Recent Entries by Tanner  

I have now had my dog Parker for about 3 months. After getting him I kind of had some anxiety about having a dog in college. It turns out, he has not been too much of a nuisance. He only peed and pooped in the house a couple of times! One of the times though, he pooped in his kennel. I got a text from my roommate, Evan, that said, "He s#!+ in his kennel, should I clean it up?"
I'm thinking "Yes, yes you should clean it up, how nice of you to even consider doing it."
Then he texts me again and says "I only have time to clean one thing, it's either him or the crate."
At this point I'm in a full panic. Who cleans one, but not the other? No matter which route he goes, there is still going to be poop in my bedroom. So I took off for home, hoping I could get there before he put the clean dog back in his own feces. When I got there he had given Parker a bath and said that I should watch out when I go into my room because the stink was so awful he was gagging. He also told me that he let Parker out and he wouldn't go to the bathroom so he just took him inside to give him his bath. As he was prepping the tub, Parker proceeded to poop on the floor creating even more of a mess for him to clean up.

In the meantime, I went to my room preparing for the worst. I opened the door and a waft of dog crap hit my nostrils. Now it was my turn to keep from puking. Somehow I ended up cleaning it up without any throwing up! Beyond that little episode, Parker has been a really easy dog to care for. He listens well, for the most part, and he doesn't poop inside anymore.

So I have been terrible at this whole blogging thing. It sounds easier than it actually is. There are many times I think "yeah, I could blog about that" but then I get lazy and say "aw, I don;t have that much to talk about" and that's about as far as it goes.

Anywho, I am in my final semester of my college career. It is exciting and scary all at once. I can't wait to be done with classes, yet that means I am closer to having to be a real person with a real job. I am going to take the next year off to gain some experience to add to my resume and then apply for physician assistant programs. Meanwhile, I am taking 13 credits including Sex and Gender (a real mind blower of a class, not even kidding), Public Health, History: Memoirs of Mass Violence, and an online pharmacy course. Overall, it's not too bad of a semester, but I must say, I am far less productive at my home institution than I was at UMass Boston. I am applying for jobs, interviewing and running clubs. Sometimes school work just doesn't sound as fun as the rest of it. Not to worry though, I shall be done soon!

I also got a dog, a bit irresponsible to do at this point in my life, but fun none the less. I made a pros and cons list before I got him and my pros outweighed the cons so clearly I had only one choice. I would highly discourage anyone from doing this but I am going to tell you how much fun he is. I have already taught him to sit, stay, lay down and shake. He is the fastest learning dog ever! He was an outside dog so potty training has been a work in progress but he is catching on real quick. I think he perpetuates my senioritis as I would rather spend time with him than doing homework. I will add pictures and talk more about him in my next blog because I must go for now.

Hello everyone!
It is week 4 for me in Boston. I have been learning a lot about the city and the people. I feel like I am finally adjusting to the city life. I am getting used to the morning subway ride where I have to wait for a train for what seems like an eternity. I get on, sit next to a random soul and listen to my iPod while reading the morning newspaper. That's one thing I have begun to do while here, read the paper. It is a local Boston newspaper that fills me in on the latest crime in the surrounding neighborhoods. This week there has been a lot of talk about the guy who has been poisoning dogs.
Last weekend I went to New York and met up with my roommate from Rochester, Evan. I had always heard that it is the city that never sleeps and now I know that this is a true statement. There are people out at all hours of the night including street venders, weirdos, cabbies, and those just coming out of the clubs. It's an interesting mix of people to say the least. I think the big city has made me appreciate the Midwest where it is easy to get around and you don't have to worry about checking to make sure you haven't been pick-pocketed. Don't get me wrong, I loved it there but it is just not a place where I could see myself living for an extended period of time.
Classes so far have been pretty harmless. I don't have a test until next week, the first week in October. Other than that I have written a paper, read, and given a presentation for class. Not too difficult so far. It has been so different for me compared to UMR. I have so much time on my hands. Usually by this time I am neck deep in things going on and I can hardly find time to sleep. I guess it's nice to have a little break from all of that before I get "big" and have to do adult things.
I have lost interest in writing this now and I'm sure anyone who is reading this has lost interest in reading it as well. Hopefully the next blog is more interesting! Farewell to all!

Signing off,
Tanner

I am blogging from Boston. I have been here for about a week and a half now and it has been pretty good. I have been bored, worried, excited, sad, lonesome, excited, happy, and a whole bunch of other emotions so far. Most of it comes with leaving a place you are used to, at least that's what I like to tell myself. Anyway I am going to tell you about my adventures thus far.

Right off the bat I have one suggestion for students considering National Student Exchange for their capstone: make sure the host campus has on-campus housing, or that you know someone from the area. I had a lot of trouble finding a place in Boston with little help from the host school.

I have found that I miss my friends a lot. Once I get into the groove of things though I should begin to feel better about that. I feel a little bit like the way I did when I was a freshman at UMR. Only this time, I have a boyfriend back home who I miss beyond belief. Again, I think with time and the start of a new routine, I will be less distraught. We will Skype at least once a day. Plus I am going to make a surprise visit home in October and then I will be home for Thanksgiving as well. So it really isn't even a full four months apart. So far, I think my capstone is going to be a great relationship strengthening experience.

I really like the city of Boston. It is much larger than what I am used to. I grew up in a town of 2,000 people so this is a totally different experience than I have ever had before. I have seen a lot of the city and know my way around fairly well. I have probably walked a million miles around the city. There is so much to do and see and so far I have gone to the movie theater three times. I haven't been to that many movies in three years. It's a nice break from walking though. I would suggest seeing For a good time, call... It is a little raunchy but also hilarious. First movie I ever went to by myself and I think it was the first movie for the children that sat in front of me as well. They're going to have so many questions after seeing that. Poor souls. Besides movies, I went to Quincy Market which seems to me like a year round MN state fair. It was much better though. My boyfriend, Philip, and I went to a lot of places including Provincetown where I got my haircut for $48. I know what you're thinking, "He only spent $48 for that beautiful head of hair." Well I'll stop you right there and let you know I spent $36 the week prior to arriving in Boston. Now I don't have any money, but damn my hair is fine. Literally.

As for school, I have found that there are several parallels between UMass and UMR. The first parallel is that they have a Chancellor and he loves to hear from students, even setting aside time for his own office hours. This is not unlike Chancellor Lehmkuhle. He would definitely set aside time for students. Another interesting thing is that they don't have a meal plan. They have a cafeteria, but there is no real meal plan where you have certain amounts of money set aside. Again, this is just like UMR and the food court on the second floor. Now this next thing only applies to juniors and seniors but UMass also does not have on-campus housing. They only have partnerships with a couple apartment buildings in the area, much like UMR did for the first two years. Finally, I found out that the Ambassadors here can't walk backwards. This is something Molly is always telling UMR Ambassadors not to do as well. So even though I am 1300 miles away from home, there are little things here that remind me where of where I came from.

I think I will always be a "smalltown" UMRian/Rochesterite/Twin Citiesite at heart. Don't get me wrong, I love the big city, but for me I prefer smaller places. I say this one week into my adventure and I'm sure by the end I will look at this and say "What was I thinking? I don't want to leave here." One thing I will say for sure though is that UMR has the greatest technology and set up of all. I am in classes that have blackboards. What year are we in here, 1995? Another thing we have here are lecture halls, much like any other college I would suppose. They aren't bad, but they definitely don't compare to Learn Labs. In the classrooms there are desks and not tables. I definitely prefer the tables, mostly because my gangly limbs don't fit all that well into them. I almost prefer nodes to these desks. Anyway, I do like it here though. It should be a fun semester. I was given yet another admissions job. I think that will have to be my backup plan at this point. Four years of admissions and I would have to say I'm nearly a professional.

I need to bring this to a close now. This will double as both a blog for Anthony and a journal for CLI4711. I hope that's okay. I will keep in touch and will let you know more about my Bostonian adventures in the next journal/blog.
-Tanner

Hello everyone! My name is Tanner VanLith and I will be a sophomore at UMR this fall (2010). I'm providing you with the inside scoop as to how to make it through your first year of college. So sit back and I hope you enjoy! Advisory: You may become bored while reading through this. If so, quit reading.

Coming to a new city, moving away from family, and beginning what seems like a never-ending academic career can be scary. At least that's what I thought going into my first year at UMR. I remember the first day of school not knowing what to expect, it was like being in ninth grade again. The only thing different this time was that there were no upper classmen (except, of course students from other programs). We came in as the first freshmen class for the BSHS program. I have to say, it was and is still a pretty good feeling to know that you're going to be part of the inaugural class. Enough about that though. This is beginning to be too formal and I feel like I am writing an essay for Professor Taniguchi. It's July 9, 2010 and I want to have nothing to do with writing essays for the next two months. Warning: Be prepared to write. A lot!

So, I am an ambassador at UMR and if any of you have come to a visit day, you have probably seen me up on the student panel. I was the tall awkward one. If that doesn't help maybe Molly can refresh your memory. She really likes to tell everyone about the first time we met on a visit day. She asked me if I played any sports, assuming I would because of my sleek physique I would guess...right? Well needless to say, I am uncoordinated and my physique is about as appealing as a string bean. But, really if your interested in becoming an ambassador to help promote the school, contact Molly or go to the UMR website. FYI: Molly, along with all of the staff at UMR, is very friendly and easy to get along with.

I should probably have introduced myself in a little more detail earlier. I am from the small town of Maple Lake, MN. It is about 45 minutes northwest of the Twin Cities. I can make it to Roch in approximately 2 hours in good traffic. I have four siblings, one older full brother, and three younger half siblings. Let's see, last year I lived at Bridgestreet with Alex, Evan, and Kyle. We probably had the most fun apartment in the building. Beware: If you make a lot of loud noise, the concierge will reprimand you.

School work can and will be difficult. Expect to spend a lot of time with Professor Muthyala or Professor Larsen (P. Lars), they will become your best friends because they are going to teach what ORGANIC CHEMISTRY is all about. Not going to lie, this was probably one of my favorite classes. Note: Always budget time so that you can get enough time for homework, fun, and studying.

I feel like this blog is just a random assortment of thoughts. Whatever comes to my mind, I write down. It's sort of more like a journal. Okay, so winter break is awesome, having a month off from school is really nice. Spring semester seems to fly by faster than fall semester. Summer goes by quick so don't let it slip through your fingers. Word of advice for summer: Have a job lined up before school is out because otherwise you will be scrambling to find a job.

So I have reached the end of my blog for now. I'm sure there will be many more to come in the future, as there is much more to tell...