Manoa

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Food...definitely food...

I think it's really sad that of all the replies that have been posted so far, not a single reply is on-topic and are all just complaints about the game that shall not be named.

If you don't like the game in question, that's fine. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. But why post that opinion in a thread created by a Justice player to to find and connect with fellow Justice players in that game. It is not relevant to the topic of the OP, devolves JG's thread into a rant thread and increases the risk of his thread getting locked...and that's just not cool.

P.S. Welcome to the forums!

It's always heartbreaking to hear of the loss of a member of our community. My deepest condolences to Alan's family and friends.

Here's a few of my words of wisdom...

• Community colleges are such great assets and you're making a great first step by starting out at the community college level. You should take advantage of your community college as much as you can and try your best to get as much of your general education and lower division degree requirements at the community college level. So long as the courses you take are transferable to the 4-year that you want to go to and they fulfill the requirements that you need, the courses you take at the community college are just as good as taking them at the 4-year college, but at a significantly lower cost. The more required coursework you take at the community level, the less financial aid you will have to take out and the more money it'll save you in the long run. If you haven't yet, be sure to talk to a counselor to ensure that the courses that you take at the community college are not only transferable, but can also be applied towards the degree requirements at the 4-year college you want to go to. The more courses you can transfer from the community college, the better.

• Credit card companies love to come onto campus and lure young college students into filling out an application in exchange for some sort of freebe (like a t-shirt, frisbee, backpack, whatever). So many college students have had their credit records wrecked because of these sorts of practices. It's my understanding that some recent legislation will make it tougher for credit card companies to conduct this sort of business...but in the interim, avoid their booths like the plague. Remember that even filling out an application for credit will show up on your credit report and filling out too many applications can have an adverse affect on your credit report. I'm not saying don't get a credit card, but be careful, do your research and only sign up for a credit card when you're good ready (and not because you're getting a free t-shirt).

• When you're signing up for classes, keep in mind not only the days/times of the classes, but also where the class is being held. My first quarter after transferring to my 4-year, I made the mistake of signing up for two classes back to back...there was 10 minutes between the classes and it took 15-minutes to get from one to the other (I biked a lot that quarter ). When you're planning your course schedule for the semester/quarter, check to see how far the classes are from one another and allow ample time to get from one to the other. I would say to look at a map, but maps of larger campuses can make things look deceptively close to one another when they're actually pretty far (that's how I got myself into trouble). If you can, drop by campus and walk between the buildings to see how far it actually is.

• If you find yourself short on cash and need to get a job, consider getting a student job on campus. Since these employers are on-campus and deal with student workers regularly, they're usually pretty flexible about working out a schedule that works with your classes (and changes to your regular class schedule due to exam weeks).

• Try your best to take electives that are interesting and fun. Also, try incorporating a couple that teach you skill sets that are transferable to other job fields (like some accounting or business classes). You never know where life's journey will take you...there's always the chance that when you start taking the courses for your major, you might not enjoy it or find yourself not well suited for it. Or you may enjoy your major, but find it difficult to find a job in your degree's field after graduating. It's a good idea to have some back-up skills just in case you need to take a job that is outside of your degree field after you graduate. And if you ever find yourself unhappy with your major, never be afraid to re-evaluate whether you actually want to pursue the degree further. It's better to change your major into something you're happy with instead of sticking with something you aren't happy with and being miserable during your coursework. This is coming from someone who entered college as a computer science major, graduated as a history major and have been working as a commercial real estate appraiser ever since graduation.

• Lastly, ENJOY COLLEGE. I think one of my biggest regrets is not taking the time to enjoy college. Sure it'll be rough at times, but try not to get too caught up in all the work and take a little time to enjoy college life.

Good luck Angry_Citizen! As BABs said, be sure to drop by during reactivation weekends to keep us all posted on how you're doing!

1) You coming?
Kinda 50/50 at this point. I'm holding out 'till the end of the quarter to see how things shape up at work before making my decision on whether or not I'll be present for the whole weekend. If I do end up coming as an attendee of HeroCon and am there for the whole weekend, it'll depend on the cost of the dinner. That being the case, probably best to put me on the "Alt" list and only put secondary weight on my opinions.

1a) If yes, banquet menu ok?
Depends on cost for many of the reasons Missy listed earlier. Considering the current economy and that a good deal of people are probably looking at their expenses much more carefully than in previous years, the more cost-efficient, the better. Plus, I hate the idea of generous individuals that I consider friends getting shafted. If it turns out being a good deal on a per-person basis and more folks will be able to afford it on their own, I'm all for it.

1a1) If yes, which banquet items appeal?
I'm game for anything except the veal.

1a2) If no, what do you propose we do instead?
--

1b) If no, are you weenie-ing out because you THINK you can't afford it?
If we were having dinner today, would be able to afford it...but that can all change at the drop of a hat and it honestly depends on how things look on the job stability/workload end of things. If things look more solid and we're getting a fairly decent amount of work in, I'll very likely be there (this applies towards HeroCon as a whole as well as the dinner). If things look shaky, I'm going to be a lot more reluctant to dip into my savings (currently reserved for emergency "what-ifs") or add debt to my credit card and will probably only drop by for a visit on one of the Con days.

1b1) Does the wording of my question above change your answer?
Nope.

1d) If no, what the heck is wrong with you?
I have this thing about people covering my share of the cost, particularly when I can afford it (at least for the now) and am being conservative due to how uncertain things are. I <3 friends who are generous, but that generosity should be reserved for those who are truly in need.

2) Anything we MUST have (even if not on the banquet menu)?
I'd be happy with most of the items on the buffet menu. But I gotta say that Apple Gorgonzola salad that Arwen mentioned sounds mighty tasty.

3) Preferred dining date/time? My planned default is Friday Oct 23, 5:30pm which will hopefully allow us to dine without rushing to get to whatever Niv might be putting together on Friday
Early Friday evening worked out pretty well last year and think it'd be a good way to go this year.

<---Newb

That's a bummer Con, sorry to hear.

Welcome back!

Waiting to see how things shape up at work between now and October before getting tickets/hotel reservations. Crossing my fingers that things shape up and tickets/rooms don't sell out between now and then. I suppose worst-case scenario, I can still drop by to hang out in the hotel lobby and play HeroCon groupie.