Rethinking, Relaxing, Recharging...

I tend to have some pretty dramatic ups and downs. I'm just that kind of person. The latter half of today? It was a down. With all the reshuffling that's been going on in this whole college process, I've had to re-evaluate a lot of the things I imagined for myself.

For instance, I've changed my major from Accounting to English - a change I'm really excited about, but a change nonetheless. With Accounting, I feel like my post-college careerpath was pretty well established; with English it's less so, but the open-endedness leaves more room for growth, I think, though it gives me a lot to think about as far as future goals.

Another thing that's been weighing on me is the whole social scene. How much is too much, for someone who is switching majors and reprioritizing and has an otherwise busy academic life? I've had to rethink some of the social things in which I once considered participating, which is harder than it sounds. My close friend B has recently been drawn pretty deep into her sorority, which has left me feeling a little out of her life, as Greek conflicts keep popping up in the way of our plans.

So with all this rethinking, changing of mindsets, and - hardest of all - the prospect of losing such a close friend, there were times today when things looked a little bleak (sitting alone in this apartment while I contemplated this did not help).

Then, just as I was getting ready to tuck in early and look forward to a brighter tomorrow, I got a phone call. It was B. She got out of her sorority rush meeting early, and wanted to hang out, which was EXACTLY what I needed.

We sat around with a bag of microwave kettle corn, and talked about everything on the planet. And while she's a little bummed I won't be joining her sorority this fall, I know that (Greek or not!) it won't be more than a couple of days until we're back on my futon with a bag of microwave kettle korn.

Tomorrow? Two new classes and lunch with Nana and Papa.

Here's to tomorrow on the upside.

First Day of Classes!

Oh boy. Big, big day!

I just had my first two classes of the fall semester! I’m pretty proud of myself for scheduling too – the classes are back-to-back and in the same building, so Mondays and Wednesdays I’ll have a solid block of class from 10am-1pm, and then I’m done for the day, which is nice.

First, at 10am, was “Democracy, Dissent, and the Da Vinci Code: Catholicism in the US.” The professor, Fr. Heft, seems really interesting, incredibly smart (I know this sounds redundant because he’s a professor, but you know those people – the ones who speak authoritatively and succinctly, and never seem to lose their train of thought), and remarkably organized. He called on us by name without introductions – he apparently memorized our names and faces from a roster with thumbnail headshots of us. That was a little weird just because we'd never met before, but also pretty impressive.

We mostly went over the syllabus, and it looks like we’re going to be covering some pretty interesting stuff. Some of it, like an objective study of the treatment of Catholicism in pop culture, never came up in high school classes, so I’m pretty excited for that. It looks like there’s going to be a good amount of assigned reading, too. Here are the books Fr. Heft plans for us to complete by the end of the semester:

Intense, huh? I flipped through some of the books and have already done some of the reading. Looks like some pretty hefty stuff.

Anyway, right after that I had my first English class. The professor, a man called Kemp, has a sophisticated English accent that sounds as if it should be emitting from a really straight-laced guy who keeps a pocket watch and wears a lot of tweed. Instead, Kemp is a rather stocky guy who arrived several minutes later than the majority of the class in wrinkled khaki pants and a stained short-sleeved button down. He doesn’t seem quite as organized as, say, Fr. Heft (seeing as we still don't have a full booklist), but has a passion for his material that I think will translate into interesting lectures.

All in all, I think it’s a pretty good start to the year. I’ll let you know how my other two classes go tomorrow, but right now I have some online reading to do for Catholicism.

The Day Before...

So this Sunday marks the very first day of my blog, and the last day before classes start for the Fall 2009 semester. Which is actually the point of this whole thing, to keep all of you posted on what’s going on down here.

For instance, today I kind of slept in. You might notice the time stamp on the previous entry: 1:56 am. No, this probably isn’t the best time to be awake just days before classes commence. However, Saturday night was the last opportunity to party before the semester really started (not that classes prevent stop parties anyway), so music was blaring and booze was flowing well past 2am, and Resident Advisors (RAs) overlook it because it’s not like anyone has to study. The parties will definitely die down in the dorms after Monday, but will be in full swing in a couple of weeks on Greek Row.

But that’s not nearly as exciting as what I did for brunch: I made EGG OMELETS!!! Two of them. Perfectly. With some cheese (I diced up the sliced stuff since I didn’t have a brick to shred. Gotta get some of that) and some bits of deli turkey I got for sandwiches. Two one-egg omelets, and they looked and tasted delicious. This is a big achievement for me, since I can hardly cook anything, and up until a few months ago I hadn’t even eaten an egg in over thirteen years.

Today I’ll pick up some sugar (my coffee needed it), butter, brick of cheddar, and hairspray. I’ll have the mandatory meeting with my RA and floormates, and go to my regular 10pm Mass at Holy Spirit Chapel, which is literally one hundred yards away from my door now, with my good friend B, and then we’ll hang out a bit after.

Tomorrow? Classes.

An Intro

Last year – my freshman year – I attempted to send out a weekly email detailing my experiences here, but that didn’t end up being so consistent (sorry guys). Part of the issue was that there was sooo much going on in a week that it was hard to summarize it all into a relatively brief email. I’d have to go through several drafts to avoid inundating you all with excessive information and clogging your inboxes with my novel-length messages.

I figure if I just give ya’ll a little bit at a time, maybe set aside fifteen minutes or so every few days to post a brief update, this could be pretty effective – I won’t have to procrastinate the chore of crafting a weekly CliffsNotes of my life, and you all can pick and chose what/how much/if you want to know about it all.

Or, you could all decide that it’s too much trouble navigating to the site and want it in your inbox instead. Or maybe you’re just creeped out by the whole blog thing. I don’t know. But let’s try it.