Busy busy busy

Update! Here goes-

1. I am now a tour guide in training. Yay for learning about campus!

2. I'm pledging ΦΣΣΡ :) I love my sisters!!

3. Last sunday I went to the Milwaukee Public Museum with a guy from Marquette. Best first date ever.

4. The imax we went to was called Hubble, it was about space repairs to the Hubble telescope.

5. My residence hall room/suite is FREEZING, especially at night. My suitemate woke up fifteen times last night under her blankets.

6. I have 2 tests this week- Italian & Physics

7. This saturday I'm going to an 80s themed murder mystery :) Rock on phi sig!

8. I think I'm going to check out the Shambala Meditation Center with one of my new sisters.

9. I got on the wrong bus coming home from downtown, outran the correct bus two blocks to the next stop and got on. It was pretty stellar.

10. Upon arriving home I hopped off the bus a block early because I felt like walking. I found $19 just laying in the empty sidewalk. Moral of the story? Exercise pays off.

11. Ci sono molti creepers in Milwaukee. (There are many creepers in Milwaukee) Watch your back, especially at night or when you're off campus.

12. I've met some really cool people nerding out in the library.

13. I went on a photo scavenger hunt with Cru not long ago, we did some pretty crazy nonsense. I don't have the photos yet. :-( Soon, I hope.

14. I officially have the bestest suitemates EVER!!!

15. There's a ZOMBIE PROM coming up :-D

16. This Kinesiology student is doodling knee joints with all sort of equations and charts.. I'm a little dizzy just watching him go. And yes, this is a total creeper shot, he had no idea. I was very impressed by his work though! Good going dude!!

My suitemate's awesome diagram for how I'm supposed to dress for Saturday night (80s theme)... She ordered me to go in my room, lock the door, and not come out until she's done. I popped my head out to ask her a question about leg warmers. She yelled at me! lol Then, not even attempting revenge, I wandered into their room dancing to a song my suitemates were playing, neither saw me until i was dancing right between them. It was awesome, such loud screams!! tehehe. Followed by me rolling around on the floor laughing myself to tears.

My pledge shirt :) I designed it me self!

Super awesome live frog at the museum. This little guy (about an 1" long) has enough poison to kill 10 people. So maybe don't kiss this particular frog.

That's it for now, ciao!

Tina

Chaos back home

This morning I received a blurry picture text from my mom. I initially thought it was some random picture of road construction. No, this was a picture a huge hole in the main street of my hometown near Rochester MN.

I'm still hazy on the details, but it sounds like water levels got so high that the water took out 60' of the bridge. The movement of water over the dam left several houses underwater completely. Thankfully my house is far enough away that it was left undamaged.

This particular bridge is necessary for getting from one part of town to the other, as well as onto the highway. But as fate would have it the lake under the highway is also connected to this dam and the water level has risen to the top of those bridges. Those bridges are enormous, it's mind boggling to imagine the water that high. That entire chunk of the highway has been closed indefinitely. 20 miles south of this area the same highway becomes 4 lanes each direction, closing it off is a huge deal. People commute from Rochester to the Twin Cites on this highway everyday, school buses take it, everyone takes it.

And a neighboring small town, where I went to school K-7th grade, is in even worse shape from the sounds of it. I haven't heard any specific details though.

Chaos, to say the least. Here are a few more pictures of my hometown that my dad emailed-

Side view of the bridge as water takes large chunks of land from alongside the river.

That is our fire department building, usually there are no boats...

Our yard/driveway. Sigh. Looks like my parents are only driving 4-wheel vehicles now...

See that yellow thing by the patch of grass on the left? That's a street sign. See that white thing in front of the brown thing in the middle back? That is a mini van in front of what I think was a two story house.

It's hard for me to picture all this destruction when the weather here in Milwaukee has been so beautiful and sunny. Well, for the most part anyway. I'd really like to see this all myself, but I'm sure it'll all be fixed by Thanksgiving.

It's been a pretty dramatic day, but hey, at least everyone back home is safe and sound :-) oh, and my Italian test went really well too!

Arrivederci,

Tina

Chasing after carrots...

Trying to get all of your homework done is like dangling a carrot in front of bugs bunny on a treadmill... Unless you're lucky it's never going to happen.

I've been sick for almost 2 weeks now. A couple days ago I wandered over to Norris Health Center where I was diagnosed with bronchitis. The medicine I needed, and some cough drops, totaled $11... And I'm lucky, I could be much sicker right now, a girl on the floor below me is coughing up blood as of recently.

I'm still not feeling any better. I spend most of the night hacking crud up from my lungs, and I felt bad for the 90 or so people in my stats class yesterday; I coughed through a good 10 minutes of lecture and I'm not sure anyone could hear anything.

In happier news I landed me job interview! Super exicted for that!! I'll let you guys know more about it when I land it. Yes, "when I land it," I plan on getting it. :-D

Oh and according to the lady at the health center I'm 5'7", which is pretty awesome seeing as I've been 5'5.5" for as long as I can remember. Yay for random unshrinking!!... Hopefully she didn't measure wrong, but I'm not going to entertain that thought as I'm too pleased with my new height. :-)

Turns out my italiano tutor studied at the university of bologna in italy (the italian equivalent of uw-madison), which is where I'm thinking of studying abroad at next year. Italiano has been overwhelming, to say the least, but I'm still enjoying it, most of the time. (Bologna is located where my pen's tip is pointing)

It's weird for me being around so many guys. Rochester, MN, where I'm from, is nursing city so virtually anyone who hangs around after high school is female. It seems much more 50/50 here. Even in Eau Claire there weren't this many guys, it was something like 60-70% female, I think because they have so many "girly majors" (nursing, comm dis, education...) and no programs in engineering. It seemed like most guys there were music, business, or science. UWM seems like the complete opposite, there is a ton of engineering and research-based programs.

& I saw a girl in a hot pink sticky-outy tutu in the library today, it was pretty random and adorable. She definitely wasn't straight from ballet class or anything, it was just her outfit. To be honest, I want one.... I love that people wear whatever they want here. In Eau Claire there would have been a lot of stares and whispers.

...Usher just started playing on my ipod. I feel like dancing... Must resist!

Back to studying and avoiding doing my laundry!

Arrivederci!

Tina

Room Tour, Finally

Since I'm stuck at home sick (hey look at that, UWM's home now!) I figured I would take the time to post a room tour.... I am feeling a lot better though, so that's good news :)

Tina's crib *que mtv song*

1 bed

1.5/4 baths (1 shower + 1 toilet + 2 sinks / 4 girls)

1/4 kitchen AKA my fridge.

1/2 car (a bike)

I opted to not loft my bed because I like my bed just tall enough that I roll off and am standing already, none of this climbing up and down nonsense. And futons are a pain to move, especially considering the 6 hour ride with my entire family... I do wish I had a little more open space in my room, especially since it's a single, but having my bed lower is more important to me.

My room during move-in. Hectic day

My closet, it's pretty great, lots of space, and yes, I do have a lot of clothes...

My "kitchen" if you will ;) The water heater's super useful for making tea since we're not allowed microwaves in our rooms, each house (every two floors) shares one. Which I appreciate, given the amount of fire alarms we'd have if everyone had a microwave... A lot. We've already had one for burnt popcorn, the whole tower had to evacuate at 11pm. A lot of people were crabby the next day...

My beautiful new dishes, from the clearance rack of urban outfitters. Well, except that mug in the background, I got that years ago at pier 1 imports.

My bed prior to posters getting posted. Panda wasn't ready for the picture... And that's my hello kitty cd alarm clock on top of the last green drawer :) The drawers under my bed are stackable and pull open, they're useful and they add a lot of color to the room (lime green/purple). My pink storage foot stool adds a little bit of seating in my room when I need it.

My posters that I added above the head of my bead. Billy Joel River of Dreams, Mona Lisa Smile, WWF magazine page, and Dream.

My desk. Take note of my "I'm a republican fan" fan, it makes me giggle everytime I see it :) Oh and andy warhol, no room is complete without him! Oh and yes, lava lamps are fair game in the dorms, I checked the resident handbook on that one... :)

My room's a LOT brighter in person, the comforter itself is pretty blinding in it's hues... Best seen in that first move in picture.

That's pretty much it. Now, as they do it on mtv cribs-

Get out, NOW ;-)

And I'm sick...

The night before last I had a really sore throat, and yesterday was miserable. I spent the day sleeping instead of doing homework, and I spent the night sneezing and blowing my nose instead of going out on a karaoke night with the ΦΣΣΡ girls, which is a sorority I'm rushing. Sad.

I've discovered that the quickest way to make your residence hall suite lonely and desolate is to get sick. Your suitemates will whip out the lysol and make themselves scarce, never leaving their doors open. But on the flip side mine have been really great about keeping quiet so I can sleep, I'm super grateful for that.

I can only hope that my neighbors on the other side, the ones who like to party and play loud music so much, enjoyed my constant, geyser-like sneezing as much as I did. Hehe.

I'm definitely not the only one sick in my house right now. And it was pretty inevitable that I would become sick; in every one of my classes last week at least one sick person would wander in late and sit right next to me. The last physics class I had I was pancaked between 4 sick people, in stats there was one sneezing at me from behind, the last italian class I had it was the girl on my left side... And I have a few big tests coming up that I need to do some serious studying for. So hopefully it lets off soon.

That's pretty much it for Tina's update. Remember to wash your hands with soap and eat your fruit and whatnot!

Hugs and sneezes,
Tina

Life on the Eastside

I love it here, end of story. I have awesome suitemates, great new friends. I'm even liking my classes. Well, most of them. Physics has been surprisingly good, boring on occasion, but not bad. Italiano has been exciting and fun, completely draining of all my free time, but still super cool. Statistics, well, blah, but I guess it'll be applicable to my future in health care? On the plus side my statistics professor is pretty funny, it could be a lot worse. Meditation- the techniques discussed in class and the readings assigned have been really great, I was skeptical at first but I'm definitely getting attached my newest hobby. Ease into fitness has been good, it makes me really really sore because it's far from easy (aerobics, strengthening, yoga, weights...), but I'm loving it. Kayaking is by far my favorite class, it's with a guy named Kim who is hilarious and the whole class is 9-4 on three sundays and that's just it, you're done and you had a great time and you got a credit. This Sunday will be our third and last class, we'll be kayaking downtown Milwaukee (sooooo excited!!!).

As far as activities go I've only had time to try out a few different things so far- Blackat ultimate frisbee which was a lot of fun but too much of a time commitment, Intervarsity christian fellowship, and italiano club (so fun!). I also plan on getting involved in some volunteer work, the sailing club, and the republican club... Among others, I'm not really sure yet. We'll see what all I have time for :)

Oh and I voted!! Twas pretty exciting. I went downstairs, when I hit the address part of the registration form and tilted my head the man behind the table immediately spat out our street address, this made me giggle. Apparently no one who lives here remembers it! And then I put little lines for my selections and the paper got sucked through the machine and made a little victorious bbbeeeLLEEEP. The end. :)

Arrivederci! :)
Tina

First Impressions of UWM

It’s 12:47am on Sept 1^st and today, once it’s light out, will be my second real day at UWM J

Move-in went really really smoothly, twas a long day though. I woke up around 5:30am, left Rochester about 6am. We got to my aunt’s house at about 1pm, left my poor dog in their basement and arrived at campus about 2. Thankfully we were greeted by no lines, just a woman telling me I should hike over to the entrance, get my picture taken and then get my room key.

Our first trip up to my room were pretty inefficient, but then the people with that clear wrap found us, wrapped my next 2 carts to impossible heights, and I was in. Since parking wasn’t an issue that day my mom hung around while I organized while my dad slept in the truck…. Wayyyyy less stressful than my freshman move-in to UW-Eau Claire.

I was the last one in my suite of 4 to move in. Our suite is two singles and a double, the other sophomore and I have the singles and the freshmen share the double. I met my first suitemate right away in the stairwell. I recognized her from facebook so we chatted for a bit. I met the second one at about 3am the next morning in our bathroom and the third sometime later that day. What a great group of girls! One shares my love of jogging, another shares my love of cute shoes, and they all have good taste in music. J None of us are partiers in the sense that none of us are drinkers. We’re a good match for suitemates and the girls who share the double room are doing really well together.

That first night was long; I did not get much sleep at all. I think this was mostly my fault- I drank a 5 hour energy that day and it had me buzzed. Plus all the sounds of the city were all so new and strange to me. Not because it was louder than I was used to, Sandburg as a building has been a LOT quieter than my old UWEC resident hall, in fact Sandburg seems nearly silent in comparision.

In UWEC everyone lived in cinderblock rooms in a straight hallway line, a room above and below all with all hard floors, and a hallway full of doors that slam whenever a person opens/closes a door to go to the bathroom. You can hear everything- conversations, the stairwell, feet stomping… and it’s not unlikely that you’ll get woken up at 6am on a school day because someone is vacuuming on the floor right above your face while you’re asleep in your loft. Very loud.

I was expecting North Sandburg to be much, much louder given the sheer size of it, but all I can hear is my suitemates’ doors as they come and go from the bathroom or the lounge, which isn't too often, street noises (mostly just people chatting, the occasional honk, and the trash getting taken out in the morning), and the occasional person outside of our suite opening their door.

I do have a West-facing room so the sun shines in before bed and it can get REALLY hot in here, especially at night. Having a good fan pointing at me has been helpful in creating the illusion of normal temperatures... Also, the way the tower is set up the wind almost has to be just right for me to feel it. Last night was an exception- I was attacked by strong cold winds and sideways rain. This was pretty fun and exciting because my vertically-hanging blinds shot up and my plants got watered naturally ;)

The bathroom is pretty average. We all wish there was a way to lock people out when you’re showering because it’s just a pull door and when the water’s off because you’re grabbing your towel no one can tell that you’re standing right behind the door until they open it…. We’ve started up a whiteboard system to declare you’re showering. Anyway there’s a single toilet stall, two sinks, towel hooks, and a shower with a curtain. Not fabulous but it gets the job done.

I love the fact that there’s a lock on the suite door so you can lock that and keep your door open to more air when you're awake. And that lock is necessary, I’m on a lower floor and I’ve already heard a stranger attempt to open it at night. It’s just a little click of someone attempting and quick footsteps of them leaving, but boy am I glad to have that lock. Overall I feel really safe here, and if you make sure to lock your suite door you don’t even have to worry about that phantom pooper, the one who has been known to enter the entry way of open suites and just poop right there on the floor… who knows? But I hear this from a very reliable source.

My room’s much bigger than I expected, as is my window. I called for more specific dimensions about a month ago and when I got here I was pleasantly surprised to find they were wrong. It’s still a tiny room since it’s a single, but it feels like a castle to me in comparison to what I was expecting.

I went and visited a new friend in Riverview today. Their rooms are nicer than I’ve heard, big too. Overall they have the nicer rooms and the AC, we (Sandburg) have the better location. Cambridge is beautiful too, I have to say. I only saw the outside but man, I almost wish I lived there! I say almost because I love Sandburg North. My biggest complaint is this heat, but I’m sure that won't be a big deal for much longer.

I also went and worked out at the Klotsche Center. Klotsche was FANTASTIC. I just wandered the place a bit and then tried out the track above the basketball courts for a handful of laps. Way convenient, I love that building! I think I'll be spending a lot of time there.

Anyway I love everything about UWM so far except the fact that meal plans are a la carte and fairly pricey, and the fact that my room gets so stuffy. Otherwise I give it 3 thumbs up!

...On the other hand, having to buy each item separately has done a good job of keeping me away from junk food. So I spose it has its upsides.

I’ll post pics soon J

Tina

Reasons to learn Chinese

你应学习中文

（you should study Chinese)

I know this is completely random, but I figured now, before classes start, would be as good a time as any to try to convince you to add Chinese to your schedule. I'm not sure if Chinese is full yet or not, but you could always just go to Chinese and add it when someone drops it out of fear, because they will ;)

1. It's pretty impressive to be able to talk to Chinese people in Chinese, even just a little.

2. The grammar is SUPER simple, I kid you not. Always put time first because it's most important.. "I'm having dinner tonight" would be written "tonight I am having dinner"

3. There are no tenses or genders or any of that nonsense, it's very pictorial.

4. Questions are grammatically simple. "You are a dad" turns into "Are you a dad?" simply by adding a question word ("ma") on the end of the original statement... So your sentence would literally translate to- "You are dad 'ma'?" This works with pretty much every question.

5. You do have to spell things correctly in pinyin form- 你好 is ni hao. But this is just a way to spell things out in letters so they can be sounded out, there are no spelling tricks.

6. You will be incredible memorization skills after you take it. I promise you that.

7. It sounds really cool when you start speaking in dialogues and it looks really cool once you start writing short responses from memory.

8. You'll occasionally be able to tell when someone's tattoo is incomplete or grammatically incorrect, even if they have no idea. Or if it's just plain embarrassing and ridiculous.

9. Chinese professors are generally pretty awesome.

10. It's a very sing-songy beautiful language with the intonations.

11. Around 20% of the world speaks various dialects of it. I'd recommend simplified Mandarin if you're going to learn Chinese. Cantonese seems to be the other big dialect.

12. Awesome people take Chinese; the longer you take it the more awesome people you will meet!

13. Time is also simple. Put it in order from biggest to smallest unit- year, month, day, part of day...

14. Once you know your numbers you know your months!- month one, month two, month three... For instance February (my birthday) is the second month. 二 means two. 月 means moon (month). So February is 二月. It's just that simple!

15. Once you know your numbers you also know your days of the week- day one, day two, day three.

16. Numbers are simple-ish 一二三四五六七八九十 See how 一 has 1 line, 二 has 2 lines, 三 has 3 lines, 四 looks like a mustache in a box, 五 kind of looks like and upside down 5 if you squint, and 七 looks like an upside down 7? Ah yes, not so bad. 十 is 10 and if you want to make a number like 12 it is simply a matter of combining the two- 十二 Easier than Spanish I tell you!!

17. If you are a visual/audio learner, like me, then this is the perfect language for you!

18. Periods look cool, they look like a tiny soap bubble- 。

People often ask me why I took 2 semesters of Chinese in the first place. They wonder if I have some secret interest in the culture or if I am planning a trip there. Nope! I just didn't want to take Spanish anymore and I needed a foreign language for college applications :-) I still have no plans of traveling to Chinese or putting the language to use, but I'm still glad I took it.

Chinese is mostly just time consuming memorization and it's hard to catch back up if at any point you start slacking, so if you are taking it make sure you have the motivation/time to really dedicate yourself to it.

Hope move-in is going well for everyone! The back of my dad's truck is filling up and I am almost done. Tomorrow is the big day! If there isn't room for my bike I will just ride across the entire state of Wisconsin (and part of Minnesota) alongside my parent's truck on the highway. Just kidding!.... although I did just buy that helmet, maybe we could rig something with a water skiing rope? ;-) ha.

Tina

Last few days of summer...

This summer has been amazing. Lots of great memories- new friends, bonfires, zombie tag in the park in the middle of the night, dissecting a sheep's brain to study structures for anatomy & physiology 2, and firework creations (both successful ones and unsuccessful ones).

And now for an update- I, the great procrastinator, finally got everything on my packing list together(!!), just have to get the last bits of it in boxes. I spent most of today at the mall with an old friend, hanging out and having fun, and as fate would have it I ran into friends of mine in every store we walked into… I’m going to miss that, but maybe someday some portion of Milwaukee will be that way for me, I hope.

Oh and my older sister's home visiting me one last time before I move! Yay! I love having my whole family here and together :-)

Anyway, I thought I’d show you guys a few new things I bought for the new school year-

First off we have... *que silent screams* :-D

Next off, I decided that after owning a bike for 10+ years it was due time I became a safe biker... So I bought this shiny new hat!

Third, I bought 3 new (actually old, they're a couple of his earliest albums...) Billy Joel cds... I always have, and always will, adore Billy Joel music.

If you do not know who Billy Joel is or you have not heard his music, Tina kindly requests that you urgently fix that.

Happy last few days of summer!

Tina

Advice for Freshman

That's my planner, and that's me and my family :) Although my bug won't really be moving to Milwaukee :(, it was just a cuter doodle than us in my dad's truck. And in case my sloppy handwriting has thrown you, the first appointment of the day is to "wake up in the morning feeling like P Diddy!"

College is what you make of it. The best advice I can give a college freshman is to get your smiling face out there to meet as many new friends as possible. You never know when you’ll meet a lifelong friend. I met some of my best friends last year standing in a line for a hotdog.

Get involved with the community. Find a cause that you believe in and commit to it, even if it’s just once a week. Working for a cause will give you a tie to your new community that life on campus can’t give you, it will get your focus off of your own life’s stressors, and you might get more out of it than you ever bargained for (learning, personal growth, networking).

Get involved with your resident hall’s activities and meetings. Get to know the people in your building. Resident hall meetings might not sound like the most exciting thing ever, but they are a great way to meet people. Make these people your family and your best friends and I promise you won’t be nearly as homesick in the long run. And if you run into a problem, any problem really, talk to your resident assistant about it. They are a great resource to you. And if for some reason you don't feel comfortable talking to your RA, or maybe yours is gone for the day, by all means go find another, I'm sure they would be happy to help you out. RAs are helpful and nice like that.

Try new things, on and off campus. Expand your awareness of different cultures, sports, art forms, politics…. This is what college is all about! Go to random new clubs for the free food and come out with a new hobby, learn to salsa dance, join a meditation group and see if you can sit still and not think for an hour... Whatever floats your boat! Get outside your comfort zone though.

Last year I was challenged by my religions professor to attend prayer at the masjid (Arabic word for "mosque" meaning place of prostration - prayer) with one of my best friends in Rochester, a Muslim originally from Sudan. I learned more that day than I have in most of my life, both about my community and about myself. It threw me into a different culture and it gave me first hand experience with the glares and other forms of discrimination you get just for dressing like a Muslim, even in a fairly progressive city... Within a few minutes of changing into a traditional dress and hijab (headscarf) one woman in Culver's bathroom was too scared to even walk past me. I was in the same city I'd grown up in, but I was being treated completely differently.

Sure I was scared to dress like this, surround myself with people who weren't speaking English, and I tripped over the hem of my dress walking up the parking ramp's stairs twice, but I wouldn’t trade that day for the world. I felt like I was in a different world seeing out of someone else's eyes, and I loved every minute of it.

That's me shopping at the Red Sea International African Mall across the street from the Abu-bakar Sidiq Masjid. Most people in Rochester, Minnesota don't even know we have an African Mall, I sure didn't! Turns out it's a great place to find cheap pashmina scarfs (sooo soft!) and delicious Kenyan tea... And that rug I am holding is a prayer rug, Muslims stand, kneel, and prostrate on them during prayer. Muslims pray facing Mecca, Saudi Arabia, specifically towards a building with a cube in the middle called the Kaaba. This prayer rug has a compass (all in arabic and totally impossible to read, even to my friends who speak Arabic) to assist you in figuring out what direction you should be praying as you travel. I thought it was pretty spiffy.

Best of luck with your packing :-)

Tina

The Packing Blues

I don't know about you guys, but I am completely overwhelmed with packing right now. My summer anatomy & physiology 2 class is done, I'm off work, most of my friends have already moved back to college, and I find myself at home trying to remember everything I'll need and then watching all my stuff disappear into boxes and bins... No fun.

And now my dog, love of my life, keeps hopping into my luggage, curling up in my sweaters, and making this face at me-

& then tilting his head. You can imagine how hard it is to continue packing when those adorable back eyes are begging you not to… His name’s Chandler Muriel Bing, named after that episode of Friends with the 70s flashback where Chandler had that crazy hair do (Chan had that same hair as a pup).

I’m so excited to move to Milwaukee and meet all sorts of new people, but I’m going to miss a lot of stuff around here…. Especially my family, Chandler, and my bedroom. :(

Building a college wardrobe

The summer’s winding down fast, and I don’t know a single girl who isn’t prowling their closets and running to the mall to fill in gaps they find in their wardrobes. College is the perfect time to start defining your style and building a “real” wardrobe.

A rule of thumb of mine is quality over quantity; define what you need and find the very best fitting and best quality of that item. Spend a little more, save a lot in the long run. But this is just one strategy of shopping, another is to run into mall and buy stuff that is pretty and shiny and the next week find your dress’s strap has broken… Save yourself the time, money, and frustration. Buy stuff that will last.

Anyway, I've compiled list according to my own closet and I've added wardrobe advice from my own freshman year. I hope it will be helpful to you-

Socks & Underwear – Bring lots of these. Personally I hate doing laundry, so I like to make sure I have 4 weeks worth of socks and underwear on hand. For socks I would recommend ankle-highs so you can wear them with either jeans or shorts. For underwear look for something that fits, doesn’t bulk up or leave lines, and try to match the colors up with your shirts as much as possible.

Bras- I’d recommend maybe 10 bras that fit well and are comfortable for everyday. If you’re not sure what size you are go in and get fitted, the right size bra makes all the difference to the outfit. At least one of these bras should be something that works under your dressier clothes. Also, make sure you don’t forget about sports bras and comfortable bras for around the residence halls.

4-5 Pairs of Jeans in various washes- Jeans are a college staple. If you get about 4 pairs of good-quality jeans in various washes you can rotate them. Oh and no one will notice if you wear the same jeans twice in a week, I promise. TJ Maxx is having HUGE sales right now as many college students have already left for school. I just picked up quality brands like DKNY and Lucky Jeans for $15 a pop. It was, in a word, amazing.

4-6 Basic, 100% cotton tank tops- Get a variety of different colors for layering. I recommend cotton over spandex and polyester blends simply because with pure cotton you won’t get the strange clinginess that you often do with blends. Look for something that isn’t see-through so you can wear it alone if you so choose. If you like lace keep your eyes open for tank tops that have lace edging, they look really nice when you’re layering.

At least 3 Cardigans – Personally I will be bringing about 10, but cardigans and sweaters are pretty much my middle name. Old Navy has some GREAT cardigans out right now for about $10 each.

Warm Sweaters- These are great to have if you ask me.

Formal wear- (for interviews and the like) At least 1 pair of dress pants, 1 Button-down dress shirt, and 1 pair of formal shoes, ideally black pumps since they will go with everything. The key with these dress shoes is to go for both quality and comfort, if you find the perfect pair they will last you many years. You’ll probably want a few dressy tops on hand for semi-formal events. Also, if you plan on attending many formal events during college, now would be the time to invest in a blazer or, if your in something like forensics, a full suit might be more appropriate. This can be pricy but it's an investment, especially if you're going into something like business.

A Bag- Look for a good quality handbag that will hold everything. I’d say your best bet is TJ Maxx. Go for a style and color that you can carry day or night and will last you throughout the seasons.

A backpack- Maybe it’s so obvious that you forgot to pack it? :-P

2 winter coats- I say 2 just in case you plan on getting into any major snowball fights, in which case you’ll want a spare handy in place of the drenched one. And I mention winter coats because I’m moving 5 hours and will not have a chance to go home outside of breaks. If you live closer I’d recommend picking up your coats once it gets cold to save precious closet space.

1 pair of winter boots- Look for a pair that is meant for walking, you do a lot of that in college. I found a great pair from Northface that only weighs a pound or two a boot; so they’re incredibly light but still cute and VERY warm. Plus I’m fairly sure they’ll last me all of college and beyond.

1 Rain Coat- Unless you like getting you and all of your stuff wet, bring a rain jacket and possibly an umbrella. I also have rain boots, but I’m an avid puddle-jumper.

**Keep in mind that umbrellas often direct water flowage directly onto one’s backpack. And if you’re paranoid like me, you might even consider sticking your laptop in a large ziplock inside your backpack on such days, just in case.

1 light jacket for the in-between seasons- I splurged a little and sprung for a London Fog trench coat off Overstock… I highly recommend London Fog. My mom one in college and I think someone somewhere is still wearing it. They’re cut great, water resistant, and built to last.

A pair of casual flats- It’s always nice to have another option in place of heels just in case you’re not up for them, or if you’ll have to do a lot of walking. Plus these look very cute with jeans.

Cute Sweats- These are great for wearing around the residence halls and working out, but wear with caution, you don't want to be wearing them to class a lot.

Shower Flip Flops- Unless you like feet funguses and standing in who-knows-what, don’t shower barefoot... I like Havaianas, they're a squishy sort of comfortable and they last for years.

Tennis shoes- Necessary, you’ll wear them often. I recommend Earth tennis shoes. They feel weird at first since your heels sit lower, but if you do a lot of standing or walking they’re amazing to your ankles and back, I promise. My chiropractor recommended them to me and I haven’t bought another brand since.

Slippers- optional, but cozy

Bathrobe- optional, but very very nice in the middle of the winter when you’re room’s cold and you’re all wet. Remember, you have a roommate, and she might prefer living in a climate slightly different from what you are used to. It’s always good to have warm things like robes and sweatshirts and blankets on hand to counteract such unexpected climate changes.

A random side note- Do not put a banana in your backpack, just don’t, it’s a death wish. It might seem like a good idea when you get that banana, but you will forget about that banana, and when you do you'll find yourself looking at a pile of gooey papers and a wet backpack.

Tina's Introduction

Hi! My name is Tina, I’m from a small town just north of Rochester, MN. Not to worry though, I’m a big ‘ol Packers fan. To sum it up I’m a country girl at heart, but I’m thrilled to be moving to the big city.

And yes, that is me scuba diving :) One of my favorite things in the world to do. If you ever get the opportunity to learn take it!

This is my first year at UWM, my sophomore year of college, and I’ll be living in Sandburg North. I transferred from UW-Eau Claire to UW-Milwaukee to pursue occupational therapy. Since declaring OT as my major I’ve found there are two general responses - 1) “You’re going to make a great occupational therapist!“ And 2) “Wait, so will you be helping people find jobs?”

Occupational therapy is similar to physical therapy but instead of movement rehabilitation (as in physical therapy) occupational therapy is more of a skill-building career. Ideally I would like to work as a pediatric occupational therapist, helping young children who have a variety of challenges in their lives to learn, grow, and become more self-sufficient.

Since high school I’ve bounced through an impressive number of majors- biology, religious studies, English, communication disorders, nursing... Occupational therapy feels like a perfect fit though; I’ll get to do hands-on studies in anatomy & physiology (my favorite subjects), I’ll get to help children one on one, and I will be trained in a skill that I can use as a health care volunteer abroad someday.

During high school I took Mandarin Chinese at the local community college. My professor was amazing; it is thanks to her that I discovered my passion for foreign languages and cultures. I’ve never been outside of the country, not even to Canada. I was planning on studying Arabic at UWM and then going to Egypt, but after seeing Eat Pray Love (Great move. Go watch it, now!) I’m completely inspired to spend a year absorbing the language, culture, and art of Italy instead… Or I guess it’s “Italia” to me now that I’m learning “Italiano” ;-) And let me just say, it is awesome to be enrolled in a university where I can switch my class schedule from Arabic to Italian overnight, such diversity!

As of right now I’m consumed with packing, shopping, and tying up loose ends here in Rochester before shipping myself, and my belongings, 5 hours East. Oh fewf, that’s going to be such a long day! I’m so excited for my first Brewer’s game tho, and for the UWM campus kickoff events. Seriously, I’m finding it hard to sit still. This year is going to be fantastic!