not only did it have a lot of good foods that I haven’t seen since I left Michigan, but it was packed with treats. It even had Godiva chocolate, which I will hold on spoiling myself with until after my next Honors Calculus test. After examining the many goodies, I finally found baklava, which pretty much made my day! I had been so close to ordering some from a Michigan Middle Eastern bakery, Shatila, but luckily it was right here in town. Granted, Shatila’s baklava is still the best of all baklava, but this will suffice.