Oh! Hi there, Duke basketball!

I realize my first blog post should probably be an introduction into the "average" day of a student at Duke, but the truth is, every day is different for every student, so here's a recap of what happened yesterday.

I woke up, went to my CompSci4 class (Programming/Problem Solving) and listened to lecture. I usually characterize myself as more of a liberal arts type who likes discussing, reading, and writing, but I really like this class (as I do all my classes this semester). Our programming assignments so far have been really fun, like coding (in Python, for those of you who are familiar with programming) songs like "The Farmer in the Dell" and "This is the Song that Never Ends." Who knew learning commands and functions could be so fun?! ..Just another affirmation that Duke is the right place for me.

After class, I headed to my tent (Tent 33) in K-ville (named for Coach Krzyzewski) and hung out for two hours doing homework, sipping on a strawberry and pineapple smoothie from Quenchers, and munching on a medley of carrots, celery, and broccoli dipped in ranch. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the concept of tenting (as I was before I came to Duke), basically Cameron Crazies pitch tents on a huge patch of grass (that, at times, gets muddy and squishy) in front of Wilson Gym and Cameron Indoor Stadium and live there for five weeks to get good seats to the Duke vs. UNC men's basketball game. (Check out the K-Ville Chronicles. They have videos and pictures and their own blog!)

My tent! (This is just when it started snowing Jan. 29.)

So, after I finished my tent shift, I went over to Subway to grab dinner with two of my friends. (The $5 foot longs are absolutely genius for college students on a budget, by the way.) After, we all headed toward Cameron together. Like any good Duke student, I harbor an intense dislike (not hatred, of course) of the UNC Tar Heels. Individually, they're all great people, but it's always fun to spark up a "collective hatred" against the school. And with Duke basketball being a HUGE part of the school's culture, I felt obligated to go to the women's basketball game against UNC even though I had a 5-page paper due the next day.

Long story short, No. 8 Duke killed No. 18 UNC (no surprise there!), 79-51. (If you want to read the full story from my colleague, click here!)

But not only did the Cameron Crazies get to revel in the sweet victory that just happened, but they got to witness the long-standing Duke tradition of burning benches for basketball wins over UNC. So though my toes were freezing in the 34-degree weather, I stood and watched in excitement as our benches caught fire. (Don't worry. The activity was safely guarded by firemen and sanctioned by the Duke Student Government. And there was an O drawn around the benches a safe distance away.)

When we just got the fire started..

And the burning continued..

So after watching that for a good hour, I went in to my friend's dorm and did some homework before heading to the tent for the night. My day ended on a great note, getting to hang out and talk with friends while still finishing that paper that was due at a decent hour.

And now the day has just begun, but it's been great so far! It's hard to catch a breather since I have class from 8:30am to 2:30pm with 20 minutes between each. I've had Math104 (Linear Algebra & Applications), Writing 20 (Google Earth's Impact), and ICS125 (Comparative Approaches to Global Issues), and am updating this blog before my Chem83 (Chemistry/Technology/Society) class starts. Quick rundown of today: class, tenting for two hours, and indoor tennis practice later tonight. And in between, it's study time since I have a math midterm Thursday and a CompSci exam Friday. Oops, class is about to start. Ta-ta for now!