Camouflage

I felt so refreshed after a good night’s rest yesterday, and felt ready enough to tackle the amazing day that I had planned out for myself. I rushed as fast as possible to the bathroom to claim my spot in the shower. I also had a hard time contemplating whether or not to bring my laptop to class. Professor Coleman didn't really want us to take notes with our laptops because it might be distracting. In the end, I decided to bring it anyways just in case. I checked the weather and put on some appropriate clothes, locked my door nice and tight, and started down for the stairs.

Our group of four (Avery, Sai, Piper, and I) walked together to the dining hall, grabbed some food, talked for a while about the homework last night, and headed to our Macroeconomics class. This time, walking into the class felt less nerve racking and I honestly felt more prepared about what we were going to do. We started off by checking the homework and explaining a few key terms as a way of reviewing. Then, we had to take some time fixing Professor Coleman’s laptop because his lecture slideshow wasn't showing up correctly on the projector. A tech guy came down though and fixed it in a jiffy. We proceeded with the regular class schedule: a lecture, review, break, lecture, review, break, etc. Some of the most interesting topics we covered today were supply and demand, shifts in demands, categories of products (supplements and complements), and products during economic changes (normal goods versus inferior goods). In our three hour class today, we got from chapter 1 all the way to chapter 3 due to the engaging and quickly paced learning environment. I find Professor Coleman’s teaching method to be very effective, and interesting enough in a way where we learn without having words enter one ear and going out the other.

Kelly having a hard time choosing a skirt

After class, I walked over to lunch with our group of four and sat down to get to know each other better. I found out a lot of interesting new things about my classmates that I never knew before. For example, Piper actually attended school in Singapore and Avery actually plays French horn. I did a little window shopping at CVS and the shoe stores on Thayer Street. After my feet started crying out for help, I started heading back for my dorm. I took a few seconds of sleep just to rest my brain and feet. After a little while, I decided to call up Ying-An, Tayler, Emily, and Kelly to go shopping at Providence Place. We found each other halfway on Thayer and went towards the bus station next to Starbucks. The bus we were aiming for had just left when we got there, so we took a pit stop at Fro-Yo World. Some kind man actually paid for Tayler’s order, which was kind of weird at the same time. 

The bus ride took only 5 minutes and it took another 3 to walk from the stop to the mall. This was our second time at Providence Place. The first time we went, there wasn't enough time to look at all the stores. This time, however, we took our sweet time to make sure we walked in every single store we were interested in. Obviously, the girls bought stuff and the guys didn't. Ying-An and I had fun going into Hollister and Aeropostale to try some new fresh makeovers. When we looked at the price tags though, we immediately put the clothes back to where they came from. We had an amazing afternoon at Providence Place, whether it was killing our feet, staying in the stores for constants hours with the girls, or just getting lost inside the four story mall. I will definitely go back to Providence Place at least one more time before I head home.

The shopping crew waiting for the bus to come

After arriving back at Brown, Kelly decided to go to the fitness center in the center of the Graduate Building dorms. I’m ashamed to say that I haven’t sweat in so long. However, given the push and opportunity at the fitness center, I did manage to get some work done and get my blood running. I’m just hoping that my legs won’t be too sore tomorrow morning that I’d have to ask one of my friends to carry me to class. Most of the exercising was done on the machines. Normally, you’d have to pay $80 for a membership, but Kelly found out that the Fitness Center is open to everyone at 4:00 PM. I’m so glad that she had invited me, and grateful that the Fitness Center isn’t entirely unavailable to us who didn’t bring enough money. Otherwise, I don’t think there’s anywhere else for me to get in shape.

Our blogging group with Ying-An in the back

Surprisingly, I had a very good appetite for dinner today (probably because of the exercising earlier). We ate for a half hour or so and headed over to our dorms. We agreed that we would do laundry at Kelly’s and Tayler’s building because Kelly lives on the basement. That way, we can blog in Kelly’s room together and still be laundry convenient. It worked out very well. The only problem was finding quarters. Sadly, there is no quarter dispenser, so it didn't really matter how many dollar bills we had since we didn’t have anyone to trade it with. However, we scrimmaged up quarters to do two loads of drying and three loads of washing. Because we didn't have enough for all of us, we decided to share one machine per two persons and dark/white clothes colors. It worked out fine. For the dryer, we decided to dry for half an hour for one set of clothes, and the other half hour for a second set of clothes. It was very fun having our old blogging group again (with the exception of Nick and Emily who have already done their laundry) and just being able to catch up with each other once in a while.

These three days at Brown have flashed past my eyes so quickly. I've finally learned to adapt to my new surroundings and less likely to get lost. In addition, I've also learned to blend in with everyone else and I'm starting to find a lot of similarities between me and my classmates. I cannot find words to express this wonderful experience. One thing I can say though is that I’m very glad I was one of the few people who were giving this chance to go to Brown University. I will continue upholding the Pinole Valley legacy for all of those many brilliant students who have inspired me to fight for this opportunity and those who have been one of the greatest inspirations in my life. As each day passes, I become so much more grateful to those who have made this opportunity possible. I will continue making every second in Brown count by exploring Providence, trying newer things, and coming out of my shell to challenge myself in harder situations. I can’t wait to see what other treasures I will come upon in the days to come.