Soup, Singing and Shaving Cream... Typical Furman

#ThatAwkwardMomentWhen I use hashtags in my blogs.
 #ThatAwkwardMomentWhen you feel a million butterflies in your stomach and begin to be overly excited about something.
#ThatAwkwardMomentWhen it becomes typical to feel that at Furman.
#ThatAwkwardMomentWhen you embrace it.

Welcome to Furman, where you can never really say goodbye to the butterflies. The past couple of weeks, I have been so exposed to butterflies in my stomach that I am about to start naming them. They always seem to wake up when something is going on at Furman.

I felt them when I was on my way to a $4 Dinner. My buddy, Rhodes, a senior here at Furman, invited me to attend a $4 Dinner. These are hosted by a group of students on campus called Mere Christianity Forum. Rhodes picked me up and took me to the Vista House, where we met with the rest of the people I would be dining with. The Vista House is a very neat house in Traveller's Rest which is open to all students. It functions as a place dedicated to service and christian Ideals. But do not mistake it for what you might find in a church.

Hanging at the Vista House!

When I got there, I realized that the people I was surrounded by were all very different and had different thoughts and opinions. I quickly learned that this was going to be something that I loved because these were the types of people that were able to question and decipher what it means to be religious and what we should take away from it. Beyond the $4 dinners, Mere Christianity Forum hosts events throughout the week to to engage students. The primary goal of MCF seems to be arriving at answers to questions with intense thought and discussion. I cannot wait to continue being a part of this organization, seeing that I have only just gotten my feet wet.

All in all, I met some great people and ate some great food. All of it was healthy and vegetarian. Now, I'm not a vegetarian, but once in a while, it feels good to eat fresh and organic. There were a lot of different fresh local foods that I could tell you about, but the names were so new to me that I have unfortunately forgot what they were called, except for the super good roasted red pepper soup.

A couple of nights later, I was hanging out with some ladies on Geer 200 when my hallmate, Drew, a vocal performance major, came and hung out with us. Him and three others then decided to show me a little talent of theirs.... THEY COULD SING BARBERSHOP! It was a total surprise.

Believe me, when I went down stairs with my jar of peanut butter and  bag of banana chips, I was not expecting to be serenaded by a borderline professional Barbershop Quartet! They sang multiple Barbershop tags, which are pretty much the harmonious and extravagant endings to songs. Then the butterflies came back as Drew offered to teach me.

We spent the next hour or so teaching me how to sing the base part to the end of a tag. The amazingly patient Drew taught me all I needed to know to be a barbershop singer (Just kidding, there is a lot to it... but I am on my way!). So, if you need someone to sing "My Love, where is she? My love, my love, my love," I am your guy. It was just another great experience that showed me how talented students are around here and how unique experience are just around the corner here (or in this case, down a flight of stairs and a few rooms over.)

Yesterday, I felt butterflies yet again. I was sitting in the Trone Center waiting for the boys from Berea Middle School to arrive so that we could meet them. This is for a group called Men Of Distinction, a mentoring group between Furman Students and boys from a local middle school. I was so anxious to meet them because I did not know what to expect...

Some kids working with chromatography

IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! Oh my goodness, those boys were hilarious. Within minutes of it starting I realized that this was going to be one of my favorite things at Furman. Luckily, we were doing chemistry experiments with the kids this week (my favorite thing considering I love chemistry and plan on majoring in it). After touring the science building, we went into a lab room and did three different experiments. First, we learned about hydrophilic and hydrophobic materials and got to experiment with them using paper, water, food coloring and the ever-messy Shaving cream. They spread shaving cream on a plate and mixed in some food coloring to make cool designs. Next, they put a notecard on the design and peeled it off to find that they now had their designs on the paper, since the shaving cream was hydrophobic and pushed the water/food coloring onto the paper. The kids were so excited to be making the cool design on their notecards.

Next, we covered cups with coffee filters, drew on them using markers and squirted isopropyl alcohol on them to experiment and have fun with chromatography. Believe me, these boys have been exposed to a lot of science now.

The aftermath of Elephant Toothpaste

Finally, we made elephant toothpaste, which involved putting a little hydrogen peroxide in a water bottle, mixing in some food coloring and then adding yeast to act as a catalyst. It was like BOOM! The tooth paste came flying out and the kids faces lit up! They saw how much fun science could be-- even though a couple of them enjoy social studies more, as they demonstrated when they completely schooled me in the Glorious Revolution and facts about English Monarchies. I'm telling ya, Men of Distinction is the bomb diggity.

The Bros from Geer 300 and my Dad

There was one other SUPER EXCITING thing that happened to me this week. My parents finally came down to visit! I was beyond excited to see them. When they arrived, they surprised me with one of those big tubs of popcorn that has caramel corn and cheesy popcorn and the other kind (which I  think is just plain). Well, I set it on top of their rental car, forgot about it, and as they drove away, I watched half of it spill onto the ground in the parking lot. No matter, it still tastes good. After that, my parents graciously took me and a couple friends to a Tex-Mex restaurant in downtown Greenville. It was so nice for them to be able to finally meet some of the people that I talk about so much.

When we got back from dinner that night, I received an email that my only class for the next day was cancelled, meaning I had an entire free day with my parents. First we ate at Tommy's Ham House for breakfast. Seriously, if you come to Greenville, go to Tommy's. It is the best breakfast anywhere, and it is conveniently owned by a Furman Graduate. We ate lunch at the Paddock, the new on campus restaurant. It was my first time going there and it did not disappoint. If you aren't catching on, one of hte best things about having your parents visit (beyond having them be there) is the food! They take you to Cheerwine and dine you. It is fantastic. We ended our night downtown at a Restaurant called Soby's, which is like the best southern seafood ever.

The Real McCoy's dining Downtown

I was also able to show them around campus and especially the science building. They saw my furnished dorm room for the very first time. They also watched as I finished up a Chemistry Lab assignment. That was probably their favorite part. It was so exciting to have my parents visit. They left yesterday, but I miss 'em already.

Alright, this blog is a little lengthy, but only because my Furman Experience is extensive and grand.

Remember, if you ever have questions about ANYTHING, just shoot me an email.


Until next time,
Sam McCoy
sam.mccoy@furman.edu