Look Back At It

One word – parties. UW-Madison truly is the party school of America. I most definitely had a “life in the fast lane” phase throughout my freshman year; nonetheless, I managed to stay on the Dean’s List for each semester (so no need to worry about my priorities).

What sucked? Classes of course. I think that is a given, however. Freshmen aren’t at liberty to take as many interesting classes as they may want to – those pesky general college requirements are no joke. What I will say bombed the most is living so far away from my friends. Madison is a HUGE campus both physically and in terms of enrollment. While living on the Lakeshore side of campus was astoundingly serene and peaceful, I hated that seemingly long bus ride back to my dorm after a night out. Don’t get me wrong, the walks along Lakeshore Path (AKA “Rapeshore” Path after 8:00pm) were great. But walking gets boring – really fast.

There is hardly ever a dull moment on campus, which is why I loved it so much. The support and energy that my fellow Badgers had on game days was something that you have to see to believe. Even after we lost against Duke in the Final Four, we still managed to throw a huge block party on State Street where there was nothing but drunk college kids turning up because that’s what we do best.

Overall, I can say that college went as I thought it would. Classes got really hard, really fast. But aside from that, I made some lasting connections with people who are truly unforgettable. One of my small, but memorable accomplishments of the year would definitely be getting an A on a paper. Ya’ll, that has not happened since like 8^th grade. DSHA’s English department was NO JOKE. The cherry on top was that not only did I get an A on a paper, I got an A on a SPANISH PAPER! One hiccup that I had along the way was deciding whether or not to change my major. I went through such a rough time of my life where nothing seemed like it would work out. Not only was I stressed about my classes, but I was also stressed about supporting myself financially (I’m sure many college kids know what this feels like). In the end, I worked it out like I always do. I ended up changing my majors from engineering and Spanish to nursing and Spanish, but now of course (because I’m Mia, the girl who loves to make things complicated) I’m changing my major back to engineering and Spanish. Hopefully this is the last of my confusion.

Needless to say, I absolutely cannot wait for what sophomore year brings. I’ll have another story to be told shortly . . .

Speaking of Long-Distance Relationships…

Hey y’all,

Frankie’s post got me thinking heavily about my boyfriend and how much I miss him. His name is Makonnen [Mah-Cone-Nen], and no he is not the newly famous I LOVE MAKONNEN music artist (although that would’ve been a nice story to tell). I’m over here jammin’ to Drunk in Love by Beyoncé, so excuse my mushiness.

I was forced to attend DSHA, and it was the best decision that my parents ever made for me. One of my biggest concerns, however, was figuring out how I’m ever going to find a boyfriend in an all-girls school. Believe it or not, IT HAPPENED! Granted, I didn’t find Konnen until Christmas break of my senior year, but it still counts. *flips weave* Do you guys want to hear our cheesy story? Because I’m going to give it to you anyway. Grab some popcorn and a box of tissues…

So we met at a party when I was a sophomore and he was a senior. He told me that the entire night at the party, his attention was solely on me. I, on the other hand, was probably worried about where the drinks and food were. Needless to say, I barely remember seeing him at the party, let alone acknowledging his existence. Between sophomore year and senior year, he ended up being a friend in my Snapchat list. I would always see his stories, so I knew that at some point he moved to California which really discouraged me from pursuing anything with him.

The day before my first finals, I Snapchatted my “fail of the day” – locking my keys in the car (I was standing in the freezing weather). He responded via Snapchat by laughing at me and saying that I was funny. And I instantly thought 1) I don’t even know you, so why are you laughing at me? We aren’t cool like that, and 2) you know who I am!!! I played off my annoyance by engaging in some superficial conversation, and we ended up exchanging numbers, with NO intention to ever speak to him again. Lucky for me, I was bored out of my mind the next day and decided to text him after all. That was the best decision of my life so far.

We connected instantly. We got so deep, so fast; it was thrilling and yet ridiculously scary. He told me that he lived in California, which was a huge turn off for me being that I had just ended up a long distance “situationship” a month before meeting Konnen. He did say, however, that he would be moving back to Wisco on my birthday (January 2), so I figured that simply meeting and going on a date couldn’t hurt anything.

It was love at first sight. He came with his buddy, and I came with my cousin to make things a tad less intimate and awkward. But that kinda backfired because his friend was really awkward the entire time. Nevertheless, we all still enjoyed ourselves at Casablanca, and then headed to his buddy’s house for some movies and video games. The next day he was my boyfriend (he tells me that he didn’t want to make things official on my birthday because that would’ve been too cliché).

I’m sure you’re wondering, “Where’s the long-distance aspect?” To make a long story short, he had to move back to California (his native state) for a crazily well-paying hospital job a month after we got together. That was traumatizing and VERY depressing. But we’ve managed to make it work thus far. He came back for Valentine’s Day (2 weeks after he moved), flew me out there for my spring break, came back here for my graduation, and then came back again a month later for his sister’s wedding (which ended up being on his birthday, June 28). Two weeks later he flew me out to spend a month with him in Cali, and I had the time of my life. He even took me to the Beyoncé & Jay – Z concert while I was out there. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m gay for Beyoncé! He’s come to visit me once since school started and… (Insert drum roll)…. HE’S MOVING BACK ON CHRISTMAS! I’m so elated to finally be with him again. It’s been a long year of being apart, but it’s made us immensely stronger and more appreciative of the time that we do spend together. Only God knows where things will go from here, but I don’ t have any doubts in my mind that we will be getting married in the future. I love that man ❤

Yes, today is the last day of classes. But now that means I’ve got to get started w/ studying for finals. So that’s my cue! See y’all later, and Merry Christmas if you don’t hear from me again!

Mia ❤

#2 Dude This Class I’m In…

Sucks. It’s Math 112, aka ALGEBRA!!

Let me start by saying I’m really not dumb… I got a full ride to Madison, so that must take some intelligence, right? But about this math class…

So back in April we had to take a placement test to see which math and English classes we would be taking to start our college career. I took the test on an early Saturday morning (I HATE MORNINGS!) and needless to say I was tired, even though I made sure to go to sleep at a reasonable hour the night before. I’m taking the test and realize that it is actually really hard, like the ACT all over again. I somehow manage to finish the test without having to randomly fill in bubbles on my Scantron within the last 2 minutes of the time allotted, but I’m still not confident in my scores. I get the scores in June, right after graduation. After looking at the Algorithm, I realize that if I had scored 6 more points (out of 840), then I would be taking Calc. 1 which is what I wanted, being that I’m a Biomedical Engineering major. ONLY 6 MORE POINTS!!!! *Insert angry face*

Immediately I call the advising office to see if the math department is lenient about scores since I was so close; I get a cheerful “Yes! You should be fine, don’t worry about retaking it.”

July comes around and I come to Madison for orientation. I ask about my scores and the advisor IMMEDIATELY tells me that I have to retake the math test. And I’m looking at her like “Bish whet?” -___- She gives me the option to take it that day, or take it next week, OR take it during welcome week when I move in. Taking it that day wasn’t going to work because I wasn’t prepared. And taking it next week was impossible because I had a flight to catch for Cali the same day. So I just decide to stick with what I have. The “my life sucks” feeling set in rapidly.

I get to Madison optimistic about the course. I walk into what looks like a computer lab for class, and it comes to my attention that the ENTIRE class is online. There are 3 different lecture sections in one class. There’s NO PROFESSOR! The 3 TA’s for each lecture rotate everyday between who is going to cover a few topics.

Okay so about the class specifically. It’s 3 credits, and I have to take it for my major. There are about 100 people in the class. We meet on Tuesdays & Thursdays for an hour and a half. And it sucks terribly. We get homework every time we come to class, which was expected. The issue is that I’m teaching myself. The TA’s go through maybe 1-2 topics out of the 13-15 we were supposed to read about in the homework. To make things worse, they go over the easiest concepts, and put the hardest ones on the quizzes and exams. I got a 62% on my first written exam and a 80% on my first online exam. So you can see how this is an issue for me. I’m used to getting straight A’s. What the hell is an F? The written exam was the STRUGGLE. There were 4 questions, we had an hour to do it, no calculator was allowed, and NO PARTIAL CREDIT. What in God’s name are they thinking?! So yeah, that’s why I got a 62%. I would most definitely not ever recommend this class to anyone, ever. But I’m going to have to suck it up if I want to major in BME. The struggles of Mia…

Wisconsin Madtown Standards

Ya’ll let me tell you about the FINEST boys at UW- Madison. I lied, there’s only a couple… Well maybe I should start at the beginning. I moved in on August 24^th, and I was so ready to go. I woke up at 6:00 in the morning to make it there by 8:00 when check-in started. Ya’ll should know how I am about being on time… My dad’s prissy self decided to get all dressed up and whatnot and we ended up being an hour late . But the 24^th was early move-in day for everyone who had a scholarship so there was no line and it was hella chill. We had this TINY elevator that could literally only fit our cart full of stuff (we couldn’t fit in with the cart). So we had to race up to the 3^rd floor to get it off of the elevator. Lmao, what a struggle. I walked up to my room and the RA had our door decorated really cute. I opened the door and entered a shoe box; it seemed SO small. I had a mini panic attack because I had 5 suitcases worth of clothes and countless other miscellaneous dorm items (it took my dad’s van and mom’s car to get all of my stuff here).

My mom and sister cleaned my bathroom (yes, we have our own bathroom… AND AC!) while I put the clothes away. And we snuck Osita (my dog) into the room via my purse so she was chillin’ like usual. My dad hit it as soon as he unloaded the van. Didn’t even cry or anything. Lol he must really love me huh. Kay-Jah, my roommate, hadn’t arrived yet so that was nice. Otherwise I would’ve been too claustrophobic and hot. Ya’ll know I like my space. I ended up being able to fit everything comfortably so that was nice. And I still had room left over to add more stuff!

Noon comes around and Kay-Jah finally shows up with her mom and younger sister. Our families are literally identical. It’s crazy. I went with my mom and Kay-Jah’s mom to Walmart to get some last minute items, and I ended up getting to know her family a lot better. It was great to finally meet the girl I’d been texting since April.

As far as actual school goes, it’s fantastic. Being that UW-Madison is my first public school ever, I was initially overwhelmed by the 40,000+ students here. But that changed almost instantly when I realized that I knew at least 65 girls from my high school. As of now my majors are Biomedical Engineering & Spanish. I’m also on the pre-med track. I LOVE the classes I’m taking, and most excited about the student organzations that I hope to join. Greek life has always been a priority, but I’m going to wait until next year to rush. I’m also joining NSBE (National Society of Black Engineers) to help with internships and job opportunities. I even met Keven Stonewall! Aka, the best man alive. Aka the guy who most likely found the cure to cancer. Click the link to read his story.

http://newsone.com/3041045/keven-stonewall-colon-cancer/

My goals for this year are #1) not to get lost on campus after 9:00pm. Madison is relatively safe, but there are some serious creepers on campus. But I shouldn’t have to worry much, I’ve got pepper spray to take care of that it necessary. #2) I want to maintain a 3.5 cumulative GPA. Being that the lowest GPA I can have in order to keep my full-ride scholarship is a 3.0, I should maybe strive to be higher than the minimum. And #3) I want to make SO many friends and connections. I’m finally realizing how people you meet in college may one day be your boss. So being nice is the way to go 🙂

Alright so I gotta go. That’s been my life in a nutshell. I actually need to start going to sleep before 2am. So this is my que. See ya later guys 🙂

       

Mia and Bucky                                                                           Mia and her roommate Kay-Jah and other friend