Friday, June 18, 2010

THAT guy

For all you Wayne's World fans out there, I realized today that I am Chris Farley's character. In reference to him, Wayne says, "You know, for a security guard, that guy had an awful lot of information." Well, that's me.

It's Orientation season at Iowa State. This month, 5000 new freshmen and their parents descend upon ISU, two days at a time, to register for classes, get their ISU card and their first bout of "Holy crap, this campus is huge and I don't know what I'm doing or where I'm going" feeling in the pit of their stomach. Truthfully, I love this time. BECAUSE I LOVE HELPING PEOPLE! I really enjoy helping a family figure out the best route to Beardshear, or the best place for coffee on campus, or how to figure out Cy-Ride (since it took me about 10 years of living in Ames to be brave enough to attempt it), etc.

Currently, I'm a bus rider on the Orange route. This route stops right in front of Maple Hall, where the Orientation-eers stay. Every morning, about 10-20 get on the bus going to places like the Memorial Union. Now, if I was a Cyclone Aide, I would NEVER recommend that these folks take the Orange route to get to the MU. Seriously? From Maple, you'll get there in 5 minutes on foot. Maybe 7 if you walk like a middle schooler. On the Orange Route, it's at least a 10 minute ride...granted, that ride is air-conditioned, and in this humidity when you're a freshman girl dressed to impress the freshman boy with your freshly straightened hair...well, the ride might be worth it. I DIGRESS....

This morning, I decided to chat up my seat-mate. She'll be majoring in Biology and living on 8th floor Larch. I proceed to tell her about my experience living in Willow and how much I LOVED hanging lofts because of all the space they free up; how creative people get in their elaborate designs to create space & extra room; how all the athletes lived on 8th floor Larch, back in the day. (Back in the day is actually an applicable phrase for this girl, now. 12 years ago when I was in her shoes, she was 6! ayiyiyi.) I refrained from telling her it was the big party floor...she doesn't need to know that; she'll figure it out. And hey, the party could've moved to first floor by now! (Which was the nerdy quiet floor 12 years ago.)

AND THEN I remember that 8th floor Willow couldn't have the ultra-cool hanging lofts BUT they did have ultra-high ceilings, so you could have ultra-high lofts - still freeing up space. So, I told her she'd need to check on that.

All of this information was spewed out in the ride from Maple to Kildee...which lasts no more than 5 minutes. Arriving at Kildee (and knowing she was registering for classes today; yes, we covered that, too), I asked her where she was going, since she didn't seem like she was moving. [I'm telling you, she was soaking up the information I was providing!] :) She replied Bessey - which is right across the street from Kildee. Informing her of this, she quickly got up, grabbed her mom and we parted ways.

I felt so helpful! Then, as I thought more, I remembered this guy: