week 9: lets sum this up!

The space that defines me the most that I've mentioned in the blog is definitely underneath my bed in my hammock. Through every test, every project, every television show, every break up, every sickness, and every fight with my sister, this has been the place that has been my refuge. I have been extremely attached to this space throughout the semester and really throughout the entire year, and I don't know how I could have done it without my hammock and fuzzy blanket.

week 8: Natalie Stovall and The Drive

This week, I went to the Lee Brice concert! It was my last week of fun before I had to start cracking down for finals. The opener was an AMAZING girl who could rock a fiddle named Natalie Stovall, and it was amazing getting to discover her. I even bought her CD and took a selfie with her!! Getting to experience this in Littlejohn coliseum was amazing before it was torn down, and I think that memories like this, along with graduation, are the moments that define the space of littlejohn.

week 7: chemistry's struggles

This week, CHEMISTRY wrote most of Clemson's nights and days. There was the general chemistry exam on Monday night, along with an organic exam on Wednesday, and overall, chemistry has ruined the Clemson student body's life this week. I feel that this common struggle has brought most of my hall and my major together as we tried to cry together and tried to cram up until the final moments of the test. And after, we cried together as we graded them. Once again, the common struggles brought us together. We are a Clemson Family.

Week 4: Abstract Ideas?

After a week of stressful tests, classes, and quizzes, I feel as though I have seen this statue infinite times on campus.  As I walked past it though, I began to think. "Is this a microscope? It is in front of the chemistry building..... Or is it a dancer, showing off the creative side of Clemson?" After a very very very long contemplation, I decided that it's both. This statue represents the student body of Clemson very well. We have both dancers, chemists, and artists. As well as wanderers and thinkers like me that think on these things. The diversity of Clemson, as well as the variation and flexibility of the students is what writes us as a TOP TWENTY UNIVERSITY.

Week 5: TD's Stud Auction and Sisterly Love

This week at Clemson University, my sorority Sigma Alpha put on a charity event called Stud Auction. We auction off some of the finest men around campus and all profits go to Heifer International, which is an organization that sends livestock to countries and teaches them how to farm in order to help PRODUCE instead of PROVIDE. After several weeks of planning, I spent my entire night at TD's downtown to set up and watch the show, and after spending $100, I bid on, and won, two studs. 

The experiences that I've had through my sorority have written my freshman year. Without these girls I wouldn't have made it through my first year here. They have become my sisters, and I truly feel that they are my support group and my hard spot through everything that I've been through and I hope they continue to be there for me for the rest of my life. 

Week 6: Harcombe Monster

This week, sitting in Harcombe Dining Hall with my friends, I looked out of the window to see the construction, and noticed this MONSTROSITY of a drawing. The student who created this had amazing talent and it was an honor to be in it's presence. This week I decided that it was time to start eating healthy, which meant giving up french fries and every beverage except water. As I was sitting there looking out of the window trying to ignore my awful salad on the plate below me, I had an epiphany. From this day on, I, Rachel Payne, will be more aware of my surroundings. I will notice small things, like drawings on bathroom stalls, graffiti on street signs, and artistic plants known as topiaries. I will be aware of the people and the conversations going on around me. I will write Clemson's history the way that I want it written.

Week 3: Icy Tillman

So it finally snowed. I really hate snow. I feel like as a southerner I should love it, and I should freak out when it happens. I should go buy milk and bread, so I can eat milk sandwiches in my dorm room.

Did I mention that I hate snow? Everyone started freaking out and running around as soon as it started, and I just sat in bed, watching Netflix. I was really getting tired of hearing that it was snowing. I drove around and went downtown for dinner, and people were really freaking out that I left the dorm. It's just FROZEN WATER. If you're careful, you'll be fine.

Anyways, as I was out, I took this picture of Tillman Hall and thought that it represented Clemson very well.

Even though it's dark and icy, the building says life. The lighted clock, the spotlights on Thomas Green Clemson's statue both represent the light that Clemson is shining into the dark world.

At the same time, on a more literal level, it represented how southerners hide inside when it's frozen around them. As I snapped the picture, I realized that I have never seen campus more empty at 7:30 at night.

I think that the ice has renewed the Clemson spirit of unity throughout campus, and especially off campus, through the power outages.

Week 2: Wax Warmer



The author of my week, my wax warmer.



Just going to give you some background here...

So I've had a stressful week. It's been hard trying to get all of my thoughts together for this debate, for my other exams, and for really everything that's been going on.

The reason that I feel like my wax warmer has written me this week is because I usually turn it on with a soothing scent in the bowl to get thoughts rolling and get my mind focused. Featured in this picture is "Peach Ginger," which gives me  a light, happy feeling with the calming ginger that helps me stay on top of my schoolwork while sitting at my desk.

I feel like the atmosphere at Clemson has a calming effect on me as well. When it's warm outside, I sit in the courtyard or by the reflection pond studying and doing homework. I like to watch the squirrels and people walk by me and sometimes I start to wonder... why don't more people do this? I think that there isn't really a place outside that students can work and study without straining their back or sitting in the grass, and I think that the student body would benefit from more outside study spaces, with chairs, or swings.

This would have a large impact on collaborative writing, studying, and the way that students appreciate their environment.

Clemson is a beautiful place, and not just because of the people that go here.

source: http://cdn.stateuniversity.com/assets/logos/images/6249/large_Campus.jpg

Week 1: Hammock

This week's place on campus that wrote a chapter of my life was under my bed, in my hammock. In class this week we talked about racial issues on campus, how other cultures feel unsafe and unsupported, and how they have begun to affect student life on campus.

 As I was laying in the hammock underneath my bed (safe and supported), I began to ponder the accusations of our "Solid Orange" tradition. 

Solid Orange doesn't mean ONLY orange, with no black, it means UNITED under our school colors, TOGETHER.  What happened to the Clemson Family? Someone tell me this:

WHY? 

Why do people want to segregate themselves? Isn't that the exact problem that our grandparents and parents fought so hard and long to stop? If we build a "multi-cultural" center on campus, won't it be a "some-cultural" center, because people don't want ALL cultures there?

Everyone has their differences. Not all white people get along with white people. Not all black people get along with black people. But isn't the way that we are treating each other as students, friends, and even just humans a little inhumane?

Clemson University is a southern school. It has slavery in its history, as do many other schools south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Tillman, Calhoun, and Strom Thurmond were all slave owners. 

We should embrace it. 

Slavery has written Clemson's history, for the better or for the worse. Don't let it write our future.

#SOLIDORANGE     #CLEMSONFAMILY