"Hi my name is Justin, and I, too, like to party."

I am now in the final stretch of my first year at Davis and looking forward to a generous amount of summer vacation. Needless to say I am a happy man. If I had to sum up my first year of college in a few words, the magic words would be Good Will Hunting (no, I'm not a Janitor at MIT). While the overall experience is a positive one, and certain parts of it are exceptional (e.g. Matt Damon/ Robin Williams), my social life, like Affleck's role, specifically has room for improvement (side-note: to be fair, I don't know that this was entirely his fault, he was simply out-shined by his co-stars).

Ben Affleck role in Good Will Hunting is an suitable allegory for my social life at UCD because both are lacking in substance and depth. This isn't to say it hasn't been what I expected for the most part, but I sort of expected my social life to just take off on its own. I have met some great people, and I've met my fair share of douchebags (I mean really people, I don't set my standards too high). Maybe people are right about transfer students when they say we really have to try harder to get involved with college life. Combine this with my comedic bouts of social awkwardness, and you really have a prize-winning recipe for not being the most popular person in the room. I really just want to form a few friendships that reach beyond superficiality. Also, as long as I have quality I don't mind quantity. It is pretty easy in theory: join an IM team, go to parties, whatever. Just get out more. Not so hard right?

Enter School.

School: Oh hey what's up Justin? Enjoying your weekend?

Me: Well of course, School! The weather we've been having has been amazing, I have the house to myself 'til Sunday, I'm laying out by the pool (as you can see obviously because you are standing right here), and I'm gonna go out tonight because I have absolutely no school-related work to do this weekend!

School: Yeeaaaaaaahh, about that... listen, your professor just posted this week's readings, and you have 200 pages to read. In addition, you have a midterm Tuesday, since your professor insists that the date listed on the syllabus was only 'tentative' and subject to change.

Me: Hmm, well I guess I should get home and get to work. Thanks School, once again you've ruined my weekend. You know what, while you're at it, why don't you just tell me to sleep on the couch while you have sex on my bed with some random girl that you met at the party I was going to go to?

School: So you're cool with sleeping on the couch then?

If you're anything like me, not only did you picture the character 'School' being portrayed by Jake Busey, but you also realized that this dilemma occurs just about every weekend of the school year. Some people just handle it better than others, and some choose to ignore it altogether; I am neither of those people. I have to read every provided source and then kick myself when the material isn't covered in discussion or on the final (note to self: when a book on your reading list says "optional", don't purchase it). Maybe one of the things I missed out on by being a transfer student was the ability to filter out irrelevant readings.

While we're on the subject of my student standing and what I missed out on as a result, the one thing I regret is not living in the dorms. Establishing yourself as a transfer student means you have to try significantly harder than freshmen in dorms. You live right on campus and are in direct contact with people of your own age that you share common interests with instead of living 3 miles from campus and having middle-aged adult neighbors (although don't get me wrong, the neighbors know how to party: it seems like every weekend they have a "let's all mow our lawns at 9am" party!). Honestly, you'd have to be socially retarded or otherwise try to not make friends living in the dorms. Plus, I feel as if the magic of college is completely lost if you jump into it commuting from a house in the suburbs. This is one of the major motivations I have to study abroad. It's practically a do-over, and those aren't too common... without time travel. Unfortunately for me, some things can't be undone for Ben Affleck even with a time machine, such as a great deal of his performances I've seen thinking "this time it will be different." Nope. Oh well.



For your health.