How to Survive Living Off Campus

This article was originally published in The Western Carolinian's Back to School issue - the Freshman Survival Guide section.

"Moving off campus is as big of an adjustment as moving on campus was when students were freshmen. Suddenly, there is cooking, cleaning and trying to find a parking space to worry about and plan. This guide will make life a little easier and help cause less stress.
First, parking does not always have to be a headache. If you choose to become a commuter student, remember to register for your parking permit online before coming to campus. This will save you and One-Stop time and effort. This year, parking passes are $84 and by registering online, the parking pass is mailed to whatever mailing address you desire. The $84 is charged to your student account and the pass arrives at your door after a 24-hour processing and mailing time. However, obtaining a parking permit requires more leg work after Aug. 1. You must go to the Parking Services Office or One-Stop, both on campus buildings, to receive your pass. You may still register online, but the permit will not arrive in your mailbox. After Aug. 19, only One-Stop will have parking permits to give.

Once you have your parking pass, know the lots you where you can park! Parking Services will boot your car with an ugly orange metal contraption that means “You cannot move until we say so” or a white fluttering ticket on your windshield that ruins any day. You might stand a chance of getting the ticket dismissed thanks to Student Government Association’s Traffic Court, but it is easier and quicker to avoid tickets and boots altogether. The Parking Services website has very detailed and insightful maps to make sure commuters, staff, faculty, on campus students and visitors park in the right areas every day of the week. If you are a commuter, learn the routes of the Cat-Tran so that you can safely park in a spot that may be a good walking distance from your classes but is safe from tickets or boots. Ride the Cat-Tran to your classes or put on some good walking shoes for a brisk walk to breathe in that fresh mountain air. Some students frown or make jokes about the Cat-Tran, but your tuition fees go toward the purple buses whether you ride them or not, so enjoy and partake in the campus transportation system. There is also an express route from the new Health and Human Sciences building to the back of the University Center this year. The route is specifically designed to get students from the Health building to main campus and back again in enough time to attend their classes on the separates campuses.

If you do not want to bring your car to campus at all, bicycles are a plus because there are several shortcuts across campus that you cannot use with your car. Many off campus apartments designed for students, like The Summit or Rabbit Ridge, are within easy biking distance to both main campus and the Health and Human Sciences building. Also, there is the Catwalk to safely cross Highway 107. Over the summer, a new crosswalk was built across the highway at the bottom of the hill of The Summit Apartments. Now, students can signal the stop lights to stay red for them to cross the streets without playing the most dangerous game of tag ever played.

One of my roommates!

In previous years, a shuttle ran to nearby off campus apartments on a loop every weekday. Students did not have to pay for this service, and it saved money on gas and parking permits. It was also less of a headache because you did not have to fight for parking spaces or arrive two hours early for class to make sure there was one left.
According to Jackson County Transit, who ran the shuttle, Western Carolina University did not renew their contract, and there will be no more off campus shuttle services through the Transit. However, Don Taylor from Cat-Tran told The Western Carolinian exclusively that the Cat-Tran is now responsible for the off campus shuttle service. They will follow the same route as Jackson County Transit, stopping at the same apartment complexes, said Taylor.
Dining is another huge issue for off campus students. There are two different commuter meal plans one can choose in order to save on groceries and washing dishes. The Commuter Declining Balance plan is $500 of DB points, which can be used at any dining location. The Commuter Block plan is 25 block meals to be used at the upstairs Courtyard Dining Hall throughout one semester plus $374 DB points to be used anywhere. This plan is helpful in that you are still able to eat with your friends upstairs with their on campus meal plans without using up your DB points.
If you run out of points or are not interested in eating upstairs at Courtyard, there are great places to get a meal or groceries in your local community of Cullowhee and Sylva.

Until October, the Farmer’s Market runs every Saturday morning in Sylva and every Wednesday evening in Cullowhee. Get the freshest, healthiest vegetables and even cuts of meat, cheese and fish from local farmers. Herbs, lettuce and other products can be found cheaper at the Market than at stores like Food Lion or Wal-Mart.
For snacks and bread products, try the Flowers Baking Company next door to Rae’s City Grill, previously The Bone Shack. Flowers is a bakery outlet and sells products at significantly lower prices like eight Nature’s Own hamburger buns for $.59 and loaves of bread for under $2 each. Shoppers can also find Blue Bird snack cakes, ketchup, honey, bags of chips, pies and other goodies for their pantries. Pick up a Customer Appreciation Card for more savings.

For other ways to save on groceries, browse the websites of Food Lion and Ingles to see what is on sale then add the coupon onto your MVP or Ingles Advantage Card online. Try not to fall into a routine of only stopping at one grocery store or another. Wal-Mart, Food Lion, Harold’s Supermarket in Dillsboro, Ingles and Sav Mor all have different sales going on during any given day, and by planning ahead, you can save more money and find better deals. If you and your roommates are planning on splitting the cost of groceries, shopping at Wal-Mart is not your best choice. Food Lion and Ingles provide deals like Buy-One-Get-One-Free and provide more discounts on family-sized products than Wal-Mart."

For the full article... CLICK HERE!

The Must List, August 13

This week's list is refreshing, yummy, and musical!

1. Smart Water
Why have I never drunk Smart Water before? It's awesome! It tastes great, and the fun little lip makes me want to drink more. Stuart, you are a genius for buying these. I never want to stop drinking!

2. The Bang Bang Club DVD
Wow, what an awe-inspiring, powerful film! I couldn't stop watching. This is a true testament to photography journalism and the demanding factor of this job, especially overseas. Taylor Kitsch stole my heart away in this dramatic, moving film. 

3. The Western Carolinian newspaper's Seminar Week
You heard me right!! What a way to start the school year! Last night, we had a party at my house with Wii games and some greasy, delicious Bojangles chicken. Today, we had a seminar about AP Style where nearly all of us failed the AP Style quiz. Later, we're learning about Media Law then participating in team building exercises with Base Camp Cullowhee. Early tomorrow morning, it's hiking time before the Photography seminar!! You can't ask for a better last week of summer.

4. Bocelli's
This is a restaurant in Waynesville, NC, and already, Stuart and I are planning our future trips!! It was DELICIOUS and SO CUTE! An Italian eatery, it was the perfect mix of a place for a business meeting or a place to cuddle with your man near to the ivy-covered gates that frame the front of the restaurant. I have been searching that perfect little Italian place since coming to the mountains, and I have finally found one. Garlic knots, mouth-melting. Stuffed shells, delightful! Lemonade, we're buying a gallon next time!

5. "Promise the Stars" by We the Kings
Just another track from We the Kings that I'm in love with! I can't get enough of them. I'm sorry I missed them in the Warped Tour. The music video is pretty great, too.

6. AOL Radio
Pandora gave me attitude. Yahoo! Music Radio freaked out. Now, I'm a listener of the free radio provided by AOL. They play the great tunes that I want to hear, and they have few commercial breaks. If you're into rating, it's easy with a large heart icon or a negative icon. It doesn't get much easier than that.

62. The Doctors' Secrets to a Lifetime of Clear Skin

Book 62: The Doctors' Secrets to a Lifetime of Clear Skin by Dr. Katie Rodan and Dr. Kathy Fields (A-)

What a quirky, sweet book to get as a freebie gift in your Proactiv kit! It was a quick book with 30 myths, tips, and facts about controlling your acne. It was simple and easy to read. The colorful pages were delightful, and every page was helpful.
Here are some tips I didn't know:
Tip 7: "The sun is acne's friend - not yours.
"One of the oddest myths about acne is that the sun is a key ally in your fight - particularly in drying pimples. If by "good for acne" we mean "it encourages more acne" then, yes, the sun is good for acne. Let's be clear: the sun makes acne much worse and should be avoided. A tan can temporarily hide a red, broken-out complexion. But where did that get you? As that tan fades, your skin starts to shed more cells - which clog pores and trigger more breakouts a few weeks down the road" (20-21).

Tip 12: "You can't even GIVE acne away.
"Sometimes your acne can make you feel like an outcast... No one can catch acne... The process of how those bacteria cause breakouts depends on many other individual factors - including the type of oil your glands make and how easily your pores clog. Sharing pillowcases or dancing cheek to cheek with someone experiencing a full-on breakout will not make your acne worse. So don't shy away. Acne is already a lonely experience" (30-31).
Tip 24: "Scrubs can be the pits.
"There are earnest, well-meaning fans of facial scrubs that contain ground-up fruit parts - usually walnut or apricot pits - believing that such "natural" cleansing will deliver the deep-down clean that's bound to help clean up acne. Right? Wrong! That sharp edges from these particles actually causes MICRO-TEARS IN YOUR SKIN, leaving it raw and irritated - potentially making matters much worse. You want to shed, not shred" (54-55)!

Works Cited:

Rodan, Katie and Fields, Kathy. The Doctors' Secrets to a Lifetime of 

Clear Skin. Guthy-Renker, LLC, 2009-2011. Print.

Photo of the Day November 14

In an effort to eat better and live a happier life, I am finally doing what everyone has told me: I'm changing my diet. Yesterday, Ma took me out to good ole Wal-Mart and we picked up some lovely fruits, whole grains, and organic goodies. This here is my new favorite snack! But don't pat me on the back yet, it's only day one... and I still have Halloween candy left! We'll see how this goes!
But after a whole night of complete sleep and with sleeping on a full pillow instead of my "flillow" as Stuart calls it and a whole bottle of water this morning, I'm feeling very alert and active! And, I like it! 

3. The Constant Gardener

Book 3: The Constant Gardner by John le Carre (A+)

What an amazing book turned into an amazing movie!!! I'm not going to say the book was better (like everyone says). I will say that the movie and book were equally great in their own separate ways.

So if you didn't already feel paranoid about phramasuedical companies, then this is the book for you!! It is an amazing activist book for third world countries told through the tireless efforts of a British diplomat's wife then by her husband as he tries to avenge her death!

Tessa Quayle (pronounced like quail the bird) is viciously murdered while attending a gender conference. Her husband Justin, a diplomant for England's High Commission in Africa, finds out that her death wasn't just the stereotypical violence of Africa but a planned and ordered murder to silence his wife. Tessa and her assumed lover (which is another twist in the plot) Dr. Arnold Bluhm were trying to expose the horrors of the pharmasuedical company the House of Three Bees. Three Bees was selling and distributing a TB-curing drug in Africa even though the clinical trials for the drugs had been rushed and had shown horrible side effects, including blindness, death, and stillborn children in women. Tessa and Arnold try to expose the truth while bad people, including individuals from the High Commission who have ties and stock with Three Bees, try to silence them with everything from threats to public excommunication and finally with death. Justin picks up where his wife left off in an effort to discover to quell love triangle rumors and uncovers more than he bargained for. He then embarks on a worldwide mission to learn not only about the work his wife did but also who she truly was.

The story races from one scene to another and is tied with passionate, beautiful, raw flashbacks of Justin and Tessa. The characters are so deep and multi-layered that you can have a long list for each of why you hate and/love them. It is an extremely exhilariating read that you won't want to put down.
The only thing I have to say about it is that the ending was drawn out a bit but possibly necessary.

The Gray Area

At Tuesday's ballroom dance class, I was doing the cha-cha with Jonathan from "Sweet-N-Low." We were stepping back and forth in our little corner, trying to master a new move that involved me pivoting. I just couldn't get it down. There was something about the dynamics that I was missing. Upon finally accomplishing it, I felt such awesomeness! We performed the move a few times with success before stepping apart and taking a break.

Suddenly, things got fuzzy. A heavy heat settled over my brain. Everything became slow. I couldn't focus on what Jonathan or anyone else was saying. The room became stiff and stuffy; the air had been sucked out! My knees began to wobble; my strong legs turned into jelly left in the sun. Jonathan moved toward me to try the dance step again. He took my hands and stepped back in the first move, but I shook my head, staring intently at the ground.

"No, no...nonono," I remember saying.
"No?" Jonathan questioned.
"No..." I struggled to lift my head up to meet his face. "She" - I pointed at my friend Kat who had ran off to get me food - "she's gonna to get me s-s-stuff..."
"Stuff?"
"Um...uh..." My memory was blanking. The ability to form words was quickly declining. It was the beginning of the end. "Sugar!" I managed.
"You. Sit down. Here. Sit down," Jonathan said. (If you had read "Show of Splenda," it is obvious that JC has a full understanding of what I was feeling.)
I sat. And waited for normalcy to return...
This is an occurrence that happens a too regular basis!

* * * *

I tell this story because of something that happened before Spring Break that until now, I have been too angry about to write about it rationally. Even still, I might get a bit carried away if I get going.

For months, I have been waiting for my sugar to be low enough to get it tested at Western Carolina's Health Center. Finally that happened. And when I got there and my sugar was tested, I had a big surprise!!

My blood sugar, as weak and horrible as I felt, was at 88.

Normal is around 100.

...There was nothing wrong with my blood sugar.

However, no one could tell me what was actually wrong with me. I got pricked then questioned like a prisoner about my entire health history but still, I felt no one was actually listening to what I was saying. Whenever I said "this has been happening my whole life" or "I've experienced this since kindergarten," the nurse or physician would skip by it and I would catch a disgruntled frown on their faces. It was frustrating like "I'm telling you the truth. Why isn't this as important to you as it is to me? This is my life!!! I need help fixing it!"

After snacking on some Saltines and peanut butter and answering the never-ending, often repeating questions, I was given this as a diagnosis:

"You're a tall, skinny, 19-year-old female. Sometimes, people of your height, weight, and age can become hypersensitive to these kinds of things."

.......

WHAT?!?!!?

Are you saying that I nearly black out in dance class because I'm hypersensitive?

That I was wheeled through the Denver, Colorado airport in a wheelchair after throwing up for two days because I'm hypersensitive?

That I spent nearly every month vomiting in a toilet when I was between the ages of five and seven because I'm hypersensitive?

That I need other people to literally carry me up stairs or even down the hall after not eating for too long because I'm hypersensitive?!

....

At that point, the doctor was studying me. "You look like what I'm saying is bullcrap," she informed me as I continued to stare at her. "What's going through your mind?"

I explained that after everything I've been through, that just didn't seem to fit. "I just want to know what's wrong with me," I admitted.

And then she said something I will NEVER forget... something so insensitive and rude, something so out of place for the context we were in: a scared, young female student begging for answers and a supposedly professional doctor... her answered was: "Well, medicine isn't as black and white as we'd like it be."

...It was then that I stopped listening to anything else she had to say. And, I left the Health Center stressed and in tears.

* * * *

She's wrong. I know she's wrong! I can't tell you how or what is actually wrong with me, why I have these horrible, crippling spells. Maybe she's right about one thing; maybe it's not hypoglycemia. But it's more than hypersensitivity! Because I know my body and I am the only person who knows what I go through, and it's more than this! I was so frustrated, so disgusted by that woman's insensitivity, and so broken hearted that I didn't get any answers! It was worse than having my heart broken by a boy.

Dear physician who told me such things, that is my life that you're just throwing out the window with your insensitive words. The way you treated my situation was deplorable, and if I knew the right people to talk to... I would highly recommend your removal from the Health Center. Because of you, I feel horrible about myself, like I'm making up my own sickness in my head and that I'm a liar about what's happening to me. You have only fulfilled the theories and anecdotes that hospitals and health care facilities are horrible places!

* * * *

I will find out why my body reacts the way it does! And, I will find a cure, and I will get better!!! Because I REFUSE TO LIVE MY LIFE LIKE THIS!!!

However, I am extremely thankful that this is all that's wrong. While Jonathan and I have similarities, I do not have to inject myself with insulin every day nor have I experienced the hospital stay from Hell that he did when he was 12. And, I'm not taking pity on him. In the short time that I've known him, I can say I love Jonathan! That boy has more imagination, creativity, and energy than any person over the age of five that I've ever met. He has a spark of magic in him that cannot be replicated in just anybody. And, I bet part of the reason that spark is there is because of what he's been through. Even if we never talk again after ballroom class ends, I will be happy and proud to say that I knew someone that strong and brave and beautiful.

But I cannot forget two of my dearest who have been there every moment since I met them... Morgan and Chris. Chris, while callous and harsh in his opinions when I talk to him about my problems, is a sweet and gentle friend when I get sick. He never grows impatient or gets frustrated when I become difficult (believe me, a 140-something pound, 5' 10" girl is very difficult to handle when she can't stand on her own!) Chris carries on when I can't, and he has never treated me special or different. On the other hand, Morgan has been my special nutritionist trooper. He has taken me to special dietary appointments and held my hand when I can't hold open my eyes. He has loved and doted on me with lots of chocolate and peanut butter! He has been my inspiration to get better, to make sure I get sick less often. His patience and understanding has been invaluable to me, and it's what I love the most about him! To both of them, I am most thankful!

* * * *

This has been a very eye-opening experience. Since moving to Cullowhee, I have learned day by day how to efficiently care for myself and what does or does not work. There will still be moments when I crash. Realistically, there will always be moments when I crash throughout my life unless there is a cure for this "hypersensitivity" or whatever this is. I have also learned that the medical profession... they don't always have the answers. And sometimes, you have to come up with your own. As I try to move forward from my negative experience at the Health Center, I will always remember to trust in my own instincts. No one knows me like me.