The Wire is a television drama about drugs and crime in inner city Baltimore. If I told you that I meet with a group of OU students Monday nights in the Honors College to watch and talk not just about the exciting plot, but also about what the show has to say about the relationship between civilian and state, or social and economic status in the inner city, might you be  a bit intrigued?

Kimberly wrote a great post with information about the Honors College, but I wanted to elaborate on my personal experience inside the college even more! The book clubs that she mentions deserve to be raved about. We come to college to learn and have intelligent and thought provoking discussion about a huge range of topics with the other students at the University. Be it a book club, a current events discussion group, a documentary screening, or a group watching The Wire, the Honors College provides and promotes fun, engaging activities for students on campus outside of classroom hours. Read more

OU Cousins is one of my favorite organizations on campus! Every year, this group pairs international students with American students to give them the opportunity to get to know each other and their respective culture. Events are held throughout the year that are particularly representative of American culture to give international students a taste of traditions they might not otherwise get during their time in the states.

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Oklahoma Football at Its Finest

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Today’s August 22nd, the first day of my sophomore year, and I can’t believe it’s already here. This summer I studied abroad in Peru for a month with OU’s new Journey to Latin America program. I can safely say this was the best experience of my college career, granted I’ve only been here for one year! After I returned, I was a counselor at Camp Crimson, OU’s orientation camp for incoming freshmen and transfer students. A high energy weekend full of teaching OU traditions, boat races and pool parties, leadership development activities, and new friends, Camp was a great way to cap off my summer.

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Spring semester ended in a whirlwind, but it was an enjoyable whirlwind at that.  So many things on campus were happening as May approached that made finding time to do anything outside of schoolwork and school-related activities difficult.  Highlights included The Big Event (OUs Official Day of Community Service), Sooner Scandals (Outstanding musical theatre-esque performances put on by groups from around campus), and, while I wouldn’t exactly call it a highlight, mountains of time spent writing end of the semester papers, completing assignments, and studying for tests. I also enjoyed being able to walk a little south of the dorms to watch OU Baseball or Basketball games when we found a little spare time. It was great fun participating in or going to watch things like this as the school year wound down.

My grades turned out very well making for happy parents and a great beginning of the summer. I’ve traveled a bit, taking a small trip to Colorado and some other minor trips around the state, but what’s been most astounding to me is all of the places studies and service are taking people I met this year at OU!  Thanks to Facebook, I’ve seen pictures from all around the world. South Africa, Russia, Spain, France, Germany, England, China, and Chile are just a few of the places OU can send you! To be able to travel at this time in life is such a great thing, and the opportunities that OU and the OU Education Abroad Office allow you to realize are just one of the reasons you should strongly consider OU as you make a college decision.

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This summer I could be here!

I hope to study abroad this coming summer in Peru!! Just a few minutes ago I submitted the last portions of my application on the OU Education Abroad website. Needless to say, I’m excited. It’s crazy to think that just a few months from now the time to board a plane will have come and I’ll be off to South America.

Counting on official acceptance to the program, on June 16 my study abroad experience will begin in Lima, Peru. This OU program, titled Journey to Latin America, is just one of several OU Journey Programs offered by this university.  Designed exclusively for OU students and taking them to places all over the world from China to Italy to Latin America, OU’s Journey Programs give you a broad introduction and study into the cultures and locations that they visit.  All class work is done in English, so no prior language knowledge is required! I’m working on becoming fluent in Spanish and hope to have a more intensive language study abroad experience sometime in the future, but know that I’ll still be able to practice my Spanish this summer while in Peru. I can’t wait for the experiences that await me! Besides spending time studying in Lima, this trip will take me to Machu Picchu, Cuzco, the Amazon Jungle, and other locales! I’ll be earning class credit the entire time! Read more

Right now it’s 11:21 pm. I should be sitting and working on an essay due Thursday for an Honors College Perspectives Class I’m taking called The American Landscape, but it’s so much easier to procrastinate by listening to music, checking Facebook,  and writing another blog post for this site.  Today students who’d bought season tickets this year were given the opportunity to order tickets to the Big XII Championship game in Arlington, TX.  I bought them and will have my ticket grouped with some of my friends, so I’m really glad that OU beat OSU so that we get to go! This week seems to be a very busy week for me and everyone I talk to. People are happy to have gone home for Thanksgiving break, myself included despite living only 30 or so minutes away! I have not gone home more than two times this semester for a long stay and a few days at home with family and friends was great.  Many people, myself included, are extremely glad to go home because it means having a room to themselves! After observing roommates living together for a few months with either people who at first were complete strangers or  close friends, I’ve heard many stories and even have some of my own.  Roommate woes, while annoying and stressful, provide some of the best and funniest things to talk about when discussing your freshman year of college.

Of course, many people have had excellent roommate experiences and I hope that when you come to OU, you do too! But here are a few funny anecdotes.

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I’ve been thoroughly amazed with all of the awesome experiences I’ve been able to have during my first two months at OU! I’ve already mentioned some of them in previous posts of mine, and I probably need to think of more things to talk about because this seems to be the only theme of my posts, but I think that only having these cool things to talk about is what makes OU so great, because these opportunities are present for me and all other students almost every day, and if not that at least every week! Read more

Cakes at the Caf

OU’s Couch Restaurants, a.k.a the Caf,  might be my favorite place on campus. I spend at least an hour and a half there every weekday eating with friends.  There are so many options you can choose from to eat and you can have as much as you want! From all you can eat Chick-Fil-A to Greek food to Chinese food to Mexican food to burgers and steaks and buffet style entrees and sides, there is no way a person could enter inside of this building and not find something they would enjoy to eat, especially due to the unbelievable selection of desserts available to us! I’ve never been a huge fan of coffee, but a mocha with a double shot of expresso or any other mug of Starbucks coffee prepared at the Caf are just the things to keep a student (like me) awake after a really late night of studying and a 9:30 a.m. class. Teachers and textbooks advise against last minute cramming for a test, and while I don’t plan on making this a habit because I would so much rather sleep, I’d like to thank the Caf for keeping me awake throughout my test last Wednesday morning.  If you ever visit campus be sure to stop by for a meal! You won’t be disappointed! Eating hasn’t been the only thing I’ve continued to like about my first year at OU! The OU Cousins program began last week and attending OU football games has been a staples of every weekend on campus so far, but I’ll talk more about all of that in posts to come!

Hi! My name is Nick Aguilera.  I’m a freshmen at OU who’s currently planning on double majoring in Spanish and International and Area Studies, although I’m not completely sure those are exactly the majors that are right for me.  I was born in Las Cruces, NM, but moved to Oklahoma in the seventh grade and have lived here since.  The University of Oklahoma was not really on my radar as far as college choices go until around the middle of first semester senior year.  I was pretty sure that I wanted to attend college out of state, but I learned of the scholarship that the University offers to National Merit Scholars, came to tour, and have loved it since! The opportunities present at this school are unbelievable and since starting school here I’ve come to realize that even more!

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