Liz's Blog

I have been so lazy this week! I feel really bad because I had been planning on getting quite a bit of work done over break, but I got a bunch done today and hopefully tomorrow will be productive as well. Its hard to make yourself do homework when theres an array of other activities to do--or not do and sleep instead :) But here is a recap of my action packed week

At this point I feel like I have been at home for a lonnnnggg time. Not because it hasn't been enjoyable, its just weird to think that I've been away from school for almost ten days now. I rode back Friday after classes with a few friends from Hilliard that also go to Butler. When I arrived home all I wanted to do was crawl in my nice warm bed and sleep...but instead my mom had planned for my family to go help pack food boxes for homeless people over at a local church. It turned out to be a lot of fun and it felt good to know that people who might not have had a Thanksgiving dinner at all would now be able to provide a delicious meal for their family! We ended up visiting some family friends afterwards. Even though i've graduated I always end up hanging out with the little kids when we go to friends' of my parents :) I used to babysit the children in this family so it was really cool to get to hang out with them and enjoy some good old Disney Classics; Aladdin never gets old.
Saturday and Sunday were lazy days for sure! I tried to finish up a book for English, I'm reading The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan and it is SO GOOD! But. We went to target Saturday night and disaster struck. All my plans of productivity and accomplishment were foiled by the infamous, Twilight. In high school, not gonna lie, I always though those books seemed really strange. Not to be stereotypical or rude, but all the "goth/scene/punk" people read them...and it freaked me out a little. But I kept seeing all the movie trailers for it and I kind of have a thing for Rob Pattison, the guy that plays the vampire. He is also Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter, and also the love of my life. Anyways, we went to Delta Gamma for dinner on Thursday night, and our hostesses raved about the book. I decided it might be fun to read it over the break, not realizing that it would sabotage my chances of getting any other homework done.

Monday I did have to pry myself away from the book to go do a Job Shadow. I technically shadowed the city editor of our paper, the Columbus Dispatch, but I really ended up following the crime reporter around all day. It was really interesting to see all the places he has to go and all the people he has to interview for his stories. We went over to the police station, but the detective we were looking for wasn't available, so he took me out to investigate some of the crime scenes of where a series of rapes have occurred. The serial rapist has been striking young women in Columbus since June, but no progress has been made on finding suspects. He also showed me the part of town where gang violence is a big problem, and explained all the gangs Columbus has. It was actually really awesome, as morbid as it sounds. I was really fortunate to be able to work with a big paper for my shadow. Afterwards I met a friend who goes to Capital University for lunch at good old Chipotle. Theres a Chipotle in Indy but for some reason nobody ever wants to go there, so I was pumped to enjoy a chicken burrito bowl.

We have established that I read vampire books and ride a bike, aka I'm pretty pathetic so this shouldn't come as a shock or anything, but my friend's friends from Capital all added me on facebook and invited me to their "mobs" on Mob Wars. I'm a well known facebook addict, so this hasn't helped my fix whatsoever. Its SUCH an addicting game. Okay that was a side note. But if you need more people to join your mob just add me. Im a loser but its okay

Anyways, the rest of the week was filled with Christmas shopping and more time with friends. My mom and I went shopping and I found the jeans i've been searching for at Express and some other stuff from the Limited so even though I already know what Santa's probably going to bring me I'm still excited :) I got to spend a lot of time with my mom this week, shopping and getting lunch. Break has been good because we are really close and even though we talk on the phone a lot its not the same as actually being together. I went down to the OSU campus area the other day to grab lunch and walk around with a few friends (one of which actually goes to BU, but we never see each other). There is a street called the "short north," its very Broad-Ripple like, only bigger. Near the end of the street there is a big indoor market called North Market. They have all kinds of different foods from all over the world: fish, NY deli, greek, italian, chinese, japanese, and thai. Oh thai. I didn't even eat thai food but my North Face reeks of pad thai. Anyhow, they also have this AMAZING ice cream place called Jeni's, so I got a big bowl of ice cream for lunch :)

The rest of the week has been so nice. Tuesday and Wednesday night I hung out with the little girls that live next door. I was their nanny all summer so I miss them a lot but we made up for lost time--Dance parties, cookie baking, watching movies and lots and lots of Wii playing! Yesterday, Thanksgiving, of course was fantastic. We just had a small family Thanksgiving, and it was nice to just be together and not have to worry about traveling anywhere. I got to sit on the couch all morning and watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, a tradition we honor every year. Afterwards my family and I went and saw Bolt which was really cute. But basically the highlight of my day was going back to the movies at 10:30 to see Twilight. I have to admit, after reading the book, the movie was not as good. However, it was still well done and I'm still in love with Rob. Now I'm just trying to actually get some homework done...ugh. We just put up our Christmas tree tonight so that was so exciting :) Christmas is just around the corner!

WHOA that was a novel of a post. But anyways, hope you had a great Thanksgiving :)

First off let me apologize for the video on the last blog...I can't get it to work! But I'm gonna keep on trying because our skit is SO worth the time and effort :) Anyhow, after the excitement of last weekend the actual week was pretty dull. The only thing I have really had to worry much about is whether to commit to going through Panhellenic recruitment or not.
Its crunch time, and I have to decide by Friday if I want to go through recruitment, aka "rushing." I guess that for the fraternities its called rushing and for sororities its recruitment. I feel like I learn something new everytime someone goes through the whole greek life explanation! Anyhow, we have to sign up online by Friday even though rush week is the week before school starts back after Christmas Break. At the beginning of the year I was completely convinced that I wanted to join a sorority. I really wanted to be a part of all their big philanthropy events and live in one of the houses and have that close knit community of friends. I have really enjoyed going to all the dinners and each and every house has been so hospitable--which also makes it difficult to choose which ones I like the best! But this was before I got to know the girls in my unit well and now Its hit me that next year is going to be completely different than this year, especially if I join a house.
I am not a big fan of change, and I have grown very close to the girls in my unit. As cheesy as it sounds I really do feel like they are a part of my family and its odd to think that next year I might not see them on a day-to-day basis. Also, my roommate and I get along really well. I mentioned this in one of my forum posts, we really are best friends but at the same time we respect each others' privacy and have other friends as well. We are both fairly messy and have the same sense of humor--one that a lot of other people don't really understand sometimes haha. There have been so many times when one of us will say something or do something ridiculous and then say "If I had been rooming with anyone else they would think I was a weirdo and not find that funny at all." And then we continue to laugh some more. Life in One East has had its ups and downs, but overall I've really liked it and I feel so comfortable living with the girls.

So these are my three options:
1. Go through recruitment with the intention of joining a Sorority.
This would be what I intended at the beginning of the year. I would go through the week planning on joining at the end of the process. However, I think if I did this then I would feel a lot of pressure to pick certain houses I like rather than just going through with an open mind and no expectations. It would also be really sad to think that I wouldn't be living with any of my friends from 1E next year.
2. Don't go through recruitment, and then room with my current roommate again next year in ResCo, sharing a suite with two other girls from our unit.
I would be comfortable and happy in this arrangement, but I think I would always wonder what would have happened if I had gone through recruitment and feel like I could be missing out on new friendships and all the fun events greek life has.

3. Go through recruitment with an open mind and join if I want to, but not feel pressured to if I decide through the week that I don't.
So that is my final decision. Option 3. That way I won't be missing out on this opportunity, but if its not for me I don't have to join. I feel like this way I will be more apt to be myself too, because there will be no pressure to join. Its not like I would lie or act completely differently to try and impress the other girls, but I just get shy and intimidated sometimes and people who know me know I'm not like that at all :) My roommate and another girl from our unit are going through recruitment as well so it will be nice to know people during the week and not be all alone! I have heard that it is so much fun though, and even if you don't join you meet so many wonderful people during the week. So I am very excited about the decision, but a little uncertain nonetheless.

But in the very near future is thanksgiving break! I can't wait to go home and see my family and friends :) Happy Thanksgiving Everyone, just gotta get through this week!

This past weekend was so much fun! It was parents weekend, so my family came down to visit and we had a very nice time. Friday was glorious. I had stayed up really late Thursday night to finish a big paper, so I was pretty tired Friday night. The fam got in around 1 o'clock, so we just hung out around Butler and then had dinner at Ripple Bagel Deli after checking into the hotel. Words cannot express how delicious the bagels from Bagel Deli are. They are like bagel sandwiches and there are literally probably 50 different kinds of sandwiches you can get, each delicious in its own way. After our feast we went back to the hotel, and I ended up going to bed immediately--I got 12 hours of sleep that night! Of course my ten year old brother can't understand why I would want to go to bed so early on a weekend, but I think we can all agree that college kids will take sleep whenever they can get it, especially in a nice big warm bed. The next day we went to the Dawgs v. Flyers football game in the Butler Bowl. We ended up leaving around halftime because it was so cold, but later we heard that the game went into overtime! Even though the Dawgs lost, it was an exciting game and I actually got to see one of my high school classmates on the Dayton team play so that was pretty cool. We got some din-din at Noodles, and then it was time for me to go over to Clowes to get ready for GENEVA STUNTS!! We performed a jazz dance for dance team, and then of course Tri-Delt/Schwitzer/Phi Psi performed our amazing fantastic skit. It went so well, and the audience loved it! We ended up winning!!!! We got four trophies, judges favorite, spirit award, the overall winner. It was a blast, and the video below is a recording of our skit. Enjoy :) Im about to schedule my classes for next semester...lets hope i dont have to get any more 8 ams

As you can see from my cute little certificate, I finally chose a major! I had my advising appointment with my Exploratory advisor, Coulter Ward, yesterday and completed all the paperwork to officially transfer me to the Journalism--News Editorial major :) It was a very exciting day, right before I came in a student that was a Junior in Exploratory chose his major too! He decided on media arts. I plan to minor in Electronic journalism and/or Political Science. I like it :) Coulter was saying that we needed confetti to celebrate, so i promised that one day when I'm a multi-million dollar network owner/newspaper editor I will totally donate a fund specifically to the Learning Resource Center for a confetti shooter so that whenever someone decides on a concentration confetti will rain down and a big banner will fall out from the ceiling!!

I stayed up pretty late last night waiting for the last of the election results to come in, even though the victor was clear even before every state was accounted for. I can't say I was happy...but, some things just don't turn out the way you would like them to! I was mostly shocked by the difference in electoral votes. In my predictions I expected Obama to win, but not by such a large margin. My predictions were Obama 311 and McCain 227


McCain's concession speech was very respectful and well done. I don't think I could be that humble in that situation. Obama's speech was very hopeful, inspiring. I got back from Geneva Stunts around 11:45 so I didn't catch the speeches the first time around, but some of my friends went to an Election Gala they held in the Reilly Room. They said people were screaming and crying and holding hands when they heard the results. I was tired and sad that I missed the excitement but you know, everybody has those days...

Those of you diehard Hannah Montana fans probably recognize that line from one of her songs :) And on that note, I bring you my halloween costume! I was Hannah and I'm confident that it was the best I have ever looked in my life. If blonde hair didn't look so awkward with my complexion I would so wear a Hannah wig all the time.


My friends and I went to the Well, a gathering Campus Crusade hosts once a month at a local church. It was a good time, and so much fun to see everyone else's costumes. On the way home my roommate and I ran into some friends, but one of the guys I had never met before so Abby introduced us. The next day she got a text and started rolling on the ground laughing the minute she opened it up. I kept trying to ask her what was so funny, and after she could breathe again she told me that Mike was describing me to someone else and said "Yeah, Abby's roommate, she is short and has blonde hair..." He thought my hair was really blonde...which I thought was hilarious and awesome at the same time. But my short lived celebrity career was quite rewarding, I got the best of both worlds.

Saturday was the first basketball game of the season, and it was indescribably amazing! The energy in Hinkle was insane, and even though the crowd wasn't nearly as big as it will be when we really get into the season, the atmosphere was just incredible. I love love love it :) For dance team, we cheer on the sidelines so that was a new experience as well. I was really lost and confused the majority of the time, but all the upperclassmen say thats how it is the first time, so I'm not too worried. We held a dance clinic for 7-12 year olds on Saturday as well. That was quite a project! The kids were a blast and were so well behaved-- I was very impressed. But the clinic was three hours long, and we were all exhausted even before the game had started! The girls performed their dance to a basketball mix (the songs were space jam, the basketball song by lil bow wow, the new high school musical song, and how I beat shaq by aaron carter :) and they did an awesome job. It was a great game, except for a certain group of dawg pound members...
And best of all, WE WON!

So I finally gave in--I brought my bike to Butler University!
When I was home over fall break my parents and I decided to wait on me taking my car. I wasn't thrilled, but I understood and complied with the decision. So, I ended up bringing my old blue mountain bike because it I figured it would be faster than walking, and less time in the cold. It is SO much better than walking, but I do feel a little goofy sporting it around campus. That could be because it has a rearview mirror and a purple bell...maybe i should take those off haha.

However, bike riding around campus doesn't come without is dangers. When classes get out and students are swarming all over campus, it is truly a battlefield, a survival of the fittest. But let's think about this. Who is going to win this battle? An average human on two legs with a bookbag, or an average human with two legs on a bike with massive wheels? I mean both parties would probably be injured in a collision, but sometimes people really want to challenge you. There will be a really narrow sidewalk and I'm just riding along when I see a line of people up ahead. You would expect they would move over, yet some refuse to move. I think they are thinking that
A. Somehow I will defy gravity and leap over them. Which would be cool, but not possible
B. I'll go off roading in the bushes to the left or right of us, which I can't see ending well
C. They will trample me with their force of walking motivated by an intense desire to get to their next class

But I usually just end up squealing with fright and then they move out of my way and say sorry. Its not so bad, definetly better than walking!


Theres a picture of my beloved bug, Aggie :)

My new whip. Try not to be too jealous

Homecoming week was so much fun!! As some other other bloggers mentioned, there were an array of activities and everyone was so spirited. One of my favorite things was the "Midnight Snack." Wednesday night the homecoming committee filled the Reilly Room in Atherton Union up with food from various donors, such as Qdoba, McDonalds, Taco Bell, Texas Roadhouse, Chik fil A, and Hot Box Pizza. So many people came! We all lined up outside the doors and waited eagerly for them to open up the room and let us stuff our faces. When we finally rushed in, around midnight, all the food was gone in 3-5 minutes. It was pure insanity.


Anna and I displaying our rewards from midnight snack. There is also a video of midnight snack taken by one of the homecoming committee members on facebook so I'm going to see if they don't mind if i put it up here! Its really unbelievable how many people they fit into that room.

Yell like Hell was also a blast. Yell like Hell is a pep rally held on Thursday night where each greek house and fraternity and residence hall is paired up, and they all compete in a cheer and dance competition. We also performed for dance team and it was awesome to see the hard work and humor that everyone put into their routines.


Here is a picture of the dance team from Yell like Hell.

The Bulldogs won the game against Morehead State! Woot! With so many other festivities going on I think a lot of people forget about the actual football game. Butler's team is doing really well this year, we are 6 and 1 which is exciting! This week has been filled with meetings, and homework, and Geneva Stunts practices! More to come on that later

Fall break wasn't much of a break for me, I was busy the whole time!

The adventure began Wednesday afternoon. Everyone was trying to figure out how they were going to get to their respective locations to catch their airplanes, buses etc. Only a few girls in the unit have their cars here at Butler with them so it was a challenge figuring out who was going to to take who where at what time. So honestly, I was thinking about skipping our Exploratory class because I still hadn't packed. Being the super awesome Butler student I am I went to class and our prof even let us out early because we were excited for fall break :)
After shoving my clothes in a suitcase we departed for the destination: The Megabus Stop. That's right, I braved the Megabus from Indy to Columbus. Luckily my friend Carmen came with, and my roommate drove us downtown to the station. Long story short, we got insanely lost in the middle of Indianapolis thanks to our mapquest that was totally incorrect, but fortunately the bus ran thirty minutes late, so we made it with time to spare!
I slept the entire ride, but when we finally arrived in Cbus we were dropped off at the Ohio State University (you have to say the "the" part or else buckeye fans will give you the evil eye). It was weird being surrounded by so much modern architecture--We were let off right by their rec center which is mostly glass and some other building created by sheets of metal. I'm used to all the old limestone structures of BU. Also, the size of the campus is ridiculous. I can hardly believe how big it really is. Its a great school, but after seeing it compared to Butler's sizeably smaller campus, I know that I made the right decision.

Break was fantastic! My mom and I did a lot of shopping, and I picked up a dress for the all hall fall ball coming up in November! A lot of people don't really know about this yet, but our RA has filled us in on the details. Its a dance for all of the residence halls held at an off campus location. Its somewhere in Broad Ripple this year. You eat dinner there and then they have the dance at the same place, it sounds like it will be a good time. I saw many of my friends this weekend, and went to my high school's last home football game of the season with one of my friends that goes to Capital University in Columbus. It was strange to be back in the stands, and fun to remember all the good times we had back in the day...but I've gotta say college is SO much better!!! I was excited to see all my friends who are Seniors this year and hear about where they are applying to school and how they are enjoying being at the top of the heap. Everyone was so welcoming and encouraging, I felt like a celebrity!! I really do miss my high school friends, but hopefully they will be able to come visit BU sometime soon.
And it won't be too long before I see the fam again. Parents' Weekend is the weekend of the 7th, so my whole family will be coming for that. It will be nice to get to see them for a bit so we get to see each other before Thanksgiving

This week has been solid so far. I had a job shadow today! It was with a Physician Assistant named Ralph Marsala. It was really cool, he answered all my questions and let me see two of his patients. It was required for one of my classes so I had to answer some questions and stuff, but I spent a few hours with Mr. Marsala and we had a grand time!



Thats Ralph! If he ever writes a book he is using this picture for the cover photo :)

Its homecoming week so this weekend is sure to be fun!!!

Butler's campus is gorgeous right now! The leaves are changing into beautiful shades of red and orange, the weather is perfectly warm and balmy...Indiana has a lovely autumn. However, the weather compensates for the chaos of classes currently. Since tomorrow marks the end of the week and the beginning of our "reading break," (which most people call fall break) students have been bombarded with midterm exams, papers, and insane amounts of studying this week. Its so much different than it was in high school. Back in the day we used to have a week or two of review for a class exam. Now we have maybe a class period, perhaps a review session if that much. I'm not complaining, I expected this and teachers warn you of it throughout high school, no surprises. It came up so quickly and just kind of slapped me in the face. Note to high school seniors: develop good study habits! It will help greatly freshman year when exams sneak up on you and you have to recall how exactly you make those things called study guides and read the textbook. But really, its so strange how fast school has progressed and that it is already fall break time. I didn't even realize we have been in school for that long! Alas, I'm stocking up on the Starbucks and planning on enjoying a late night with my favorite boys--Plato and Marx!

My weekend was a blast! I went on the Campus Crusade retreat and it was truly an awesome experience. We went to the Lake Placid Retreat Center in Hartford City, IN and it was even prettier than Butler. It was set back in the countryside so it was pretty secluded and perfect for a relaxing weekend off campus. The organizations from University of Indianapolis, Wabash College, IUPUI, IPFW, and Valparasio also attended. It was great to meet so many other people in Cru (the trendy name for Butler's Campus Crusade) and spend the weekend worshipping the Lord. Sometimes you get so caught up in campus stuff and just seeing everything there is to see here that you forget about having time for yourself and doing the things that you enjoy the most. Thats one thing that I have learned how to handle. Being at school with literally thousands of other people around you sometimes it feels like you need to be hanging out with someone all the time. Just the other day I was sitting in my room alone doing homework and I thought, "Wow, its been a long time since I've actually just been alone all by myself! Weird." But its refreshing at the same time. As much fun as it is to have good friends and mucho chill time with them you have to remember to take time alone with your thoughts. I'm thinking about journaling. I've never been too good at that but its never too late to start I guess! I just want to make the most of college and not forget everything I'm doing and learning.
Pictures are always a great way to capture the memories :)


We went to this great little restaurant called "Ivanhoes" right next to Taylor University. They have AMAZING ice cream! We were all stuffed after the delicious dairy feast we just consumed


This was a picture taken when we first got to the camp. That night we listened to a message by the speaker for the weekend, Todd Pastor. We had an awesome worship time with the Jake Brothers Band and then just hung out for the rest of the night. My friends, Becca and Lynn, and I went stargazing with some new friends and ended up staying up really late just chilling. It was good times.


The weather was perfect that weekend and the lake was wonderful. Some of the boys went on a midnight swim Friday night, but it was very very chilly! I passed on that opportunity


There was a gym in the conference center that was always open, so I showed off my ballin bball skills. What can I say, I fly high, no lie. Don't mess with me on the court :)

So there is a very brief picture into what the weekend was like. I'm very excited to go home this weekend for fall break though. As hectic as this past weekend has been, it will be nice to sleep for many many hours in my own bed and eat my mother's delicious home-cooked meals. I think we will go to the pumpkin patch too, which is one of my favorite fall activities!!! I'm also going to look for a dress for the all-hall-fall-ball that is coming up! I love dances and dressing up so I'm really looking forward to it. But come Sunday it will be back to studying and Dance Team practices. With homecoming next week we are working really hard on our next two dances. Check out the video of our kick routine from last weekend's football game on Stephs Blog! Keep up the great topics on the forums, its always a pleasure to hear all the questions and topics people raise. Time to hit the books...Enjoy the lovely fall weather! OH and try to guess what I'm going to be for Halloween :) You'll never guess it!

Today was kind of gloomy, only not really because I love the rain! The warm weather from the weekend took a sharp turn. It was pretty warm in the day today, but it started to rain this afternoon. My roommate Abby and I went to Walmart this afternoon to get nerf guns (explanation for that to follow) and as we were leaving the store it began to rain. I don't know why exactly, but we get EXTREMELY hyper in the afternoon. When we are in the dorms we usually get scolded for being too loud, because in the afternoons and evenings we have quiet hours so people can get their studying done. Our disruptive behavior generally consists of dancing around the room singing songs from "Camp Rock," telling hilarious stories about what has happened that day, or being completely random. All conclude in us rolling around on our dorm floor in fits of laughter. What makes it even better, is that our door faces directly to the stairwell, so strangers coming down the stairs will stare at us with a look that says "holy crap what's wrong with those girls."
Okay, so we are leaving Walmart being our usual loud crazy selves, when we realize it is raining. Frantically, we start running through the parking lot to her car. The only problem is that we have forgotten where her car is parked. Seriously, if you were watching this it would be like a scene directly out of The Three Stooges. We are running back and forth in a zig zag pattern screaming, when we see a car coming down the aisle. Finally we found the car and ran to it immediately. However, when the car passed us, an elderly lady grunted out the window, "Thats not very safe!" It was hilarious! We were standing there laughing in the rain for a good couple of minutes before we finally got in the car and drove back to BU.
The reason for nerf gun shopping, was that this week is the epic, the great, the feared...Zombies vs. Humans! Zombies vs. Humans is like a real life video game. I first heard about it last week at Ballroom Dance Club. There are two twins that run Ballroom Dance Club, Steve and Jeff, and they are the ones who started the Z v. H game at Butler. The game is played at other universities as well, I'm not sure where it started. Basically, the humans have nerf guns or balled up socks and they wear a bandanna around their arm. Zombies have skill and sheer insanity, wearing a bandanna around their head. The Zombies try to touch the Humans' bandannas to turn them into Zombies, while the Humans try to shoot the Zombies to disable them from catching any humans for thirty minutes. After the thirty minutes is up, the Zombies are free to strike again. This game is not a joke. It is very serious business over at Ross hall. Many of the guys have crazy weapons, like the nerf versions of an M-16. Not to mention they have all stocked up on foam darts and carry ammo around in their pockets. Truly a force to be reckoned with. I'm pretty low-key but the game is fun! The best time to play is at night. Yesterday there were Zombies everywhere, some were even hiding in the trees on the mall! Unfortunately, you aren't allowed to play in any of the residence halls anymore because its too much of a disruption. But thats okay, outsides better anyways.

I believe I mentioned a few posts ago that I'm on the dance team, as is Steph! It has been so much fun so far, our first performance was Saturday! We came on right before the start of the game and did a kick routine to a song by Fallout Boy. The performance went very well, and we went out and celebrated at Noodles afterward :) Tonight we started our routine for the homecoming game. In addition, we got our poms. Im a huge dork, I have never been a cheerleader or done anything at all that involves poms, so I was really really excited! When I got back to the dorm I went to people's rooms and did little cheers for them, and shook the poms in their face. It was quite rewarding. If you are ever having a boring day, just get some pom poms and go crazy. It will spice up your life guaranteed.
I'm looking forward to Basketball season, but even sooner than that is Geneva Stunts and Homecoming! Geneva Stunts is a big production put on by all the residence halls. It involves singing, dancing, and skits...almost like a mini musical! Schwitzer is paired up with Tri Delta and Phi Psi, so it is going to be fantastic! Im pumped. Another exciting event coming up is Homecoming. The theme was announced last week, and this year it is Superheroes. We are paired up with Tri-Delta and Tau Kappa Epsilon for this one, and we will get to help them decorate their houses and such. Its going to be an awesome next couple of weeks.

What I'm really looking forward to is fall break. I can't wait to go home again and see my family and get to hang out with my friends! Last time I went home I didn't get to do too much since it was such a short visit, so this time it will be nice to relax and not feel rushed. The only bad thing about it, is that since we will be gone for four days, I have exams in most of my classes this week and next week. Its life. Exams just have to be done, so I'll suck it up and look forward to a nice, comfortable few days off.
I will miss Butler though! Friday night our unit did a scavenger hunt and it was a BLAST! We had to find so many things. For example, a lacrosse stick, a live flower, a piece of a building, take a picture with a professor, and bring someone back wearing our team color. Our team's color was purple and we were ready to dominate. I must say we put up a good fight. We stole a brick from Jordan hall to act as our piece of a building, and we got the Broad Ripple Bus driver to step off his bus and take a picture with us, pretending like he was a professor. It was hilarious, we were going to say that his name was Professor Dumbledore. Okay so maybe it wasn't that funny, but it seemed pretty good at the time.
I've been getting some emails with questions about Butler, and I have tried to stay up to date with the discussion forums on the website. The most common question I have been asked is "So what made you choose Butler?" This is my basic answer:

1. Size
Butler has all the conveniences of a large University, but has a comparatively small student population. Butler has about 4,000 undergrads. I think my largest class probably has 20-25 people in it, and one of my classes has only about 15 people in it. These classes are even smaller than the size of my high school classes, and its great because you really get to know your professors. Its not a huge lecture class where you will never be noticed or get your questions answered. At the same time there are tons of campus activities going on all the time and the athletic events are crazy fun. Its just the right size for me.
2. Location
I live in Columbus, Ohio so Butler is only about 2 and a half hours away from me. Its a good distance because its far enough away that I can be independent and make my own decisions but home isn't too far away and my parents can come down and visit me easily.
3. Majors
Butler has a great Exploratory majors program, which is what they call the undecided majors. You get to compare different majors and do job shadows and take personality tests to see which career you would enjoy most and utilize your skills in best. There are so many majors here and thus, many choices. For someone like myself that didn't have a clue what to major in entering college, this program was very appealing
So those were my main points for coming to Butler. Its a well known school, and a credible education. Not to mention the job placement rate after graduation is something like 90%. Pretty awesome. Now that I'm here I've realized how many awesome campus organizations and activities they have too. The greek life here is amazing, and I definetly plan on rushing. So thats it in a nutshell.

Keep the emails coming! Its a nice distraction from homework :)

"Fear leads to anger; anger leads to hate; hate leads to suffering."
-Yoda

I'm not much of a Star wars expert, but I don't think it takes a diehard fan to know that "the dark side" refers to the bad guys in the Star wars films. According to wikipedia its when Jedis use the bad side of the force (I wikipedia everything, its a lifestyle). Here in good ol' one east we now have a "dark side" and a "light side," and in some special cases a "gray area."
You might be thinking this has something to do with peoples' moral code or values or something. Like we are being judgemental, deciding who is good or bad. But alas, its got nothing to do with that. Its if you are in a relationship or single.
I'm not really sure who instigated the whole "light side/dark side" reference, but its been the conversation starter since I returned from Ohio Sunday evening. Living with all girls, probably 80% of what the conversation revolves around is the opposite sex, past relationships, campus couples, weekend romances, etc. And when we aren't talking about it we are watching some sappy show like Grey's Anatomy or One Tree Hill, which pretty much is like the same thing only we are watching other people talk about it. Most of the time I'm just a listener, a bystander if you will. Thus, I am on the light side. The light side means that you are single and have no prospects for dating. We are proud. Its nothing to be ashamed of. Being single is the way to go, for me at least. I mean there are a lot of attractive males here at Butler University, so prospective lady students you have a pretty good selection. However, the girl to guy ratio is kind of insane: There are quite a few more girls in comparison to guys. Which definetly cuts down on the selection factor. For me and a few other girls in the E-unit, we are just chilling. No rush. Its college, we have four years to meet people and right now I'm all about making friends.

On the other side of the spectrum, we have the dark side. Many girls came to college in relationships. As for people I know, there are a few girls that are still making the long distance relationship work, but for the majority of my friends it hasn't been successful. Its just a very hard transition. Both of the people are in a new place trying to meet people and juggle grades and activities on top of that, and with a relationship on the top of the pile...its a lot to handle. And of course its not just a problem here. Several acquaintances of mine that are going to Ohio State are dealing with the same thing. Even though there are many people in the same situation, it doesn't make it any easier or soothe the pain that comes with a break-up. But thats why we have the light side--to brighten things up when life gets gloomy! Anyhow, its funny how fast things move in a college situation. Several girls have already met some "special friends" and are running on the moving walkway to making their dating game a "facebook official" relationship. I suppose love has blown in with the chilly fall air. Its really exciting to hear the girls stories when they come back from a date, or hangout, or ballroom dancing club where they have just seen that special someone. We always disrupt someone or upset the RAs because we will be screaming or clapping or giggling ridiculously, all piled into one room listening to the said girl recount the evening's events. But, these are the girls that are on the dark side.
I love listening to these stories and sharing the happiness with the girls. Sometimes its strange though because it almost makes me feel insecure. Like I need to find someone or be experiencing the same things. But thats just silly really, because I am who I am and naturally I'm not going to be exactly the same as them. Besides, there are lots of other girls that aren't with someone. It should be about being with a person you enjoy spending time with, not just going out with someone so that you don't feel alone or left out.

And there are always those Grey's Anatomy episodes serving as a constant companion :) And that Yoda quote basically means relationships (the dark side) =suffering. Thats how I like to interpret it haha.

Okay so thats the end of my Carrie Bradshaw-esque tirade on relationships. As I mentioned before, I went home for the weekend and it was great! Who knew I could miss Ohio so much?! Well, Its not really Ohio that I missed. I was eager to see my family and close friends. The weekend was packed with activities. I rode home Friday with one of my friends who lives in Indy. Her family is close friends with mine, and she moved here just this past year with her boyfriend. Amy is a teacher in the area and lives very close to Butler, so everything worked out really well. After being stuck in traffic on the outskirts of Indy for 45 minutes, we made the trip that normally takes 2.5 hours in about 3.5 hours. I wasn't complaining though, I was just glad to be home. My little brother recently had his big tenth birthday, so he played me some beautiful music on his new electric guitar. He is really good, I was so surprised! My family and I went on a picnic and a hike on Saturday. Later that night my best friend and I went and saw "Burn after reading." Pretty funny. Then on Sunday my mom and I went and saw the Lion King on Broadway in downtown Columbus. Hilliard reminds me a lot of here actually, because Butler is kind of tucked back in a suburb, but the city is really close just like in my hometown.
It was great to be home and see everyone. It was hard to leave Sunday, I definetly wanted to stay home. Its comfortable and familiar. My family, who I know is always going to love me no matter what, is there. But it was nice to get back to BU. My roommate Abby and I were talking tonight about how strange it was visiting home and then coming back. She went back to her hometown, Lafayette, last weekend. One thing that I missed the most was just being able to drive around at night in my car. I always purposefully take the back country roads home because its nice to just drive, and think, and see all the places you used to go. Its funny how much you can change in a month or two, how different your life can become. Its good though. I still like it here.



Here is a picture of my little brother, Will, and me from Saturday.



So I debated about putting this one up for a while...I mean one night we were out walking around and we just saw these two girls climb into star fountain...it was crazy! I wouldn't want to get them in trouble or anything, which is why I kept their identities concealed. Swimming in Star Fountain is so illegal. Its much deeper than you'd think. But you didn't hear that from me...

That was a very long and random post! I've been getting some awesome emails and I'm really enjoying answering them, so please don't hesitate to talk to me :)

I can't believe its been a week. I was doing some delicious math homework when I realized that the last time i blogged was Thursday September 18. I had to recheck the date--it certainly doesn't feel like a week has passed! Things around Schwitzer 1 East have been a bit tense the past week, but all has been resolved and we're back to the usual shenanigans. One day when everyone was feeling a little down, a couple of the girls made up a fake sorority name, Alpha One East (A1E) aka Alpha Iota Sigma. They wrote on all of our whiteboards and made little doorhangers that said
"Have a FANTABULOUS day! With love from your sisters! A1E :)"
Our RA and the residence life lady weren't too happy about it but we thought it was hilarious. We wanted to pretend to have an open house and give random girls coming into Schwitzer tours of our "sorority unit." I don't think the real sororities would be too happy about that. Speaking of the greeks, my friend Kelly and I went to Tri Delta tonight for dinner. It was really nice. The meal was fantastic; salmon, steamed beans, rice, and chocolate ice cream. I knew some of the girls there from dance team so it was good to see some familiar faces and chat a while. We met the house mother and took a tour of the residence as well. It was very enjoyable. The girls were incredibly hospitable and I was very impressed with the quality of the sorority. Its great that Butler gives us the fall to think about rushing and which houses you fit in best at. I know some people at other universities that have already rushed and are already in a sorority. I like the fact that we have time, we don't have to make a decision right away, and we can take time to get to know the girls.
There are lots of decisions to be made, but the one at the top of my priority list is declaring a major. We are only about five weeks into the school year so there isn't too much pressure just yet, but its time to seriously think about what I want to do. I met with my advisor today, which was very cool. He is also my Exploratory Studies professor so I see him on a weekly basis and we aren't total strangers. We talked about general stuff, how I was liking Butler, if I was making friends and getting involved, how my classes were. Basic stuff. Then we started heading into the "major zone." So far I have it narrowed down to about five. I know, right? Five still sounds like a ton. But compare that to all the other majors available here...its a start!
Option One:Political Science
I really like my Poli Sci class. I still kinda feel like one of the dumbest kids in my class. Theres just a lot to learn and you have to be well read in classical philosophy to be able to understand current events, as well as be pretty knowledgeable in history. If i went this route I would have a lot of self-educating to do. I would really have to love doing it. I'm not sure how easy it is to find jobs with this type of degree. I'd probably either double major or minor with this one.
Option Two: Electronic Journalism
So I'm in a media studies class right now, and I'm not feeling like its my passion. Don't misunderstand, its a great class. I'm just not sure if its right for me. I'm very interested in broadcast journalism though, and I think that once I would make it to the classes that focused specifically on this area I would really enjoy it. The good thing about this one also is that it would be easy to double major or receive a minor in another field, like poli sci or sociology or english. I guess we will see how the class progresses and go from there. Professor Harthcock, if you are reading this, much love. Lets not let my lack of interest in media history come between our relationship. And by relationship I mean my participation points :)
Option Three: Physician's Assistant
I like the sound of this one. Its a steady, reliable job. You can find work pretty much anywhere in the U.S. with this kind of degree. You are helping people (which I love) and there is the possible opportunity to work with children (which I also love). Problems? For starters, its really beneficial to decide beforehand if you want to major in the health sciences (meaning pharmacy or PA) because you can follow the Pre-PA or Pre-Pharm track and have all your classes in order. Since I did not decide to come as a pre-PA student, I'm not taking any of the classes required for Pre-PA. It would be easy enough if i could just take them second semester and catch up, however they don't offer a lot of the classes given first semster during the second semester. Therefore I would have to take classes in summer school somewhere back home in Ohio to fufill the Chemistry requirements. This won't not be a big deal and if its truly what I want to major in, and doing the summer school would be in my best interest. The only other discrepancy is that it is a very competitive major. The Pre-PA majors at Butler are not only competing with their fellow classmates, but also transfer students from other undergraduate programs at various schools. It would take a lot of determination and effort.
Option Four/Five: Print Journalism
I love writing, and English has always been of great interest to me. I was the news editor for our high school Newspaper, the Panther Press, and I loved it. I mean sometimes I would get completely frustrated with the advisor, or I couldn't find a good story to write, or there was just no way I would be able to finish my layout in time. But somehow it always worked out and at the end of the year I emerged a stronger writer and better communicator. With print journalism I could go one of two ways. I could major in the news-editorial area, which would prepare me to work in an actual newsroom setting, learning to investigate. Think Matilda, the "investigatory journalist" in Zoolander. That could potentially be me someday. Second choice would be Public relations. In this scenario I would work with a company, organization, or university and write press releases for them and such. Actually, I could also combine these two with the Public and Corporate Communication Major, which is basically a little bit of everything. This includes courses in news editorial, public relations, media arts, speech communication, english, business administration and social sciences. Its pretty awesome. There is a lot I could do with a major like this, and I don't think I would ever tire of it.
Anyhow, as anxious as I am to find a major I don't want to rush it. I don't want to choose something randomly just so that I will have the pseudo-confidence that I know what I want to do with my life and feel a false sense of security. Its a huge decision. I appreciate the fact that there is no pressure at this point to decide. The meeting with my advisor was so comfortable and was a huge reassurance that I don't have to go draw straws or play eeny meeny miny mo to quickly choose something. Although I guess eeny meeny miny mo would work in a dire situation. But I don't suggest it.
The weekend was lots of fun! We went downtown and tried on random stuff in the Nordstrom in Circle Center mall for an hour. We also made a friend in the shoe department and he gave us footwear advice. We didn't follow it.

Those shoes he suggested were horrendous. but we still respect the man.


We chose the hats and specs instead :)


My friend Anna and me. This girl is amazing. Only don't tell her that because then it will go to her head. We are in MEDIA STUDIES together! good stuff.

I'm going home this weekend, and I'm so excited! More when I get back from the 614. Have an awesome weekend!

So life is good these days. I'm finally starting to iron out my schedule and figure out which days I can stay up late, those that I can study for a bit but still have time to take a break or go to the HRC, and those few that I have to limit my socilization/facebook time and actually get my work done! This past week has brought up some deep thoughts. They aren't quite as entertaining as Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey (for the SNL fans) but as a prospective Butler student they might provide some insight:
1. 8:00 classes should only be scheduled if absolutely necessary.
Okay so I know I should be a big girl and be able to wake myself up in the mornings and be adultlike. But seriously. Noone wants to have to wake up that early--I mean, thats how early we had to wake up in high school! For some majors this is probably absolutely necessary because there are only certain classes available at that time. However, my 8:00 is PE 101. Not that I have anything against wellness or fitness, but I HATE walking over to Hinkle every Tuesday and Thursday morning! I usually get up, turn off the alarm, hop back in bed, and by the time I wake up again and look at the clock its 8:05 and not nearly enough time to get dressed and make the trek to Hinkle. I sound like a big whiner, its true. I could have something really difficult at 8:00 in the morning that I would need to be very attentive for. Even so, its no good. Heed the warnings of college students who have been there and don't schedule them that early.
2. Even though going to a million call out meetings can be tiring and time consuming, they are worth it!
Over the past two weeks I have been to numerous call out meetings for a zillion different organizations. There are volunteer ones, like College Mentors for Kids, student involvement stuff like the Student Foundation and Student Government Association, and just such a wide variety of anything you could ever be interested in, like mock trial, ballroom dancing, voices of deliverance, young life, intramural sports, sorority night etc. Its a great place to learn about the organizations but also to meet people. Even if you decide its not for you, at least you made the effort to be there and learn about the club. You could be a great resource as well because perhaps you could recommend it to someone you know that would be interested in the group. Don't be afraid to try something new!
3. Decide what you want to be involved in and be dedicated to it.
Let's face it: nobody can be in a million places at once. Sure there are always those overachievers who somehow end up in fifty clubs and are the President or VP of half of them, but personally I can't handle doing too much or I get incredibly stressed out. After finding out about the clubs and organizations available here at BU I've pretty much narrowed down the list to the things I know that I will enjoy and I know I will be dedicated to. I mean there's really no point to be involved in something if you aren't passionate about it and you aren't willing to spend time and effort to be the best possible member you can be. So far I have it narrowed down to SGA, Dance Team, IM soccer, and BUMPA. The latter is the organization for the PA program. Right now I'm an Exploratory major, but as of this moment I'm leaning towards the physician's assistant program...I don't know, we shall see. But I figured that would be a good way to get to know more about the program. I also would like to get involved in some community service stuff as well, not make everything about myself. Sometimes I tend to get caught up in my own little world and forget there are other people around here too :). But for now I like what I'm doing and I'm excited to see what else comes along the way.
4. Breathe and relax during interviews. Particularly group interviews. Deep breaths in and out.
I applied for BUSF, the student foundation here at Butler that promotes networking between alumni, current students, and future students. It seems like a great opportunity and very similar to an Ambassador Leadership Team I was involved in back in high school. I was pretty excited when I got offered an interview (I'm not sure if they gave one to everybody or what the deal was exactly, but regardless I was pumped). However, I hadn't been in an interview setting since way back six months ago or so when I had scholarship interviews. It's funny how quickly you forget how nerve wracking they are and that nervous feeling you get in your stomach walking into the interview. It wasn't as awful as I feared, but we did have to do a group interview where three other girls and I were interviewed by the officer board. I was so frustrated at one point because I was the last person in line to answer and all of the ideas I had in my mind to respond with had already been used. I think my face turned really red and my hands were sweating profusely--but i made it out alive! The nice thing about it was that I came somewhat prepared. Some of my friends pre-interview interviewed me and asked me some of the typical "whats your greatest strength," "what makes you a good leader," type questions. So it wasn't so awful. But breathing is really important, especially to avoid the embarrassing red face issue.
It's been a great week but I'm ready for the weekend. My family is coming in Saturday and I'm really glad they are coming. I haven't seen them since they moved me in here a month ago. I can't say I miss my hometown too much. Some of my friends, definetly. And my family of course. But I really like it here at BU and it feels like home! I think I'm going to stop by the Alpha Phi Bounce for Beats event tomorrow. My roomate and I had dinner there tonight and it was so much fun! I'll probably write more about the greek life in the next blog after I visit a few more of the houses and get more info about everything. Until next time...

And here's one of my favorite Jack Handey quotes, just for fun: I think there should be something in science called the "reindeer effect." I don't know what it would be, but I think it'd be good to hear someone say, "Gentlemen, what we have here is a terrifying example of the reindeer effect."

This will be the first full week of school and I'm kind of dreading it. I mean I really like classes and all, but after having a couple three and four day weeks, a whole five days is going to seem like an eternity. This weekend was really fun though!

We got a pretty good rain Thursday and Friday so we (Carolyn, my roommate Abby, and I) decided to go play in the rain

It started to get cold so we were excited to get back to the dorm. We love Schwitz :)



We had some unit bonding time last Monday, which was labor day, but i just got the pictures from one of the girls in my unit. We went to Castleton mall, a pretty nice mall about 30 minutes away from Butler. It was really fun because it was one of the first times we spent together as a unit and got to know our RA. Luckily we all love the jonas brothers and went kind of crazy in the Disney store. We persuaded some young children to take our pictures (and scared their parents half to death I think) and sang "Camp Rock" songs through the store.


It was my friend Kelly's birthday on friday so her friend Janelle threw a little birthday dinner for her, complete with party hats and streamers :)



The remainder of the weekend was fairly busy. Saturday I tried out for the Butler dance team along with fellow blogger Steph, and we both made it!!!! It was very exciting but the audition was definetly tiring. We spent the morning learning the dance choreography and then had a lunch break. When we returned, auditions began and we were all so nervous. It was cool to talk to girls who had been on the team previous years and everyone was really encouraging, cheering everyone as they went out to perform for the judges. Right after that we had to get back to the dorms to get ready for the rockstar bloggers cookout/training at Brad's. Meeting all the other bloggers was nice, it was good to put a name with a face and meet everyone in person.
Sunday was a pretty relaxing day. I walked over to Common Ground church with some people from Cru and girls from our unit. On the way back we saw a little girl playing outside of ResCo and she yelled for us to come see her ants. She was trying to sweep up ants off the sidewalk with a little brush and dustpan and it was hilarious and adorable at the same time. Her mom came outside and introduced herself. Her husband is an organic chemistry professor and the FIR at ResCo. She introduced us to her cute little daughter Ava. They were very nice, but what really made me laugh about the whole situation afterwards was that one of the girls, Ruth, is terrified of ants. She was freaking out the whole time we were over talking to Ava and her Mom because of the tiny bugs scurrying over the ground. The rest of the afternoon was spent studying and sleeping. We had a brief dance team meeting that afternoon as well, I'm very excited for practices to begin :) It sounds like its going to be an awesome season!
Now I'm just trying to get back into the swing of things. We had an SGA meeting today and that will officially begin this Wednesday. I'm our hall rep and I'm also applying for freshman caucus. As for classes, I normally really hate math, but I'm loving my math class that I'm taking right now. First of all, the teacher cracks me up. She is sarcastic and goofy and just fun. Plus we are doing venn diagrams, and who doesn't love venn diagrams?! Political science is actually really interesting as well. I'm happy I got to take it this semester, with the election and all. My professor got to meet Barack Obama when he was in Terre Haute on Saturday, which is pretty awesome. I'm desperately trying to finish this book for English but I just keep getting distracted! With episodes of "The Office" begging to be watched, intense poking wars on facebook, and goofy messages to write on neighbors whiteboards I don't have the capability of reading. I'm gonna give it one last try...

I would definetly say this has been a good week. A busy week, but a good one. I kept thinking that once classes started I would instigate a very serious, concrete schedule to follow each day. But, I'm not so great at keeping a schedule and I'm not very serious :) Even though the welcome week activities are over there is still SO much going on around campus. There's been call out meetings every night, quite a bit of homework to conquer and the general need to do something with friends and dormmates since there's no bedtime! Not that I had a bedtime at home...haha you know what I mean though, everyone is staying up doing homework and studying. Come 11:00 its time for a well deserved break. Now, theres a lot of options when it comes to these little study breaks. You could:

A. Run around in the sprinklers in the dark out on the mall (I hope that isn't against any rule haha!)

B. Have a random dance party in a room/hall

C. Watch something educational, like Enchanted, 27 dresses, Breakfast at Tiffany's, etc. to enhance your knowledge of important things like true love.

D. Plan True love at Butler between anyone single in your Unit (and yes, this includes your RAs) and the first boy/girl you see.


These are just a few options, but really, the possibilities are endless. Its been really cool though because there is time for fun and studying. Seriously, the studying has been far more important now than it was in High school. However, its so much easier to do here in my opinion. Everyone is motivated and knows what they have to get done. The other night my friend Carolyn was in the room and I could not pull myself away from facebook! I'm basically addicted as it is but this particular night I just sat on facebook and changed my status every five minutes. So, Carolyn pulled my ethernet cable out and wouldn't give it back until I had finished my homework. Its really goofy and I mean its not like I need someone to dictate my study habits, but its nice to be on the same level as people and care about the same things. I absolutely LOVE living in Schwitzer!!!! Sometimes when I tell people I live in Schwitzer they say "Oh, that sucks." How gravely mistaken they are. Unit 1 E is awesome, I love the girls and our RA Allison is amazing! We are going to have such a terrific year.
So classes have been interesting. Im enjoying them, I really like everything I'm taking and my professors are great. My only regret? 8:00 phys ed. It could be worse though, I mean, at least I don't have Calculus or something that early! I'm just not looking forward to walking all the way to Hinkle in the frigid December weather. Maybe I'll try hitchhiking like the guy from "Into the Wild," which might I add we are reading in my Freshman Seminar class. I'm happy we are reading that because I guess I can kind of relate to Chris McCandless, the man whose journey the book is written about. McCandless grew up in a well to do home, attended a prestigious college, and was set to go to Law School when he set off on a trek across the U.S. with little supplies and no plan in mind. Even though it seemed his life was completely mapped out for him and all he had to do was follow along, he wasn't sure that was what he wanted. I'm so glad that I decided to come as an Exploratory major. Its funny because I think the major is misunderstood by some. Even one of my professors said "How do you not know what you want to do with your life?! How do you know what classes to take?" when I told her I was an Exploratory major. Theres just so many things I like! There are so many things that I would like to do and I don't know which ones of them I would be halfway decent at or enjoy. I figure 4 out of 6 freshman change their major anyways, so whats to lose if I just go in with an open mind and take a look at everything? I think I made a good choice.

I just got this email from my dad. It made me smile. I watched Palin's speech right after reading this. My parents are so encouraging :)

Hi Liz,
you missed a great speech, Palin rocked.
Her style kind of reminded me of your speaking style - confident but not arrogant, engaging but not theatrical, convicted but not offensive or condescending.
I think she was a communication or journalism major (or something similar) in college.
Remember when you were younger and you asked if you could study more than one thing or choose more than one career? She's in her early forties and she's been an athlete, beauty queen, college graduate, wife and mother, sportscaster, mayor, governor and now VP nominee.
So there's your answer; something to think about. (and if you're ever president I want that secretary of defense job)

I love looking out my window and seeing the tours of prospective students walking into Schwitzer. Its odd to think that this time last year, I was one of those wide eyed smiling kids. And here I am now.

Hope your week has been great :)! See you at the soccer game tonight!

Today was really exhausting. Surprisingly, the day was pretty open but there was so much to do. I didn’t sign up for BITS in time, but it actually was better because I had time to get things organized before classes started. I did want to participate, but the wait list had something like 200 people on it! And I know there will be many more opportunities. I felt so overwhelmed at Block party. It was nice to be able to go around and see all of the campus organizations in one place, rather than trying to attend a million different introductory meetings in the same day. There were just so many. . .people. I love people but today was a day I craved some alone time. I felt really homesick today as well. At summer camps I never got homesick. Ever. At camps my Mother would call me halfway through the week, expressing how much she missed me, and although I missed my family I knew I would soon be home. Now its different. I won’t be going home for a while. This isn’t summer camp where I can stay up all night every night eating doritos and playing games. This is real life. I have to learn how to live on my own and be responsible for myself. Sure there is a time for fun, but the heart of college is education and without structure and moderation there’s not a chance anyone could succeed. Back at home, sometimes my family would just sit in the living room and all read a book, or go on bike rides. Not necessarily talking, but just being together. I miss that very much. I come back to my dorm room and flip on the television, but I feel just as alone as I did before. I know that this feeling will pass, and once classes start and I have something to focus on it will distract my mind from the homesickness. Right now its just hard. You’d think with so many people around and so many great things going on, missing home wouldn’t phase me. Anyone else a little homesick???????