College Chronicles, Pt. 1

Sophomore was an amazing year of college.  It was my first year here at Ohio State.  Everything was new and fresh.  It was my first time being out on my own.  I met a lot of new people and tried a lot of new things that year.  There is something about my second year of college that always makes me look back and smile.

One part of sophomore year that made it so special was the friendship I had with Matt.  I knew him before then, but not very well.  I told him to mark the same dorm I chose on his housing sheet.  And, I guess that was the start of it all.  Over the course of the year, we became really good friends.  I can't even imagine how my year would have been if he hadn't been there.  I know I spent more time with him than anyone else that year.  I can vividly remember staying up in the study room changing our MySpace backgrounds at 4 in the morning.  Hahah, or the multiple trips to Burritos Noches at midnight.  Once we stayed up until about 6am watching the first season of Entourage on DVD.  His roommates were crazy, and I'm pretty sure he spent about as much time in my room as his own (at least my room was always good for an argument with my liberal and uninformed roommate).  We had so much fun together that year, even when we weren't doing anything at all.  I got to know him really well, and I told him more about myself than I let most people in on.  I have a feeling that time spent with Matt is probably what brings back most of the happy feelings from sophomore year.

I made new friends that year.  Caitlin, a girl who lived on my floor, is one of my best friends now.  I'm glad we started talking, because at first I thought she was too cool to talk to, and later found out she felt the same about me.  Turns out, we're about equally sweet, haha.  Kelsey and I got to know each other better, and we're roommates now.  I had a great roommate named Linden, who was about the exact opposite of my other roommate that year.  I'll never forget the crazy night we were running around the hallways like banshees.  How we were not creating enough noise to get in huge trouble, I will never know.  I'm pretty sure almost every soul from the 11th floor was out and about that night (and even a few from floor 9).  

There was the night with the gangster hats and the night we walked for what seemed like forever in the rain to get to a party (sorry about your hat, Matt).  Halloween was so fun, I loved Kelsey and my homemade indian costumes.  We wore them to the first frat party I ever went to, and the last one I actually enjoyed.  And then there was that one night...well, I don't know if I'd count it as a quality memory, but memorable nonetheless.

Ohio State beat Michigan that year, in what I'm sure will be the most exciting game I'll ever go to.  I've never seen so many policemen in my life.  Police cars, bikes and horses lined the streets--just waiting for a couch to be burned or a fight to ensue.  It was insane.  Then, there was, of course the most depressing game of my life, too.  We don't need to talk about that one though.

I think I really miss my sophomore year, because it was the beginning of my college life.  I had so much before me at that point.  Now that I'm about to graduate, I appreciate that time more than ever.  It's time I can't get back, but I wish I could live it all over again.  

Um, Israel?

I think this is funny:  I've wanted to drop out of school more this quarter, my final quarter, than any other time in my college career.

Okay, I lied, that isn't really funny at all.  But, it is true.  I guess I am afraid of accomplishing something worthwhile or making money.  You know, the usej.  Humph! (I've always wanted to use the word "humph" somewhere in my writing, but never really found the time or place...here it is.)

As I sit here with six books about population changes and problems in Israel surrounding me, I find myself feeling a little bit overwhelmed.  Overwhelmed, but also in a state of denial. It's almost like I feel that if I deny that I have a paper to write by Thursday, maybe it will disappear.  I know that I am going to do it though.  I will write it, get at least a mediocre grade and move on.  College will probably be over by the time I even find out the grade I got on it.  Actually, I probably won't ever find out my grade.  I will receive my passing grade for the class and move on, because I will be a college grad and it won't matter anymore, I suppose.

So, get off the blog and write the paper, dummy.

"I hate the things you choose to be."--Michael Scott

Sunday Times

When I see that someone random has commented on a photo or status of mine, I remember that my Facebook profile is not all in vein.  Plus, I feel ultra cool that people care enough to flip through my photo albums.

That, and the comfort of warm laundry is what I'm thinking about right now.  

Perhaps it was no wonder that women were first at the cradle and last at the cross. They had never known a man like this Man. There never has been such another. A prophet and teacher who never nagged at them, never flattered or coaxed or patronized; who never made sick jokes about them…who rebuked without querulousness and praised without condescension; who took their questions and arguments seriously; who never mapped out this sphere for them, never urged them to be feminine or jeered at them for being female; who had no ax to grind and no uneasy male dignity to defend; who took them as he found them and was completely unself- conscious. There was no act, no sermon, and no parable in the whole gospel that borrows pungency from female perversity. Nobody could possibly guess from the words and deeds of Jesus that there was anything “funny” or inferior about women’s nature.

--Dorothy Sayers

Boring

My skin feels minty.  If that doesn't make sense, what I mean is that the cold, tingly taste you get from Polar Ice gum has somehow transferred itself to my skin and become a feeling.  It's weird, and I don't get it either.

Tomorrow is a new day (duh), and I'm going to try and make the most of it. I worked out today and I felt pretty great afterward.  I have been pretty good about working out lately and am beginning to really enjoy it.  I'm looking forward to being able to run farther and farther.  It makes me feel so strong and accomplished after a run.  Plus, I want to lose some weight before summer.  I am going to try to do that within the next few week by doing a hardcore workout/diet thing.  We'll see how that goes.

Other than the growing amounts of schoolwork I have due this week, that's pretty much all that's on my mind.

Such a Small Part of Life

In the last four years, since I've been in college, I've gone through so many changes.  The changes have come in all sizes, mostly miniscule, but have added up to be one of the biggest changes of my life.  I have come a long way from the naive teenager I was four years ago.  

I've had some of the best times of my life, and some of the worst times of my life since I left Big Walnut High School.  I've gained some amazing friends, and lost some too.  I've grown wiser, but realized how little I really knew.  I know now, that I don't know much.  I've lost, loved, laughed, lied, but most importantly, I've lived.  My thoughts and fears, my hopes and dreams, they are about a million miles away from my 18-year-old fantasies.  

It's strange how we are the same person throughout our lives.  Our bodies change, our minds change, but we are still the same person.  Our soul remains the same.

I can only surmise that in another 4 years, I will look back and realize how much I have changed.  Where will I be by then?  I don't know, but I do know I won't be here and I'll still be me.

DINGDANGDUNG

I am so sick and tired of hearing about our demise.  Thank you Ohio State for spreading your liberal agenda to me through just about every single class I have taken here (with the exception of Math 148).  Literally, every class I have taken here, from English to Chemistry to Sociology to Advertising, has been an effort to shove liberal views into my face.  It has been inescapable.  Here's the thing:  I stopped listening.  Due to the overwhelming amount of information regarding global warming, gay rights, population issues and all the other nonsense, I have learned one thing--how to block it all out.  If, IF, there had been any chance of me leaning toward your direction, changing my views, reforming, seeing the light, etc., well all hope was lost when I had to read a graphic novel about a lesbian (totally unnecessary pictures, thanks).  Or maybe it was when I had to sit through An Inconvenient Truth by my main man Al.  I'm not sure where I lost all respect for professors.  I just know it happened.

As I near my graduation, I must say that very few of my fond memories will come from the classroom.  But, hey, would they have anyway?  Even the best education is overshadowed by the memories of friends and just the lives we lived when we were young.  As any avid party animal would say--are you going to remember that failing test grade, or do you want to remember the fun times you had with friends?  And to that, I must say, the latter.  

I'm going to miss this place.

Espanglés-y

Porque yo necesito practicar mi español, voy a escribir en en español aquí.  

Estoy muy cansada.  Esta mañana yo trabajé a las siete y media.  Fue horible y aburrido, porque no hago nada a mi trabajo.  Cada día cuando yo llego al edificio, nadie esta aquí.  Solamente yo.  Y, el problemas es que yo no tengo las llaves.  Es muy molestando.

Pero, el resto del día fue muy facil.  Estudiaba, hablaba, pero no trabajaba.  

Mi español fue mucho mejor en Ecuador.  Aquí, no practico y entonces, es muy malo.  ¡Necesito ayudaaaaa!

Jajaj, yo fuí un citio para penpals para ingles y español. No sé porque.  Pero, ahora yo recibo 20 emails cada día de las personas que usan el citio...jajajaj...necesito responder...

Pienso que no tengo más para mi blog de español.  Espero que nadie piensan que mi blog es terible.  Entiendo que mi gramatica no es perfecto, pero PRACTICAR HACE PERFECTO (That cannot be an actual phrase, hahahhahah).

Fell Asleep While Writing Pt. 1

Today has been weird.  My emotions have been running unusually high.  I have felt everything from really happy to very melancholy, all within the last 18 hours or so.  

Change makes me sad.  I know it can be a good thing, and often a necessary thing.  Still, though, it makes me feel a little nostalgic and more than a little sad.  

While staying at my parent's house this weekend, I took a few trips into the lovely village of Sunbury.  It's weird how when you roll through the town you grew up in, you get the strangest feeling.  It's like a sense of ownership, almost.  Or, maybe it is a sense of belonging.  Either way, seeing freshly painted lanes on the road didn't settle well with me.  Neither did the unnecessary traffic lights and the Tim Horton's.  I felt as if I should have been a part of the decision making process.  Do we need a coffee chain in our little town?  NO!  Take your lights and businesses and pavement elsewhere!  Please leave my town out of this!  

Of course, they didn't ask me, and I didn't get to actually shout those things to whatever planning committee decided all these "improvements" were going to take place.  And now, little Sunbury, is not so little anymore.  I almost don't even feel right calling it a small town.  Maybe it isn't anymore.  It's looking more and more like a suburb every day.  Ugh, the humanity (said with overly dramatic tone, dragging out the 'a' for 3 seconds or so).

What is it that makes me hate the transformation of our little dot on the map?

___________________________

THEN I FELL ASLEEP.  

iAggravate

I want to know what I do that is really annoying.  I mean, I can self-analyze (believe me), but I can only see what I do that annoys me.  It's different than all the surely irritating things I do that bug others.

The problem is, it's difficult to get a straight answer like that from anyone.  It's hard for people to be honest and tell you, "Look, ____ is the most annoying thing ever.  Everyone thinks so, so stop it."  And, well, if someone did say that to me, I would find it a little more than odd.  

I guess I need an out of body experience.  One where I can see myself in the way that other people see me every day.  Sounds a bit scary.

Actually, I have felt "out of body" a few times, and it really is quite strange.  That's a topic for another day though.

Poof

I wish I had a word eraser to wipe things right out of the air.  I'd get some use out of it.  

Not just my words either.

Word eraser--->Force people to take back things they say--->Jessica's steady decline in coolness--->Jessica deemed loser forever

That looks like a chemistry equation.  Too bad I couldn't have busted that out during my chemistry exam.  

Peace/Chocolate/Puppies, 

Jessica

Not Cool.

I'm getting really tired of everyone bashing my religion.  Why is it that when you belong to the majority group, everyone feels that they have the "okay" to mock and poke fun at you?  

I'm a Christian.  I'm not judgmental.  I'm not forcing people to convert.  I'm not hurting anyone.  

Thanks.