Category: Ashley Bostwick (page 3 of 4)

The Persistence of Friendship

July 22, 2013 / / Comments Off on The Persistence of Friendship

Ashley takes a break from answering questions about the freshmen experience to reflect on her first summer as an upperclassman!

Coming home for the summer after freshman year of college is the strangest feeling. Even though you’ve met your friends at school less than a year ago, you probably feel closer to them than you do most of your friends from home. At the same time, you definitely do not want to lose the friends that you grew up with.  The first summer after college is the perfect time to catch up with high school friends about your first year apart.

The first reunion I had with my friends from home was surreal in a way because everyone went to college in such different areas of the country. Of course we were all ecstatic to see each other, but once we started talking about respective schools, forget it. The way I talk about UD is as if I’m talking about my child and it was the same way with my friends. I think that’s good thing though because we must really love where we ended up!

I found the different lingo that we all started using to be so interesting. My friend who goes to the University of Alabama now says “y’all” and my friend who goes to school in Boston has picked up the “wicked” trend. At UD even I picked up a few phrases that sound foreign to my friends. I also have a newfound love for country music thanks to my fellow Blue Hens.

Even though we’ve all certainly changed over the course of our first year at college, our friendship never fails to fall back to the way it always has been upon returning home. Despite our various new accents and tastes, we still laugh about the same things, treat each other the same way, and love spending time with each other just as we always have. After being home for a few weeks, I am confident that strong friendships can last through even the most drastic of changes.

~Ashley Bostwick

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“I’d Give it Five Stars”

May 10, 2013 / / Comments Off on “I’d Give it Five Stars”

Russell Dining Hall is an interesting place, to say the least, with its ideal set-up for the ultimate people-watching experience. No matter where you sit, your eyes have access to the entire hall. Whether you’re a social butterfly or prefer to dine alone, Russell is the place to be.

I find the evolution of mealtimes in Russell to be quite fascinating. In the beginning of the year, floor meals are a daily occurrence since everyone sticks together for the most part. Slowly but surely, small groups form within the larger ones, leading to the once-unforeseeable possibility of actually fitting comfortably at one table. If you really make a habit of sharing meals with a specific group of people, you might even find a favorite area or specific table in the dining hall. My friends and I are partial to the booths by the window, but those tend to be hard to come by.

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While Russell Dining Hall is a great place to socialize and catch up on the day’s events with your roommate or group of friends, its popularity comes with a price. No matter where you sit, you are bound to see that one person who you put your heart and soul into avoiding all week. The awkward encounter is inevitable, but at least it leads to an explosion of laughter when you sit back down with your friends.

Ambiance aside, there is one coveted gem of Russell Dining Hall that I must mention: the cookies. No one knows why these cookies are so good, but I think anyone would agree with me when I say that the line is well worth the wait. Every now and then when the workers ring the bell for the freshly baked cookies, I kid you not when I say that there is a mad dash for the dessert area. If you’re sitting in the booths in the back and can see the entirety of the hall, this is particularly amusing to watch.

Even though dining halls tend to carry a negative connotation, I personally can’t imagine my college experience without Russell. Some of my favorite memories of UD so far have occurred in this eatery and I am truly going to miss it next year. Next time you decide to have a meal at Russell, take it all in because you’ll probably never experience anything else quite like it.

Do you have any hilarious Russell Dining Hall stories? Share them below!

~Ashley Bostwick

Ashley Photo

Do Honors students have social lives? (and other questions)

April 30, 2013 / / Comments Off on Do Honors students have social lives? (and other questions)

Welcome to our special “Day Before Deposits are Due” edition of Ask Ashley!

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The Social Scene

This week I am going to address a subject that I’m sure has crossed everyone’s mind at some point: social life. Yes, Honors students generally hold their studies high on their list of priorities, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t like to have fun, too!

A common misconception about Honors life is that students who live in Honors housing are isolated from the rest of the student body. Since the majority of freshmen live in East Campus, it’s nearly impossible not to meet people outside of the Honors community just by stepping onto the Harrington turf. Living in Russell gives you a smaller community feel within a large school, which is a nice feeling to come home to at the end of the day. Also, it is nice to have students around you who probably have similar study habits and will respect Sunday night cram sessions.

Honors students have just as many social opportunities as non-Honors students do and then some. We can be involved in Greek life or can join as many RSO’s as they please all while having access to exclusive Honors events, as well. We get the best of both worlds: a quiet study area when needed while having access to the same social privileges as every other student at UD. What more could you ask for?

Your Future Plans

When someone asks you what you want to be when you grow up, how do you respond? You may have everything in your career future figured out to the tee, or you may not have a clue. Whether you apply to college as a specific major or if you apply undeclared, discovering new interests and passions once you begin your college journey is inevitable.

I’m sure you’ve heard this a million times, but you probably will change your major at least once over the course of your college career. With such a wide variety of interesting courses available, something completely obscure may creep up on you and spark your interest without you even realizing it until the course is halfway over. Also, you may be inspired by a particular professor’s work or a study done by another student. No matter how it happens, I promise that someone or something will inspire you, even if this inspiration has absolutely nothing to do with your future plans.

Throughout high school, I was all about conserving the environment and I was very interested in the natural resources that the earth has to offer, so naturally I applied to UD as an Environmental Studies major. Then, one day over the summer, panic set in: although I’d thought that I’d one day save the world with my environmentally friendly attitude, I thought that I’d better change my major to Plant Science so that I could maximize my career options. Fast-forward a couple months, and here I am, a Communication major with Spanish and Art minors. If that’s not a 180-degree turn, I don’t know what is!

Long story short, it’s so easy to change your mind in college and let’s face it – it’s what kids our age do best! So don’t be afraid to have a change of heart once you get here. I already switched my major twice before I was even finished with my first semester! As long as you’re doing what you love, everything else should fall into place.

If you’re unsure about which major to choose coming into UD, comment here and I’ll be glad to give you my advice!

~Ashley Bostwick

Show off your skills…

April 8, 2013 / / Comments Off on Show off your skills…

…with a camera! We are inviting you, our beloved readers, to enter the first ever 186 South College Photo Contest! Grab your friends, your professor, your neighbors messy dorm room, and snap a couple pics–you could win coveted gift cards to Main Street! (And let’s be honest, what  college student doesn’t love to hear the word “free”?) Our staff photographer Ashley provides some inspiration below:

Most Beautiful Picture of Campus

Picture with an Honors professor

Coolest Dorm Room

Here are all the details!

 

All the photos in this post have been taken by Ashley Bostwick

Ask Ashley: Colloqui-What!?

April 6, 2013 / / Comments Off on Ask Ashley: Colloqui-What!?

When applying to the Honors Program, you were probably looking to challenge yourself with your coursework. At the same time, you’re probably worried that the challenge might be a little too much to handle. Also, you may have been informed about a special required English class and something called a Colloquium. If you’re wondering what the heck that is, I’m happy to explain!

At UD, Honors freshmen are required to complete both an English 110 class and an Honors Colloquium. If you’re anything like me, you might be pretending to understand what that is but you’re actually completely confused. It’s pretty simple: both are writing-intensive classes that are tailored to a pretty narrow subject. Half of the Honors freshmen take English in the fall and half take it in the spring, and it is the same deal with Colloquium. What’s interesting about these classes is that the subject matter varies from anything from philosophy, to healthcare, to utopian and dystopian societies.  Whether you have a passion for graphic novels, food, or Japanese cartoons, there will be a Colloquium or English class that you are sure to thoroughly enjoy.

Another cool thing about these classes is that they are guaranteed to be small in size. The limit for each class is around twenty students, ensuring that you will have a ton of interaction with your professor and the other students in your class. Also, these courses are open to Honors students only, so your classmates will be people who you can easily access for a study session, to ask a question, or just to hang out with. I live in Russell B this year, but I had the opportunity to meet friends who live in Russell D that I never would have met had it not been for our Colloquium.

Contrary to what you may have heard, these classes contain about the same amount of coursework as any other writing-intensive course, so don’t worry about that. While the concept may seem a little foreign at first, English 110 and Colloquium are just like any other class – except with better subject matter, if you ask me!

~Ashley Bostwick

 

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