Search results matching tags 'Greek life' and 'HRC'

What I wish I knew then that I know now...

BUTaylorM — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 22:04:00 GMT

Let me start this off by saying that it finally feels like fall. It's lovely. As I look back on all the time I have already spent here, I thought of all the things that I have learned in the past few weeks... thing I wish I had known before I started school. I don't want to leave everyone in the dark so I will shed light on some burning, prospective students' questions.

1. Flex-Dollars/Dawg Bucks/Meal Plan(s)

I am not going to sugar coat it. As an incoming student, meal plans are confusing. I had no idea what flex dollars were, what dawg bucks were, if they were the same thing, or how to use them. Flex Dollars are points, essentially, that come when you get your meal plan. I, for example, have a 240 meal block plan and it comes with $150 flex dollars. The 240 meals can be used at Atherton or ResCo dining halls (or through the C-Club Meal exchange, which I will explain in a minute.) and they last for the semester. I have, honestly, had trouble getting to meals at Atherton because I have a busy schedule and, often, I don't worry about my meals. Flex Dollars last only for the semester and don't roll over. Dawg Bucks do. Also, Dawg Bucks are something you buy to supplement your flex dollars if you go through them quickly. You can use your flex dollars/dawg bucks at C-Club, Starbucks, or the Zia juice bar in the HRC (health and recreation center). *see below for useful sites about meal plans*

2. C-Club Meal Exchange

I love the meal exchange. It is available from 4:30-9:30 PM at C-Club. Basically, you get yummy food like wraps, sandwiches, quesadillas, or chicken strips with a side and a drink and it counts as one of your meals rather than deducting from your flex dollars. If this weren't an option and I went to C-Club as often as I do, I would be out of flex dollars already. This is something I highly recommend you use as an incoming student.

3. Wi-Fi/Internet Access

Before I came to Butler, I was unaware of the fact that the campus in its entirety is not wireless. However, don't let this deter you from Butler. Schwitzer Hall now has wireless internet (Ross Hall does not) and buildings like Jordan, Gallahue, Holcomb, and the Pharmacy building have wireless, too. The thing is... Butler is an old campus (that was something that attracted me to the campus) and things like wireless and air conditioning are hard to install in the beautiful old stone buildings but like I said we are on our way to a wireless campus. In all honesty, I haven't had too many problems with internet connections or any of that.

4. Homecoming/High School-like Events

Currently, Butler is having Homecoming Week. It's really exciting as the sidewalks are covered in chalk... a huge thing here at Butler (if you need to know what's going on, just look where you're walking). Just this past weekend, there was an '80s dance. I wasn't really aware that there are still dances, homecoming, and clubs like high school. If that is something you were afraid of losing from high school, fear not! It is still here! If that is something you thought would go away, fear not! You don't have to go to Homecoming... there are plenty of other things to do. College is kind of awesome like that.

5. Dry Houses versus Wet Houses

A dry house is a fraternity/sorority that cannot have alcohol on its premises. All the sororities and one of the fraternities are dry houses. Now, for some that may sound like a terrible thing. What's college without parties, right? Well, I am not condoning underage drinking whatsoever but WHEN you are of age, there are places to have a good time. The nice thing about dry houses is that they are, generally, a lot cleaner. Without alcohol, there aren't parties where the house gets trashed.

6. Greek Life

Like I said above, we have wet and dry houses. Another thing I didn't know, specifically regarding Butler, is that Butler's sororities/fraternities are not off in their own little world. There isn't a divide between the 2 groups. In fact, there is a club, Independent Council, that serves to join the 2 groups together: Greeks and Non-Greeks. Also, because Butler is not a large state school... you won't find the groups separated. Campus is united... something I didn't know. Another thing that is really great about the Greek system here at Butler is that you don't rush until your second semester (unlike Purdue and Ball State where bid day has come and gone). This allows you to really get to know the houses, the girls, and Butler's campus in general. You won't have to make a rash decision because you have no time. Awesome, no?

7. Hall Commodities

Things Schwitzer Hall has that I didn't know about:

-Kitchenette for each unit (microwave, sink, recycling bins)

-Kitchen with stove/oven in basement

-Movies/kitchen utensils, pots, and such

-Ice machine

-Laundry Room

-Computer Lab

-Study Rooms

-TV lounge

Granted, you will see/hear a lot of this if you go on a tour or to information sessions but still... it's nice to know that you really don't need a microwave in your room. It's all there at your disposal. Who knew?

8. Club involvement

Something I learned really quickly here at college is that you do not want to get overly involved with clubs because the meetings will overlap and it's not worth it. It is more useful and tactful to choose a few clubs to get really involved in and focus on them. Granted, that is just my opinion and there will be other people that tell you otherwise but I have always found my time to mean much more to an organization when it is focused and not worrying about other things (if that makes sense). To each his own, I suppose.

8. Free Stuff/Free Events

5 words: College students LOVE free stuff. It's everywhere. Find it and get it! You'll never need a pen or notepad ever again and pizza will never taste as good unless it is free.

9. Laundry

I am not going to lie to you- laundry is expensive. If you have 5 loads of laundry, it will end up costing $10+ if you wash and dry it. If you do your laundry at a busy time, like Sunday, then you will have to wait. Either way, laundry can take forever. Some tips that I have found useful are

Only wash what you need (if it's something you won't use for awhile, let it sit in your basket until you can take it home)
Make a makeshift dryer in your room using a drying rack and fans
Watch your laundry 24/7. Take your books/laptop and work while you wait.
Moms will help with laundry (THANKS MOM!)
Sort your clothes before you get there.
Fold clean clothes in your room (the laundry room can get a little gross... same goes for above).
Get the most out of your money... don't wash small loads because it will cost the same either way.
This is what I do while waiting:

I would like to credit my unit friends: Bethany R., Bethany G., Laura S., Lexi C., and Megan R. with giving me some extra ideas and thoughts on BU.

Hope this was useful, Dawgs.

P.S. Meal Plan info:

Meal Plan Terms

Meal Plan FAQ

A YouTube Weekend

ChristinaL — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 20:34:00 GMT

Hey there friends! [Now that you've started commenting, I feel like we know each other ]

People on the forums are always wanting to know what a typical weekend at Butler is like, so I thought I'd give you a rundown of one AND use this opportunity to feature some of the videos I took around town with our exciting new blogger's Flip camera (extremely fun little camcorder).

The videos are actually from two weekends ago, but I'll give you the play-by-play of last weekend because that's easier to remember.

Friday

9 am - 1 pm: Class!

Yeah, I'm a loser. I have class on Fridays. But it's Modern Dance, Revolutionary Europe & Postmodernism, so not too bad.

2 pm - 6 pm Meijer Run & baking party at Schwitzer.

My sorority matches us each up with a different new member (our "Phi friend") every week so we can get to know the new class better. My Phi friend Michaela and I decided to go all out and bond by making our own fortune cookies for all the freshmen Pi Phis. We bought supplies at my fave grocery store, the 24 hour Meijer on 38th St and then cooked in the kitchenette in Michaela's dorm. I never knew you could make your own fortune cookies but they turned out really cool.

If you're curious about the other shopping and restaurants near Butler, I made a quick video tour of some of the places to eat and shop on 38th St, about 5 minutes away from campus and let you in on informal Kappa Kappa Psi bonding at Steak n Shake

[YouTube:gZ7HPB3-IV0]

6-7:30 pm Dinner at India Garden with my best friend.

Broad Ripple is a fun place about 8 minutes away from campus with TONS of restaurants... India Garden is great if you're looking to try something new - spicy, but tasty! I recommend it.

7:30 - ? Chillin at the house.

Our friend Bethy came to visit from IU, so my roommates and I hung out with her for a while. They wanted to go out to eat, but since I had already gone out and was really tired, I decided to chill at home and get caught up on my crazy life - so relaxing!

? - 3:30 am LOST Slumber party

My roommates and I have gotten hooked on the dvds of this TV show. We stayed up WAY too late finishing Season 1 and I fell asleep during episode one of Season 2.

Saturday, February 3rd

11:30 - 1:15 Honors Program Info Session

It was a Scholar's Forum weekend here at BU, so we had lots of prospective students visiting. (Any of you reading?) I helped out with the info sessions about the Honors Program, because I think it's way cool and every one who's eligible should apply!

1:15-4 pm Women's Basketball Game w/ Basketball Band

I love Butler Basketball, being in Hinkle Fieldhouse, and of course playing with the band.

Here's a video with clips I took during the Men's game vs. UIC on January 26th. Check it out to see how much fun game day at Hinkle is!

[YouTube:qrGfrka4AQU&feature=related]

4-6:45 pm Homework & getting ready to go out

6:45 - 8 pm Dinner at La Piedad Mexican restaurant with some KKPsi friends.

Back to Broad Ripple! It's kind of unusual for me to eat out in Broad Ripple twice in once weekend, but we were all dressed up so we decided to splurge.

8-10 pm Swing Night!

Kappa Kappa Psi, my band fraternity, hosted Swing Night as a fundraiser/event for the whole campus. We had swing dance lessons and then live music from the Butler Jazz Band. Ballroom Dance Club showed up and impressed us all with their crazy moves. I even convinced my friend Zak to give swing dance a try and he LOVED it (...you never know, boys!)

10 pm-1 am Phi Psi

My "little brother" from Kappa Kappa Psi just pledged a social fraternity, Phi Kappa Psi. I'd never actually been over to the house, so he gave us a tour and then we joined in on the dance party. No worries if you're like me and don't drink... I still have a good time talking with people or dancing (like a fool).

Sunday, February 4th

2 pm Time to wake up!

Oops... I must have been REALLY tired! I normally get up around 10 am on weekends to get things done, workout, etc. but I fell asleep before I even had a chance to set my alarm and slept for TWELVE straight hours... Not gonna lie, that's probably the latest I've ever slept in.

3-6 pm Work at the Writer's Studio

I have a job at Writer's Studio, which offers free peer writing tutoring for Butler students. Nobody came in on Sunday, though, so I caught up on some reading for history and my poetry class. and got paid for it : )

6-8 pm Dinner at home, hanging with my roomies, a little homework.

8-? pm Superbowl party at Lambda Chi Alpha

One of my friends invited me to watch the game with the men of Lambda... I assumed there would be more girls there but I was very much in the minority. Let me just say that football in a fraternity house = a MAJOR dose of masculinity! Not that I don't like football... I mean, how sweet was that game?? Of course we were all rooting for the Giants because of a) Manning #2 and b) the fact that they are not the Patriots. Yay for Colts country : )

For once I was actually done with all my Monday homework before Sunday night so I went to bed early! Good thing, too, because I decided to try out a 7:45 yoga class at the HRC the next day (great way to start the week, by the way.)

So, that's basically it! A peek into my weekend life. Every weekend here is different...usually I don't go out to eat or hang out at fraternities quite that much; sometimes I spend way more time studying; sometimes I go to lots of performances; sometimes I'm travelling or doing stuff around Indy and I'm not even at Butler that much. It just depends on the week! However, I hope you see that there is a lot to do here and we're always having a good time.

Until next weekend! : )