Perhaps one of the biggest perks to going to Providence College is the accessibility to the city itself. Providence has a great deal to offer, whether it be the huge variety of different clubs and restaurants, the easy access to music life within the city, or just quite simply the proximity to one of the biggest malls in New England.

Since I've been here, I've been to the mall at least 4 times and the process never gets dull. With the buses that drive pretty much all around the city being free to students, there's no excuse not to go out into the city and experience what it has to offer. And let me assure you, I've grown up perhaps 40 minutes away from this mall and it's still plenty of fun to wander around.

This last Saturday I went with a few friends to Uno's (yet another perk to living in the city, the endless amounts of various places you can go out to eat). We celebrated someone's birthday a month late (mostly because we wanted the cookie cake, which was as fabulous as it looks) and even though Uno's isn't a particularly amazing place to eat, it was still scrumptious nevertheless.

Did I mention that cake was really, really delicious?

Anyway, it's essentially impossible to run out of things to do here. And even if for some crazy reason you find Providence boring, there's always Boston just a train ride away.

Posted by Alexander Harpin at 4:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've been a part of the Debate Team at Providence College since the very first meeting for novices began, and it's been a blast. I did something similar in High School but never imagined being able to travel as far as Washington D.C. or even Thailand to participate in a debate tournament. Not only is it an amazing time, but it's certainly a great experience just to see different colleges and meet new people.

The first Debate Tournament was at Boston University. It's set up particularly for novices to get their feet wet and essentially throw them straight into debates. We faced teams from universities all over New England including Yale, Brown, Harvard, and Tufts.

There were four rounds and a bunch of cool tutorials and explanations on how debate works. The basic format is as follows:

Leader of Government (Prime Minister) presents the case, and has 7 minutes to make starting arguments for such case.

Leader of Opposition (LO) presents first why his side of the case is better, and then refutes PM's points in 8 minutes.

Member of Government (MG) presents new points for the case, expands on the PM's case and shuts down the LO's case in 8 minutes.

Member of Opposition (MO) presents new points for his case, expands on the LO's case and rejects the PM's case for 8 minutes.

Leader of Opposition makes his final rebuttal for 4 minutes.

Prime Minister makes his final rebuttal for 5 minutes.

It sounds kind of complicated but in practice it's really simple and surprisingly intense. There were 4 rounds, and in those 4 rounds my partner and I played with cases such as..

Gov: "You are Aladdin. Do you use your last wish to free the Genie?"
Opp: "There should be no voting age in the U.S."
and Opp: "Internet Neutrality should always be upheld."

It was good fun, and even though we only won one of the rounds, I still feel like I got a bunch out of the experience. They're going to New York this weekend, but I have a concert this Sunday for Wind Ensemble and can't go. Regardless, it's a good excuse to go somewhere far away on the weekends and have a great time in the process.

Posted by Alexander Harpin at 8:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Working at the help desk, I've gotten some pretty interesting calls in the past and imagine I'll keep getting them as long as I work here. I really don't understand how technology can be so intimidating and overwhelming for people, ESPECIALLY people my age. But it just seems to go over all of their heads and completely miss them.

So, before you call the help desk, please keep the following things in mind.

A.) If you can't log into your E-mail/sign into the computers on campus, please make sure Caps Lock key isn't on and that you're trying to connect to the Providence domain.
B.) If something is bothering you, no matter what it is, please try restarting your computer at least once. This fixes most problems at least 50% of the time.
C.) You can force your computer to turn off. All you have to do is hold the power button on the tower and BAM, gone.
D.) No, I cannot help you get any lost saved files back.
E.) Do not touch Limewire. Ever. You're just asking for your computer to die of viruses.
F.) If your computer/monitor/mouse/laptop/printer was dropped onto the floor, this may be while it is not working.
G.) Only internet outlets with blue lines next to them are functional.
H.) I understand you're stressed, but please remember that it's not my fault that you procrastinated and now your flash drive isn't working. I will try to help you with your problems, just don't scream at me.
I.) If you drop a computer off at Resnet because it's become clogged up with viruses, expect that you WILL have to wait there for a while. It's not our fault you played with stuff you shouldn't have, especially when Ruckus is here to give you free LEGAL music.
and most significantly..
J.) There is a wiki up to help you with the most basic problems, all you have to do is type in selfhelp if you're connected to the network. This WILL solve any problems you may have with connecting to the wireless.

Cheers.

Posted by Alexander Harpin at 1:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The music program at PC has been just about as awesome as I expected it would be, and in most cases even more. Not only are my professors engaging, helpful, and very talented individuals, but they're also really cool people in general.

Since I've arrived here I've pretty much swamped myself with as much of a musical agenda as possible. I've skipped the first year of music theory and jumped right into Theory 3 with sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Although the work load is heavy and material certainly challenging, I really am learning a lot, especially in my theory lab. As I stated earlier I'm always singing solfege to myself, trying to find the intervals and harmonics on the fly. Even in these four weeks I've seen myself improve so much and am eagerly anticipating how I'll be at the end of the year.

My private lessons are going just as smoothly. Dr. Kang is an amazing pianist and although he works me hard and stresses some aspects of music that seem futile at times, I know if I follow his guidance I can only improve. I started with the Raindrop Prelude by Chopin and am now playing a Sonatina in g Minor, and we plan on playing the Moonlight Sonata next.

I still consider myself a horrible clarinetist, but find myself improving my tone and pitch quality regardless as well in the wind ensemble here. Dr. Kelton's got a lot of cool tricks and enjoys playing a lot of interesting music, and just like every other music professor here, I understand there's a lot to learn from his example.

I was supposed to join a capella, but found myself overburdened by all the commitments I already have. Thus, I'm perfectly happy with the concert chorale I'm in. Dr. Holt is an amazing professor and conductor, and I particularly like her choice in vocal warm ups. I've actually started stealing a few and going to the practice rooms with them.

Speaking of the practice rooms here, I've essentially started living in them. They're all individual rooms, each with pianos and sort of/kind of soundproof. They're great places to be alone, think, and really put some hours in perfecting that Sonatina or Minuet. I usually spend at least two hours there everyday, and it's just a great place to unwind and really enjoy the music.

There really is a lot to love in the music department here, regardless of what it is. I know I get so much personal satisfaction when I really get a song down pact, and it just becomes that much more awesome to hang with other students and professors who want the same thing. I haven't even begun to talk about all the amazing musical groups that the music department comes here, I suppose I'll save that for another time.

Posted by Alexander Harpin at 12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've noticed myself already falling into trends and doing weird ritualistic activities only three weeks after I've arrived here. Some of them are kind of amusing, so I thought I'd share.

Get a caramel iced late from Jazzman's every morning. - It's not that I get the coffee because I'm tired (even though most mornings I'm exhausted), it's just that it tastes good and it's on my way between classes. Jazzman's is sorta just sitting there taunting me as I walk from Smith to Albertus-Magnus, and I just have to get my morning dessert. And this is why my PC bucks are dying so fast.

If I'm lucky, get 7 hours of sleep a night. - I used to get at least 9 hours of sleep every night. Now I find myself hardly ever tired except for random spouts during the day, and a healthy dosage of adrenaline and coffee can fix this. But at night as I lay down, I just can't sleep until like 1 in the morning. And then I wake up at 7.

Go to lunch and dinner pretty much at the same time every day. - My schedule pretty much dictates when I can eat, as I only have a single hour break on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Because of this I eat with pretty much the same people at the same time every day.

Be late for my help desk shift pretty much every morning. - I've actually had to start setting my alarm clock earlier and earlier, as there's just something about the lovely snooze button that makes me want to press it 500 times before I finally get up. And then I'm pretty much always late. At least my boss is awesome.

Send at least 20 text messages a day. - I've never been much of a cell phone/texter before I came here, but for some reason it's like the text messaging beast emerged the moment I arrived. It's kind of a problem and I'm willing to admit that I need help.

Organize the random outings my group of friends and I go on. - I don't know when this happened, but it's like I've sort of been put in charge as the person who organizes all the random happenings we embark on. I call everyone twice, say when we're gonna meet and find out if they can go, and use up my minutes all the faster. It's a grand time.

Sing solfege pretty much whenever I'm alone for more then 5 seconds. - This is kind of a music major thing, but it's certainly new. There's always solfege, or do re mi fa so la ti do, going on my head. I challenge myself and try to sing different harmonics almost all the time. I'm pretty sure it's unhealthy.

Forget my dirty laundry in the washer and dryer room, mid-wash. - This is just because my mind's always all over the place, but it's a problem nonetheless. I'll put my laundry in, then on several occasions just go out and forget about it for hours. I'll come back to find it either on top of the dryers or tossed all over the floor. I suppose I get what's coming to me.

Lock myself out of my room at least 3 times a week. - I seriously hate the St. Joe's dorm doors. I just want a combination to press in rather then this annoying swiping system, because if I lock my card in I'm pretty much doomed. And being the absent-minded kinda person I am, this happens a lot.

Drop all my books on my bed and just leave them there to "clean up later." - This is what makes my dorm a typical guy's dorm. The mess is just as grand as you'd imagine it would be.

I'm sort of curious if I'll be doing these things at the end of the semester. I'll get back to you about that.

Posted by Alexander Harpin at 4:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)