Allison's Notes:

We woke up this morning early after a long day yesterday. Breakfast was actually good. I came to the program with low expectations of the college food, knowing how bad the food is at school. But to my surprise, it was a LOT better than the food at school.

Today we took tests in class to determine our career interests, and our personality types. I hope that mine will help me, as the last one I took was somewhat helpful. I'll find out either tomorrow or tuesday what I got on the test. This afternoon, I got to meet with my counselor, who was Dom. He had some great ideas for me regarding my future and my life at school. I learned some great tips on how to take tests better, because I freak out on tests sometimes. I was really grateful to him for helping me out.

This afternoon, while everybody was doing their individual counseling, we got to go and play in the Student Life Center, or go swimming. I wanted to play racquetball, but we couldn't because a) we weren't students at the college, b) we didn't have the eyegear and proper equipment to play, and c) we didn't have a ball to play with. A mental note to myself here: when I come to RIT, be sure to bring a racquetball and eyegear. Instead of playing racquetball, I played basketball with the boys and a few of the girls. The boys were in the middle of a really intense game. We have a lot of really good basketball players here. I was impressed by the awesome communication they had on the court. It was so different, seeing them communicate effectively, whereas playing on an all-hearing team, they're more likely to get frustrated with you and just give up.

Joe organized a volleyball game on the other side of the gym. It was a small game at first, with 4 people on both sides, but I have never had as much fun playing volleyball as I did that day. As the afternoon progressed, the numbers grew to 7 on both sides. One funny moment was when I hit the ball so high that it went on the second-story track. We had to wait for the runners up there to stop, pick up the ball, and throw it back down to us. I was a little mortified, but it was okay. One thing about me, I hate volleyball (And that's a long story in itself having to do with certain P.E. teachers of mine) But in the last 3 years, I've started to enjoy it more and more. This was the first time that I actually had a lot of fun and enjoyed myself. I was actually able to serve the ball over the net, instead of INTO the net. Way to go, Ali! Now if I could only learn how to bowl.

Ha, ha, ha, that's another story in itself. Bowling at the alley tonight was so much fun. Stacy and Susan were on my team. Joe was going to be on our team, but he ended up being on the other team. The first game I did decent, maybe about 120, something like that. Now, the second game was just absolutely horrible. I got a score of 22. It was really hilarious that night, because I had a lot of help. My score was like, 6 then 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 9, to make a total of 22. One thing about playing softball, you tend to throw everything like it's a softball. That's what happened with me tonight in the bowling alley. Joe was trying to coach me and show me what the proper way to bowl is. I tried all his methods, several different balls in different sizes, colors and weights, and I was still throwing the ball like a softball. Maybe I should invent the sport of softbowl. That would help me here. Get it? Soft-bowl?

I nearly threw the ball into the next lane, but luckily, it went into the gutter of our lane instead. I dropped the ball so it went "bam, bam" and proceeded to roll the rest of the way down the alley. Then I nearly slipped while releasing the ball. I even put the ball on the ground, and gave it a push down the lane, and it still went in the gutter. When I had finished bowling, and started to return to my seat, I was getting a lot of encouragement from the next lane. According to them, one person *who's identity I shall protect*, was having trouble bowling too. And he was ragging on me! HEY! That's not fair. You're in the same boat as I am! :-P So there!

That night, while Susan was asleep, I was writing in my journal, as I try to write on a semi-regular basis. I finished and got up to brush my teeth. When I opened my door, Derek, the RSA *Residential Safety Assistant* was doing dorm checks, and I scared the living daylights out of him. Note to Derek: I'm really sorry about that. I didn't mean to scare you. . ."

Anyways, despite all my mishaps at the bowling alley, I had a ton of fun and a lot of laughs that night. This has definitely been a good day. I really enjoyed myself today, and I think other people did too.

With Lotsa Love:

Allison

What We Did Today:
Sunday, July 18, 1999

8:00 - 9:00 Breakfast
9:00 - 10:30 Program Overview/Personal Assessment (SSQ)
10:30 - 11:30 SDS
11:30 - 12:30 Lunch
1:00 - 5:00 Individual Counseling/Recreation
5:00 - 5:30 Group Picture
5:30 - 6:30 Dinner
6:30 - 9:30 Bowling
9:00 - 10:00 Community Hour
10:00 - 11:00 Floor Meeting
11:00 - Lights Out

And now what you've been waiting for. . .