I would like to thank everyone who was involved in the renovations of the Memorial Union, particularly the bookstore. It looks beautiful.

It does not, however, make it less of a slap-in-the-face when I drop a modest $400 on books, books for which I can use my fingers and toes to count how many times they’ll be opened this semester.

I hope everyone agrees that it’s been a great first week back on campus and in class, because there’s notoriously little homework and always something to do. What I love about Iowa State, as seen in the redone Memorial Union, is how gorgeous it all is.

It’s all this beauty that’s bringing me down.

One of the qualities of Iowa State that draws prospective students into its fiery maws of tuition and “dorm” food – more on that later – is its lovely campus. It’s one of the reasons I went here, and I know plenty of others who can relate. It’s part of that whole college experience thing.

It also separates us from that one school on the other side of the state that has a lot of concrete and a bus system not nearly as cool as CyRide.

Our campus. It’s beautiful.

What’s not is all the sneezing and stuffy noses and watery eyes it’s causing. I have a terrible phobia of sneezing in large lecture halls, out-decibeling the professor, then having everyone turn to look at me, only to have me sneeze again, even louder.

It’s happened twice in the first week.

Fortunately, I can take solace in knowing I’m not the only one dealing with this affliction, which I know because I’m a total starer.

I also run out of Kleenex at all the wrong times. By the end of the semester, my tissue bill is going to be up there with my book bill. I wonder if they give scholarships to cover that.

Another vengefully lovely aspect of campus is Frederiksen Court and its horse barns.

I like Freddy. I like that there are bands of horses staring at me every time I walk to campus. I like how . quaint and rural and peaceful it all is.

Nevertheless, they’re horses. I am not a farm kid. And when they aren’t creeping me out with all their “Ring”-like behavior, they smell awful. Every morning, it’s a gravel travel nightmare.

Speaking of places to live on campus – once called dorms, but, according to a Daily article from this past week, they’ve been redubbed “residence halls” – they’ve got this pretty-ugly thing going on too.

I spent a year in Old RCA. I met new people. I played intramural sports. I fell in love with Pokey Stix. It was a beautiful time.

The same cannot be said for 4 a.m. fire alarms, urine-stained elevators and “mandatory” house meetings, whatever that meant.

But I lived in a dorm, I think. Perhaps that doesn’t happen in a residence hall.

And then there’s the weather. I love thunderstorms, so I spent most of the past week staring out the window, watching the sky, secretly hoping everyone who has ever falsely pulled a fire alarm between midnight and 6 a.m. would get struck by lightning.

It was beautiful. And I could sit by myself in my apartment and totally not feel like a loser, because I was occupied with the weather. I love Iowa weather.

At least until December. Brr. I am so screwed.

– Josh Hillman is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Cedar Rapids. He is the Daily opinion editor.