Blog 64

Week of Chaos

What is this week before finals that freaks me out more than anything? Maybe it’s the fact that the grade of the final test could make or break my grade. How can you work so hard throughout the whole quarter, but if you bomb this test, your grade can be shoved down to the letter below. It sucks.

This weekend I’m going home to see my first baby niece, Ava. It’s such a tease to be able to see my niece for the first time for one day, then have to go straight back to school. I cannot wait to see that beautiful little girl. It’s going to be so weird seeing my sister with a baby. I wonder how much her and her husband have changed.

My friends are trying to be the little devil on my shoulder. They’ve been trying to convince me that going out on Thursday is a wonderful idea. Thursday before finals? Horrible idea. Sadly, there’s no angel on my other shoulder to help me out. I’m about to shut off my phone and Facebook account until Friday…or maybe until the end of finals week.  Sounds like the best idea for me.

I also have to pack up half my dorm to send my stuff back Friday. It’s going to feel so weird taking everything out, but I cannot wait to be in my own room this summer. I am done with this whole four person to a room thing. Next year, thankfully, I will only be living with one other girl…probably the most I could take.

Blog 63

I absolutely cannot wait until I go home for the summer. This was my first year here at Ohio State and I completely loved it [especially the homework]. So many lessons learned; so many friendships made. I would not change one thing about this year, other than maybe not start my weekends on Wednesday nights. Even though I am extremely to be home with my family, I could not imagine going to a community college. There are just so many things I would miss if I went to a community college, or even if I were to commute. Just some of the things I would have never learned: how to say no whenever someone asks for money, how to live with very different (than me) people, how to balance school and partying, and what the furries are. Yeah, the first time I saw these people in costumes, I went up and hugged them all…learned my lesson. People aren’t as innocent as you may think they are.

Since Christmas, the only time I have been home was during Spring Break. Next Saturday, I get to go home to see my sister for the first time after she gave birth…and I am so excited to see my first baby niece, Ava. The family keeps sending pictures, but nothing could compare to seeing that precious face. It’s definitely going to be a nice change from college scene, where you are constantly surrounded with people and things to do, to the home scene, where you can get away from everything if you wanted to. I cannot wait. (:

Blog 62

I, like most everyone at this age, am pretty terrified of the future. I think one thing that freaks me out the most is that the grades I get right now determine my place in the future. If you walk into my dorm, the BioSci house, and talk to most the kids on my floor, they will tell you how they will be in Med school in a few years. Thank God I am not going down that road because apparently I would not be accepted to any Med school for the one C that I have received. Yeah, a girl asked me if she’d still be able to make it into Med school if she got a C in Chem this quarter (she has a 4.0). Don’t get me wrong, I love the people on my floor, but they tend to freak out about things that shouldn’t bother them to that extent. If you think about it, which it probably would be better if I didn’t so much, there are so many questions like: (1) How am I going to afford Grad school? (2) Who will I end up marrying? (3) Will I end up marrying? (4) What kind of house will I be living in? (5) Where in the world will I be living? (6) What job will I end up with?

The list goes on and on.  I know everything will work out, but it’s just the thought of how do I get to that place of stability?

Blog 61

One thing in the world that is concerning me is the minute amount of concern for the things that need it the most.  The are tons of issues in the world that should be looked upon in a more serious matter than what the hottest look for summer is. It is a sad thing to think that no one cares about the massacres around the world, but they care about the newest edition of Sports Illustrated: Swimsuit Edition. This is not me trying to condemn anyone because we all do it…this is just my sensitive eyes looking at the world. The main reason for this sensitive side is because I have grown up in a church that has taken missionary trips to multiple sites, such as the annual trip to Darfur. Before coming to college, I remember hearing updates from the campsite in Darfur every Sunday. Though these are just a few sites in the world that are in need of help, being exposed these few world issues opens up a new insight on what’s really out there. It’s tough to keep these people in our minds because of how much they don’t affect us. This is the absolute truth: if it does not affect us or our loved ones, we [eventually] overlook the situation. Take the natural disasters that occur every so often. We hear it in the news and see all the relief programs we can donate to, but then it all tends to disappear after a couple weeks. It takes a long time for the nation to fully repair, but we only keep them in our thoughts for a couple weeks.

Blog 59

The biggest mistakes for me are not things that I have done, but things that I do not do. The only regrets I ever have are not taking opportunities handed to me. Whether it be a relationship with someone I could have made, a scholarship I could have received (if only I had written that essay), or even a job interview I didn’t take. Recently, my dad told me about a pharmacist at Meijer he had run into who he started up a conversation with. After my father brags to the pharmacist about my life (which he does a lot, just like any other father), the pharmacist told him to tell me to come visit him and job shadow him. My direction is heading towards pharmacy and I was excited to here this from my dad, but I never ended up going. I feel like this was an opportunity handed to me that I didn’t take up. Also, I find it a huge mistake when people don’t learn from their mistakes. One of the biggest importances in my life is learning from experiences. Sometimes I consider making mistakes just so that I can have those experiences and then learn from them. You don’t know those lines until you cross them, right? Just like when my girlfriends are talking to a guy that some of our friends dislike. I tell them to keep with it just because if the guy turns out to be a total douchebauge, they can learn what they don’t like in someone and then find a better one next time. I think it’s important especially at this age to learn from mistakes.

Blog 56

Emi

Emi was my best friend from fourth to seventh grade. She lived on the street behind me, so it literally took three minutes to walk to her house. We had an everyday routine: meet at my house to go to the bus stop, go to school, come back to her house, play DDR, eat rice balls, draw, take a walk, go home, and start it all over again. It was perfect. We had so much fun. Her family is made of some of the nicest people I have ever met. She was the one to introduce me to my beloved dance studio. She didn’t know at the time, but she started out my whole dance career. Even now, I am studying for a dance minor here at Ohio State.

Back in seventh grade, I went to visit her extended family in Tokyo and Hamamatsu City, Japan. As a thirteen-year-old, that was definitely an experience. I will always cherish that trip. I learned so much just from leaving my comfort zone and experiencing the life of a different culture. And man, it was definitely a culture shock.

The saddest thing growing up was the fact that a lot of my good friends/neighbors would have to go back to their home country because their visa was going to expire. Not only Emi, but five of my other international friends had to move back. It was especially hard this year to hear about the earthquake and not hear anything from her until a couple days after. It’s been one of the hardest relationships to let go.

Blog 55

My favorite place is on my back porch at dusk in the summertime. It is the most calming thing to sit on the porch swing at night after dinner while my dad smokes his cigar and the pup sits in my lap. Sounds like a very country thing, right? Well add this to the scene: the sun lowering in the sky until the cornstalks hide the light. What makes a sunset so beautiful?  It’s at the perfect time of day, where everything becomes calm and peaceful. The heat is dying down to the perfect temperature and the sky turns to that gorgeous mix of pink, blue, and orange blend. Of course my favorite place would be outside. There is nothing more magical than nature. Also, it is a given that my favorite place would be centered around my home. Home is a place where I can get away from everyone - school, friends, passerbys – and simply relax. There is no other place where I find so much relaxation than at my house. I am very blessed with a family that sticks together through everything. The older I get, the more thankful I become for my family. How funny is it that we take things for granted when we are younger? My back porch overlooks our garden that is absolutely breathtaking. Our garden wraps around the house so that it gives us more privacy, without the ugliness of a fence. Summer is very soon…which means anyone looking for me at 7 pm will be able to find me at my favorite place.