The Calm Before the Storm, Plus a Storm

For some students, the week before final exams, known as Dead Week, actually does feel dead. For others, it comes with a slew of group project deadlines, oral presentations, and general anxiety and panic. I was lucky enough to experience the former. My only project was due Monday, and we had been given the whole previous week in class to work on it. It caused me zero stress, and it was great practice for the final exam. Essentially, I killed two birds with one stone. I pursued two grades at the same time (the project and the final), and probably won’t have to put in more than an hour to round out my study time for the final! In case you were wondering, this class is MGMT 231, Business Research Methods. Its only prerequisite is STAT 216, which is seems like every undergraduate at MSU is required to take. So even if you aren’t a business major, you can take this class with minimal schedule shuffling. I was not a fan of statistics, but after taking this class, I am! And if you are a business major, take this class in lieu of STAT 217. You learn so much more, and have 500% more fun in the process. Because of all the free time I’ve had this week, I’ve been able to reflect a little bit on my semester. However, I had anticipated that this free time would be spent outside on the grass, soaking up the sun.

However, these plans feel apart Friday afternoon. I had spent the week enjoying the high 70s and then woke up Friday mornings to inches of snow on the ground, and worse, found that is was sticking to the road! Really, another winter storm? Repulsed by this influx of cold, I decided to boycott winter in late April and wear shorts and Chacos to class. I was happy to find that I was not alone; other students had dressed for summer in protest of the weather.

So Bozeman, this is not a request: Give us back our summer. Don’t give us a repeat of last year. We don’t want slush the day before the semester ends.

Return the warmth to us. Thank you.

Summer Came Early!

 

This past week has been fantastic! Temperatures have been climbing, starting in the mid 60’s and finishing today at 76! It’s been super hard to devote time to schoolwork when the weather is this awesome and the sun draws your attention out the window during classes. The dead brown landscape is emerald green, and the precipitation has been all rain and no snow! While I’m not quite grilling corn on the cob, here is a laundry list of stuff I’ve been able to accomplish due to the early summer rays.

• Resurrect the Chaco tan

• Ride my bike in a t-shirt without getting cold

• See the ducks wander really far away from the pond
• Sit in the grass on campus without fear of a wet butt
• Drink smoothies in class without feeling weird
• Slackline
• Play Frisbee in the street
• Smell the flowers
• Feel happy about living in a cold basement
• No homework
• Have a fire in the backyard
• Read in minimal clothing in the backyard without getting goose bumps
• Drink iced coffee instead of hot coffee
• Devote 30 minutes a day to thinking about swimming in the ocean
• Hike on dirt instead of ice
• Rocking a fine sheen of sweat
• Buying cheap strawberries at Safeway
• Being able to see street  signs at 9PM
• Rock a different pair of sunglasses everyday
• Use solar powered gadgets
• Getting free food from clubs on campus that are having their meetings outdoors
• Ditch the vitamin D supplement
• Never wear socks
• Never wear pants
• Love on Bozeman!

What are you doing with the heat wave that is sweeping the nation?

Cowboy Up…and down

Spring is in the air, and so is the smell of cows. This means one thing in Bozeman, MSU Spring Rodeo. The rodeo is an all weekend event, with championship performances in the evenings and free slack in the mornings. People come from all over Montana to attend, and subsequently, every hotel parking lot, and every campus parking lot, is overrun by pickup trucks and trailers. It really is quite a sight to see. If you’ve never been to a rodeo before, here is the rundown:

The Crowd: A mix of young and old, plaid-clad and not, and a perpetual sea of cowboy hats and boots, both weather-worn and for-show-only. By the end of the night, the ends of the spectrum begin to nod off. In front of me on Saturday night around 10:00PM, four kids and an old man had fallen asleep.

The Events: We’ve got saddle bronc riding, bareback riding, bull riding, tie down roping, steer wrestling, team roping, barrel racing, breakaway roping, and goat tying. On top of all that, you get a banter loving rodeo announcer, talented pickup men, and an annoying but well intentioned rodeo clown complete with Nerf football and suspenders! What’s not to love?

My one complaint about rodeo is the fact that all the participants wear cowboy hats. Now I know it’s part of the outfit, but I feel that it’s hard to form an emotional connection to an athlete of any kind if I can’t see their face. It’s just like football; everyone is dressed the same, and are distinguishable only by name and number. Rodeo team members get even less. They are all wearing the same things and have neither a name on their vest, nor a number. The best you can do is flip through the program all night and try to identity who exactly is in the arena before they leave. Okay, I’m done.

Also, congratulations to our MSU lady bobcats who brought home the national title!!!

All in all, the MSU Spring Rodeo is pretty rad. Something you should definitely not miss!

When Weekend Plans Go Awry…

At Montana State University, the weekend that Easter falls on is always a 3-day weekend; we get Friday (which just happens to be Good Friday) off under the guise of ‘University Day.’ However, no one is complaining because who doesn’t want fewer days of class?

As any normal college student would, I consented to spending an exciting day in Livingston, MT, touring the towns museums and art galleries. The drive time (which usually takes about 20 minutes) was increased by the onset of heavy snow flurries and parade of slow moving semis.

The agenda was to first hit up the Yellowstone Gateway Museum of Park County to educate ourselves about the rich history of Livingston as well as that of Yellowstone National Park, just a short drive to the south. Next, we would go to the Livingston Depot Center to satiate our desire for all things train-related. Much to our chagrin, both museums were closed. Whether this is because of the season or because it was Good Friday, this much is certain: Emmy and I were going to be deprived of history for the time being.

While the snow continued to fall, we drove around the 6 blocks that is downtown Livingston, searching for entertainment and/or food. As I usually do, I suggested that we look for an awesome thrift store to peruse. We found a gem in the east part of town, Bob n’ Lu’s Second Hand. After an hour, both Emmy and I walked away with a plethora of treasures. For $10, I scored a couple funny political buttons for my backpack, a sticker about saving whales, two books, and an old Neil Diamond vinyl.

We topped off the day back in Bozeman by first petting the ponies behind the high rise dorms, before retreating to my basement for gummy worms, old episodes of Saturday Night Life, and Dustin Hoffman movies. Oh yea. What an awesome start to my last three day weekend!