Catching Up and Hitting the Ground Running

It’s Sunday afternoon – the day when I try to catch up on all the things I meant to get done during the week and that includes blogging after a very long interlude. I can’t believe how quickly time has gone by. It’s really hard to imagine that only six months ago I was nervously preparing to move in to my freshmen dorm. I feel like this semester has a completely different rhythm than the last one. Classes, clubs, activities, and life seem to just be hurdling forward at  a breakneck pace, and while it requires a bit of planning, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Winter Break was glorious and I absolutely loved spending time stuck in a bedroom stripping wallpaper with my mom for two weeks straight (okay, it wasn’t much fun), but I’m glad to be back in the Burg. Last semester began with me spending every moment with my Yatesment hall mates and our fabulous OAs (Orientation Aides), asking upperclassmen how to get to Morton, forgetting to take my ID card everywhere, and trying to learn the words of our Alma Mater. This semester is shaping up to be even better…

• I’m planning to declare a government major this semester and filling up on plenty of the major requirements.
• I’ve applied for a job at the Prime Outlets so that I can afford my trips to WaWa.
• I’m excited about several upcoming events I’m planning as a member of the Intern Committee of Alma Mater Productions (our campus programming board).
• My legs are constantly bruised from playing pick-up indoor soccer at the Rec with some friends. These bruises are primarily self-inflicted as I am a terrible (but extremely enthusiastic) soccer player.
• The Roots Charter Day Concert was absolutely fantastic last night. Happy 318^th Birthday, William and Mary!

While all of the above is exciting, the two best parts of my semester thus far relate to the College’s language requirement. Confession: in all honesty, I came to William and Mary dreading the foreign language requirement. While I enjoyed the idea of learning French in high school, the actual process of acquiring a new language was a real struggle for me. I imagined that the process would be similar here as well – just with a whole new language. In reality, deciding to take Italian turned out to be one of the best decisions I made during my first semester at the College.

My roommate (fellow blogger Sofia Chabolla) and I have applied to live in the Italian House next year. At William and Mary, students can apply to live in one of eight language houses (Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, or Spanish). Each house has a native language tutor that lives with the students and helps put on programming related to each culture for the William and Mary community. Last semester I attended several cooking lessons in the Italian House in order to fulfill a requirement in my Italian 101 class. Fulfilling a class assignment turned out to be a lot of fun and made me want to apply to live in the house next year.

Last week, Sofia and I both had our interviews with Giacomo, the house tutor, and Professor Annunziato, the advisor and my Italian professor. My interview was conducted almost entirely in Italian which caught me off guard because that wasn’t what I expected, but I think I managed well. My one mistake was when Professor Annunziato asked me how I felt about living in a space that was much more communal than a traditional hall. We have a shared kitchen, living room, dining room, bathrooms, etc. and it’s important for everyone to help keep it clean. I understood all of this in Italian, but I was at a total loss for how to respond. So I said Mi piace … [long, awkward pause]…. …. Clorox wipes (translation: I like Clorox wipes). Whoops.

We have also applied to the William and Mary Summer Program in Florence. If accepted, Sofia and I will spend a month with approximately 30 other W&M students and Professor Brian Hulse immersed in the culture, language, and beauty of Italy. As of February 1^st, our applications have been sent in and we are waiting to hear back in mid-to-late February. If we hear back yes, expect to read much more from me about preparations for our trip and possibly even some blogging from across the Atlantic in May!

This is getting long and tonight’s the Super Bowl which means I’m excited to watch and rate commercials. So to sum it all up:

1. Check out specialty housing at: http://www.wm.edu/offices/residencelife/oncampus/residencehalls/specialinterest/index.php
2. See how far William and Mary can take you with the Reves Center for International Study at: www.wm.edu/revescenter

Ciao!

Sally Wade