Real Life, by Alyssa Perkins
Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Sleepwalking and psych studies

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I'm depressed that fiction is ending. I feel so comfortable in that class, and we always end up making each other laugh. I'm going to miss Justin's crazy writing exercises and his jokes.

But I can't think about that now. I still have to get through finals without exploding.

So far this week, we had a guest speaker in China class (he talked about Lu Hsun's translations... and he himself has translated Huckleberry Finn into Chinese!) and did poem recitations in english. My recitation went fine, but I was trumped by other students' dramatic performances, which included origami birds and a banjo.

Last night was really good, although I didn't get nearly enough work done. Madeline and her boyfriend, Jason, came over. They came with me to the lit review unveiling and reading. It was a small affair, but there was lemonade. The lit review is missing my bio in the back, though. Sad.

We all had dinner, then I took a quick and unsuccessful nap. At 7, we went to see a senior play in the Black Box, a smaller, more intimate room in Fir Acres Theatre that I had never been in before. There's a mirror when you walk in, and it is all dark, so I got really confused for a second.

The play we saw was put on by a student in my gender class, Kestryl Lowrey. It was called XY(T), and about testosterone, gender, and many, many other things. It was really quite amazing. Hilarious, heartbreaking, engaging, the whole bit. The "gender buffet" (as opposed to the "gender binary") was a great way of putting it, but it became depressing when he said, "I'm so glad we're over the whole gender binary thing now... right? Right?"

Oh no, not by a long shot.

After the show we went to Maggie's and actually—gasp—hung out. I got drip coffee and good songs kept playing, and we talked about sleepwalking and psych studies.

In truth, finals are creeping up. I have to do a "major revision" of a story for fiction, write a 5-page paper about a book for China, possibly revise my second english paper, and study crazily for gender and english. But after those are achieved, I'm outta here.

I promised you a pros/cons list for L&C, so I'm going to attempt one. These explanations, however, are truncated versions of what I could tell you if you email me (hint hint).

PROS

The size. Class sizes are small and intimate, which I appreciate because I have a hard time speaking up.

Most of the residence halls, especially SOA, have very nice rooms. They're much bigger than what I've seen at other schools, and the walk-in closets are amazing.

Portland. You can't go wrong with this city. I'm also fond of the weather, which can be very schizophrenic at times.

The campus is small. No crazy-long walks to... anywhere, really.

Oh yeah, the education. Here's my spiel about learning here. If you want a super-competitive school that will make you have nightmares every night about failing college, you may want to find somewhere else. But if you want to be fairly challenged, sometimes overwhelmed, but never completely killed by the level of work, then L&C is good for you.

CONS

The size. Everyone knows everyone else, and information travels quickly. I recognize almost all of the people in my class ('09) now, although I don't recognize everyone in other classes. Sometimes L&C can feel like a bubble, especially because it's tucked away here on a hill. Apparently there's no dating scene here, either.

Getting into classes/class selection. Because it's so small, the variety of courses offered is nothing like you could find at, say, PSU. It's adequate for undergraduate work, just a little saddening. The limited number of classes, and the insistence on keeping class sizes small, makes getting into classes difficult, especially if you happen to be a sophomore (they get last pick). Psych and art classes are some of the most difficult.

The food. Although I doubt that you could find much better in another college, the fact that the Bon and the Trail Room are the only places to eat meals can be quite obnoxious. This is another advantage that bigger schools have over L&C; they have other food options. I should also mention that Maggie's (the grocery/coffee shop) is ridiculously overpriced when it comes to groceries. I mean, $6 for cereal? Come on.

You have to take the bus to get anywhere. They try to tell you that Portland is "just 5 minutes away!", but that's if you have a car, and freshmen aren't allowed to have cars. So you have to take the bus, which is about a half-hour drive into Portland. Lame.

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Interestingly, a lot of these are big school vs. small school issues, so if you're deciding between those, you have quite the decision to make. If you already know you're going to a small school, I have no qualms recommending L&C. I enjoy it here.

As always, I welcome more specific questions. I'm going to be glued to my computer in the summer too, so go ahead and email me whenever you want (alyssap@lclark.edu).

And guess what? I've been asked to blog again next year. So those of you who read me on a regular basis, your schedule will not be disrupted! Or something. Anyway, this isn't goodbye forever! Just for several months.

Adios!