Almost done.......

Only a history final left......should be easy. Got Zoology out of the way on Monday. I calculated my score the night before the test......I was so close to an A. But after some further calculation, I figured that I would have to get a 98 or so on the final to bring it up those few percentage points. And I thought there was no way I was gonna make it. But oh joy! Yesterday I got my final grade for Zoology back.....and I got an A!! (barely, but that doesn't matter) I'm pretty sure there was only one other person in the class who got an A, too..... I'm not bragging, just saying that's how hard this class is.
Chemistry final yesterday....I should get an A in that class too, unless I did waaay worse on the final than I thought. It was a hard final though.... better knock on wood.
So here is a picture of me and Tara with Hugo (our Zoology prof, on the left, who as the last question on lab exams always has something along the lines of "True/False: Piggies are the cutest, most adorable pets in the world"; also, for our final exam the last question was "For 3 points extra credit, write a short poem expressing your hopes and joys for Christmas break") and Jim (our Chemistry prof, on the right, who we sometimes call Jimmy-Jim-JimmyJimJimJim in imitation of The Muppets Treasure Island when we want to get his attention, but I don't think he notices because he lives in his own little fantasy chemistry world). This was taken at Feast, which is like the Christmas banquet here. When we asked them if they would take a picture with us, they both said comments very indicative of their personalities. Hugo: "You two clean up well. I didn't recognize you." Jim: (while posing for the picture) "Two dimes between two pennies."

Finals are frying our brains

Tessa came into our room today to ask my roommate something:
Tessa: Laura, why did you write "I love Myra" on my whiteboard today?
Laura: *bursts out laughing* My RA! I love my RA! Not Myra!
Tessa: Oh.....that would make more sense.

The light at the end of the tunnel....

....grows brighter every day. Four finals and I am done with this semester!!!!

I'm so ready to be done with schoolwork, but I'm actually not looking forward to leaving. I'm going to miss everybody here so much! It will be great to see family and friends though.

Haven't posted in awhile.....not much to say I guess. It's just been endless homework assignments and tests.

We went bowling last week....I think I bowled a 90 or something. :)

My cousin Jenna came to visit me!! It was great to see her! I took her to Drubers to get donuts. I hope she didn't think my friends were too weird....then again, I think they're pretty weird myself...... :)

I LOVE my mod!

My mod (section of like 7 or so rooms) is awesome. 2CN is the place to be (2 for second floor, C for central wing of Erb, and N for north side). Here is a visual guide to 2CN.

This first picture is from earlier in the year. It was like 3:30 a.m. and we were all out in our mod lounge trying to study. We got distracted by Angela's computer, which has a webcam. And we took about a hundred photos, most of which are on Facebook. This one is us trying to show what time it was and failing (except for me and my roomie....we are smart people).


Our mod has "Bread Night" every Sunday. Last Sunday we had a special "Peanut Butter Night" in addition to Bread Night. We had all kinds of peanut butter desserts, Amish peanut butter, and peanut butter/oreo shakes. Then we decided we were all going to end up fat by the end of the year and renamed our mod 2ChowNow. Sounds like some kind of weird Chinese sorority to me. So these next two pictures are us on Peanut Butter Night. The first of the two is us with various food, and the second is us showing how fat we are going to be by the end of the year.




This last picture is some of us who ran in the Howard Hustle after the race. We're cracking up, I think because Tessa (our RA, she's awesome, I love her) was trying to pin her number on again but couldn't figure out how to do it.

Long Time No Post

Thanksgiving break was good: I got to see some of the people I graduated with (some of whom I hadn't seen since graduation). At Hesston, it is a big weekend with hundreds of prospectives and families coming, and consequently there are a lot of activities going on. So I stayed on campus for some of that: namely the talent show (hilarious!) and the Howard Hustle. The Howard Hustle is a two mile run for Hesston students and residents. I took it easy and basically jogged the whole thing, so my time was like 18-19 minutes. But my mod won free t-shirts for having the most people running in the fastest amount of time, so that was exciting! It was good to go home and see my family and friends as well.

My little sister (Hannah) called me tonight. My old basketball team (that she plays on now) had just played their first game, and won. And she scored 7 points!! My sister is a balla indeed! I'm excited because I get to go to their game in El Dorado on Thursday - but I know it will make me miss it soooo much.

Christmas time is coming!! We put decorations up in our mod! Exciting, exciting!

We just have to get through the next two weeks.....that won't be fun.

Thanksgiving Break!!!

Looking forward to getting away, getting some sleep, and getting reconnected with some friends.

I managed to break my phone yesterday. Talented, huh?

Proper Safety Procedures in the Chemistry Laboratory (a visual documentary by three bored and over-scienced college students)

Thank goodness they have an emergency eye wash station for those of us who forget to wear goggles.



But the eye protection does no good if you try to be cool and just wear them on your forehead, Jayme.....



Tara, however, followed proper safety procedures.

Speaking of birthdays.........the way to celebrate a birthday at Hesston College

Yesterday was Tara’s birthday, and it was a long, super fun, and interesting day. At 12:01 a.m. November 20, I was in Tara’s room talking. It was officially her birthday now, so the celebration could begin!! Tara, Tyler Birky, Tyler Derochowski, Peter, and I went to McDonalds at about 1 a.m. to get some food. Then we all went to bed (kind of an early night for us, I mean, we don’t do stuff every night but when we do, we stay up pretty late). The actual day was pretty much business as usual. We – Tara, Jayme, and I - went on a Zoology field trip to a buffalo ranch (Tara was sure excited about freezing outside while dodging buffalo on her birthday - not). But it was fun just because of the company. We had Tara’s camera and we made all these stupid videos that I’m sure will end up on Facebook sometime soon. Then we relinquished Tara to her family because they wanted to take her out to eat. When she got back, we went to Newells and all ate cheese fries. After driving back to the campus, we went down to the Pit (basement of Erb, the building where I live) and played Soul Caliber and Guitar Hero for several hours. Tara wanted to have a “sleepover”, so everybody claimed a couch over by one TV and we started The Prince of Egypt. Everybody fell asleep. I was good with the whole sleepover idea because my roomie and I are hosting two prospectives this weekend and I was letting one of them use my bed. So it was either the floor in my room or a couch in the Pit. We all woke up gradually this morning and declared Tara’s birthday officially celebrated. And I’m glad that nobody else in our group has a birthday until February (mine) because we will all need some time to recover from this last one.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TARA!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

Today a wonderful woman was born.......my Mom!!!
Happy Birthday Mom...I hope you have a good birthday and thank you for being such a great mom to me. I know you miss me when I'm off at college but you prepared me well for this. Thanks for being understanding when I decide to stay here on weekends; I know you'd rather just have me home. I love you!!!!

Pictures

Well, the first picture is me, Tara, and Jayme taking dorky pictures in chem lab.... more of those coming later.
The next three pictures are at Newells - a truck stop in Newton. Home of the BEST (and most disgusting) cheese fries EVER! *as Tyler is showing in that second picture.* The next one is of me and Peter, and the next is me, Tyler, and Evan.
The last picture is of a midnight trip to Wally World. These seem to happen quite frequently.

College Kids

Someone please save us/Us college kids/........We're poor, we're starving, we're flat broke, we've got no cash to spend/.......Oh no, not for me, not for me, Call it torture, call it university/ Arts and Crafts is all I need/ I'll take calligraphy and then I'll make a fake degree

(sorry, it's been awhile since I've quoted Relient K - had to get it out, haha)
So I'm going to try to put some pictures on here.......what poor college students do for fun......

Speaking of having a bad day......

One of my good friends here was just told some life-shattering news......please pray for him and his family.

Did you know........

Just so you know, today is officially "Have A Bad Day" Day. So if you were worried because you are having a bad day and were afraid you weren't allowed to have a bad day, don't worry! Have a bad a day as you like! In fact, if you are having a good day you better do something about it really fast.....

A friend's Facebook note

This should probably be taped
to your bathroom mirror
where one could read it every day.
You may not realize it,
but it's 100% true.
1. There are at least two people in this world
that you would die for.
2. At least 15 people in this world
love you in some way.
3. The only reason anyone would ever hate you
is because they want to
be just like you.
4. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone,
even if they don't
like you.
5. Every night,
SOMEONE thinks about you
before they go to sleep.
6. You mean the world to someone.
7. You are special and unique.
8.. Someone that you don't even know exists loves you.
9. When you make the biggest mistake ever,
something good comes from it.
10. When you think the world has
turned its back on you, take another look.
11. Always remember the compliments you received..
Forget about the rude remarks.

Star-tipping

Last night, I and a couple friends were really bored, so we grabbed a flashlight and headed out to the dark soccer field to do a little star-tipping.

Remembering......

That morning at CYIA...... the day Tim gave the chapel.

My dreams keep sliding off the altar, but with God's help I shove them back up.

In Zoology

Tara: *answers a question Hugo just asked the class*
Kari: Eat chalk, Tara!

Dustin Galyon makes my day (every time I see him)

Dustin Galyon is an admissions counselor and the head men's basketball coach here at HC. He's young (25), extremely friendly, and indescribably energetic. The Energizer Bunny has NOTHING on this guy. If you've ever seen the animated movie Hoodwinked, he has the energy of that squirrel (if you haven't seen this movie, you should. It's a cute and funny movie.)He gave the message at Campus Worship tonight. He's the only person I know who can talk at the speed of light for 40 minutes straight without a pause. He paced up and down the rows of chairs, stopping at empty ones to climb up on top of them to speak for about 30 seconds before he clambered down again. His message was so good though.....he made his whole basketball team come. Big, tough guys who don't come from the greatest backgrounds or the greatest neighborhoods heard his passionate invitation. He told the story of Peter denying Jesus three times, and how Jesus later asked Peter three times "Do you love me?" He talked about struggles in his own life and about his favorite name for Jesus: Redeemer. It was a powerful and convicting message.

**Ok, I have to stick a quote or two in here**
Dustin: "And do you know what Peter did when he realized it was Jesus standing there on the shore? He jumped over the side of the boat, into the freezing cold water, and started swimming! He's heading straight for Jesus, blazing through the water, Michael-Phelps-ing it to shore!"
Dustin: "Now I know I'm nowhere close to perfect. I mean, I blow my nose in the shower!" (a popular campus rumor about Dustin)
Dustin: (yelling) "That tomb was empty so that your lives don't have to be!"

Prof. Quotes

Hugo Boschmann: "Having a smoking section in a restaurant is like having a peeing section in a swimming pool."
Hugo: (holding up a piece of a smoker's lung) "I'm so glad somebody smoked and died so I could buy this! *assumes innocent, slightly defensive look* What? I didn't tell them to smoke!"
Hugo: "I sat at home and graded your lab exams.... and I started bawling. My wife asked me, 'Hugo, what is wrong?' and I said, 'No one knew what the function of the lateral line on a perch is!'"
Hugo: "For next five weeks in lab we will focus on one thing: piggy dissection. Now first before you cut up Piggy, you must name Piggy."
Hugo: "Dissection is not demolition!"
Hugo: (practically every week) "Who's ready for a quizzy?"

Jim Yoder: (every single time he finishes explaining something) "Nod your heads."
Jim: "Barium is the undertaker's element. Think about it." (and the entire class groans)
Jim: "Helium is the doctor's element. Think about it."
Jim: "Now we chemists of course forget that most people do not know the proper names for things. That's why whenever we have a headache we tell the drugstore clerk we want to buy some acetosalicylic acid."
Jim: "Now some of you in this class did not do well at all on these problems. That's why I wrote F U on your papers." *entire class looks at each other in stunned silence. Jim is oblivious. He explains that "f u" is some abbreviation for some chemical term. The entire class gives slightly stunned laughs. Jim has no idea what was so funny.*

I think all these science profs have spent waaay too time studying and teaching their respective subjects. Jim and Hugo have been teaching at Hesston for a combined total of about 70 years.

I miss basketball

Maybe I'll go to the Wellness Center today and do something that will make me sore and out of breath. That should help.

"The medium is the message"

"The content of the medium is the juicy piece of meat carried by the burglar to distract the watchdog of the mind" - Marshall McLuhan
Recently attended a fascinating chapel where Shane Hipps talked about media and today's electronic culture. I want to tell you about it but instead I have to write a paper for General Psychology. :(

My Theme Song for the Past Week

"Dance Floor Anthem" by Good Charlotte

:)

More thoughts (not on my theme song) coming later today.

My latest Facebook note

I write notes on Facebook and they don't often make it to my blog - this one I'm going to put on here though.

><>< I'm Still Waiting For You To Be The One I'm Waiting For ><><

I have to admit, I love the band Relient K. One of their songs, The One I’m Waiting For, has really made me think. I’ve used the phrase “I’m still waiting for You to be the one I’m waiting for” in my status messages and had people ask me what it meant. So I am going to attempt to answer (at least what it means to me).

We talk a lot about waiting for the right guy or girl to come along. Sometimes we use it as an explanation (“I’ve never dated because I’m waiting for the right one to come along”) or we whine about it (“How much longer to do I have to wait for it? I wish I had a boy/girlfriend now!”). I think we all feel a longing for that special relationship. But where does that longing come from? God knew from the very beginning that we as humans need someone, when he saw that it was “not good for the man (Adam) to be alone” and created Eve. But the love that we can feel for someone on this earth is just a poor reflection, a cheap imitation of the love God has for us. The closeness we long for with another human being comes from the way we were created. God wants us to know that we are not complete without Him, and He gave us a desire to seek Him out. We try to fulfill that desire with other people or material possessions and not with God.

A very wise older Christian friend once said to me, “I have this longing inside me for a special relationship with a guy. But then I realized that if God, who loves me more than I can ever imagine and is truly the best thing that ever happened to me, can't fulfill that desire why do I think another person can? Only once I am content in God will I be able to be content in someone else.” That really hit home to me, and I try to live by those words. Sometimes I end up kicking myself because I spend waaaay more time thinking about earthly relationships than I do thinking about my relationship with God. I’m still waiting for myself to change enough that it is a desire for a deep relationship with God that I long for more than anything. That’s why I often have to confess, “Lord, I’m still waiting for You to be the one I’m waiting for.”

I’m not saying that God doesn’t want us to have a relationship with that special guy/girl. On the contrary, God created us with that desire and that is why a relationship like that is so amazing. I’m just saying that when both people in the relationship are focused on God as well as each other, that is when it is in God’s will and that makes it even more amazing.
(Ok, like I would know, right? These are just my thoughts right now.)

If we aren't satisfied with the Creator, why do we expect to be satisfied with the created thing?

Quote for the week.....

Nate Snyder and Chris Moyer were talking about going clubbing, so they could play pool and dance. Now let me just say that these guys are about the last ones in the world you would expect to actually go clubbing.

Chris: Man, we'd have to take some girls along - we'd look totally lame without girls.
Nate: DUDE! That's the point! You want to find some girls - you don't take them with you!

One last thought......

....then it is really time to give this up.

Obama talks about change, but his plans seem rather naive. To me, his refrain is reminiscent of Bob the Builder (Can we fix it? Yes we can!)
It only remains to be seen how this change will actually work.
I don't take quite as pessimistic a view as one of my friends here, who texted me as soon as the results were in: "Goodbye American dream..... Hello European socialism." Simply because Obama was elected does not mean America is going to become Russia overnight. I also tend to frown on insinuations that Obama is the anti-christ.

(Just for the record, I voted for McCain, however, I am not so polarized for him that I thought he was America's only hope and Obama was the ultimate embodiment of evil. Both candidates disgusted me with their political pandering to their parties, publicity stunts, and concern for image over issues.)

And lastly......Mennonites. Here at Hesston College, a liberal Mennonite college, the sentiment is overwhelmingly for Obama. This has a lot to do with his plans for getting out of Iraq (Mennonites being pacifists and all). If you even mention other issues in the campaign....take abortion, for example,....you can get attacked pretty quickly. I don't know how many times I've heard the standard Mennonite response to the abortion issue: "Well, the number of deaths of Iraqi innocents and soldiers as well as US soldiers far outweighs the number of abortions that have taken place within the last year. Something to consider as opposed to voting on a single issue." This statement seems kind of hypocritical to me, but whatever. (If anybody reading this is Mennonite, I apologize. I don't mean to stereotype you or anything like that. This is just what I've encountered here.)

No matter how you feel about the election, we have made history. We have a new president, and he has a lot of work ahead of him. He has to deal with a national recession, put together a timetable for Iraq, decide what we are going to do about Afganistan, and deal with the energy crisis and a wide variety of other problems. What Obama and our nation need right now is prayer.

Obamination

Random thought:
When you are not pro-Obama, a Mennonite campus is not the place for you.

A response for Michaela.....

Yeah, I can usually think of a song to describe my life and thought processes at any given point in time. So get used to it. :)

Right now "Apologize" by OneRepublic is running through my head, due to some stuff that happened to a friend recently.....

But don't worry, anybody! I'm lovin' life!

Thought on the election

No matter what....keep this in mind: Ultimately, Barack Obama or John McCain cannot determine America's fate.....

We are one great nation under God
Indivisible, with a spirit strong and free....

To bring peace, to bring light
with our torch of freedom
is the one great hope
of one great nation under God

The guys...

...are all starting to look a little scruffy. Look out Hesston College - here comes No Shave November!

Hallowe'en

7:30 (or so): Rachel is sitting in her room, feeling bored and sorry for herself that she is doing nothing special on Halloween. But she doesn't have a good costume idea, so what else is she supposed to do? Just then, Johnny comes by. He tells her that he wants to go trick-or-treating because he's never done that before (he's from Mexico, what do you expect?) He talks her in to going with him, and before she knows it they are in a group of about 8 people.

Ok, back to first person. I stole my roomie's Lebron James jersey and Peter made me wear his huge black wig. So I had a costume now! We walked all over Hesston. Most of the group bailed partway through, but Peter, Jetca, and I trick-or-treated for about an hour and a half and got 2 Wal-mart sacks full of candy! Yum!

Then a big group of us watched a movie. Since it was Halloween, we had to watch a scary movie......and we really outdid ourselves picking it. We ended up watching The Grudge 2. Wow. Freaky. I am never going to Japan. It was a lot of fun though.

not much to say

Hey sorry y'all. I haven't posted in awhile....don't have much to say I guess. Hmm.....maybe I'll think of something tomorrow.

A Day In The Life Of Your Favorite College Student

Friday:
At 12 a.m., Rachel and bunch of people went to Drubers (a donut shop in Newton and popular Hesston College hangout) because today is Jetca's birthday. At Drubers, they all ate donuts and played Dutch Blitz for an hour and a half. They came back to college and were going to watch The Incredible Hulk but couldn't wake up the guy who owned it so they decided to watch Old School instead. Rachel, understandably, decided to forgo watching Old School and went to bed. She woke up and went to Psychology. Then she studied for her history test until lunch. After lunch was Chemistry, where her chemistry prof made her laugh (as usual). She then had her history test (the Great Depression and WWII). After that she helped Ann make Kenyan food and so she got to eat the delicious Kenyan food along with the RDs, Jetca, and Johnny. She went to the first women's basketball scrimmage vs. Bethel with Peter and Tyler, where she came to the conclusion that she could be playing on the team because they did not do very well. She then gave in to Tyler's begging to go to McDonalds. After that she came back to campus, briefly considered having a LOTR marathon with Peter and Tyler, decided she couldn't make it, did laundry, and went to bed.

I am Yours

Who am I?
That the Lord of all the earth,
Would care to know my name,
Would care to feel my hurt.
Who am I?
That the bright and morning star,
Would choose to light the way,
For my ever wandering heart.

I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow,
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when I'm calling,
Lord, you catch me when I'm falling,
And you've told me who I am.
I am yours.
I am yours.

(Casting Crowns lyrics)

Fuming

In Zoology today: (talking about the endocrine system)
Prof: "I have a little story -true story- for you. Several years ago, there was a man living here in Hesston who owned the print shop. Now this man liked baseball and so he started a teeball club for little boys in the area. After they played teeball, he invited 12 little boys back to his shop with him - where he molested all of them. He was caught and arrested, of course, and he had a choice: to go to jail, or to go see a specialist. He chose the specialist, had some tests done, and it was discovered that he had 3 times the normal level of testosterone. Now I ask you - was he guilty? Hormones made him do it! He couldn't help that he was born that way. Was it his fault that he was born with such a hormonal imbalance? Is it a diabetic's fault that they are born without enough insulin? Raise your hand if you think he was guilty."

I raised my hand, and so did about half the class. He just stood there staring at us. Then he said, "It's a hard question......think about it."
And then he just kind of moved on.

I almost said, "He can't help the way he was born, but what he can help is the way he acts on it. Diabetics do something about their problem - they have insulin shots and watch what they eat. This guy could have gotten help - if he starts having these urges he needs to realize that something is not right and get help! We have a choice to be above our body's impulses."
I feel almost like I should have said something, but he never asked our opinions.

So I'm kind of disgusted right now, basically.

At supper today

Matt Lehman: Johnny, you should get your left earlobe pierced, then get an earring with something manly and intimidating dangling from it - like a shark fang or a tiger claw.
Johnny Friesen: Or a tractor!

And Matt and I just look at each other.

My favorite CYIA song.....

....no one else knows. I guess I'll just have to wait 'til next June to sing it properly (i.e., in a round).


Search me O God and know my heart
Try me and know my thoughts
And see if there be any wicked way in me
And lead me in the way/lead me in the way/lead me in the way everlasting

You have known me/ You have known me
My down-sitting, my uprising
You understand my thoughts from afar
You know all my ways/ You know all my ways

"You'll never win"

But the voice of truth/tells me a different story
And the voice of truth/says "do not be afraid"
And the voice of truth/says "this is for my glory"
And of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe

the voice of truth

I'm baaaa-aaack!!!

Well, I'm back from fall break. Being home was good......it was strange, because when I was at home, college felt like some kind of distant dream. Now that I'm back here, it seems like almost the only reality.
Hmmm.....well anyway, I'm glad to be back, I missed everybody here a lot. It was great to be home, though!

And again.....

Ann Ntari: "Are you printing something?"
Me: "No."
Ann: "Then why is your printer giggling like that?"

Haha

Chad Newcomer (trying to sing "College Kids" by Relient K)-
"Call it torture, call it universe studies"

Lebensraum

Our lounge is flooding again.

Called due to rain.....

The day in the life of your favorite college student will have to wait til another day.....I don't feel like typing all that today. I get to write a Zoology lab report instead!

Retrospective Note To Self

Do not watch The Exorcism of Emily Rose at 1 a.m. when you are at college and live in a dorm room.......

Tomorrow....(or today I guess) A Day in the Life of Your Favorite College Student (i.e., me, in cause you couldn't figure that out)

Quotes :)

"Don't you wish you were a squid? Three hearts. Expensive valentine."
- Hugo Boschmann. (my Zoology prof. He deserves his own post sometime. Just imagine this delivered in a German/Spanish accent)

"She was so mad, I thought she was going to slit my throat, rip out my esophagus, and start whipping me with it."
-Tyler Derochowski





Yeah, I'm just sitting here listening to "Swing, Swing" by The All-American Rejects over and over. Basically I'm pretty bored. Get on Facebook and talk to me sometime. Or call me. Or send me a letter. Or just comment on this post. Make my day. :)

One thing I like about the Mennonite church....

The music. Hesston Mennonite has a huge organ and a handbell choir. But what mostly gets me is the way everyone seems to be an amazing singer. Most of the hymns are sung acapella and in harmony. Really pretty.

What I take from this is what I'll get and I haven't quite figured it out just yet

....and this week the trend
was to crash and burn and then return again
to practice the life that I pretend
provides enough to get me through to the weekend

And this week the trend
was to backstab every single one of my friends
and leave a voicemail message trying to make amends
all the while hoping things work out in the end

and this week the trend
was to borrow all the strength that you could lend
to keep my head above the water and not descend
back to where I said I'd never go again

So I say
give me a solution.........
......cause I was absolutely sure I had it all figured out
way back then
but after this day it's this week all over again

I'm still waiting for You to be the one I'm waiting for.

But then, You assure me:
I'm a little more than useless
and when I think that I can't do this
You promise me that I'll get through this
and do something right for once.

(Relient K says it all.)

Asphyxiation

Schedule for the week:
Tuesday: Zoology Quiz - Aschelminthes, Annelids; and the respiratory system.
Wednesday: History Test
Thursday: Zoology Lab Exam (majorly stressing!)
Friday: Chemistry Test and History Paper due

Shoot me now!

Watch out - Open Season has begun!

The Meat Market Rule at Hesston College: video by the Bills and Normas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMbbLGfgNUk
Watch it, it is hilarious!

Vestiges

There are random little things that I notice that separate us former homeschoolers from the public schoolers - this post is about the academic side of things. So far I have found two other girls (Tara and Jayme) that were homeschooled - we are pretty sure we are the only ones. We're in Zoology and Chemistry together. Our very first chemistry lab, Tara and I pulled out our lab books. These are the kinds of books that you write in and rip the pages out to hand in. We looked at each other and asked, "Can we actually write in these, or do we need to copy it into a notebook?" ( Fellow homeschoolers, this is a legitimate question, is it not?)

Another random thing is that I always study on my bed, or on the floor, or on a couch in the lounge. My roommate always studies at her desk. I asked Tara about it, and she said it's the same way for her.

Final random thing. The other day in Zoology Lab, we were working on lab reports. Tara, Jayme, and I went out in the hall, spread out our various reference books all over the floor, and got to work. Soon the professor walked by and said something to the effect of, "Well, isn't this a good idea? I've never seen anyone study quite like this before." At first, we didn't think much of it, but then the chemistry prof walked by and said the exact same thing. We didn't understand what was so unique about it - then we realized that we were the homeschoolers. And we realized that other people must not study that way.

Scarred for life :)

Life is good

I love the girls I live with! Seriously they are awesome! Both the girls in my mod and the girls in our "sister" mod - the other second-floor old-part girls mod.

We went puddle jumping and mud-sliding the other day with our brother mod - we ran all over Hesston just finding random puddles and splashing through them.

I got a 98 on my chemistry test and a 94 on my history test!

I need to study for zoology more, but we have an unofficial study group now!

We had hamburgers, french fries, and milkshakes for supper today!

I got ten hours of sleep the other night! (makes up for the fact that I've been averaging about 5-6)

We have Campus Worship tonight!

Is this Irony?

Does anyone but me think there's something not quite right when you live on the second floor and your lounge is flooding?

Quotable

Hesston College is like a shoe factory. They bring you in, fix your soul, and send you out in pairs.
-this is a classic quote here. Not sure who first said it. (Might I note that it is quite true-especially the last part. They are like obsessed with getting you married here. Examples include: the Walk-a-Mile and Pick-a-Date. But those are other stories for other times)

Yes, I know I have a weird personality

I'm the only person I know who can fail personality tests. You see, for College Orientation, we had to take a Keirsey personality test. You know the type, where you mark down your answers to questions, then judging by the number of times you answered "a" or "b" you fell into different categories. Well, there were 20 questions for each one: Extrovert (E) vs. Introvert (I); Sensational (S) vs. Intuititive (N); Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F); and Judging (J) vs. Perceiving (P). I was told to put X if I came out even in my 'a' or 'b' answers for categories. So while most people in the class were ESTP or INFJ or some such combination, I came out as IXTX (and for the 'T' vs. 'F' category, if I'd answered two questions differently, I would be IXXX). So the only thing that I learned from this test is that I am definitely an introvert (every single 'E' vs. 'I' question came out as 'I' for me.)

Quote of the day: In Zoology Lab
"Oh, well, why didn't you tell us that earlier? Three-eared bunnies make so much more sense!"
- Tara Taylor, on our prof's way of visualizing the five kingdoms

Mailbox envy

Why don't I ever get any letters? :(

If anyone's reading this, you could write me! :)

rANDOMNESS

Tonight was fun......first we watched "No Reservations." Then we made bread in Janell's bread machine. Then we taught ourselves to dance off of YouTube. Then we did cartwheels and roundoffs down the halls. Then we played poker. You may note that none of these are required subjects at college. :) But nobody felt like doing any real work.

I wore my unsocialized homeschooler shirt today. I got a lot of comments and questions......the same old kind:
"So you like, never leave the house, right?"
No. I'm not actually here, conversing with you, outside of my home. The image you see is the result of astral projection, which is considered a core topic of study for all homeschoolers. Sigh.

Lessons Learned at Hesston College

Always lock your bike up. Otherwise people take it, haul it up to one of Erb Hall's balconies, and throw it into a tree.

(This happened to my friend today)

Zoology Lab Reports and Faux Vanilla Baby Sessions

Blech to the first. Hooray to the second!

After chapel

Do you have any idea how entertaining it is to watch someone try to sign (for the deaf students here) the speech the academic dean is giving, when said academic dean is regularly using words such as: microcosm, magnanimous, and rhetorical?

I dreamt of fish

Just got back from a popular Hesston College hangout - Newell's truck stop in Newton. There was weird old fashioned "learn the meaning of your dreams" machine there. Anyway.......
my computer was too much for the "computer readiness center" here at the college. Actually, the problem was that someone put it on the problem table, but when I checked on it, they couldn't actually find any problem with it. So they said they'd finish it. When I went back to check it was on the problem table again. Looked at it, hooked it up - no problem. Finally the girl there told me to just take it. So if it has a problem, it sure isn't giving me any trouble. I guess this is a one-girl computer. Mostly I'm just happy to have it back.
So yeah.....college. 'Crazy' about sums it up. It's kind of a big adjustment - not the academic aspect of it so much (though that is definitely an adjustment) but the social aspect - I'm not the most social person in the world to begin with. I mean, all these people are used to seeing maybe hundreds of people for hours everyday in their high schools. The only people I'm used to seeing everyday are my family. (And I miss them.) But truly, on the whole I like it here. And I've discovered that I can cope with the "aaaah, I'm surrounded by people and there's no way to escape interacting with them" feeling by taking my bike and riding a few miles out into the country and back. That's pretty relaxing for me, though I wish it could be on a horse. (Hesston College is kind of on the edge of Hesston - though Hesston is a small enough town that kind of everything is on the edge of it, if you know what I mean - so a dirt road surrounded by fields begins only a few blocks away from the college) But I am enjoying myself, I like my classes and my roommate and I get along well.
To quote a very cool and smart person's blog which I read faithfully,
"This place feels more familiar every day, and I just don't know how I feel about that."
But.....
I know this is where I am supposed to be - that doesn't mean it will always be easy, but so far it's been right.

I'm going to bed now

Jubilation!

I got my computer back!!!!!

In the computer lab.....

I really should be studying right now. Did you know they have a Mac lab here? If I was cool enough to know how to use a Mac, I could be there fooling around instead of here. Anyway....I'm tired....and did I mention that I need to study?
Still no laptop.

So far....

life at college has been crazy. But I have met so many cool people. And I can't really blog or email people because I don't have my computer right now. (It has to be "configured for connectivity to the campus network" - whatever. It's been there 5 freaking days!) Anyway, if you haven't heard from me, that's why. I'm in the computer lab doing an assignment. More when (if?) I finally get my computer.

Deja Vu

Yesterday, Sarah and I hung out together for the last time for awhile. I went to her house, we rode horses and watched a movie. And we realized that, wow, this used to be about the sum total of our interaction with each other. Get together at each others houses, ride, watch. But then we got older, started doing other activities, expanding our circle of friends, driving, etc. It had been at least two years since we'd actually gotten together just to ride and watch movies. It seems right, though, that for our last time together before our lives change forever, we went back to what we did for so many years before.

Beta

Well, here we are in Kansas City, and here I am writing my second post for my blog. I can't promise how often I'll write or how meaningful it will be if I do....mostly I just wanted a place to write down random thoughts (that don't merit a note on Facebook) or insights that come to me. Plus this is a way for some people who live a loooong ways away to keep up with what's going on with me.
The reason we're in Kansas City is for a family vacation. We went to Worlds of Fun yesterday. It was......fun. I did not manage to beat my personal record of riding the Mamba six times (I only rode it three times this year). It needed some maintenance and the weather was not that great. Have you ever gone 75 miles an hour in the pouring rain with no windshield? My face hurt afterwards! Seriously, though, that is the best ride there. No question. Today we are going to some museums and then shopping at the book stores.
One week from now I will be leaving for college! Aaaah and Yay at the same time!

I have officially jumped on the blogging bandwagon......

Well, my first post....nothing too exciting to say right now because I don't really have time. More later!