Major Updates

Happy almost Leap-Year everyone. :) I hope you're all having a lovely winter. We certainly haven't been doing the best up here in the North. For some reason Mother Nature forgot to send us snow this year. Reports say that's changing on the 29th, however and we'll be getting a foot of snow to hold us over until spring.
Now that I've covered the weather report, on to business. For today's post I'll be giving you an update on what my college experience has supposedly been about thus far: Finding A Major. I've decided to do this post because I think I've FINALLY decided what I want to major in. The funny thing about me finding this major is that I wasn't expecting it at all. I was expecting to major in cultural studies, English of some other Liberal Arts-y type field. But what do I find myself wanting to go into? Horticulture.
Yup, Horticulture. The study of plants, gardens, flowers, fruits, and all that good stuff. I've come to the conclusion with about half of the introductory horticulture class under my belt. I absolutely love this class. I get super excited to go to lab every week, and I'll get out of bed without a problem, even though it's my earliest class of the week. I get to plant seeds, experiment with growth treatments, grow plants from the cuttings of bigger plants... Honestly I could spend every day in that greenhouse and be content with my life. It would also be a relief going into a field that is actually marketable, as opposed to, say, cultural studies, with which I would have no idea what to do.
I will have to take some difficult classes to fulfill the major requirements (math being one of them), but I think I could make it. I may also have to take summer classes because I'm already behind on the 4 year plan. I'd basically be starting out where freshman horticulture majors start out my sophomore year.
Aside from that, I don't have much big news besides pep band being over. What is this band geek going to do with her time now?? Now I'm really going to be in withdrawal until marching band starts up in the fall. Guess I'll just have to keep myself in shape until then. Maybe I'll start jogging with the free time I have now that band is done. Maybe I'll be able to pull myself off my butt and get out of my warm dorm room so I don't die at Spat Camp come fall.
Maybe that's what my next post will be about. My failed attempts at being athletic. :P
Sincerely,
The Lazy Blogger

This is a Public Service Announcement

As many of you know, there are two bills before Congress right now called SOPA and PIPA. I urge all of you to take 30 seconds out of your busy lives of internet browsing and help stop these bills. Proponents of these bills say that they will stop piracy and other such things on the internet when really it will do little to stop piracy, and lots to infringe on our rights. If you value your right to internet access and like your internet the way it is, take 30 seconds and sign Google's petition to stop these bills. If you follow the link, you can find the petiton and some more information you can read if you're unfamiliar with what SOPA and PIPA are all about.
https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

Thanks for your time!

And BREAK!

So I survived finals. Not a single grade less than a B-. I cannot begin to explain how relieved I am to have those tests done with. The day after I finished those up, I was on my way back home. And now here I am, writing this post from my bedroom at home, hours away from college life. It feels good to be home, and, at the same time, I can tell it'll feel good to go back.

I've hung out with my friends here a lot. It's strange seeing them after being apart for 4 months. I feel like a different person, that college has changed me some. But it's strange to come back and have them act the same and talk to me the same as they did before I left. And I feel, somewhat, that who they think I am isn't quite me anymore. Of course, I haven't changed that much. I just think that who I am with my friends in college is more me than the high school me my friends remember. It's somewhat confusing to explain, and it doesn't mean I don't enjoy hanging out with my hometown friends any less, it's just a strange new feeling I suppose that I'm not quite used to.

Speaking of college friends, I miss the social aspect of college a lot. I miss my friends there, going to parties, seeing my boyfriend and playing in the pep band. But I defiantly don't miss classes. :) I sure needed a break from those. My Japanese might be a little rough once I get back to those classes, but hopefully it comes back quickly. And hopefully my cultural studies class might help me get one step closer to finding a major.

I know this is a short post, but while on break, there's not really much to report on.
On a different note, I've noticed lots of traffic from Russia on this blog. Russia? Really? Well, whoever you are, if you're reading, it's cool to have readers from so far away.
Bye!

Halfway!

This morning at 9am, I set down my pencil on my last test and officially and finally completed my first semester of college. It feels so strange that I'm already halfway through my first year. It flew by so fast I almost didn't have time to catch everything that happened. By this time next year (if the world doesn't end or something silly like that) I hope that I'll have had even more great times as a sophmore. But before that happens, I have to survive Freshman Year: Part Two. I have to survive another semester of Japanese, a semester where most of the time I'll be trudging through snow to my classes and trying not to freeze every time I put a foot out the door. But there will be upsides, like when the warm weather comes back and there will be fun times like Spring Jam and other merriment to be had.

But first, winter break. I'm convinced finals week is the University's tactic for making students want to go home to their families for around 3 weeks, because I can't wait to close the 8 hours between me and home. I can't wait to have no class related worries and just have a good time for a few weeks. I get to see all my old friends from high school, read to my heart's content, be around my pets every day, not have to do my own laundry (yeah, I know, I'm spoiled) and have home cooked meals not just as a special occasion. Oh, how I've missed real food. And when it gets dark in the evening, I'm going to go outside and stand in my driveway and stare up at all the stars I can't see here in the city. I haven't seen a sky full of stars in ages...
The one downside to this winter break is THERE IS NO SNOW!!!!!! People thought it was an apocalypse last year when we got tons of snow, I think that it's an apocalypse right now because it's 3 days away from Christmas Eve and there is not a single bit of snow on the ground! I'm appalled. If there's no snow on Christmas, I think that will be the worst part of break. We live in the north. It's not uncommon to have snow on Halloween and normal to have it for Thanksgiving. Not having it in December is just madness. But just as I finished that sentence, a few flakes started falling outside my window. Probably won't amount to very much, but I suppose it's the thought that counts. :P

So the only thing left to do now is say goodbye to one of my favorite people that I'll have to leave over break, zip up my suitcases, carry them down the steep 4 flights of stairs and out to my grandma's car and wait till tomorrow morning to close the gap between myself and home. Not looking forward to the goodbyes. I'll miss him terribly. But I'm determined to have fun over break at home, and thanks to the magic of skype I can still see him at least.

Home, here I come.

The (Almost) Completion of Semester #1

I can't believe I'm saying this already, but finals are just around the corner. I'm almost finished with my first semester of college. It feels like just a few weeks ago I was moving in, marching around our university's stadium in 80 degree weather and feeling like such a newbie when it came to all this college stuff. But now the temperature has dropped down to a balmy 20 degrees on average, marching band has come to an end and I find myself faced with the dreaded final exams before heading back home. It's weird thinking about how much I've changed within just a few months. I went from the high schooler who thought she might have life all figured out, with expectations of what college would be like, to a college freshman who realized that she definetly doesn't have life figured out and that all expectations were dashed from the moment she set foot here. The people I've met and the groups I've become a part of have really changed things for me.

Marching band, as geeky as it sounds, has become like my second family. The people that are a part of this group are hands down the most amazing group of human beings that a girl could ever hope to meet when she goes off to college. This group is the reason I love this university so much. They're what got me through when I thought classes were going to drown me in stress and when my long-standing relationship came to an end and I thought I might've lost myself for a while. But because of them, I couldn't help but be happy again. It helped me move on and even meet someone new. Even just in my section, trumpet players have come to fill so many roles in my life. I have my mentors, my best friends, my boyfriend, my older brother figures... Everyone, no matter how much we get on eachothers nerves or how much we bicker during rehearsals, is someone that I feel so lucky to have met.
On top of that, my new brothers in Kappa Kappa Psi (and yes, I said "brothers". It's a co-ed fraternity)are taking my experience in band that much higher and I can't wait to work with all of them. :) I literally just finished my time as a PM and I learned so much.

So after this whirlwind of amazing experiences, I think it's going to almost be hard for me to go home for almost a month and leave the city that I've come to love so much. Since I live 8 hours away, it'll be hard to know that some of my friends live less than an hour away and can come see eachother and hang out over break. It'll be great to see my high school friends and my family again, but I'll miss how busy and fun it is here. I'm going to have to come up with things to do with my time once I don't have homework and band to occupy me. I've decided to read every new book that the library has added to their shelves once I get home. I can't tell you how much I've missed reading for fun.

But in the meantime, I suppose it's back to studying. Countdown to exam week: 1.5 weeks to go...

A Whole New Kind Of Crazy

So the best word I can use to describe college is crazy. It's crazy wonderful, crazy difficult, crazy fun and crazy awesome. A lot has happened in my first month here. I joined marching band (best decision of my life), experienced my first break-up (craziest roller-coaster of my life) and have finally started to get into the swing of things.
My classes are going alright. I have a politics class, anthropology class and a Japanese class. This last one is probably the most intense language experience I've ever gone through. It's challenging and has it's ups and downs but I think if I try hard enough I can pull through okay.

I've had some pretty memorable non-academic experiences too.
#1. I went to see Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra in concert at Orchestra Hall downtown. As a trumpet player, this was like Christmas for me. I loved every second of the concert. They all played their instruments with so much expression it was like the instruments were talking and having a conversation instead of just playing the notes on a page. I don't think I'll ever forget how amazing the sound was.
#2. I went to a formal dance on a boat. Every year the marching band has a formal dance on a paddleboat that goes down the Mississippi river. The only downside of the dance was they didn't play "I'm On A Boat". Boo!! :P
#3. (Maybe) went on a date. We never really specified if it was a date...it was kinda implied... cuz we held hands, watched a movie.... I'll keep you updated. ;P

Soon I'll have some more crazy stories because in a few weeks is HOMECOMING! And all the band rookies get to do some really crazy stuff (NOT hazing...no seriously. it's not we have a choice if we want to participate) and learn a lot and really connect to our university. That...and there's a super awesome Homecoming kick-off event that I get to participate in. But it's a secret right now. So I'll post a link to the video after we've done it. :P

Bring on more crazy adventures! :)

FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First of all, I apologize for not updating in forever. Life has been SUPER busy since I began my first semester of college. But I love it so so much. To give you a brief summary, here's what my life has been for the past few weeks.

August 24th: I moved into my temporary living space (an empty dorm) for the beginning of SPAT CAMP! Spat camp, for those of you who don't know, is the training camp my university holds before the actual semester begins. It consists of 3-a-day rehearsals, 13 hour days, and lots of music in the 80+ degree August weather.
August 29th: I moved into my real dorm that I will be spending the remainder of my year in. It's a single dorm up on the top floor of one of the oldest dorm buildings on campus (our cafeteria kinda looks like Hogwarts although the food is less than magical...). On the couple hot and muggy days that we have at the beginning of the semester, we have no AC and almost no air circulation to keep us alive up on the top floor. But we deal because most of the year is cold and snowy anyway.
September 3rd: This was the last day of Spat Camp. I'm pretty sure that now that I went through it, I'm now more in shape than I've ever been. Some might laugh at the fact that marching band could whip me into shape, but I'd like to see you marching up and down a football field, bringing your knees up to 90 degrees on every step. Now do that for 8 hours a day. :P
September 6th: This was my very first day of classes. I'm taking a beginning Anthropology class (cultural anthropology), Global Politics and Beginning Japanese. I really enjoy all of them so far. Anthropology is incredibly interesting to me. Japanese is a lot of hard work, but I have the class 5 days a week, so I'm hoping the repetition and immersion will help me learn it quickly. I'm still reserving judgement for the politics class because I've only had the class once. :P

I really love it here. Thus far, I have no doubt that this is the place for me. Marching band is one of the smartest decisions I've made when coming here. Even though it's challenging and downright hard sometimes, I've made tons of friends. And it's a great feeling walking around campus and saying hi to at least two people on my way to my first class of the day. It feels like having a giant family that all takes care of each other. Even my first college party, I wasn't nervous about because my section leaders all made sure that all the underclassmen were taken care of and weren't pressured or left on their own. And the trumpet section, my section, is the greatest group of people. It's like having a bunch of crazy siblings that have their own wacky inside jokes and just love to have a great time together.

That, and it's wonderful seeing the city skyline on my walk to class every day. :)
Freedom is awesome.