Joe's blog
Class of 2010, Biomedical Sciences/Pre-Dental Major, from La Crosse, WI

So second semester is finally here! After a nice long break, I’m ready to hit the books again with four brand new classes. I’m taking Mammalogy, Genetics, Intro to Philosophy and Social Geography now and I’m real excited about all of them. I feel like it’s the first time I get to choose more classes I want to take and less classes that I have to take. I purposely arranged my schedule to have later-starting classes so I get to sleep in a bit more than I’m used to. It’s pretty funny to wake up and have all of my roommates at class because I’m usually the one with the 8 AM time slot. I can already tell that I am a lot more awake in class and more motivated during the day. Basically, it’s already looking like I made a good decision.
It’s always nice to come back after not seeing my friends from school and to be on my own once again. Although I could never spend too much time with my friends at home, it’s actually pretty weird not to be able to walk a couple yards down the hall and be with a bunch of friends at any time. Also, I find it pretty exciting to come back to the playoffs of the Intramural Dodgeball season. The season is coming to and end and it’s down to the elimination rounds. The team I’m on is undefeated thus far and I want to win it all this year and be an intramural champion for the first time since high school.
Although it’s only the first week of the new semester, I have a good feeling about my new classes and schedule. I feel recharged from the break and like I’m starting fresh and new with the New Year. The tours are starting to become more plentiful in the admissions office, which means I may see some of you at 8:30 AM if you are scheduled at that time. Good luck with making all the important college decisions and don’t be afraid to ask questions or schedule a visit! I’ll talk to everyone soon,

Joe

Hey everyone! After a busy holiday season, I'm finally able to take a break and let you all know how I'm doing. Finals were both the easiest and hardest I've ever had. My Organic Chem exam was pretty difficult for me. It was a test where I had most of the answers narrowed down between two possibilities, but it was definitely nice to get that out of the way. When I came home, I snowboarded with my friend Drew a couple times and then had to work for my dad to make some money. As fun as working sounds, I wanted to enjoy myself before I went under the knife. On Friday the 28th of December, I had surgery to repair my deviated septum. The recovery was a little slow, but little by little I've improved and I can breathe through my nose better than ever.
Right now I'm actually sitting in a condo in Beaver Creek, Colorado. In a couple hours I'll be on the slopes on some actual mountains. I've snowboarded a lot in my life, but this is the first time I'll be out West - or out of the Midwest anyways. I'll be here until the 10th, and then I'm heading up to Mercer, Wisconsin to stay in a shack with a bunch of guys from school. My teammate, Ryan, has a shack that we made a tradition out of going up to visit. It has no heating or water, but has enough electricity to run a couple of lights. We're going to spend a couple days up in the Northwoods doing what men do: play cards, chop down trees, build fires, fish and maybe we'll be lucky enough to hit the slopes up in Upper Michigan. Of course, once I get back from that I'll have to work some more and then before I know it, I'll be back at school studying hard again. I hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday season!