Aaron the Owl

So you are making your list of things to bring to college, all the shopping is done, you are ready to move in and start your life as a college student. Well double check to see if you have these items before making the move.

Aaron’s list of forgotten things to bring:

1. Toilet Paper- Yes, I know most people remembered this, but some people forget and this is something you can’t do without!

2. Power Strip, Ethernet Cable, and TV Cable- All of these items will help you plug in and get set up real quickly so you can start facebook stalking your friends from high school and watching your Temple Owls on MTVu (they are hosting dean’s list for the welcome back episode).

3. Flip-flops -Because showering on a floor covered in a thin layer of filth really ruins that nice clean feeling.

4. Mattress Topper- Whether it is the $15 egg crate topper or the $200 temur-pedic swedish sleep system that is approved by astronauts, you are gonna wanna sleep on something other than the bare mattress.

5. Headphones - Because sometimes your roommate doesn’t want to listen to your music at 3am.

6. Floor Lamp and a Rug - Because these will really help make the room look more home-like than prison-cell-like.

7. A Suit/nice clothes- Hey, this is college, you never know what important people you will have the opportunity to meet/work for/intern for. What better way to say that you are professional than some business casual attire.

8. Pillows - At least one for sleeping with and one for a spontaneous pillow fight that may ensue.

So that is my list…if you think of anything else that is commonly forgotten, let me know and ill add it and even draw a graphic for it!

Take care, happy packing!

My orientation groups have been really awesome lately and (on an unrelated note) it seems that all of my friends have their birthdays around the same time. I have a couple pictures from my friend, Emma’s birthday. I don’t have to much to say right now other than summer is going well. Enjoy some of these snapshots of my life.

Since I offered to drive for people for the party, I brought my trusty chauffeur cap.

At the Boat House celebrating Emma’s 21st

An awesome orientation group gathering around the green light, which I used as my groups landmark.        L to R: Emma (different from the one above), Lauren, Natalie, and Sheila. 

Well what happened is that I am at school and I left my photo card reader at home. Sorry! Well I am actually at home now, but my camera is still at school. It should be updated monday. Thanks everybody for your patience!

Here is a picture from about a week and a half ago to hold you over.

Some Owl Ambassadors at lunch (included in the picture on the left side is owlmonica and also owlcory, see their blogs while I try to unite my camera and card reader)

Today the Owl Team went out to dinner. We all got on Temple’s Cecil B. Moore subway stop and took it right over to City Hall. We went to the Chili’s on filbert. It was a lot of fun and a lot of food. After dinner I came back to 1940 (where I live) hung out with a few people and then met up with Jimmy and Craig who I hadn’t hung out with since summer started. Jimmy had to leave a little early to catch a bus which was too bad, but I still got to hang out with Craig and met some new people too.

Here are some pictures from the night.

The Owl Team assembling in the lobby of 1940. Getting ready to head to Chili’s

Me with Seshat. Seshat was my Owl Team leader last year and now I work with her.

Rahim, Myself, and Shalea at Chili’s

Me with Craig, who I hadn’t hung out with in about 2 months, standing a full foot taller than me.

Tashima, Craig, and Alicia on our 2am walk to McDonald’s

A very strange bicycle that was outside of McDonald’s. It had a radio in the steering wheel?!?

That was my night. Check back soon!

Pictures from Liacouras walk:

Officer McShane in his GEM electric police buggy

Red Bull for free!

7:45am…too early

I am now leading my 4th group through orientation. This one is an out of town, so they are here for 4 days. So far the group is great. Today they took placement tests and then afterwards I led a bunch of students to the subway and showed them to market street and south street where they were free to roam in groups.

Here are some pictures from the week so far.

Owl Team Leaders: Andy and Drew

A group of incoming freshman and their friend who they met on South Street. He is from Drexel. I asked if they wanted to be in a picture for my blog and they obliged!

Some more incoming freshmen who were also really cool! Jay, Mike, Cassandra, and Maria

So that is my week so far. Check on back soon!

I went down the shore to Monmouth Beach with 6 friends today to enjoy a summer weekend. We packed in a ford explorer, put up some cash money for gas (that car guzzles down the fuel) and headed in the direction of the ocean. The day was great, the sun was out, the sunblock was on, and the water was cool. The only problem is that my camera broke I don’t know how, but when I tried turning it on, it just kept shutting off…so I have some pictures that I was able to take every once and a while when it randomly decided to work, but for the most part it hindered my photo taking abilities.

anyways…here are some photos

On the way down…i should point out that the car was not moving at this point…for anyone worrying about the unbuckled seat belt over my left shoulder

Some of us catching some rays on the sand

My mid-air attempts to have a cliche beach photo…photo by emma

Alright…those are a few of the moments from the day

Check back soon!

Last week I lead around my second group of freshman “orientees”. They were a great group of students and it was a lot of fun, but it was also a lot of work. I emceed the talent show, which had a great turnout and was a total success!

The week quickly went and it was time for the forth of july celebrations back in my hometown. I came back on Thursday night to work on the ambulance at a fireworks display in Conshohocken. It went without incident and it was a great night. The next night Narberth had their annual fireworks display, which I again attended with the ambulance. It was another great night and other than a few isolated medical problems that some attendees had (unrelated to the fireworks display), it ran very smoothly.

Last night I went to my cousin’s place in the city to watch the fireworks from Penn’s landing. It was probably the most impressive show I saw of the three this weekend.

Here are a few pictures to recap the past week.

The crowd at the talent show on tuesday night

The Owl Team hanging out on the stairs of the 1940 courtyard.

Emma and Me; The Conshohocken fireworks

I brought two digital SLRs with me to Penn’s landing and I took over 300 pictures there. I wish I had a picture of me with the cameras around my neck and the bags that I was holding…I looked like the super-tourist!

Another picture taken at Penn’s Landing in the City.

That is all I have for now. I am leading another orientation this week, starting on tuesday. Check back soon!

I spent the afternoon with my friend Britt taking photos at an estate called, Chanticleer. It is a 34 acre estate that is run by a non-profit organization. It was a gorgeous day, perfect for some photography. It was very hot out, so afterwards we went to a little cafe in the town of Wayne, PA to get some nice cold water and a “light” lunch. 

Here are some photos from the day!

Taking some photos! Thanks for the photo Britt!

I returned the favor! Britt taking some photos.

A ground wasp in action.

Orange Flower. I am not too knowledgeable about flower names.

So that was my day! Tomorrow I am going out to dinner with a friend from high school who I haven’t seen in a while. That should be fun. 

Keep on checkin’ back!

I am back living on campus leading freshman orientations. It has been fun getting to meet incoming students as well as getting to know my coworkers. I am living in 1940 (one of the rez halls) it is pretty nice, but the AC wasn’t working at first. My roommate and suitemates all quickly realized this so we placed a order in to get it fixed and within a few days an arctic blast was upon us. 

I am actually at my home right now (I have off until monday) visiting my family. My brother came back from Israel, where he was studying abroad. 

Today I woke up early to take Gabbi over to the health science campus to interview to do volunteer work in a lab. I picked up breakfast for my family while I was down there and brought it back.

Here are some pics:

Members of the 2008 Owl Team. My Temple flag hangs proudly on my wall (although difficult to see). This was acquired through some persistent stalking of the maintenance team that changes the flags yearly.

This is a totally-non-staged photo of my advisor helping me select some courses. 

I decorated the new advisor’s board with some graffiti-esqe lettering.

Here I am with Gabbi after her interview. 

Here is a picture of the new Temple hat that I just bought from the bookstore.

And since I am at home, I had to include a picture of Lila making yet another dish towel dirty.

That’s all for now. Tomorrow I am going to a garden with someone I met at Tuft’s to take photos (weather depending). That should be fun, check back and ill put some pics up from the day.