May 10
Coffee in Portland means more than just a cup to wake you up in the morning, it’s an obsession. Campus has a few primary coffee shops frequently visited by students and faculty. From a barista’s perspective, here is where I go for what:
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During the three years I have lived in the U.S., I have never had my family come to visit. This is not only because all of my family members have full-time jobs and busy lives, but also because the cities I have lived in were not so attractive to them. But since my graduation is getting closer, my mother decided to visit me. Before I moved here, she didn’t have any idea how Oregon looked, and she had never even heard of Portland.
Now, my mother is interested in most forms of art, such as literature, butoh (dance), visual art, and music. She has been to many exhibitions and shows in Tokyo where she lives. When she asked me what kind of performance art or butoh she could see in Portland, and what kind of visual art museums and galleries we have here, I was not sure how I should answer. Read more
As some of you may remember, my last blog entry was about finding an apartment and having to move. Well, it happened. In the span of 72 hours, my roommates and I found an apartment, signed papers, and moved – mostly because ResLife at Portland state required me to move out ridiculously quickly. Read more
Portland is known for the “hipster” look; our clothes are either outrageous or we have no fashion sense at all. I don’t know if it’s the weather or my limited student budget, but I will fully admit I never really put too much thought into my outfits. But I have become more enthusiastic about a particular type of shopping, known as thrifting.
It is almost like a hobby, a simple thrill to find clothes cheaper than at a typical department store. The items could be new or secondhand. Sometimes I’m able to find deals for brand name clothing (not that it really matters) — as long as it’s catchy, vintage-y, different, it is worth it for a third or even a fourth of its original price.
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For the longest time, my father cut my hair growing up. My two younger brothers and I never went to a barber shop to get the job done. And this job is complicated to say the least. Around 16 or 17, my father just didn’t have the same precision as before and my hair was just too difficult to cut. Soon after, my father simply retired, if you will, from cutting my hair and my brother’s as well. I was confident that if my father could cut my hair, anyone else with experience could do it just as well. Read more
Knock, knock, knock! “ResLife!”
I sat up in bed. The clock read 4:30 a.m.
Knock, knock, knock . . . “ResLife!”
“Just a minute!” I yelled back. I scrambled in the dark to find my phone and a
sweatshirt. My boyfriend was up and beat me to the door. The light from the
hallway was almost blinding as we opened the door to find an RA standing
outside. Read more
Mar 4
As a second-year, non-transfer student, I am required to take the sophomore inquiry courses here at PSU. I have heard both the positives and negatives of the University Studies requirements. Students in the program are required to take a year-long freshman inquiry (FRINQ) on themes ranging from Race and Social Justice to Design & Society (pdx.edu/unst/freshman-inquiry-course-themes). Then, as a sophomore, you have to take three separately-themed inquiry classes (SINQ) and choose one theme for your junior cluster courses.
Personally, I have enjoyed both the freshman and sophomore inquiries. It has let me take classes outside of my realm and major/minor. As a freshman, I enrolled into the Sustainability FRINQ Read more
Feb 26
As some of you know, I live in the dorms here on campus, and while they are wonderful, my best friend and I have decided to move in together summer term. Unfortunately for us, housing on campus does not have any two-bedroom options available (unless we live at University Pointe, which is too expensive for us) and we don’t want to share a one-bedroom place. Since there is a lack of two-bedroom housing on campus, we are forced to look elsewhere.
For us living downtown is too costly since we have a budget of around of $1,000-$1,100 in rent per month, while we like the convenience of living in Portland, square footage increases dramatically outside of downtown. Portland is too costly for the average college student.
Thus far our search has included the Lake Oswego and Beaverton areas, where we’ve looked at apartments and townhouses. These areas are our preference and while we’ve had some luck, we are by no means finished looking. We have a couple months till we have to move, and plan to do plenty of visits and research to find the perfect place! I’ll miss the convenience of living on campus, but saving a couple hundred dollars a month on rent will more than make up for the extra commute time!
Feb 20
Last week, I had the experience of being on the other end of the table for several interviews. As part of my job as a resident assistant, I am required to interview people for the positions that will be open for next year.
I found it interesting to see the process through the eyes of the person conducting the interview. There were so many things that I had in my head as a personal checklist: dress, eye contact, sincerity, understanding of the job, and a drive and willingness to be there. I was thoroughly surprised with how little confidence I saw in several of the candidates. I’ve been involved with Residence Life for two years, so many of the things that I took for granted, things that I naturally expected from those I was interviewing, apparently did not seem to be so obvious to the candidates. I guess it goes to show you what experience can do to change your attitude, view, and expectations.
Overall, what I took away from this process is that presentation is everything. That doesn’t mean you have to be obnoxious and speak over others at every given point, or digress onto points that are unnecessary. Rather, be clear and concise with your ideas and don’t be afraid to speak up when prompted. Also, there’s a lot to be said with the phrase “dress for success”: your clothes reflect that you’re collected, professional, and ready for business. Even if you aren’t the most confident person in the world, just fake it ‘til you make it.
Midterms are here and brought stress attacks with them. We’re going into crunch time for the term, and midterms, lab reports, papers are all starting to hit due dates. If you’re anything like me, you’ll be stressed and worried about grades and starting to spend less time with friends and loved ones, and more time in your books or notes trying to get that one extra question correct come test time.
We tend to forget, during this time of the year, that the world exists outside of our classes (or maybe you forget that the classes exist outside of the world, if you are doing poorly. Who knows?), but if you take a moment to relax (and everyone should!) what do you do to take a night off? For me, it’s watching movies with my guy. Our favorite is Lilo & Stitch.
So I say during the course of midterms and lab reports being due remember to take a night off and enjoy yourself. Or keep calm and Blue Punch Buggy! And remember… No punch back!
Theme: Linen by The Theme Foundry
