Tasha Adams is a senior graduating in May. Like Nicole Reither, she is also terrified of all things graduation—failing a class, walking at the ceremony, not finding a job after receiving her degree. 

“The undaunted undergrads” is an account of working through last-semester fears and getting the most out of the college experience. My announcements are sent and I am passing all my classes.

I have (almost) survived my last semester of college and In less than three weeks, I will have to pack into the Taco Bell arena with all the other graduates and walk the line.

I am terrified.

I don’t want to and the only reason I am is because I have friends who have told me I will regret it if I don’t.

I know it is such a large ceremony that the only people who will pay attention when my name is called will be the people who are there for me.

But I feel like vomiting when I think about walking on stage in front of that many people.

While all my fellow graduating friends are deciding on what pretty dress they want to wear on May 18, all I can think about is the shoes I am least likely to fall in.

I am seriously considering just wearing jeans and my Toms; practical, comfortable, low-risk.

Beyond that, I am mentally preparing for the end of my college career.

I am excited for my post-college life free of tests, assignments or late nights cranking out last minute papers. But I am more excited about actually having my degree, and part of that excitement comes from the purely symbolic act of donning my cap and gown to walk the line.

So even though commencement is causing me anxiety now, I am hoping I will be so amped on the fact that I will be a college graduate that I can get through the ceremony without my knees giving out.

Honestly, it will be about 11.7 seconds of my life spent as the center of attention and when it is over, I will push through all the other graduates to join my family in the Student Union Building. By the way, in case you didn’t know in lieu of meeting up with family on the intermural field, each college will have a designated area in the SUB.

The Jordan Ballroom will host the Graduate College, Arts and Sciences & Business and Economics and the Simplot Ballroom will host the Colleges of Education, Engineering, Health Sciences & Social Sciences and Public Affairs.

I will smile, take deep breaths and possibly cry tears of joy knowing that I conquered college, despite all the roadblocks that happened along the way.

And unless all my nightmares about falling or tripping come true, I will come out unscathed and proud—proud of working my butt off for the last four years, proud of passing my classes, proud of not overdosing on caffeine.

“Slow down!” Meliha Kaya, of Turkey, said.

This phrase is uttered on an almost daily basis in our apartment. The tendency to talk fast and slur words together is one common to anyone speaking their native language, though it is apparently particularly prevalent in Americans.

“You have what people think of as an American accent,” Timothy Daniel, French, said. “You talk fast.”

A lot of misunderstandings can be avoided with proper enunciation and slowing it down. This is obvious to anyone who has tried to learn a use a different language with a native speaker, but it is very difficult to remember when you are the native speaker in question.

Excitement also makes it difficult to slow down. I challenge anyone to try and calmly and slowly say, “The huskies are here and we can drive the dog-sleds to the top of the hills to see the Northern lights let’s go!”

My self-control is not strong enough for that. In this case, sign language and dramatic gestures and grins get the point across just fine.

What else characterizes an American accent though? Though many seldom consider their natural dialect an accent, it is surprising to note that an ‘American accent’ doesn’t include the intra-American accents which come to mind. The southern drawl, or Boston Brahmin accent, are not well known outside the States, making a California-Idaho accent one which is “typically American” in the eyes of non-native speakers.

Despite speed, American English is characterized by being relatively easy to understand. This was a surprise to me and to non-native speakers as well, who thought citizens of the United Kingdom, being from the homeland of English, would be the easiest for them to understand.

“When the girls from Ireland start talking to each other I can barely understand a word. And there was this girl from Liverpool that I couldn’t understand at all,” Christian Gruber of Switzerland said.

This is not to say there aren’t moments of staring blankly at each other as we try to figure out what the other person actually meant. In these instances, I recommend a thesaurus.

American English is rhotic, meaning we pronounce our r’s. According to Oscar Rydblom, English professor, this r pronunciation (or lack thereof) is one of the main differences between English accents. This pronunciation of r’s makes it easier to understand some words and distinguishing between them for non-native speakers.

Another pronunciation point is the enunciation of h’s. This isn’t so much an American English thing as it is a general English characteristic which gives non-native speakers (particularly the French) difficulties. It results in amusing anecdotes though.

On a trip to Stockholm, Timothy asked our Swedish friend Erika Egonsson, “Are you hungry?”

However, due to a lack of h’s, it sounded more like, “Are you angry?”

What followed was a classic slapstick routine out of Saturday Night Live as each party got increasingly frustrated that the other just wasn’t getting it, until finally Timothy managed to pronounce an extremely guttural h as he demanded, “Are you hungry?”

The look of embarrassed enlightenment on Erika’s face was priceless.

Though it has been said repeatedly, it bears saying again. Speaking slowly and without mumbling will save a lot of blank staring, though some misunderstandings are inevitable. Just be patient and have a good sense of humor about the whole situation. Or, even better, try speaking their native language so they have something to laugh about too.

Encountering stereotypes is an inevitable part of meeting new people. Meeting new people from other countries just means there are more stereotypes to work through and be aware of.

For Americans, there are two big stereotypes to be aware of.

First, Americans are stupid. This one is interesting because I have yet to encounter it directly, but I have been asked if I have had any problems with people who believe this stereotype. This implies one of two things: either people are aware that the stereotype is a ridiculous overgeneralization so no one actually believes it, or I have a flashing sign saying ‘not stupid’ floating over my head making people think I will disprove the stereotype every time I encounter it.

When asked what it is that perpetuates the stereotype that Americans are morons, the most frequent answer is reality television. Understandable, if my only encounter with America was Jersey Shore, I wouldn’t be impressed.

Another component which is actually rather amusing is geography. We are notorious for not knowing where places are in the world. Europeans are okay with not knowing the location of Estonia or Serbia, but claim we should be able to pick out the major European countries out on a map with no problem.

A valid point, but should you not be aware of the difference between Austria and Switzerland on a map, just whip out a blank map of the U.S. and ask them to pinpoint Colorado. It makes for not only a silencer on the matter of geography, but a fun drinking game.

This stereotype is easy to disprove and isn’t that prevalent for direct encounters. At this point it seems to be more of a stereotypical stereotype than an actual judgment.

The second stereotype is American arrogance. I will freely admit that I didn’t understand this for a while. While here I met far more arrogant Swedes and given the reputation of Swedes for humility that was a surprise. A Lithuanian friend ended up explaining it.

“I kind of envy you. You all (Americans) are just self-confident and willing to put yourself out there. We’re not,” Lijana Songailaite said.

In the interest of avoiding stereotype 1 subsection insensitive moron, I did not ask her if “we” meant Lithuanians or non-Americans in general. After a few questions to other Europeans, the conclusion was drawn that she probably meant Lithuanians in general, or at most, former East-bloc nationalities.

So this self-confidence and assertiveness translates into arrogance. Easily done really, just throw in some overbearing tendencies and fast-talking and the impression is left that Americans think they can do it better than anyone so just get out of their way. Arrogance personified, that’s us.

The best way to dodge this one is to make sure to let other people talk. Sometimes this requires sitting in silence for a good five minutes while everyone stares at each other to try and get someone else to speak up. Torturous, but if you break the silence every time people will just step aside and let you run the show. Not only does this perpetuate the arrogance stereotype, it leaves you with a lot more work to do than you would otherwise.

Supposedly there are other stereotypes of Americans out there. I am certain there are, but since I haven’t encountered them, I have no advice for you. Just be sure to talk coherently and let other people have their turn to speak, that pretty much takes care of them both.

Share with Cher is a recurring feature taking student queries to a whole new level by publishing student concerns or questions about campus and going straight to the source. Contact Cher at culture@arbiteronline.com to get your answers.

With spring upon us, it’s hard to miss the construction happening around campus. Obviously Boise State needs to take advantage of the nice weather and get some of these projects completed, but where is the line between university growth and student inconvenience?

According to Suzanne Seigneur, traffic demand management (TDM) communications and outreach coordinator, Boise State does their best to minimize the impact construction has on students.

Seigneur went to the source for further details and spoke with architecture and engineering services in order to get specific answers to the questions going around about the construction inconveniences on campus. She said they looked at the map in regards to the Student Union Building (SUB) field and the complaints about early morning noise in that area.

The good news, according to Seigneur, is the usage of heavy equipment and thus heavy construction noise is finishing right now and will be complete by the end of April 9. She said this should alleviate most of the noise that students are hearing. However there will still be some of the backup beeping, which is inevitable, while they finish installing the sprinkler system and sod.

“So we’ll have a quieter construction area, starting on Wednesday and it should be completed by the beginning of May,” Seigneur said.

But as much as some students are inconvenienced by the noise and detours, this is actually a positive thing according to Seigneur.

“We know that it’s hard on students, but the good news is the campus is growing and we’re able to offer more facilities for students,” Seigneur said. “So in the end it’s very positive.”

Speaking of facilities offered to students: Do you have the Testing Center woes? Do you think testing in the Testing Center brings your grade down? Do you ever stress over getting into the Testing
Center?

Maria Shimel, online testing center manager, took a moment to respond to the question about lines at the Testing Center.

“There’s actually pretty rarely any lines here,” Shimel said. “When students make appointments and keep their appointment times, the computer spreads everybody out so that we’re not overcrowded and there aren’t any lines. If you ever do see a line, usually it’s one of our busier days, such as during midterms or finals week.”

Shimel explained how they try to minimize the lines by having those appointment times. But if, for whatever reason, students decide not to make an appointment and just walk in or when everybody’s trying to come in at the last time slot on the last day for their exams, the Testing Center can potentially see some rushes. But she said there’s never anything more than just a few students in a line.

To make it even easier to access the Testing Center, Shimel said they even added more hours.

“We actually extended our testing center hours this semester Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.,” Shimel said. “So as long as students are being responsible and making appointments, they should never run into a problem.”

Shimel also elaborated on the comments about testing in the Testing Center making testing more difficult and possibly costing students a grade level.

“That is just individual perception,” Shimel said. “It’s the same as people taking a scantron test or taking a paper test, this is just a computer test.”

Shimel added everybody has their own way of taking tests. She said if students know their weaknesses or if they’re aware they have a difficult time taking computer tests, students can plan ahead by studying harder or maybe even bringing earplugs to help block out distractions.

Nicole Reither is a senior graduating in May with a degree in Communication and a certificate in Public Relations. Like Tasha Adams, she is also terrified of graduating–missing out on free food at the BRC, student tickets to events and the luxury of the free gym. “The undaunted undergrads” is an account of working through last-semester fears and getting the most out of the
college experience.

After a week of a lack of motivation all I wanted was the weekend.  With graduation tickets already going out for reservation, my need and want to be a freshman again was at an all-time high. So what better way to relive this time in my life than to throw a house party?

As the night approached we realized how small our house really was. We spent the evening moving furniture around so we all wouldn’t be breathing down one another’s necks.

Friends slowly but surely began to pile into our small three-bedroom house. With the crowd growing I ended up finding people standing in the bathroom just off the kitchen because it was the only space left. However, as the night got darker and the drinks got heavier, the need for more space didn’t seem to matter anymore.

My roommate’s pet snake, JoJo, was out to play and I caught one guy crawling around in our attic.

With the music blaring Usher’s Confessions, the obvious choice for this throwback party, I looked around the house and realized everyone should continue to experience house parties until it is absolutely necessary to grow up.

The one good thing about throwing a party at your own house is you can change into sweats at any time in the night. Which I did around 2 a.m., in hopes for the few lingerers to take the hint.

It wasn’t until 4 a.m. when I went into my room and crawled into bed.  Which had clearly been confused for the trashcan as I found about seven crushed beer cans snuggled up against my pillows.

Waking up to the smell of Four Lokos and a sticky floor is exactly what you don’t want when you are hung over.

I suggest if you haven’t house partied in a while to take the plunge, blare some music and cross your fingers that the police don’t show up.

Or hope they do since you happen to be old enough and this time you can show them your ID proudly unlike all the times you couldn’t when you actually were a freshman. Oh the joys.