How's it going?

Hey,

My name is John Perry but I go by Johnny. I am a freshman majoring in Computer Engineering. I am from Belleville, Illinois which is about 20 minutes east of St. Louis. I went to Belleville East High School where I was involved with numerous clubs and was the captain of the track team my senior year. Here at Illinois I am a member of NSBE and am a part of the EI group of iFoundry. I would recommend that everyone take a part of iFoundry because it is a great freshman experience. I also like to play sports, especially basketball, but I have countless injuries that prevent me from really playing anymore.

I love it here at Illinois. There are so many different kinds of people so it isn't hard to find groups of people you really love to hang out with. I live in a triple Garner, which is in the six pack. My room is not really that big but it's great to live there because everyone is so social.

Well I have to get back to studying but I look forward to answering questions. One piece of advice that I have to offer is do not take any early classes. I know that it is great to be done by 12 or 1 but I personally do not start until 11 because then I don't have to worry about not sleeping. I can easily stay up until 3 AM studying or doing whatever and still get a good 7 hours of sleep. I love it.

Came tumbling after.

Good morning! Well actually, I guess it's not the morning anymore... but I only just woke up and ate a wonderfully nutritious breakfast of Frosted Flakes, so it's still morning to me!
As I'll be writing on this blog for a while, I'd like to introduce myself (as the other bloggers before me have done). My name is Jill (people often ask me where Jack is), and I am from the western suburbs of Chicago (very close to Jaime actually (see previous post) though we didn't know each other until we both came down to Chambana). I am a freshman in Civil and Environmental Engineering (concentrating more on the environmental side of things) and I am also minoring in Spanish and/or maybe business. Don't be fooled if it sounds like I know what I'm doing with my life, because I promise I don't.
On campus I'm involved in a few different things that represent some of my interests. I'm a member of Campus Crusade for Christ ("Cru" for short), and I'm also a regular attendee at Twin City Bible Church (although I definitely accidentally slept through the service this morning... woops). I am also the corporate officer for the UIUC chapter of Engineers Without Borders, and I'm the treasurer for our UChapter of To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA-UIUC). (In case you haven't heard of it, TWLOHA is a non-profit organization. Look it up if you're interested in more info.) Finally, I am also a member of the Harassing Illini, the official cheering section of the Illini hockey team and harassing section of whatever other team we're playing that night.
On that note, I guess I'll mention a few of my hobbies. I love watching hockey. Specifically the Blackhawks. (I'm wearing my Toews jersey right now and am anxiously looking forward to the Olympic gold medal game this afternoon.) I also love playing and listening to music, hanging out with my friends around my dorm, watching Disney movies and singing along, watching Lost and Psych (my two current TV obsessions), going bowling (I'm really bad at it though...), and not slipping on all the ice around campus. (I've only slipped and fallen once thus far this winter and I am very proud of that fact... knock on wood.)
Well, I think that's all you really need to know about me, so I will now stop writing so that you can have a chance to judge me mercilessly. If you decide you like me, keep reading my posts! If you decide you hate me, keep reading my posts anyway! I might just surprise you down the road. Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!

Greetings from a Shoebox!

My name is Jaime Kelleher, and I am a freshman in Materials Science and Engineering (MatSE). I am from the west suburbs of Chicago and lived there all of my life. My hobbies include traveling, SCUBA diving, watching football (DA BEARS), shopping, and many other things that are not important enough for me to remember that I like them. On campus, I have joined a bunch of stuff like iFoundry and Engineers Without Borders. I am also involved in the Illini 4000, which is a group that bikes from New York City to San Francisco to raise money and awareness for cancer. So that's going to take up pretty much my whole summer. We'll see if I can still walk when I get back.

So college is pretty great. I find it's easiest when I schedule myself, but I sometimes have a hard time following my schedule. Example: I was going to go see some friends last night, but I sat down in my bed at 10:15 and didn't get up until 10:15 this morning. Oops. I live in a room the size of a shoebox, but it's nice because there's less floor that I have to vacuum. Except that our vacuum broke so I lint rolled the floor yesterday (works GREAT by the way). Anyways, I have to go start some homework; I'll write again soon!

Top o' the morning to you!

I feel like starting a blog is something of a momentous occassion in my life, so I made myself a celebratory peanut butter and jelly sandwich -- such is the life of a college student haha.

My name is Maryann and I'm a freshman in electrical engineering. I'm originally from the infinitely rad city of Portland, Oregon, where the rain never stops and the sky alternates between shades of gray. My decision to leave the Pacific Northwest for the University of Illinois was in large part due to U of I's incredible academic reputation and to a lesser extent based on my interest in experiencing life in the Midwest.

As far as extracurriculars go, I have an undergraduate research position in the Nuclear Radiation Lab, where I run one of the graduate students' experiments. Having come from a town with an absurd amount of high quality coffee, I'm also a member of Coffee Club and hope to learn how to roast my own beans. Outside of that, I very much enjoy cooking (risotto is probably my specialty) and am shamelessly obsessed with American Idol (Siobhan Magnus FTW).

All that having been said, I hope to use this blog as a platform for discussing my academics, social life, and work so that hopefully you all can learn from my successes and mistakes alike. I look forward to sharing my experience with you and answering any questions you my have. Cheers!

Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?

My name is Juliette (not quite the same spelling as Shakespeare's!). I am a freshman in Bioengineering and am also Premed at UIUC. I grew up in Naperville, a suburb of Chicago, so I'm pretty used to the weather we get here at school, haha...
To describe myself, I guess I'd had to say that I'm pretty quirky. Much to the bemusement of those around me, I tend to break out in song/dance (not very well, I might add) or make random Harry Potter references. My friends laugh at my overzealous gesticulations and know that I'm horrible at picking up my phone. I enjoy hanging out with friends, being silly, desserts, and sleeping.
On campus, I play for the Illini Badminton Intercollegiate Sports Club, am a Board Member and the E-Week Chair of Biomedical Engineering Society, and participate in the Society of Women Engineers. I'm constantly on the lookout for new clubs to join and ways to make the most of my college experience.
I'm really looking forward to sharing my college adventures with you while, hopefully, giving as much advice as I can along the way! :)

Hello!

My name is Gregory Johnson. I am a freshman in Civil and Environmental Engineering here at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, I am a quiet person, but I have strong interests. I have always enjoyed forms of transportation, especially highways and transit systems. I also have developed a interest in environmental issues, since our world is at a point where society must become more sustainable.

On campus, I am involved in the campus's chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers.
I can't wait to tell you more about the U of I Engineering Experience.

"Hello World"

It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Joshua. As of this post, I am a freshman at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. As a member of the Engineering Visionary Scholars Program (EVS), I would like to welcome you, dear reader, to this blog. The members of this program, along with myself, have started this blog as a way to reach out to prospective students from a different angle than what is normal. Where brochures of our University and others may impress (or intimidate) you when it comes to college, we seek to reassure you about student life as it applies here. Then again, where stories told of our notable alumni make success in college seem a common, simple deal, we aim to prepare you for the rude awakening in which you discover that college IS STILL SCHOOL, AND IT'S HARDER!!!

Ahem... Anyway, I should probably introduce myself a bit more thoroughly. I am an Electrical Engineering student. I am involved in the UIUC Chapter for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. My hobbies & interests include martial arts, web-surfing, music, manga/anime, Japanese culture, theology, philosophy, cars, investigating future technologies, video games, weapons, humor (but, then again, who doesn't like what they find humorous ~ zing!), racket sports, and volleyball. I am the son of a Guatemalan mestizo father and a (primarily) Scots/Irish descended mother. I came from a town called Wheaton, IL. I tend to be quiet (which doesn't show on the internet, as you can see), reserved, and adaptable if something is required of me. On the enneagram, my attributes are mostly 1, 5, and 9. My personality colors are just about evenly split between blue and green. My goal in life is to take part in an engineering project that helps save and preserve the environment on a globally impactive scale. My means shall be through specializing in Power Engineering; from there I can learn how to incorporate systems that generate electricity from renewable energy sources and/or help enable the automotive industry to develop entirely clean electric vehicles.
So, now I've spoken too much, but, rest assured, future posts will involve more about college than me.