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"My Three A.M. Thoughts"

September 15, 2006

“These are my three a.m. thoughts. These are the things that make me spend all morning making the bed not just well, but perfectly.” – Steven Dietz’s Lonely Planet

Hey, I’m in college!

This particular quote from one of my favorite plays occurred to me while I sat on a washing machine at, funnily enough, three in the morning in McKean Hall. Pouring over J.S. Mill’s On Liberty for hours can induce daydreaming in even the most attentive and dutiful students, and instead of the usual thoughts of coffee or Red Bull my mind drifts to, I found myself contemplating this quote and my good fortune.

Taken metaphorically, this quote does not refer to staying up until the wee hours of the morning brooding over life’s foibles or spending all morning mulling over each nook, cranny, and crevice of one’s extra-long twin bed. Rather, this quote pertains to making the most of the opportunities presented and living to the fullest. After my first few weeks of college, I believe I have adhered to these standards well while maintaining my sanity.

Where should I begin? Well, at age 3, I went to the circus and… just kidding. My college life officially commenced with a hurried move-in on the first day of Camp Alliance, a three-day pre-orientation workshop sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Cultural Action Committee. I chose to attend for a number of reasons, including moving in early, meeting interesting people, and establishing an early connection with the GLBTA. I packed my life away into my Hyundai Sonata, attended a friend’s wedding (interesting aside, this friend is actually a Rollins Alum and convinced me to apply), and made my fateful journey to Winter Park.

I expected to have a good time at Camp Alliance, but I did not just have fun: Camp Alliance became one of those amazing experiences that alters your perspective on life and provides fresh optimism. Coming to college, I had a huge fear of seclusion due to past experience and my own intuition. After Camp Alliance, I finally let go of that, met some great friends, and had no fear of meeting new people come orientation. I would recommend this program to anyone for so many reasons, the least of which includes avoiding the rush on move-in day, free food, and rock-wall climbing. I owe a big extra thank you to Odile, Marissa, Maruxa, and everyone who made Camp Alliance memorable.
Alright, now to address a necessary evil of orientation week: move-in day. Thanks to Camp Alliance, I settled into my room four days early, but such was not the case for my roommate. I could feel the tension in the air as I leisurely traipsed around McKean, but I suppose not every second of orientation can be non-stop fun. It’ll be crazy, tempers will flare, and stress will run high, but it’s all over in a few hours.

My RCC’s SPARC project with The Islamic Society of Central Florida

In the afternoon, a sudden blackout hit Winter Park and made the process of moving in that much more complicated for so many wide-eyed first years. I took a potentially dismal situation and turned it into a philanthropic endeavor: With my trusty flashlight, I helped people find their way around and haul more accoutrements of home upstairs. I didn’t just stand around waiting for a solution; I made the most out of what I had and made even more friends in the process. Let this be a lesson, seniors: you will get out of life what you put in, and this is especially true in college. There are so many opportunities, but no one is here to make you do anything.

After sort of a downer, let’s move onto something positive! Many schools don’t do a whole lot of anything for their students during orientation except disseminate information and cause severe boredom. Fortunately, Rollins is not that kind of school. The Rollins Explorations staff, led by Doug Little, did a fantastic job in showing the class of 2010 the ropes of Rollins while keeping us entertained night after night. My personal favorites included the hypnotist and casino night. Granted, there’s some redundancy in programming and you will hear a lot of the same information a few times over, but for every moment of boredom I endured, I enjoyed ten moments of fun.

Just like Camp Alliance, I had another mind-expanding, life changing experience during orientation, namely my SPARC Community Engagement project undertaken with my RCC (Rollins Conference Course, I’ll explain about that later).

Our particular SPARC project took us to the Islamic Society of Central Florida for a discussion about Islam and providing some help in clearing a shed for a renovation. I emerged from this day a better person with a new passion for learning about this faith which I knew almost nothing about prior to this day. A billion of the world’s people practice this faith. As global citizens, why in the world shouldn’t we understand this way of life? There is just no good reason not to.

Alas, I have run out of time and space for this particular musing, but I’ll be back with much more. Ultimately, this is for YOU! So please, do not hesitate to e-mail with me questions about anything. As a theatre major, you’ll hear plenty about that aspect of Rollins from me, but if there’s a question you have, I’m your man, at your service! I plan on zeroing in on a particular topic of Rollins for each entry, and the next few will concern the rest of orientation, the first few weeks of class, and the theatre department.

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