Last week of classes

Heya,

This week was quite an eventful one! A lot of things were wrapping up, including classes and one friend’s time at Ole Miss, so it was also a little sad to start having to say our goodbyes to a few people and things.

Monday 2 December

Got woken up at the beautiful (not) time of 6:30am when Dylan woke up to get ready for school. He dropped me back at the dorm, and I napped for a few more hours. We then met up at Rebel Market to have brunch and then chilled in my room for a bit before he had to head to class and the girls and I headed to Vaught-Hemingway stadium for a tour!

The tour was quite short – only 30 minutes long – but it was still a cool experience. We got to step onto the field, which was something I’d wanted to do since getting here, and then we got to go into two of the exclusive lounges – South Club and Rebel Club. South Club is across the stadium from the student section and costs $2,100 for a seat in there for the season. The Rebel Club is the oldest and most exclusive of all the clubs, running along one of the sides of the stadium and costs $2,400 a year for access and a seat. There really wasn’t much to see in either club other than the view of the stadium out of the windows. Unfortunately the girls who gave the tour did not have access to the locker rooms or any player areas (because they’re accessed via a finger scanner and only certain people’s prints allow them into those areas, as is the case with basically every athletic facility on campus, where only the Athletic Director and similar staff have access to everything) so we didn’t get to see any of those things which was a shame, but we appreciated the opportunity that the Study Abroad department organised for us.

(Georgia and I)

(Me, Ciara (Ireland), CJ (Aus/NZ) and Georgia (Aus))

(The view from South Club)

(The inside of South Club. Rebel Club looked the same except it was smaller)

(Sitting in one of South Club's $2,100 seats)

(The elevator entrances up to Rebel Club)

(The view from Rebel Club)

We then headed back to the dorm and all sat in the kitchen doing some schoolwork, which for me was finalising my presentation for my class tonight. While doing so, the group of us demolished a pack of Tim Tams and we taught Ciara and Vera how to do a Tim Tam slam.

My last journalism class was slightly boring because again it was just groups doing their presentations. My partner and I presented 4th, and except for me stuttering a few times, we did really well. Our topic was sport concussions (what they are, how they’re diagnosed and treated, history of protocol, current protocol, and my partner’s personal experience with the injury), and our professor seemed really interested in it which was a good sign (and I found out a few days later that we got 100%!). When it hit 7:30pm – the end of class – there were still two groups who had to present. I had hoped that our professor would let the rest of the class leave and just ask them to stay, especially because I had somewhere to be, but she made us all stay and we didn’t get out until 8pm. I get it because they had to watch all of ours, but it was just annoying.

Dylan had been waiting outside for me since 7:30pm so I felt bad, but then we had to race to the Hub to get Eamon because a group of us were heading to King’s Steakhouse for dinner tonight. I’d been trying to get everyone to go since I went almost two months ago, especially Georgia who was craving a good steak, but this was our last opportunity and so everyone was keen. The others had already got there via uber so they ordered our meals for us, and our food came out not long after we got there. Again it was delicious and the others really enjoyed their steaks too.

(G was so happy that she'd finally got a steak)

After dinner, Dylan and I dropped Eamon back home and then headed back to his place.

Tuesday 3 December

We had a relaxed morning before heading off to the Grill for lunch, and then Dylan dropped me back at the dorm and headed to work.

In our drug crimes class, we had one of our peers speak for us today which was unexpected. We have a student in our class – Sammie – who is a mature age student studying corrections. We found out a few weeks ago that he’d actually been in prison, and today we finally got to hear why. It turns out that Sammie (surname: Smith) was actually a really successful college and NFL football player. He was a first round pick (9thoverall) in the 1989 NFL draft, and played 3 seasons for the Miami Dolphins and 1 season for the Denver Broncos before retiring due to injury (he even has his own Wikipedia page lol). He’d dedicated a lot of his time to non-profit work, especially anti-drug related things since he grew up around some really troubled people. However, he often loaned money to friends given he was very well off, and this ended up leading to him getting involved in loaning money to drug dealers and the like to gain profit, involving him in the distribution chain of drug dealing. After 10 months, he was caught out and sentenced to 7 years and 3 months in jail. He was subject to a great deal of discrimination and unfair treatment in the criminal justice system given that he is African-American, and had a lot of people, especially law enforcement officers, try to pin more crimes on him than he had actually committed, which is why he has now gone into studying corrections as he wants to make a difference for those like him. Since leaving prison and the halfway-house system, he has since had his rights reinstated and spends a lot of time speaking at events about his past, especially to sporting groups because although he’s done some bad things he’s ultimately a respected member of the sporting community. He is currently the Ole Miss football team’s chaplain and speaks at a lot of corporate events for the school, so he has come a long way. It was really inspiring, and I’m really happy for him.

At 6pm, we had our final family law class, which we went to despite wishing we were at the basketball instead, especially because halfway through the class everyone was sending us photos of Morgan Freeman literally sitting right in front of them!!! (He is known to be a big Ole Miss fan). Nonetheless we were ultimately glad we went to class because it was the last one, we hadn’t been in two weeks, and we got given tips for the exam.

After class Georgia and I met up with those who went to the basketball at student union to receive our wristbands for the sorority house tour event that was happening. The event, which was raising money for a mutual charity of several of the sororities, opened up 6 of their houses to the public (those who paid $5 for a ticket) so we could go inside and have a look and see their Christmas decorations. We got to see Delta Delta Delta (Tri Delta for short), Alpha Omicron Pi (AOPi for short), Pi Beta Phi, Chi Omega, Alpha Phi and Alpha Delta Pi (ADPi for short). Each of them were very beautiful, and in most we had one of the girls give us a little tour of the downstairs area (which was all we were allowed to see in each), so we got to see the formal living areas and the dining rooms (which were massive). All of the sorority houses also offered treats like hot cocoa, cookies and muffins. In one house – Chi Omega (Chi is pronounced like the name Ky/Kai/Kye) – one of the house mothers (a VERY southern lady) was by the hot cocoa stand when she walked in, and we chatted to her for a while because she was fascinated that we were all from different countries. She said if she’d met us earlier she would have loved to have invited us into the house for dinner on one of their guest nights. After the tour, we headed back to the dorm, where I spent a considerable amount of time feeling sick because I’d had no self-control around the hot cocoa.

(Tri Delta's living room)

(Tri Delta's hot cocoa setup)

(Alpha Omicron Pi's mantlepiece)

(ADPi's Christmas tree, which can be seen from outside through the window)

Georgia and I headed to the computer lab to find Vera and spend an hour or so doing some homework, most of which I spent on the phone to Tom helping him with an assignment for his Law for Commerce class which I took last year. We headed back to the dorm when Vera was finished with her work and Tom called me again, then I spoke to Mum and B for a little while, and then headed to bed.

Wednesday 4 December

Pretty much all of the day today was spent chilling in my dorm room before I had class at 4pm, which was my last business negotiation class and also the practical half of our final. We had an hour to prepare after being given the materials, during which we’d all selected a random number, and after the hour was up we had to find the person with the same number on the other side (a.k.a. the person we would be going up against). What are the chances that I was up against the same guy I was up against in the midterm haha! I was glad, though, because he’s super easy to negotiate with because he’s not a hard negotiator and he’s reasonable. We got our negotiation over and done with pretty quickly, and we both got deals that did our clients good, although I think I could have done a bit better. I’m not stressing, though, because I’m passing the class and I could only fail if I absolutely flunk both parts of the final.

Dylan came and picked me up and we headed to Five Guys for dinner. The food was good but super expensive, but everyone had been saying it’s a place I had to try. Dylan and I then spent the rest of the night chilling at his and watching a movie. I was a little upset that I’d missed tonight’s International Student Farewell dinner (it was on at the same time as my final so I couldn’t make it) and everyone went out afterwards and did karaoke, but oh well.

Thursday 5 December

Chilled at Dylan’s for the morning until he took me back to the dorm so he could go to work. Georgia and I had our class ever Ole Miss class – our drug crimes class – which was a review of the exam. Our professor – who is an absolute legend – literally had the exam paper in his hand and “quizzed” us on content from the unit by pretty much reading the exam questions and then saying “yeah… so you need to know that” haha! It was bittersweet leaving, because although classes in general are not THAT fun, it was another end that had come about.

After class, I went to Rebel Market and got some lunch, this time sitting on the balcony outside and enjoying the not-so-horrible weather and Christmas music that was blasting through the speakers.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the computer lab finishing off my last assignment – a book review for my drug crimes class – which I was doing on a book called Methland, which detailed the true story of a town called Oelwein, Iowa which is overrun by the drug, and also talked about the synonymity that drugs and small American towns now have. It was an interesting book, and my writing was flowing, so I finished the paper in just a few hours.

I went and grabbed some dinner and then started getting ready for Eamon’s going away party (since he’s leaving us this Sunday to go travelling as he has good enough grades that he doesn’t need to sit his exams). We headed to his place at the Hub where he’d invited heaps of people over and we drank, smoked a cigar (that Eamon was given as a gift but didn’t really want so “shared” it with the rest of us lol), and then at around 10:30pm we got on the Hub bus to head into the Square.

When we got to the Square, we started heading towards the bars but I had to quickly run back because I’d left my phone on the bus lol whoops. We ended up having to go to a different bar than we’d planned because the one we wanted to go to was closed. However, when the last of us started rocking up at the one we’d decided to go to, they started charging entry halfway through letting the group in. I didn’t care about paying $10 to get in, but others were pissed that the guys at the door had started charging when they saw the size of our group, so we headed to Roosters Blues House instead. What ended up conspiring at Roosters was a downward spiral of drama where Susanna had made a comment about Georgia’s outfit that came across as harsher than she meant (both were drunk so communication was not at its best), so they both ended up getting pretty upset, causing Georgia to become a moody and emotional drunk and Susanna was emotional and sick (she ended up throwing up off the side of the balcony multiple times). Despite the drama we still had some fun at Roosters.

(Ciara (Ireland) drunk in the bathroom placing bets on the 3 toilets in Roosters even though only was was useable since one was occupied by a vomiting girl and her friends, and the other was clogged)

(Me, CJ (Aus/NZ), Eamon (Aus) and Georgia (Aus))

(Georgia (Aus), Eamon (Aus), me and CJ (Aus/NZ))

I’d told Dylan that we wouldn’t need him to give us a lift home tonight, but with the state Georgia was in (refusing to go home) I thought it was best. I felt bad that I’d woken him up but he insisted on coming anyway, so he arrived not long after and we had to force Georgia into the car. We grabbed some Sonic on the way home, and just a minute after eating some food, Georgia was throwing up in a bin bag (which Dylan had brought with him knowing Georgia’s history of throwing up while drunk haha). When we got back to the dorm, Georgia and I stayed up for a while talking before eventually crashing.

Friday 6 December

Nothing much of note happened during the day today, but for the night Dylan and I headed to Tupelo for dinner as there was a restaurant there that he’d been wanting to take me to since we met. It’s called Lost Pizza, and he used to work there before he moved down to Oxford to come to Ole Miss. Dylan wanted to treat me, especially since he said the food here was so good, so we ordered mozzarella sticks and cheese sticks for starters, a pizza each for main, and a strawberry and cinnamon pizza for dessert. It was suuuuper expensive, but it delicious and worth the drive! We had tonnes of leftovers which we took home.

The others were all at a house party, so Dylan and I stopped into a bottle shop on our way home from Tupelo, dropped his car at his place, and then caught an uber to the Hub where the party was. It was a chill night, and I didn’t really drink much because I was still so full from dinner. On the other hand, Dylan had drunk waaaay too much tequila and by 1am was throwing up outside, so I ordered us an uber and prayed he didn’t throw up in it (thankfully he didn’t). This time it was my turn to take care of drunk Dylan (as he’d done for me so many times) so I got him into bed and we stayed up for a while before both eventually falling asleep.

Saturday 7 December

We slept in this morning, ate our leftover pizza for breakfast, and then headed onto campus so I could freshen up and then we headed over to the Pavilion to watch the basketball game as this would be my last opportunity to get to a game (the next home game for either team is the day we leave). We got there just before halftime and sat with a bunch of my international friends who were already there. The Rebels won again, this time 83-67 against California State University Bakersfield.

Dylan and I went to student union after the game and got some Which Wich for lunch, and then we went to Walmart to grab a couple of things. Georgia and I bought a bottle of shampoo and a bottle of conditioner at the very start of the semester, and they’ve actually lasted us this whole time, but of course they run out just before we leave so I had to grab some small travel ones to get me through the next week. We then also popped over to Rebel Rags, an Ole Miss merchandise store that I’ve been meaning to go to for ages, and I spent a solid hour in there browsing and trying on things. I came out with two sweatshirts for myself which were pretty expensive ($85USD combined) but it’s my last chance to get some Ole Miss gear since it’s even more expensive to order from home. Not going to lie, I’ll probably be getting more before I leave haha.

This afternoon it was also announced that Lane Kiffin was to be Ole Miss’ new head football coach, the announcement coming just 6 days after our former coach Matt Luke was fired. There had been rumours circulating all week about Lane Kiffin being the chosen one, and it was finally confirmed when Ole Miss put out content on social media using the phrase “All Aboard” as people refer to Kiffin as the Lane Train lol. The Ole Miss football Instagram page then posted out a bunch of promotional memes including Kiffin’s face on Thomas the Tank Engine hahaha.

Dylan and I went back to the room and hung for a bit before heading back out to IHOP for dinner. I had fried chicken and pancakes (a combo that is more common in the South than you would believe), and he had a burger. We went back to the room again to suss out what tonight’s plans were, but Dylan headed home as it was going to be too hard for him to get home from the Square at the end of the night. The others were already getting ready, so I started too and met them up in Al’s room when I was done, and then we jumped on the Safe Ride bus around 11pm to head into the Square.

(Me, Georgia (Aus) and CJ (Aus/NZ))

Eamon was with us and it was his last night out before leaving tomorrow morning, so we headed to Billups for some pre-drinks and then to his favourite bar, Funky’s, to enjoy some frozen daiquiris and Christmas tunes. I’d never been here before but it was really cool, and the frozen daiquiris were delicious. Lights came up around 12:45am, so we headed outside and said our goodbyes to Eamon which was sad. Some of us will be seeing him in a few months when we have a little get-together, but it was the first person we’d had to say goodbye to so it got us all a little in our feels when we realised we’d be doing the same with everyone else next weekend.

(Eamon (Aus))

(Me, Ciara (Ireland) and Georgia (Aus) with blue mouths from the daiquiris)

We headed back to the dorm and we dragged my mattress into CJ and Vera’s room so that we could all have a sleepover (Georgia and Ciara already had their mattresses in there as the 4 of them had had a sleepover the night before). Al joined us for a little bit, but eventually left at some point, but I didn’t see this happen because I’d fallen asleep very quickly.

(Georgia and I, drunk, trying to push my mattress from our room to CJ and Vera's for the sleepover. It was challenging to say the least haha)

(CJ (Aus/NZ), Me, Vera (Germany), Ciara (Ireland), Georgia (Aus) and Al (England))

Sunday 8 December

Woke up in CJ and Vera’s room this morning feeling pretty well rested. Chatted with the girls before heading back to my room to get ready for the day, which included a trip to Rebel Market to get some food (although most of the dining options were shut so all we got was cereal).

I spent the rest of the afternoon starting to pack up my stuff in my room. CJ and I are sending a bunch of stuff home before we travel more so I started folding up the clothes I won’t be taking with me. I also started gathering a pile of random things (snacks, toiletries, cups etc.) that I no longer need and don’t want to take home with me and which I’ll therefore be offering to anyone who wants it (Dylan, our friends who are staying another semester, any of the girls in our wing etc.).

Dylan picked me up around 5pm because we were going to another dinner spot he wanted to show me, this time in Amory, which was about an hour and a bit north of Oxford. The place we went to was a little country pub-like restaurant in the middle of the forest. I had catfish and fries, and Dylan had a steak and fries. We then headed back to Oxford after we were finished and we both needed to study for our exams tomorrow, so we headed to the library on campus to get some work done. We were there for about 2 hours, and left around 11pm. When we got home, we started watching Pulp Fiction (Dylan’s been trying to get me to watch it for ages) but he fell asleep after about an hour so I turned off the TV and headed to sleep myself.

This week was a busy one and a lot of fun was had, but now I really have to start knuckling down for finals week next week. However, it’s pretty sad that this was my last full week in Oxford :( But I’m looking forward to enjoying my last few days with everyone and seeing Mum when she arrives on Wednesday!

- Emily xx