June 2009 Archives

Hey. It's me again. This week I've decided to blog a little bit (yeah, right) about the Honors College. The Honors College (and the Presidential Scholarship I received through the Honors College) was the thing that made Southern Miss stand out the most in prospective colleges my senior year of high school. For a number of reasons, the Honors College is also my favorite thing about coming to Southern Miss. Without the Honors College, I wouldn't have met my best friends or developed into the stud I am today. Continuing with last week's theme, I'm going to run down my top four favorite things about the Honors College. First, a quick synopsis of the Honors College. There are two phases to the Honors College: General Honors and Senior Honors. Quick synopsis over.

4. Chemistry 106 Lab - General honors classes are structured differently than regular classes. All general honors classes are the same as the core classes everyone at the university has to take, such as English or history or science classes. The trick is that general honors classes are smaller in size, usually 12-15 students, allowing faculty and students to develop a more personal relationship in the classroom. Also, within general honors, classes are split up into two different categories: traditional and active learning. Traditional learning classes meet regularly with 12-15 students. Active learning classes also meet regularly with a small class size, but at least once during the semester, the Honors College pays for all the students to go on a trip that will enhance the learning experience of the student. There will be more on active learning classes below. In addition, all honors classes are taught by faculty with the highest degree possible in their field, i.e. not grad students. Chemistry 106 was one of my first traditional learning honors classes. The lab was especially nice, because the students in lab were essentially all the same students I had in my lecture class. The lab was led by one of the general laboratory supervisors, so she knew what she was doing. Seeing that I am now a chemistry major, you can imagine this class had a major (major? get it?) effect on my academic career. This picture below has nothing to do with chemistry. One day, there was a broken VCR on my couch in the residence hall so I carried it around with me all day. I 'm not sure why. This picture was taken in that fabled Chemistry 106 lab. I'm also not sure why there was a person taking pictures that day, even though that person is one of my best friends.

For all you chemistry buffs out there, we aren't wearing eye protection because all chemicals and solvents had been safely stored under the lab hoods.

3. Washington, DC - My first active learning class was English 203, which is the world literature requirement that is in the core curriculum. The honors English 203 class I took was under the guidance of Dr. Hauer, one of my favorite professors at Southern Miss. Our class focused completely on Shakespeare, and as part of our active learning, we flew to Washington, DC to see the Folger Shakespeare Library. It was incredible. We got to see Queen Elizabeth I's bible and original printings of Shakespeare's plays. We also had the chance to see As You Like It performed by a professional Shakespeare company. It was cool, very cool and all paid for by the Honors College. We had plenty of free time so we made it over to the Library of Congress and I had a chance to get up close and personal with the Washington Monument, which made me scared. I have a big fear of heights. Once again, this picture below has nothing to do with Shakespeare or English, but it's really funny and it was taken in Washington. I'm on the left. I guess I'm not okay with Zoe laughing at Patrick's jokes.

2. NYC - Perhaps the most glamorous of all the active learning trips, the semi-annual trip to New York City, is always a favorite with Honors College students. On alternating semesters, the Theatre Appreciation and Art Appreciation classes take turns going to enjoy one of the largest centers for culture in North America. I had the privilege of taking the Theatre Appreciation class and going to New York (for freeeee) during spring break of 2008. It was the best spring break ever. We saw two plays on Broadway for free, and my friends and I bought tickets to see a third, Spring Awakening. By all means, I was not a fan of much theatre before I took Theatre Appreciation. The trip to New York changed that feeling completely. Surprise, I learned to appreciate theatre! Also, I'm still not sure the proper use of the variations of the spelling of theatre, so I just stuck with the same one. Sorry if that was incorrect. My bad. However, the theatre wasn't the best part of New York City. It was the city itself. I'm fascinated by it. My friend Elizabeth and I took time to meet one of her friends that goes to NYU by Washington Square Park, and I don't think my heart was beating for a solid two hours because it was so breathtaking. They even called the ambulance (not really.) We also took a walk through Central Park, and it changed my life. I was only in New York for a few days, but it was enough to convince me to move there one day. Below is a picture of Elizabeth and I in Strawberry Fields with the John Lennon memorial. So good.

1. Hattiesburg Hall - The two residence halls for Honors College, Hattiesburg Hall for males and Mississippi Hall for women, are two of the greatest assets of the Honors College. The halls are set up suite style.  Two or three bedrooms share a bathroom and living room that we like to call the "common room" or maybe common room is the actual title of the room. I'm not sure. Sharing a bathroom with three or five other people is a unique experience that definitely beats the communal style bathroom. But it's not the building (even though Hattiesburg Hall is one of the original buildings on our campus) that made Hattiesburg Hall such a great place to be.  It's the people. I notice now that as a senior all I do when I get together with friends is talk about what we did in the two years all of us lived in Hattiesburg Hall together. The honors residence halls are meant to be a living and learning environment in which students spend time with other students who are learning similar things and living out experiences together. Without a doubt, the friends I made in my two full years in Hattiesburg Hall are my best friends, and they are the people I will cherish years and years after graduation. The parts I remember most about living there are the little things, such as group homework sessions, late night trips to Quizno's, and watching my friend make his nightly phone call to his girlfriend. Then there are the big moments, such as the time we moved Sam's bed and all his personal belongings out into the common room, the time the guys went on a campout and left a cooler full of raw meat in the common room for a month, and that time we invented the game "night man". I'd like to share with you this picture that captures the essence of my experience in Hattiesburg Hall during freshman year. From left to right, that's myself, Ken, Brad, and Chad. Brad is showing his "Guitar Hero face." Guitar Hero is the reason I ruined my 4.0 with a B in Economics my freshman year. Enough said. Also, you can see a can of "Citrus Drop." Citrus Drop, to this day, is the staple drink of my circle of friends. Two weeks ago, Brad had four cases of it at his apartment. Its great citrus flavor is served best at room temperature. Think I'm kidding? I'm not.

There you have it. Honors College. In a nutshell. A large, large nutshell. Like a really big acorn or something.

P.S. If you're wondering the rules to "night man," here they are: The game is played in the common room. Close all doors except for the bathroom doors. Turn off the lights. The game is played at night. One person puts a big blanket over himself so that he can't see anything. The object of the game is to avoid the person with the blanket. If the blanket person tackles someone, he has about 5 seconds to guess who he tackled. If he can't guess correctly, he loses and must tackle someone else. If he guesses correctly, the person tackled has to wear the blanket. We loved that game.

Cough. Cough. Sneeze. I'm a bit under the weather this week, which is no fun in the summertime. Today I'm going to talk about one of my top 12 favorite things about America: late-night diners. Something about these unique establishments is so integral to our overall culture as Americans, especially in the South. Below, I'll run down four of my favorite late-night diners in Hattiesburg.

4. IHOP - Our International House of Pancakes in Hattiesburg is located directly across Hardy Street from the main entrance of campus. Its convenient location is perhaps its greatest asset. My main reason for putting IHOP at number 4 on the list is mostly personal. All of you from Metairie, LA, should know that the IHOP off of Severn Avenue and the south service road of I-10 is the best IHOP in the country. It's like the Grand Central Station of IHOPs. I guess you could say I've been spoiled and that every IHOP in the country will pale in comparison to my hometown branch. In addition, the International House of Pancakes here in Hattiesburg isn't open that late, for whatever reason. If you're going to compete in the world of late-night diners, you're going to have to be open past 1:00 A.M. Sorry, IHOP.

3. Stuckey's - Okay, I'll admit it. The Stuckey's in Hattiesburg does not have a diner. I know, it's a travesty. It's one of the two things I would change about Hattiesburg, but Stuckey's national reputation of being an awesome late-night diner is enough to get it on the list. There's also another reason Stuckey's made it to the number 3 slot on my list. That reason is the amazing selection of items available in their convenience store. A wide variety of t-shirts, sweatshirts, novelty license plates, glassware, wood carvings, personalized key chains and so much more make going to Stuckey's a shopping adventure worthy of Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Below is an attractive picture of me sporting my favorite Stuckey's shirt while hanging out on top of a parking garage in downtown Hattiesburg. I wear that shirt a lot, so if you ever see me there's a very good likelihood I'll be wearing it.

2. Waffle House - No self-respecting list of late-night diners would be complete without the inclusion of the industry staple, Waffle House. Hattiesburg has two Waffle Houses. One is located on Highway 49 and one is at the intersection of Highway 98 and I-59. I've never been to the one on Highway 49, but I can say I've been to the one on Highway 98 many, many times. I remember early in my freshman year, it was on a trip to that Waffle House when I had one of my first "I'm in college and I can go places whenever I want to without asking anyone" moments. It was an awesome feeling. Many monumental campus events are ended with a trip to Waffle House. I heard a rumor that two years after the university was founded, our first president, Joseph Anderson Cook, presided over the first session of instruction on September 18, 1912 and then went to Waffle House afterwards with a few of the students. Clearly, Waffle House holds a special place in the heart of our institution.

1. Dan's Diner - Coming in at number one on my late-night diner countdown is Dan's Diner. It is a gem of the late-night diner culture and is located about ten minutes south of campus on Highway 49. (Also, according to Google maps, there is another Dan's Diner in Hattiesburg, although its relation to my beloved diner is unclear). This truck stop/diner/general store is everything you would want from a late-night diner.  It has wood paneling, cliche pictures of old Western scenes painted on the walls, a variety of intriguing wait staff, a delicious cup of coffee, a few quiet truckers with long beards, some rowdy customers and t-shirts with dream catchers and wolves on them. As it is located off the beaten path of Hardy Street, many students have never heard of Dan's Diner. To those students, I extend my condolences. You haven't really lived. Last Friday, well after midnight, I made a journey to Dan's with my friends Emily and Lauren. Here's a camera-phone snapshot of the two clearly enjoying Hattiesburg's finest establishment. Notice the exquisite painting on the wall behind them.

There you have it. My top four favorite late-night diners. Well, Stuckey's isn't really a diner, but it made the list anyway. I've been living here three years now, and I'm sure in the next year if I put a little effort into it I can find some other late-night haunts out in the back roads of Hattiesburg. Even if I don't, I'd be happy to eat at Dan's Diner and Waffle House on alternating nights until I graduate. Not really. But I think about it from time to time.

P.S. If you're wondering what the second thing I'd change about Hattiesburg would be, I've always thought it would be cool if we had a Sea World here. Sea World Hattiesburg. That's all.

Hello, internets. Right now, I'm at work in the Office of Admissions, but I'm also watching our second game in the College World Series on ESPN360.com.  It is a nail-biter for sure. We just turned our 82nd double play of the season! That's 61 more than the number of years I've been alive!

I'm from the not-so-small town of Metairie, LA, which is located right next to New Orleans. Largely because of Hurricane Katrina, which struck my senior year of high school, I've developed a sort of love-hate relationship with New Orleans. For this reason, I'm always glad I have a great town like Hattiesburg to call my home-away-from-home. This is the second time I'll be spending the summer in Hattiesburg. The summer after my freshman year, I stayed in Hattiesburg to take organic chemistry so that my sophomore year would be a little less stressful. (Southern Miss just turned their 83rd double play!) This summer I'm also staying in Hattiesburg so that I can work in a research lab for both my Honors College and my chemistry degree requirements. For the next few months, I'll be researching (if you're looking for an excuse for a nap here's your cue) and working on an indicator for detecting iron in seawater. I'll be taking a ligand and attaching it to an aldehyde compound that acts as a chromophore. We then load the ligand with a lanthanide compound and excite the chromophore with... is anyone paying attention? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

While I'm not performing life-or-death research in the lab, I spend a lot of time this summer working in the Office of Admissions, but it's the time I spend off-campus over the summer that makes it such a special time for me. During the summer, the student population drops dramatically and campus gets a lot quieter. As a result, I get to spend a lot of time out in Hattiesburg at local businesses and at friend's houses. Just yesterday, I spent three relaxing hours at T-Bone Records and Coffee, a record shop that just recently added a coffee shop inside. They have free internet access and a friendly staff who are always talking about music or good shows in the area. They also had a stage put in so that every once and a while there will be live music. During my three-hour stay yesterday, I watched the last episode of ABC's LOST on the Internet. Another one of my primary activities this summer has been catching up on all five seasons of Lost, and frankly I was very sad when I finished the last episode. I have to wait until January to see any new episodes, but at least this time I'll be caught up with all my friends and we can enjoy the episodes together.

Another thing I enjoy about the summer is spending long afternoons and evenings with friends, although I haven't gotten to do that nearly enough this summer. All my friends are getting older, and we have busy schedules with work and classes even during the summer, finding time is getting harder and harder. Even so, we still try to get together. Last Sunday, I had made some plans to go to Mandeville, LA, to see an old favorite band (old = 5 years ago) Taking Back Sunday play, but I decided I would rather stay in Hattiesburg to catch the big baseball game. I spent the whole afternoon into late evening at Caliente Grille, a restaurant owned by Southern Miss graduate, Charles Arinder.  We all got free entrees for every home run scored by the Golden Eagles and free chips for every double play. Although I missed out on a concert with friends, I enjoyed the long evening in Hattiesburg with some of the Southern Miss faithful.  

The third thing I love about summer in Hattiesburg is music. Summer nights are best spent listening to live music in Hattiesburg's historic downtown or at various places all over town. When I can't find any good music to listen to, I like to make my own. I really enjoy playing my guitar outdoors, with friends or by myself. If weather keeps me inside, I play around on my new keyboard. For my birthday about a month ago, my parents got me some professional music software and a new MIDI-controller keyboard. As a result, I've been mixing songs and making music late into the evenings all summer. It's a lot of fun and a great alternative to watching TV. I'll close out this week's blog by including this instrumental song you can check out that I made a few nights ago. I recorded a few of my own instrument loops and looped two of my favorite songs. Enjoy!

A song from a few nights ago.mp3

Hello again, everyone. Before I get started this week, I'd just like to point you here. That's right! The Eagles are going to Omaha! It's a great day to be a Golden Eagle.

Exam weeks at Southern Miss have a different atmosphere than any other time of the year as students remember that they are students and migrate to the library to study and drink coffee. I always enjoy exam week because it brings a change of pace from the daily routine of the semester. Exam week schedules are released well in advance by the Registrar's Office, even before the semester starts. Each exam has a time slot of two and a half hours, but I can't remember ever spending the entire two and a half hours taking an exam. As a result of the extended time slot, exam week schedules can be quite different from the rest of the semester's weekly schedule.

I love exam week for a number of reasons. First, I enjoy a good challenge. Nothing says challenge like studying four months worth of quantum mechanics and chemistry for my Physical Chemistry II exam or trying to memorize most of the Periodic Table for Descriptive Inorganic Chemistry. Second, I always find that exam week gives me lots of free time. Exam week is part of "dead week," a week where no student organizations can have functions or meetings. Because I spend most of my time with student activities, this means that I have lots of time to study and clear my head for the daunting task of passing finals. My first semester of freshman year, I had an older student living above me in Hattiesburg Hall named Wes. Wes used to go running late at night, especially during exam week. Every exam week since, I've made it a tradition to go on runs in-between studying for my exams. Running is a great way to work off stress and take a break from studying. This past exam week I went on my traditional run and snapped this photo of the Administration building late at night:

Southern Miss's campus is well lit and I always see the University Police Department (UPD) driving around, so I felt comfortable running late at night.

A third reason I love exam weeks is that exam weeks are the only time of year that I still pull all-nighters. The infamous all-nighter. The exhausting all-nighter. The fun all-nighter? This year my exam schedule was quite peculiar. Exam week essentially runs from Monday to Thursday, with graduation ceremonies on Friday. This past exam week, I didn't have a final exam until Wednesday at 7:00 PM. I then had two on Thursday, one at 8:00 AM and one at 1:30 PM.  It was a brutal schedule, if I may say so myself. On Wednesday night, my friend Brad and I pulled our token all-nighter of the week. It was a night we won't forget.

During exam week at Southern Miss, the library closes at 2:00 AM. This means that students pulling all nighters must find other places to study into the early morning hours. Luckily, one of my two favorite coffee houses in Hattiesburg, Javawerks, stays open 24 hours a day during exams and is conveniently located directly across from campus. This is where Brad and I decided we would spend the night studying for our Physical Chemistry II exam at 8:00 the next morning.

And so it begins...

9:00 PM: Brad and I arrive at Javawerks. Our first drink of the night was the "Heart Condition." It's got a lot of coffee and caffeine in it.  We looked through all of our homework from the past semester looking for problems that have appeared on old tests and might appear again.

10:20 PM: A mysterious figure arrives at Javawerks. He's wearing a skin-tight shirt and sunglasses (at night). I will talk more about him later. Still looking at old homework.

12:06 AM: The dynamic duo starts looking at the most recent chapters we learned. We haven't been tested on them yet and we were very nervous about that. Across the coffee shop, I see the mysterious figure talking to my friends Emily and Eli. I wonder what he's up to. Behind me, former Student Government President Melissa Cirino is writing a paper with some more friends. They're wondering what he's up to as well. To my left, Joey and Chelsey are studying Astronomy. I didn't even know we had astronomy classes at Southern Miss. It turns out that we do. Here's Joey looking a little fatigued at 12:06 AM:

 

2:00 AM: A few things have become clear. 1. Brad and I may never fully understand Physical Chemistry II. Try as we may, I'm not sure it can happen. 2. Even at this hour, the coffee shop is still lively. Students still appear to have some energy. About an hour and a half earlier, the Duo took a pit stop at the local Taco Bell for our fourth meal. Gotta have it. Having it our way. I'm loving it. We're still feeling the boost that meal gave us. 3. The mysterious figure has made his intentions clear.  He is here to meet the ladies. All with his shades on, he's managed to make conversation with every girl in the building. The funny thing is, I'm not sure that he knows everyone is in on his act. This mysterious figure, whose nickname isn't appropriate for national television, gave us much entertainment throughout the night. So much entertainment. Try to picture him in your head. Try.

4:22 AM: The night is rolling on. Javawerks has cleared out over the past couple of hours and only the most loyal of the all-nighters are left. The Duo is fairly tired of looking at chemistry problems but we carry on regardless. Our studying efficiency has slacked off quite nicely. We're still being distracted by our hero, the mysterious figure. He's not really our hero. Not at all. Here's a snapshot of Brad, he wasn't too happy about being awake at 4:22 AM:

 

5:00 AM: Our classmate Grant arrives. He decided to wake up really early and study instead of staying up all night. It is at this hour that our mysterious figure friend decides to finally leave the coffee house. That's seven hours of macho-man flirting. Seven hours.  At a coffee shop. In the middle of the night. Seven. Whole. Hours.

6:30 AM: By now, the sun has risen. I'm getting my second drink of the all-nighter (only the second!) called the Red Eye. It has two shots of espresso topped off with medium brew coffee. The "Heart Condition" we started the evening with had lots of caffeine, and I had waited a long time to order another coffee for fear of an actual heart condition. We're about to close our books and get some breakfast before the big test. We've come a long way but we know we still have a long way to go. 8:00 AM: Test time.

9:30 AM: Brad and I cry together outside our classroom.

10:00 AM: Okay, so we didn't really cry, but that test was the hardest test I had ever taken. We head to the library to start studying for our next final, Differential Equations, at 1:30. We've never been more tired. I keep falling asleep, but I dream of math problems so I hardly notice I'm asleep. This isn't good.

12:00 PM: Lunch time. It's the energy I needed.

1:30 PM: Test time, part 2.

3:45 PM: I won't say the exam was even that difficult, but my brain was operating so slowly that it took me perhaps the longest time yet in college to finish that exam. Exam week is over, however, and the celebrations can begin. Lots of close friends of mine are about to graduate, so I have several parties and people to see in the next few days. First, a nap. Yes, a nap. The best nap that can ever be had. The "I just took my last final after my all-nighter" nap. That's why the nap was invented. It was invented for exam weeks. Trust me. It's the best thing ever.

So there it is. An all-nighter. The effectiveness of all-nighters is debatable, but I'd have to say that they are part of the college experience I wouldn't trade for the world. If you're wondering about the mysterious figure, I was at Javawerks two nights ago and he was there.

He was still wearing his sunglasses.

Hello there.  My name is Stuart Lovinggood. I figured I'd tell you a little bit about myself and what I'm all about since this is my first blog.  I'm a junior senior chemistry major from Metairie, LA. I graduated from Brother Martin High School in 2006 and began at Southern Miss that fall. I'm a Presidential Scholar through our Honors College. Our Honors College is perhaps one of my favorite things about Southern Miss. You should check out the Honors College website here. I am involved on campus, and I love every minute of it (well, almost every minute of it.)  I've never liked those five minutes before a test when you realize you forgot to study an entire concept/section/chapter. That's never fun. I'm a member of Greek life and student government.  As an active student recruiter, I work in the Office of Admissions giving tours of campus and recruit through Eagle Connection, another student organization.

I'm particularly passionate about many things: the Honors College, studying abroad, music, late-night diners and Southern Miss traditions. You'll probably read about one or all of these topics in my future blogs.

If you'd like to see something fun and informational, you can check out this video interview I did for the Admissions website: Warning - Bad Haircut. In my defense, I'd just like to say that the day after that video was filmed, I got a haircut.

To conclude this week's blog, I'll share with you one of my many cherished memories here at Southern Miss. One day, several of my friends from Hattiesburg Hall, the Honors College residence hall for males, went outside to play frisbee in the courtyard right outside my window. Being the awesomely athletic guy that I am, I brought out my guitar and played a few songs while everyone else threw the frisbee around. A man from Photo Services came outside and took a few pictures of us playing. Photo Services is in charge of making our student ID's, but they also take pictures of campus events and campus life. We felt pretty cool to be the subject of a photographer from Photo Services. About a year later, I tracked down the photographer, and he was gracious enough to give me all the pictures he took. Here's a good one of myself and two of my best friends, Sam and Brad. 

I guess that will be all for this week. Next week, I'll take you through a typical exam week at Southern Miss. I promise it'll be lots of fun..