Cardinals' Nest

2008 Presidential Inauguration

The part that really impacted me was when Reverend Joseph Lowery was asked to give the inaugural benediction and he said, "Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around ... when yellow will be mellow ... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen." Personally, I thought that was pretty random and I really didn't understand why he would say that. Perhaps it was a little comic relief, but I did not feel any motivation to be unified in a diverse community. If I was motivated to do anything, I would say I felt like I was separated into a group of yellow mellows, being a "yellow" person. I am also offended with his comment. What in the world did he mean by that any way "when yellow will be mellow." Is he saying that yellow people are not mellow? What is wrong with us now? Perhaps it was just to rhyme, but he should carefully choose his words as he proclaims them in front of the whole world. The inauguration was six days ago, but those words are still clearly imprinted in my brain.

Jocelyn Yuen

Some not-so-senior reflections

Good evening everyone! I hope fall break is treating you well. I know I have an enormous to-do list which grows longer every time I mark something off. Such is the life, after all, of an overachieving, over involved student. This is indeed who I am, otherwise known as Mike or more often, Ogie (like Yogi only without the ‘y.’)

I’m a new blogger for the Admissions Office so let me give you a little bit of info about myself. I’m from Jackson, Kentucky which is in Eastern, Kentucky and I came to UofL as quick as I possibly could after graduating high school in 2006. Coming into college, I had 28 hours already completed from duel credit high school/community college classes, so now I’m a 3rd year, and although I should be a junior, I’m a senior graduating this coming spring (May, ’09.)

In fact, it seems like only yesterday when I came upon a place for the first time to marvel in the wonder that would subsequently become my home: Belknap Campus of the University of Louisville. Coming into college as a biology student with the intentions of going to medical school, I slowly discovered the department which would shape the rest of my life: Sociology. When I was in high school, I took a duel credit Introduction to Sociology class at the local community college and absolutely loved it. That sparked my interest which later engulfed me in the sociological discipline as soon as I began my studies at the collegiate level. What started as a minor soon became a major, and eventually, a career path.

So here I am tonight, sitting in room 210 of Miller Hall (I’m an RA here now, but fun fact is that 2 years ago, I lived next door in room 208 as a freshman resident!), and I can only help but think of the future and of the past. The future is simply one word for me: stressful! Along with thinking about class work, many organizations I’m involved with, my job, and other things, grad school is in the forefront of my mind. I wouldn’t be so concerned if I hadn’t scored as low on the GRE (which is like the SAT equivalent for grad school) as I had, so now I have to bring it up in order to really shine as an applicant. My graduate application process, though, is making me realize how I’m really going through the college application process for real this time around. See, I didn’t apply anywhere else besides UofL, but now I have to apply to many places and see which place gives me the best offer.

Why is this important to freshman? Because 1, I completely understand what you were going through last year as a senior. Additionally, however, my experience here at UofL is coming to a close and it hasn’t left my mind in the past two months. I say to myself all the time, “oh, this is my last Fall Rush here...” or “I guess this is my last Homecoming Block Party...” The past is something I am continuously dwelling on because as I reflect now on 2 amazing years at UofL, I come to realize that I’ve grown, developed, and matured enormously here, but I also have so much more to go. Moreover, I keep coming to realizations. One of these in particular is that I’ve finally discovered how I really feel about Louisville. In many respects, it’s become home for me and now I’m ready to get away from home once more. I’m ready to “leave the nest” of sorts (I suppose both literally and figuratively.) I love UofL and I always have. My love for it has simply become not of fiery passion, but of security, safety, and comfort. Coming back from the University of Cincinnati’s Homecoming this weekend made me realize how much I love UofL as a home, but how excited I am to (hopefully) go some place new because I’m finally ready both academically and socially, to start the next chapter of my life.

If anything, just remember your time here is shorter than you think, and it’ll be over with before you’ve realized anything ever changed. Make the best of it. Try something new. Go to an annual event you’ve never been to before, because you only get about four chances to go to them anyway. Get involved, make a difference, and learn. Learn about what you’re passionate about, learn about who you are, and learn about the world around you because the protective bubble around us gets smaller and smaller as we grow closer to the “real world.”

Just remember: love UofL because it gives so much to us, and that is indeed what it is here for. Give back to it when you can, but utilize the many resources and opportunities at hand.

That’s all for now. Facebook me if you want to talk about anything I’ve said, and as always, go Cards!

Mike (Ogie)

That Thing They Call Greek Life

Obviously by the title you can tell my main subject is Greek life. Two weeks ago, on a Monday, was the first day of fraternity rush. I had decided to give it a shot and hey if worst comes to worst I would get out of there with some free food. That Monday during classes I was already getting nervous, which surprised me because I really hadn’t even thought about going Greek until the first few weeks of being on campus. So why had I suddenly cared? Thoughts such as this being a defining memory that will last a lifetime, what happens if I join, and the age old worry will they like me, ran through my head. I wasn’t really worried about people not liking me because I had hung out with a lot of people that I had previously known from my high school days, who had each joined several different fraternities and I felt like I fit in somewhat. The unexpected is what concerned me the most, but the only way to discover the unknown is to ask questions.

So 6:30 rolled around (the time the rush events started) and I was walking towards Greek row. Before I could even see the houses I could hear the music, the laughter, and the yelling. My nerves were building. I thought about how I was going to go about visiting all the houses and had decided to start at one end and go from there. I visited most all of the houses, had a great time throughout the week, got a TON to eat, and met a lot of new people. I don’t want to go into where I pledged or all the events because that is for you to find out and decide your own opinions for yourself. One thing though I will mention is just because you know people in certain fraternities or sororities look at everywhere. I joined a frat that I knew no one at, while passing up four fraternities in which I had high school buddies in.

For those of you who will be incoming freshman next year or the years to come try the Greek life. Just because you’re worried about how things will go and who will like you don’t let that effect you. I was in your shoes and know that I have joined and I love it. Even if you don’t join a fraternity or sorority you will meet a lot of people and plus you get every college students dream FREE FOOD!

-Ben Donlon

Proposal: Monthly "No Power" Days!

        We’ve all been chastened by those who don’t understand modern life.  To them, we’re too connected to the wrong things: we know Hollywood better than we know our own neighborhood, we rely on email and are addicted to the internet, and we play more sports on a TV than we do outside.  Not to mention, we can be reached any time of any day by our personal shadow: the cell phone.  Those who make these remarks clearly don’t understand how advanced society has become and how 100% necessary it is to live in this manner…So what happens when these necessities don’t work?  Perhaps this is when we realize the truth behind their words: by becoming too involved in modern distractions, it’s easy to forget the constant things in life.

      

        This past Sunday, we were all hit off guard.  In a city too far inland to even think about being the primary victims of a hurricane, 70 mph winds made Louisvillians reconsider.  After the initial shock and making sure everyone was ok, reality set in.  What do you do without power?  Scared and nervous at first, this week quickly became one of my favorite college memories.  On a night that I would have spent watching a sports game I didn’t really care about, dealing with emails, and making phone calls to check off my “to-do” lists, I instead did something I haven’t done in way too long: I relaxed.  Think about it.  First off, no one wants to be at home in the dark.  Second, it’s lighter (and cooler) outside than it is inside.  And third, it’s a heck of a strain to study by candlelight.  On Sunday night, life came to a halt.  There’s a sort of dependence that emerges when stuff like this happens.  All of a sudden, you can’t make it on your own, and everything that was so important 5 minutes ago becomes trivial.  We pulled the kitchen table out on the front porch and played cards by candlelight deep into the night.  We laughed, told stories, and spoke with neighbors we’d never even met before.  Perhaps that’s what the older generations have been trying to tell us; and they’re right.  The people I met on these dark nights won’t go back to being strangers…Rather, I think I’ve found a constant.  Now, I’ll admit, I’m a little ready for my lights to come back on…life as I know it does rely on power.  However, regardless of whether the lights are off or on, friends and memories keep their charge.  Hopefully, it doesn’t take another natural disaster to make us realize how much of life is passing by without our enjoyment.  Trust me, that email will still be there tomorrow.

-Kathy

Welcome Weekend and The First Days Of Class

Hi all and over the school year I will share my experiences as an incoming freshman.

I moved in on Thursday, the first day of welcome weekend with the intention of becoming more familiar with the U of L campus, where my first semester classes are, and meeting new people. The move in process was rather slow to say the least. It seemed liked everyone decided to move in on the same day as I did, and at the same time, so the wait for the elevator stretched out the door. Once I was moved in, not long after meeting my roommate, I soon looked for things to do. Since nothing really started till later that night I decided to find my classes, which proved later on very beneficial and something I recommend strongly to all future incoming freshman. Welcome Weekend went smoothly and was a lot of fun. I was able to accomplish most of the things that I wanted to do in the first week.

Before I knew it Sunday night rolled in and I was preparing for my first day of classes. Since I already had homework, I began working on it before heading to bed, setting 3 alarms because the one thing I didn’t want to have happen was to be late on the first day. The night flew by and before I knew it the annoying beeping from my alarm woke me up. I got ready and took off for my first college class. While I was walking, I’m not going to lie, I was really nervous. The only things going through my head were all the things my high school teachers had told me about how college was so much harder and the teachers didn’t care and all of that stuff. When I walked into the room I looked around, noticing that half the people were already asleep the other half were also looking around trying to avoid making eye contact, or at least it seemed that way. Seated, and with a notebook out, I began counting down the final moments until the mean old teacher would walk through the door, and before I knew it, there he was. At first I counted him as just another student, but to my surprise and a certain amount of disbelief, he was the teacher. He greeted us, introduced himself to us, and started to explain what the course was like. The rest of my classes that day and for the rest of the week went along the same guidelines. My first week went by smoothly and, against my high school teacher’s opinions, it was actually enjoyable.

Talk to you next week,

Ben

UL is ALIVE!

It’s difficult to explain the transformation that occurs each year as new students enliven the campus in the fall and resurrect the ghost town that exists here during the summer.  One day, the land between Cardinal and Eastern Parkway is empty, and the next it’s full of the zest and zeal that will become the energy this campus thrives on.  As a senior, it’s a bitter sweet realization that the new faces I see will soon be the ones to take my place: to be SOSers, members of Greek Life, to wander the halls of the admissions office, and to laugh boisterously in the SAC at lunch. Daily, I greet each new face with a hope that they too will find the heart of U of L as I have.  But enough of the mushy stuff…I have to say at this point, with week one under my belt and the first holiday already faded into the calendar, summer is officially a time of the past and it’s impossible to ignore exams lurking behind the newness of the semester. 

Good news?  We’ve survived to week 2!!!...and we’ll keep on surviving.  Perhaps the early break was a good ease into a strenuous school year, and I dare say it was fabulous!  After a short drive to Cincinnati, several friends (some old, some new) and I spent the weekend battling the wilderness—blowing up rafts and hurling them down a forested cliff into the Great Miami River for a relaxing day of rafting—and swaying beneath the stars with lawn seats at Riverbend in the company of Maroon 5 and Counting Crows.  There’s truly nothing more satisfying than spending carefree moments with the people that make you happiest: Lesson one for this school year?  Have some fun; enjoy vacation, and buckle down when life returns!  Having something to look forward to makes it easier to work hard during the “between” times!

Nonetheless, the “between” times DO have to exist, and staying ahead is the only way to remain relaxed.  Perhaps by senior year, I have learned a few things: reading before class is a HUGE advantage; it doesn’t give the opportunity to get behind!  In the past, I’ve allowed the first few weeks to go by brainlessly, only to realize on week three that I’m already stressed!  This year, the goal is to remain completely organized, wake up with enough time to relax, and attend all classes attentively and, most of all, ON TIME! 

This semester is going to be a great one; everything else in life seems to be in place—no reason for school not to be!

-Kathy Schmitt