oh, the lovely first days of the semester. these are the days when i arrive to class on-time with my neatly organized binders (they're fun to organize when there's nothing in them but paper and maybe some of those subject separators), brand new writing utensils, hilighters that i FULLY intend to use for underlining the key study points in my textbooks, and an eager attitude that maybe
this semester will be the one that i won't have to participate in any type of "getting to know you" games with my other classmates.
...and each semester, along with my poor hilighters (they didn't stand a chance) and attempts at organization, my idealistic hopes and dreams get shot to hell by at
least one professor who feels the need to "break the ice". because at southern nazarene university, with an undergrad population of like 1500, none of us know each other.
at least i've got the name game down; my name starts with a "k" which leaves me with very few options. if i have to say my favorite food, i always say "kit-kat". favorite animal= koala. one word self-description limited to the first letter of my name? kooky.
tonight as i was walking to my first elementary music and art class ( i missed last tuesday night's class because i enrolled in it late) i was informed by kaylee that everyone was expected to bring five items in a box that represented who we are and we were to then explain/show the items in front of the class.
i remember having to do this exercise multiple times in middle school and hating it. the only good "me in a box" experience i had was in my 6th grade math class when a fellow classmate named pryncess hughes (seriously) stood in the front of the room with a brown paper sack that contained a stapler and some paper because she "liked to staple paper". either pryncess forgot to bring her "me in a box" items and scrambled those together last minute, or she had an extremely advanced sense of humor for a twelve year old and was sarcastically making fun of the whole stupid activity. either way it was hilarious and memorable for me.
otherwise, i see "me in a box" as a cruel way for middle school teachers to torture his/her students. since the average 11-15 year old is highly egotistical (except for pryncess hughes), this activity provokes stress and anxiety. what to bring? a picture of the family is out- could be seen as childish. POGS? are those still cool? maybe i could bring the eminem CD that i secretly bought with the "parental advisory" sticker on the insert. would it look like i was trying too hard? let me tell you...these were some tough times.
each student shows up to class the next day with five things in a bag (no one ever uses a box). and don't forget- the bag is another chance to nonchalantly strut your coolness. don't even
think about toting around your items in a wal-mart bag, it's
social suicide. you have to make sure you use an abercrombie, american eagle, or hollister bag. it makes people think that those stores are the only ones you shop at so therefore you had plenty of those bags just lying around.
in my experience most kids showed up with things like a copy of
tiger beat magazine containing a JTT centerfold, misc. photos of them and their friends awkwardly making goofy faces (smiling isn't cool at this age), the hideous bracelet and/or necklace from
claire's that they received from a friend their last birthday, a PG-13 or R movie stub that was probably found in their mom's purse, and other stuff that in no way represents who they are as a person at all. and to top it all off, they all spend so much time freaking out over how their peers perceive them and their belongings in a bag that they don't realize that everyone else in class is just as worried about their own presentation . so worried, in fact, that they are staring at the student in the front of the classroom with glazed eyes anxiously awaiting their fate without even listening to anyone else's "me in a box".
not that i know from experience or anything ;)
so basically what you have is a bunch of insecure pre-teen students sharing a false sense of themselves...to themselves; and due to lack of maturity and development they normally do not realize this-- which is why i think "me in a box" is worthless and just plain mean.
fast forward to college students doing this activity. like most did today, i will probably grab five things right before class and bore everyone to tears explaining what they mean to me.
...or maybe i'll bring a stapler and some paper. it'd surely be more interesting than the crosses and bibles everyone else brought.
http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.n
Brooklynn Mears is engaged to Aaron Salvato.
7 minutes ago · Comment · Like
ha= rude, sarcastic
haha=sympathy laugh
hahaha=alright, gotta hand it to ya..that's pretty funny
hahahaha+ = laughing out loud... See More
HAHAHAHA= seriously that's hilarious and i'm laughing aloud.
and yes DARE I SAY THE WORLD!