Super Obnoxious Neighbors

Once you get to college, you come to realize it is not the roommate you should worry about the most: it is the neighbors. And not just the neighbors to the sides, but also in the hallway.

Somehow, I arrived at the unfortunate circumstance of being between two football players, and two boys who like to listen to rap music until 2am.

At least the guys with the music are nice enough to turn it down if you knock on the wall a few times.

The football player, however, is not. I do not know if he has a roommate any longer, but my entire hall is pretty certain the ex-roommate left to live with friends in another dorm. I think I know why. This neighbor of mine, with whom I share the wall that my bed is IMMOVABLY ATTACHED TO, is not the most considerate person in the world. If he ever happens to stumble across this blog, I will not apologize. I'm pretty sure he already knows my opinion about him, via a note I left on his door a few nights ago.

Things you never thought you'd need (part 2)

Office supplies!

I don't care how awesome your college is, odds are you're going to need to staple something and you don't have time to run to the library. Get a stapler! They can be found at Wal-Mart for about $3.00. I haven't had to print a lot of papers (yet) but I suspect I will in the future--which is also why I brought a printer with me. Paperclips are also a nifty thing to have on hand if you run out of staples.

At my school, you have a printing "budget" that you get. If you don't exceed that budget the printing is basically free. However, you do still have to pay for scans and photocopies. I just bit the bullet and bought a printer/scanner combo. It, like all printers, has a tendency to throw bitch fits, but man has it been nice to be able to print something three minutes before class and not have to fight with the library printing system. And don't think that the cost of ink and paper are going to drain your (sometimes meager) funds: I talked with my roommate before school started and asked if she was bringing a printer. Since she wasn't, she agreed to help pay for paper and ink.

Therein lies another point: talk to your roommate(s) (if you have one) and see who is bringing what. My roommate brought the fridge, I brought the printer, and we share them equally. It certainly saved both of us money in one way or another.

Medical supplies!

The Price of Admission

This was published in my high school newspaper. I think I wrote it sophomore year, but it may have been my junior year. I can't remember exactly because I've been more than happy to put most of high school behind me.

Price of Admission

By Wilhelmina van Royen

A girl shrieked as a tall boy chased her down the hall. Some kids stepped out of the way, others told her to shut up and stop being so annoying. It being lunchtime, there wasn’t any particular order about the halls, which were jammed with students having retreated from the bitter rain. And, consequently, were crowded and loud.

A boy pushed through a large group of girls clumped en masse, giggling over someone’s camera, to reach the stairs. He had to throw a hand out for the railing when two kids barreled past, the bigger one bumping into him with considerable force. He yelled a brash obscenity — not undeserved — and continued down the stairs towards the front office at the end of the first-floor hall.

His heart pounded. He wished it would stop. It made his hands shake, made him so nervous he considered turning around and saying eff it, like he had so many times prior. He felt like he was going to vomit, crap himself, and cry all at the same time and he wanted to run. He wanted so badly to run. Then he thought of the dead bird he had found that morning. He took a deep breath and walked faster.

A few things every dorm needs (part 1)

Things you never even realized you would need until you are unpacked, and your roommate comes in with a million more useful things than you did. So here's the first college dorm life advice post! And to keep this post short-ish (because there are a million things that you'll discover you should have brought, damn it, and I don’t want to cram them all into one long-ass post)

I arrived at college a week early, because I was going on a pre-orientation trip with a few other freshman who chose to do so as well. My trip was at the base of Mt. Hood and we did fun outdoorsy stuff for three days, but that's besides the point.

Now, I had to drive up from the Bay Area in my little '95 Corolla. That thing was PACKED to the windows. We packed it as packed as we could pack it and still (kinda) see out the windows. 

And as soon as my roommate's stuff started showing up on her half of the room, and she and her mother settled that stuff everywhere, I realized just how much I lacked.

Backstory

This is different from the introductory post, I swear. It’s a history lesson! Kind of. It's also me getting into the rhythm of blogging, which is a completely new concept to me.

I’m going to start off by saying this: I have not faced harrowing walls of discrimination due to my sexuality. I think there are quite a few non-heterosexual people who have not (yet) faced harrowing walls of discrimination due to their sexuality. Does that make it any less important that they are anything but straight? No. You don’t have to struggle to be validated. You exist the way you are. That should be enough.

Now, I can attribute this lack of confrontation to my high school’s proximity to San Francisco, and the generally accepting attitude of the West Coast. (At least in my experience) people from these three states respect your choices even if they don’t agree with them. I know that is not true for everyone. But it was true for me at least.

However, just because I haven’t flown my queer flag in the face of anti-gay haters does not mean that I have not struggled. It’s hard being different. Everyone knows that. Everyone has something about them that makes them different, and maybe make them feel a little less accepted because of it. One thing I constantly worried about (and still do, to some extent) is what people will think of me. Bisexuals probably do not receive as much media attention as gay or lesbian people; my theory is that quite a few people view bisexuality as something that isn’t such a big deal, or just an experimental phase or some sort. I don’t know. I haven’t taken psychology classes on the subject so I don’t know of any studies that have analyzed the rationale of the relative invisibility of bisexuals. Perhaps it is because a bisexual can carry out a “normal” or “straight” lifestyle, because they desire people of the opposite as well as the same sex. [I would like to refer to http://humoncomics.com/niels as a fun example of bisexuality]

I just want to say that just because you didn’t have rigidly intolerant parents, or a disowning community, or face ridicule at school, does not mean you have not struggled. I almost feel bad, having come from a very tolerant community and family; I almost feel like my different sexual identity isn’t really a big deal because no one has gotten mad at me for it, or threatened me, or told me I was going to hell.

Not directly, at least. The influence is still there, in the news, in the media, and simply being in the presence of other people. It’s difficult, even if I don’t admit it to myself. I am something that society at large does not want to see married, or have kids, or be able to cover my children or partner under insurance. That’s the message trans, queer, and LGBT people are sent every day.

I don’t want to launch into an “it gets better” talk, because I would rather save that for a different post, but I’ll say it just the once. You struggle, and it gets better.

You just have to keep telling yourself that.

-Doc Badass

Introduction

I guess an introductory post is in order. Well hello there! If you're reading this I probably sent you a link to the blog and you know who I am (please don't say tho, it's more interesting if it's a secret).

Some call me Dr. Badass. You may refer to me as such; it is a nickname I have grown accustomed to. How I got it? Well that may be a story for another day. We shall see.

342 is my dorm room number, in case anyone was wondering. I do so dearly love it. I should upload a picture of it. And that is exactly where this advice will come from: room 342. I'm mostly going to talk about freshman-year college experiences, because the one thing I would have loved to hear as a high school senior were bare-truths from a college freshman, and not just advice regarding applications and essays. Applications and their essays are the easy part; no one tells you all the other crap you need to take into consideration when moving into college dorm and dorm life. So I will be recounting my woes and how they could have gone better, and hope someone can avoid making the same mistakes or having to deal with the same stresses.

I will also give some narration as to what it's been like being bisexual and only kind-of being out, how I dealt with telling my parents, and how I deal with telling other people I am bisexual. It's confusing, in this day and age, because there are so many different ways people can react to that little tidbit of information.

There will also be much innuendo, and probably a bad pun here and there. I can't help it. I warn/apologize in advance, but I'm not going to stop.

If you happen across one of my posts and have an opposing view of the subject, please do not just sit there and troll or try making your point with silly words and poor grammar. That will be laughed at, and I'll probably screen cap the comment and share it with many other people who will ridicule your stupidity. Think before you type! Please! I don't want to make you look like an ass. Even if it is entertaining to some degree.

Have fun and get ready for the ride!

-Doc Badass