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(2008) I used my 1st jobs check to go on a shopping spree here. I got the Uptempo Nike Shoes, a Pink Rain Jacket (trying to sell on OfferUp), Green & Blk DC Shoes, A shirt with sesame street characters & a few shorts. This store was like Marshall’s or Ross back in the day.
How to Win at Board Games by Ruining Friendships
There’s a time and a place for bonding. For laughter. For shared experiences and warm memories. Board game night is not that time. Board games are not about fun. They’re about power, psychological warfare, and the quiet thrill of watching someone you love unravel over a handful of paper money and a misused “Q” in Scrabble. If you want to win—and we mean really win—you’ll need to throw kindness,…
AJ reflects on surviving first year
AJ stopped by Founders Hall on Tuesday for a chat, wrapping up his first year at Augustana.
First on his mind, he has a pair of papers due Friday in his “Morality and Artificial Intelligence” and “American Christianities” classes, totaling 18 pages
“They could be the death of me,” he said.
Following his finals next week, AJ is driving some seven hours up to Wisconsin to meet his family for a short vacation at a rental house.
Then coming up at the end of June, he leaves on his Jewish Birthright trip — “Ten days of awesome, amazing, super-excited Israeli fun.”
Although he won’t return to the football team in the fall, AJ had a strong spring season throwing the shot on the track team. His season-best of 43 feet, 1½ inches back in April was a team best, and he’s optimistic good offseason workouts will put him in great position to improve as a sophomore.
Finally, the old soul has some words of wisdom for incoming first-year students and those in high school still deciding where to attend college.
“You’ll be questioning yourself about how you got 50 pounds of crap in a 10-pound bag,” AJ said of his first year of college. “You have to eat the elephant one bite at a time. If you try to take the whole thing on, you’re gonna choke and die.
“So take it slow, and just know that if you don’t get a good grade on a paper or completely miss something, it’s going to be all right. You’re going to live through it.”
AJ is set to become a community advisor to a group of first-year student in a residence hall.
AJ places second to sophomore teammate Kyle Deets in the shot put at the season-opening Augie Open.
Winter Break
Had a lot of fun this break! It seemed like time was going to fast, that I completely lost track of where I was and had no idea what was going to happen next in my very quick winter break.
Arriving home earlier than my mom and dad expected was a fun surprise for me to treat them with. My dad was the first one to walk in and I surprised him by echoing the whistling he was doing outside, and that got him into a very giddy skip to come and give me a hug. My mom was a little more observant in walking into the house. She identified my dirty laundry the second she walked into the door. Still very happy too see me to say the least.
Tradition is very big in my family along with my family friends as well. We all go to the Sprecher Factory every year during winter break. It is a very bland and boring tour, but we do get free Root beer at the end of the tour. So that it very nice! I can not complain about free soda. Plus! My girlfriend was able to come along and meet some of the extended family. I am very lucky that she was not scared away by them. Gotta love the family you never asked for:P
My new years was spent at my girlfriends house in Normal Illinois. I had to spend the night there because it is 2hrs away from my house.That was not the hard part of the trip, the parents were great and I had a wonderful time with their family friends. Playing with the little brother and the kids was the highlight of the night and made everyone smile.
The really difficult part of New years, was driving, Holy crap!!! It was insane. My front window was very dirty, making it difficult to see through. One might think, "AJ...you silly little college student, use the windshield wiper fluid, and all of your problems will be solved." Well I am here to tell you kind reader, that I did think of that but to go along with my luck, there was no washer fluid in the car. So I used the spray off the back of the tires in front of me to clear my windows during my 3hr drive. Not my proudest moment but It was very effective. I wont even talk about me skidding out in the middle of the highway while going only 30 mph on the way back home. That was an adrenaline rush to say the least.
I am back at Augie now. Pretty sure I am the only one, but I have yet to beak out of my room. Making the 3hr trip back to Rock Island to continue on practicing throwing for the first meet in one week! I have missed the comfort of my bed for too long. I will attempt to make contact with the outside world a little later.
Thanks for reading! I hope you all enjoyed your breaks! Talk to you next week!
Catching up with AJ
By Andrew Petersen
A minute in to my first good conversation with AJ since we say down to shoot his video introduction, he brought up dirty laundry.
Dirty, fragrant laundry he thought he left in a friend’s car when unpacking at the start of Thanksgiving break. But when AJ returned to the car, the basket wasn’t there.
“It was safe in my dorm room under my bed stinking up the entire room for the weekend.”
Other than his unplanned air-freshener things seem to be going well for AJ, who turned 19 last Sunday. His best gift was some new clothing, meaningful when he left the bulk of his wardrobe festering back in Westerlin Hall.
During his break, AJ celebrated Thanksgivukkah (Thanksgiving coinciding with the first night of Hanukkah) with a dozen others at his parents home in Buffalo Grove, Ill. The Wrights have hosted Thanksgiving for 19 years (AJ hasn’t missed one) with as many as 30 guests. This year’s festivities also featured six or seven menorahs and “delicious” latkes.
While he was home, AJ also discovered something different about his childhood bedroom — “It’s a good feeling to be home but there’s now a picture frame with painting just sitting in my room. Wonderful storage.”
Back on campus, AJ has transitioned from football to track, and is adding weight and hammer to his throwing arsenal, which already included shot and discus. Throws coach David Gonzalez has told AJ that he’s “not allowed to think about or look at javelins.”
A minute in to my first good conversation with AJ since we say down to shoot his video introduction, he brought up dirty laundry.
Dirty, fragrant laundry he thought he left in a friend’s car when unpacking at the start of Thanksgiving break. But when AJ returned to the car, the basket wasn’t there.
“It was safe in my dorm room under my bed stinking up the entire room for the weekend.”
Other than his unplanned air-freshener things seem to be going well for AJ, who turned 19 last Sunday. His best gift was some new clothing, meaningful when he left the bulk of his wardrobe festering back in Westerlin Hall.
During his break, AJ celebrated Thanksgivukkah (Thanksgiving coinciding with the first night of Hanukkah) with a dozen others at his parents home in Buffalo Grove, Ill. The Wrights have hosted Thanksgiving for 19 years (AJ hasn’t missed one) with as many as 30 guests. This year’s festivities also featured six or seven menorahs and “delicious” latkes.
While he was home, AJ also discovered something different about his childhood bedroom — “It’s a good feeling to be home but there’s now a picture frame with painting just sitting in my room. Wonderful storage.”
Back on campus, AJ has transitioned from football to track, and is adding weight and hammer to his throwing arsenal, which already included shot and discus. Throws coach David Gonzalez has told AJ that he’s “not allowed to think about or look at javelins.”
Rounding things out, AJ’s three classes this term are another LSFY (Liberal Studies First Year) courses focused on “self,” a communication and marketing course (testing his true business major interest) and psychology 100 (little monotonous thus far). But, hey, none start before 11:30 a.m. — “My goal is to avoid the 8:30 as long as I can. I have a feeling that’s coming to an end though.”
There is no place like home?
Making the 3 hour trip back to Buffalo Grove made me very speechless. The thought of being home for an entire week was going to be a total culture shock to my very structured college life I have had for close to 3 months now.
QUICK STORY FROM CHILDHOOD: A married couple out in the country was in charge of a circus. They had a Whitley Bengal tigers that slept in a cage in their trailer. Before the tiger would go into the cage, the couple would watch (with the tiger in their bed) the news and then Sportscenter. One night, the couple was very tired and turned off the television in the middle of the news and tried to send the tiger to the cage. The tiger took a bite out of the man’s arm because he changed the schedule of the tiger’s life.
My family and I all got along very well and had an amazing week together. I am so blessed to have the family that I do. The routine of the house has been functioning in a particular way for the last 3 months, with only 3 people in the house making their new set of rules and expectations. The first couple days were like I was looking from the outside of a fishbowl. Now I fit in again and have made my way back into the home. LOL, just in time for me to go back to school on Sunday.
So I guess here is to a good week at home. Seeing the family that I love and some extended family. Surprising my grandfather with lunch, and catching up with high school teachers and friends. Just remember that once you go to college, your home will function differently, you will not like your own bed for the first 3 nights, but you will always be welcomed back HOME.
