College is so cool.

This post mostly concerns the number of really cool, great things that I get to do this weekend, all for simply attending SU.

For one, last night. You are all going to think this is so funny. I went on a library tour! And learned all about the many great things that the library has to offer. Unbeknownst to me, there is a top secret sixth floor study room that you need a key to get into it! I can't wait to check that out. It is true that while most people were embracing the meaning of "Thirsty Thursdays," I was immersing myself in the wonderful structure of the Bird Library.

This afternoon, I'm meeting with the EDITOR of Marie-Claire magazine. I can hardly believe it myself. Me and a few other students are a part of Ed2010, the magazine networking group on campus, are having brunch with her. Actual brunch with an actual editor.

And tomorrow I will be waking up bright and early to go build my very first house! Well actually tomorrow I think I'm building shacks for the Shack-a-Thon here on campus (where everyone sleeps in shacks on the Quad...yeah. I don 't get it either) but then I will be building houses. Real houses for people in need. I am just so excited.

And on Sunday I am going to go have my bubble tea (because I found this cute little restaurant that sells it) and go on a walk for Breast Cancer. I've never volunteered so much in my life - but I think it's actually fun to do community service.

I read a very interesting article the other day about "Top Ten Jobs of the Future." As you all know, since being at college I have begun to question my very carefully laid out plan that I had designed for myself. Not surprisingly, there was nothing about print journalism in the top ten jobs of the future. Gee, I wonder why. But then, I read further done and a Brain Analyst IS one of the top ten! Someone who can interpret language patterns in the brain! And they make $200,000!

I don't know. Med school, public communications. Med school, public communications. So many opportunities! So little time. Would it be crazy to triple major?

Ha - don't answer that. Even I realize that I triple major would be pushing the envelope.

DanceWorks!

So when I finished my senior year of dance, I told everyone that was it for me. When I went to college, I was sure that I wanted to try new things (things I had never gotten to do because I was always at the dance studio) and I also just wanted to focus on schoolwork.

Right well. That philosophy worked out for the first three months or so. It was nice not having to do parades or go to summer dance classes. But as soon as I got to SU, it pretty much hit me.

I can't live without dance class! My body was absolutely begging me to go do some splits and some pirouettes. I could feel it.

So, I signed up for DanceWorks, which is a performance team here. They offer every style of dance you can imagine, AND  you have to try-out. Which is good. Try-outs are good.

But I haven't danced since the beginning of June, and holy cow! I went to the workshops on Monday and Tuesday (and going again tonight!) and my legs are screaming in agony! The only time I don't feel sore is when I'm sleeping. And I had spin class this morning and that was killer on the legs too.

However, going four months without dance class made me realize. I do actually miss it. I was definitely having doubts about dance as the end of my senior year came closer. And now I see. Dance is just as much a part of me as homework is!

A Thing About College.

What they say is true: College changes your life. But it doesn't immediately change your life by way of more friends, more parties, and more freedoms, but rather, it changes the way you think about things.

Now, I'm never one to think small, so of course when I'm thinking about "things," I'm really considering my future.

I thought I knew for sure what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a journalist, and eventually an editor. Three weeks in though, I was like, "Wow. Doing PR work would be a really fun job too." And now I'm thinking, I love my linguistics class and one of the "Top Ten Jobs of the Future" is a neurolinguist. I could do neurology. I could analyze brains all day long. I could do that, I could go to med school.

Obviously, being a doctor and being an editor in public communications are two things that are totally different, as different as night and day. One is creative, fun, the other all science and hard fact. What's a girl to do? I love researching things, but I'm not big on science or math. But then I think to myself, maybe it's because I haven't been exposed to the kinds of sciences that I'm actually interested in.

I just don't know what to do. The good news is is that I've only been in college for one month and I have ages to actually decide what I want to do with my life. Who knows. I may even find a love for...I don't know. Veterinary Science or Astrophysics before I graduate. Both are pretty unlikely, but the possibilities are endless.

The moral to this blog post is, keep your mind open. You'll never find something  you love if you just stick to the planned course all the time. I can't believe I actually just typed that, but there you go - I told you at the top. College changes your life, and I can definitely see it having an effect on me.

Come to SU!

So I look outside my window today, and I see a huge group of parents and teenagers being led/herded by an Orientation Leader, and I think to myself, "Self, that can only mean one thing..."

Today is a SU Open House!

Open Houses are really weird to experience when you're on the other side of things. I can't believe that just last year, I was in all of these kid's position - going on multiple college tours and trying to find the right one for me.

I like to look at their faces. I am absolutely sure that that is how my face looked when I went on the tour here: awe-struck. I was definitely intimidated the first time I came to SU. I didn't even think that I wanted to go here. (obviously that changed after my second visit.)

But they just throw so much information at you! And you look around at all of the college kids and you're like, "How could I ever fit in here? With all of these older kids??"

Every college tour  you go on though, gets a little bit better. You start to learn what questions to ask. You know that the college kids walking around campus won't eat you. You realize that yes, you can actually survive in a college environment.

I didn't even go on multiple college tours. I went to one here in October, one at Hofstra in February, and then I returned to SU in April. It was that April visit that I just knew.

It sounds cliche, but you really do know it when it hits you. All of a sudden, you have this epiphany. You can see yourself walking around. Going to classes. Sitting out on the Quad. It all comes together in that one magical moment and then you sign the paper and pay the alarmingly expensive deposit and your new life is just months away from beginning.

They should tell you that kind of thing on these college tours. Then maybe these poor kids wouldn't look so nervous!

Big week coming up.

I am personally of the opinion that I'm much more at ease at college than I ever was in high school. Like last night, I was okay with not doing my homework and leaving it instead, for today (okay...it wasn't really homework...it was the assignment for next weeks class. But that's besides the point!)

And now, withe three EXAMS. Not just tests, exams, coming up next week. I regret to tell you all that I have quickly reverted into my old self and am now in super-study Katelyn mode.

It's just really important to me that I do well on these exams. They are worth an astounding percentage of my final grade, and I don't think it paints me in a very positive light if I don't get a one hundred.

So I have devised a very clever study schedule that looks a lot like my tenth grade Regents study schedule. All color coded and what not.

Linguistics is the exam on Monday. It shouldn't be too bad because I really like the subject, so I read the book all the time. But still. You never know. That's the exam I'm studying for for today. And I have a review session to go to tomorrow. And I also made flash cards.

Calculus is Tuesday. Blah. Bound to be hard and challenging, and math and I have never exactly gotten along too well. The only positive side to this exam is that this Calculus class is basically the course I took last year. So it's almost like review, except with a challenging college twist.

And they have absolutely saved the best for last, because on Wednesday it's my Communications and Society exam. Taught by the Dean, this class is always hard. It's my least favorite one, mostly because I find the material to be kind of dull and the chapters in the textbook to be really long. Anyways, I could probably study for the rest of my life for this test and still think it's hard. And something tells me that Dean Branham does not make easy test questions.

So will all of these big exams coming up, don't be alarmed if a) I post  to this blog sparingly or b) the posts for this blog are so frantic that you're concerned for my mental health.

(Mom, if option "b" is the case, please pick up the phone and call your daughter.)

Be good, build houses.

"Be good, build houses." The slogan for the Habitat for Humanity chapter here at SU.

For those of you who don't know, Habitat for Humanity is the organization that builds houses for families that are underprivileged or don't have the means to make ends meet.

Every Saturday there is a build in the city of Syracuse on the West Side...a scary neighborhood, to say the least. We go and actually build a house. I asked if there was any experience necessary and they assured me that there was not. That's good, because I have had zero interaction with any sort of power tool. Ever.

I'm really excited about Habitat for Humanity, because it is something that I have always wanted to do. I didn't actually realize that it was something I was interested in until I got here and read the flyer for it. But I guess that's what college is for! Broadening horizons and such.

I think it'll be a great way to do something for someone besides myself. Not that I'm selfish or anything. I just tend to get caught up in "me" stuff (i.e. homework, trying to be the best, more homework). Anyways, the first build is the second week in October! Yay for Habitat.

Oh Sweet Sunday.

By far my favorite day at college is Sunday.

There is just something about it. Everything is...quiet. The only negative to Sunday's is. That nobody wakes up until like eleven, so I'm alone for a good three hours before I'm joined by the rest of civilization. But that is a small price to pay.

On Sunday's, the dining hall serves breakfast all day long, to accommodate for the late night partiers and the late risers. Everyone walks around in their pajamas. Most people watch movies all day and just hang out in the lounge, with the doors to all of the dorm rooms propped open.

It all creates a very nice sense of togetherness, to put it in a totally cheesy cliche kind of way.

I like it because there is nothing scheduled for Sundays. No events, or games, or parties, or classes. Nobody has to worry about anything (which is a nice break for me). Then Monday comes, and its' back to a whole week of school, school, school.

...Which obviously isn't a bad thing.

...But I'm just saying. I savor my Sundays.