Verbal Snippets & Snapshots

This past Friday the 13th (i.e., April 13, 2007) was a good day for me! My psychology and neuroscience professors’ lectures weren’t hard to follow, I learned that I got a good grade on my last neuroscience midterm, and then I was busy having fun! It was not only the first day of Spring Fair, but also the day of Relay For Life, an annual fundraiser for the American Cancer Society in which various teams of students walked around the Lower Quad from 7:00 on Friday evening to 7:00 on Saturday morning. I participated as part of the OLÉ Dance Group’s Relay For Life team, but throughout the night, I ran into many of my friends who were walking with other teams. Some teams were for other organizations. For instance, JT from SAAB was with Alpha Phi Omega’s team, and I had a few friends who walked for Delta Xi Phi’s team. (APO is a co-ed, community service fraternity, and DXP is a sorority whose pillars include multicultural awareness and community service.) At one point in Relay For Life, I even took a break at midnight to go with some friends to eat at Paper Moon Diner. Except for that and a 4:00 a.m. break to go to my room and eat a sandwich from my fridge, I walked for the whole event. As dull and exhausting as that sounds, it was fun! There was always some kind of entertainment coming from the steps of Shriver Hall, whether it was a performance by an a cappella group or music blasting from speakers. Plus, as I’ve said, I had friends who participated in Relay For Life with teams other than the OLÉ Dance Group’s, so there was always someone with whom I could walk. While Relay For Life was a fun all-night activity, I returned to my room and slept as soon as it ended. I didn’t slumber for long. Four hours later, I woke up, since the food vendors of Spring Fair were right outside my dorm room window!

Photo Captions: (1) Most people in the group that ended up going to Paper Moon Diner are in this picture. Jeremy (second from the left) didn’t go with us, and a girl who went with us isn’t in this picture. (2) Jeremy was walking with JT, Nian, and me when he saw someone selling sparklers at a 3-for-$1 rate. He excitedly ran to the vendor to purchase some sparklers, and then JT took this photo of me, Jeremy, and Nian. (3) Caroline (second from the left), Miriam (second from the right), and I walked for OLÉ, while Nian walked for DXP. (4) Caroline and me (5) Dan shivering in the OLÉ tent, since it was a cold night (6) luminaria in honor of cancer patients spelling out the word “HOPE” on the steps the marble staircase that connects the Lower Quad and the Upper Quad (7) the members of OLÉ who were left by the time Relay For Life ended

P.S. Photos #1 and 2 are courtesy of Nian, photos #4 and 5 are courtesy of Caroline, and photos #3, 6, and 7 are courtesy of yours truly.

P.P.S. As my caption for photo #5 says, it was cold on Friday night (i.e., with temperatures in the 40s Fahrenheit). People wore several layers of clothing and/or walked around the Lower Quad with blankets wrapped around themselves.