Author Archives: rtanoue

About rtanoue

Hey! I'm Rachel Tanoue, a biology major neuroscience and bioethics emphasis in my sophomore year here at Puget Sound! I come from Aiea Heights, Hawaii (island: Oahu) & am super excited to live in the NorthWest! I'm a coxswain on the UPS men's varsity crew team, Hui O Hawaii member, Secretary on ASUPS Senate, a Theta & a Cellar-ite! Puget Sound offers so many opportunities in Tacoma, the surrounding areas, the academic community and in everyone else who calls themself a logger, I'm so excited to share all my thoughts and adventures with you! #oncealogger #alwaysalogger

Registering for my Future

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Everyone told me college wouldn’t be easier, it’s only four more years (well three and a half now) before I’m thrust into the real world to live my life. Yet registering for next semester was way more complicated than I thought it would be. The requirements in college are different from high school, but I actually enjoyed this opportunity for me to see the various classes all the disciplines offered. My advisor gave me some pretty good advice, “Take something that interests you.” So many times the news reports the current industry booming and parents drive their parents towards pursuing a career in those successful industries, but I think it’s up to every student to figure out what they truly love to do and how they can turn that passion into a life. I could take something I never considered before, to see where my other interests may lie. I browsed the system and quickly found a multitude of classes I was interested in and began looking at how they would fit into my schedule and back-up schedule since there was absolutely no guarantee I would be lucky enough to get every class I wanted.

Registering was organized by those with the most credits getting to register first with freshmen registering last. It was saddening to hear others rave about the classes they wanted and see them just as quickly become closed, as my advising group registered in the late afternoon on the second to last day. My registering period opened during my biology lab, and I remember furiously refreshing my account throughout to lab and see the status of all the classes I wanted, the first schedule, back-up schedule, and back-up to the back-up schedule become filled. Luckily my lab finished a couple minutes before registering and I clicked furiously to try and claim the last spot in that open class or quickly get on the waitlist. Two of the classes I wanted were already so far down their waitlist that when I emailed the professors later that afternoon inquiring about my possibilities they thanked me for my interest but suggested I try again next semester. Talking over my choices and options with my mom helped me figure out what I would enjoy the most and help me figure out what my interests truly are.

Registration was an unbelievable stressful and crazy experience. These classes I’m taking are meant to  fill me with the skills and knowledge that I will use in the future. And that thought right there is crazy for me; that my future is here and  I need to do everything I can to make my dreams and passions a reality. But I need to figure out what those dreams and passions are and I strongly think that my spring course load will help me truly figure out who I am as a person and how I want to change the world. The future is definitely closer than it seems, especially closer than how it felt six months ago at graduation.

Nobody told me Tacoma was foggy

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“Washington? Why would you go to college were it ALWAYS rains?!”

I was on the receiving end of this statement many times this past year as I shared with my friends that I wanted to come to Washington, specifically UPS for college. Coming from Hawaii, the state of eternal sunshine and moving to the Northwest of rain, doom and gloom, my friends thought I was crazy. Yet knowing how rainy Washington was supposed to be didn’t deter me from coming to UPS. I was more than willing to love the cold and learn in a completely new environment, specifically a community that shared similar values as I and help me achieve my goals. However, I was blown away by the presence of the fog that has permeated our mist.

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A couple of weeks ago the fog started to roll in, and it never left. Sometimes it would be so thick when you woke up I couldn’t see Wyatt Hall from T/P. On that first day I couldn’t believe my eyes, the thickness of the fog completely obscured anything more than 20 feet in front of you and walking through it left a layer of moisture all over your body. As the days went on the fog persistently hung around, and I could see as the night wore on the fog getting thicker and hitting its apex in the morning. When we went out for our first morning crew practice (at 5AM mind you) the fog was so thick we couldn’t see the docks from the boathouse and the lights along the shoreline slowly faded into blots of light, it wasn’t a very productive practice always trying to watch out for other boats on the water. I was actually quite terrified of hitting the other boats, or even the shore, I had no way of knowing is something was nearby until I was nearly right upon it. The fog continued to surprise me even rolling over Baker Stadium during a football game a few weeks ago. I could barely see the bleachers on the opposite side; I don’t know how the players could see past their masks and the fog! The fog brought a different kind of cold and layer of shadow over campus.

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The fog was a completely unexpected surprise but I think many things at Puget Sound continue to surprise me in many good ways. It’s wonderful learning in this new environment, living with new people and becoming a part of the Puget Sound community. The rolling fog is so amazing to watch and although I may not be able to always see what is directly in front of me, I’m slowly becoming familiar with this campus and know how to find my way to where I want to go. Dealing with the fog is very much like dealing with college and the next steps of becoming a contributing adult in the world. And sometimes the most surprising things offer the best insight you never thought you’d receive. When I go back home the first thing I’m going to tell my friends and family is, “Did you know that Tacoma is more foggy than rainy?”