This is a rare occasion because we actually can go play games against other teams. Wittenberg doesn’t have an official men’s volleyball team since the girls are so good (#1 in the nation for Division III). So, a couple of years ago, a group of guys decided to form a club team. What that means is that we are a student organization affiliated to the university. No, we aren’t a varsity athletic team which is awesome because we don’t practice everyday like the teams do and lift like every other day.

Athletics at Wittenberg have a strong tradition of excellence. A lot of our teams dominate in conferences and a couple are nationally ranked. To keep up this level, the teams train all the time. Personally, you have to love it because it is a huge time commitment and it takes a special person to do it.

Club Volleyball is more relaxed, we have two practices a week (I know, it’s all the gym time we get) and we have fun too. Also, we keep up the competitiveness which makes us a good team.

At the tournament, we went with having two practices because it is winter and the varsity teams need the gym due to the cold outside. We play other club teams. So we drove to Michigan State University which is about 4-4 1/2 hours away. This makes it more fun since we bond with as a team and clown around in the car. Once we got there we rented a hotel and spent the night. After a short night of sleep, we played different club teams from different universities. All those teams are at different levels because of school size and obviously the amount of practice each team gets.

We went for 2-3 but we could have easily gone for 3-2. The team was tired and we had to come early to campus. Plus a couple of players, including myself, were injured. Honestly, it was a lot of fun because it’s a rare privilege to play since there aren’t many tournaments and we did the best of our abilities with the current resources. Personally, I can’t wait for another tournament.

Take it easy,
Guillermo

Wow!  That is the least I can say about it.

My fraternity had a leadership conference in Chicago which I never imagined could be so much fun. It was definitely tiring because I was the only one who was certified to drive the Wittvan but it was totally worth it. We left around 4:30 p.m. from Springfield and we got there around 11:00 p.m., taking into consideration the hour time change between here and Chicago. We made a small side stop at a fun place to eat which took us almost two hours but it was a blast. Most of the time during the ride we were playing practical pranks on each other which makes time go by faster. Another good aspect: we didn’t get lost which made it easier on the brothers and me.

Once we got there, we met up with a couple of brothers from our chapter and then from there it was fun. We got to meet a lot of people from different parts of the nation and different chapters too. We made great friends who are coming to see us soon and we will have fun with them. After socializing a lot, we went to the conference which was very educational for every member of the fraternity which will help make our house and the brothers better.

It was a lot of fun and we learned more about one of the greatest aspects of Greek life: leadership. Greek life definitely will mold leaders, with positions in the house, or the National Fraternity with retreats like the one we just had. Plus it is a lot of fun. Go Greek!

Take it easy,
Guillermo

Well, now that I’m done pledging, I have more time to devote to my studies which have taken a hit. I can probably pull off an A in every class but it depends on the effort that I put into these next two weeks…mainly this week because I have to study for finals next week.

But, there will also be a lot of fun: I have my first fraternity semiformal and I don’t know who to ask as my date. I’ll probably ask my little so I can go to her sorority’s semiformal.

More importantly, this week and next are going to be very stressful.  I have to be strong and study all weekend.  Or even if I don’t spend the whole weekend studying, I still need to take it easy and relax (and get some sleep!).  I can still pull it off.

Wish me luck!

Guillermo

For an international student, Wittenberg is really different even though I’ve been taught English and I’m very aware of the American culture. Due to the fact that less than one percent of the student population is international, we stand out very much - especially me because I’m very sociable and open. Also, I happen to be around 6′5” and tanned. So, everybody has an idea of who I am which can be helpful at times.

Other times, being international isn’t so cool. We international students tend to stick together which doesn’t help other students to get know other cultures and other types of people. We also miss home a lot. Family, friends, climate (I live near the equator), food, culture, and language are the things we miss the most. It was hard to adjust, but doing so has taught me a lot about myself and made me realize just how much we have to adjust in life. When achieved, things get much better because life becomes fun. Plus everybody at Wittenberg gets homesick at one point or another - we are not the only ones.

The first semester, even the first year, is hard because of the culture shock and the adjustments. I definitely thought about transferring but I made the right decision by staying here and it is paying off very well.

I hope this helps my fellow internationals.

Take it easy,
Guillermo

Since this blogging has been in the Wittenberg Torch (the school newspaper), everybody has been asking me about the blog. Some of the feedback I’ve been getting is very interesting and one of my friends told me a really great idea: Since I’m the only sophomore in the blog and foreigner (I’m from Valencia, Venezuela, not Caracas), he told me I must be like a bridge to fill the gap and give experiences of freshman year and also how to see college from a very different point of view. So, I’m going to spice it up and not always write about my daily life because it can be a little repetitive for the readers and for me to write the same things over and over.

In my opinion, that idea is the real intent of the blogs - to fill in newcomers about college but also ease the changes from high school to college since I’ve got a year under my belt. The first thing I learned was that college is a WHOLE new ballgame. High school was pretty easy - therefore I didn’t do much. Yes, I’m a slacker. Just the classes are soooooo much different. Besides the extra freedom, the content is way more than in high school. Missing class shouldn’t be done because it could take a while just to catch up. If you miss a week of class (depending on the intensity of the class) it could take you up to a month to be up to date. Doing the homework is essential. I know it isn’t fun but it does help and studying extra for a test is so important because it requires more time - and therefore, more time management.

There will be other blogs like this - to enlighten the worried.

Take it easy,
Guillermo

Well, after a good half of a semester, a necessary break is a must. Everybody is burnt out from half a semester: all the studying, running around, practices, job, and all the fun take a toll on you. For a lot of people, even there people doing more stuff than me or taking harder courses, there is a physical and mental wear down to the self. In my experience, a lot of my days start at 9-9:30 am and end at 10:30 pm and then I can study. All I’m going to do is relax, get my mind out of classes and Wittenberg and recharge my batteries.

As a sophomore, I’ve already been at this point and a lot has changed from freshmen year. Besides the obvious (still living at a dorm), classes have gotten harder but I’ve been having more fun too. I know way more people at this point and they have houses and parties and this year has been a lot of fun, especially because of pledging and I’m still sort of managing to do well in my classes. Lessons are learned from freshmen to sophomore year and part of the maturing lesson is to accept them and make adjustments which have been helping me. Still, my time management skills need some improving and study skills too but I’m working on those and it is only baby steps.

I know that this reflection makes me sound like a dad, but it is important and necessary to look back and take in a lot of what has happened. I hope this was helpful.

Take it easy,
Guillermo

This week has, as the title explains, been not too bad because almost all the tests were last week. For a surprise to me and all my classmates in stats, we had another test on Friday. That was terrible because my teacher rambles on about pies and Russian poetry in class and then you leave like nothing happened. I think I did pretty well actually, but I can’t ever be too confident in stats. Personally, I’m afraid because we use software to calculate most of the stuff for us and when we need it in other courses, aka economics, I don’t think this software will be available all the time. In my geography course, we have a test soon but it’s weird since we do maps on computers and stuff like that so I’m just wondering how the test will be formatted.

Outside of class, life is good. Practice helps me relax and have fun because we goof around and the drills are fun. Plus it is club volleyball, enough said (that means we are not an official sponsored Wittenberg Team). Maybe next week will be busier because I have more fraternity pledging to do. Who knows?

Well, as the title explicitly says, it has been a long week and thank god it is the weekend. First of all, my upper level economics course had a major test that everybody was flipping out about and therefore we were worried about this test. It was our first test and the teacher is a very picky grader so I don’t know how I did. Also, there is fraternity pledging, Weightlifting, and volleyball practice involved that take up a lot of my time. Don’t forget about studying too. So lets see how the next week goes.

After a lot of frequent contacting, the people in admissions got me in the blog.