GOODBYE! =)

Wow! This semester has gone by so fast! It’s hard to believe this is the last blog I have to write for this class. It seriously does not seem like it should be the end yet. The past few weeks have absolutely flown by, and I’m sure the next few weeks will do the same! Well anyways, as my first experience with a blog, it was not as horrible as I thought it would be. Now don’t get me wrong, I will probably never ever write a blog just for fun, but that’s just my opinion. I am not really the kind of person that likes to write about personal things, but if that is your cup of tea, I would definitely recommend doing a blog. I honestly don’t think I learned a whole lot from writing this blog, but I guess it was beneficial to have some weekly writing just to keep my brain on the subject of writing. I usually had a hard time when I had to write a “free blog”. It is so much easier for me to write a blog when the topic was already chosen for me. For instance, when we had to write about Inauguration Day, I was dreading it at first. I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to write 350 to 400 words about it, but it ended up being so much easier than I thought it would be. In fact, I even had to cut it down a little bit, because I had too many words. Usually once I get started, it is not very difficult to keep writing long enough to meet the word requirement. To me, the hard part is always getting started. I usually sit at my computer and stare at it for a few minutes until I decide that I have to get it done, because I do not like to wait until the last minute to do these things because I am always afraid I will get busy doing something else and forget to write my blog. Well, it’s been a different kind of experience for me writing this blog and honestly, I’m pretty glad it’s done! =)

If some friends from out of town came to visit the town of Bloomington/Normal for a weekend and I could not show them around I’m not quite sure what I would suggest for them. Since I do not have my car on campus with me during the school year, I rely on public transportation or a ride from somebody else, so I do not journey very far from the ISU campus very often. One thing I would tell them to go visit is the Funny Bone comedy club. I have been a few times and it was really fun when I went. It is only five dollars for admission for students and most of the shows are about two hours long. On most weekends I just either hang out in my dorm with the people on my floor or go to somebody’s house and hang out for the night, so I don’t have a lot of other suggestions. For the other days of the weekend, I would probably suggest getting train tickets to Chicago. If you order them far enough in advance, you can get pretty cheap prices for a round trip ticket. When my friends got to Chicago, I would recommend going to see a show. I saw Jersey Boys in December, and I loved it. I would also recommend going shopping. There are a lot of stores there that I like but do not have near my hometown, so when I go to Chicago I always try to shop at those places for a little change. There are lots of fun little gift shops along the streets of the city full of cute things just to look at, not necessarily purchase. There’s also Millennium Park and Shedd Aquarium to visit if my friends did not want to spend a lot of money. Another place to visit is Navy Pier. Depending on the time of the year, I’m pretty sure there’s always something fun going on there. There’s also many different kinds of tours that you can take around the city, which I’m sure are pretty interesting and a good way to give your feet a break from all the walking.

Change...

I can’t believe that there are only 5 weeks left of classes! This year has gone by so fast. It is so weird to think back to the beginning of the fall semester and remember all the changes and adjustments that happened in order for me to become acquainted with the new concept of college. It seems like just last week that I was moving all of my belongings into my tiny little dorm room. I feel as though I have grown up so much since the beginning of the year. I have learned so much about myself since I’ve been here on my own. At first I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make it without my family around me all the time. My parents were never ones to do everything for me. At home, I have many responsibilities and have never been spoiled, but my parents have always been there whenever I needed anything. I have come so far since those first few weeks. I have become much more responsible for myself and my actions. I am always on top of my school work, and I rarely ever get behind and have to stay up super late the night before a test or the day a big assignment is due. I never really had that problem in high school either, but toward the end of my senior year I started to get a little lazier about my assignments. I am happy that I did not continue my lazy ways of senior year of high school into my freshman year of college. Another part of my life that has changed since the beginning of the year is friendships. Since the beginning of this semester, I have gained some new relationships and a few old relationships have weakened a little bit. It’s crazy how much has changed in only about 6 months. I am still friends with all the same people I was friends with at the beginning, but it seems that we don’t spend nearly as much time together as we used to. That makes me a little nervous for next year, because who knows who I will be close to next year since it has changed so much since just the beginning of this year.

ISU vs Bradley

At the end of January, I attended the Illinois State University vs. Bradley University basketball game. Before I even went, I knew it was going to be an intense game, since Bradley and ISU are big rivals. The Monday before the game, three of my friends went and sat at the ticket office from 5:30 until 10:00, the time when tickets were available, to get tickets for a few of my friends and me. So, since they waited for so long to get the tickets, we all got really good seats. On Saturday, the day of the game, my roommate and two of our friends put on our matching “Buck Fradley” tee shirts and headed over to the arena. The place was absolutely packed. There were very few empty seats in the arena, because there were so many people coming to support both teams. Also, since both Bradley’s and ISU’s school colors are red and white, there was a sea of red tee shirts in the crowd. That kind of stunk, because it was hard to tell who was cheering for whom. The game was a really close one. The two scores were within about five points of each other for the majority of the game. Since the game was so close, the fans were going crazy yelling chants and waving signs the whole time. As the score went back and forth, the crowd seemed to get louder and louder. It was funny to look around and read some of the signs. One kid I know actually got removed from the game because of some signs he was holding up. Luckily, he talked to some official people, and they let him go back into the game. All the students sitting in the section we were in started cheering as he ran back down the aisle to his seat. It was quite a sight! Fortunately, after the intense game, the ISU Redbirds finished out ahead of their rivals, the Bradley Braves. At the end of the game, there was such an adrenalin rush; you could feel the energy coming from the court as the Redbirds took a victory photograph and fans rushed to the court.

Spring =)

I absolutely love the warm weather that we have had this week! Though, as much as I love it, it makes me not want to focus in classes and do my homework, which is definitely not a good thing. It is so nice to walk on the quad and see all the people throwing a baseball or football around, playing Frisbee, or even just sitting in the grass enjoying the sun. Right now, I have spring fever really bad! Most days, all I want is for summer to be here and school to be out. I know eventually I will regret wanting college to go by so fast, because I am sure that once it’s gone I’ll want to go back. I never really appreciated the warm weather this much until I came to school. It is so much nicer to walk to classes when it is not 30 degrees outside. I always feel so much happier when it’s warm and sunny out, and I can tell other people feel the same. Some days after our classes are done for the day, my roommate and I take a walk to enjoy the fresh air. I always like taking walks because it means I can be outside and get a little bit of exercise at the same time. As much as I like to just lie around and do nothing, I like to get some exercise too. It makes me feel more productive for the day, because I hate feeling unproductive. I do not understand how some people can be okay with doing nothing some days. Before I go to bed every night, I always make sure I have done at least something productive for the day whether it be running an errand or finishing a homework assignment, because I feel like I have wasted an entire day if I have not done anything worthwhile all day. Sometimes it is hard to be productive, because a lot of the people I tend to hang out with during the week don’t really care about getting their stuff done. So, sometimes I would rather hang out with them and do what they are doing than do what I know I should be doing.

What I Would do With a Bunch of Money!

If I was given the money it costs for four years of ISU tuition in cash that would be a pretty sweet deal. Hopefully I would have a decent job because if I can’t spend the money on education, I am going to need an income so that I do not have to mooch off of my parents the rest of my life. But as for the money, the first thing I would probably do is go to my closet and give away all of my clothes and shoes. Then I would go buy a whole new wardrobe. I wouldn’t go really crazy with the spending so that I could do other cool stuff too. The next thing I would probably do is invest part of what is left. I don’t know if I would invest it in stocks or just find a savings account or CD rate that is high enough for me to make a little bit of money from it. Then, I would travel. I have never been out of the country or even the continental United States, and I would really love to go out of the country sometime. The first place I would go is probably Australia. Australia seems like it would be so much fun to visit. The warm weather, men with sexy accents, kangaroos, where else on Earth could be better? Next, I would go to Hawaii. I have wanted to go to Hawaii for a few years now. I would love to spend a week or so just laying on the beach, going to luaus, learning the hula, and enjoying the ocean. Last, I would go to New York City. I visited there last March, and I absolutely fell in love with the city. I would never want to live there, but I want to go back to visit again so bad! On this trip, I would probably take my mom along with me. I would love to go for a leisurely week, not caring about the hustle and bustle of the streets of NYC and just sit in different coffee shops and people watch for hours. Then at night, we would go to Broadway shows. I love to go to musicals and I would want to see as many as I could.

3 Rules for College Freshmen

Rule #1: Go to the Library
When you have a lot of homework to do or a test or quiz that you need to study on, the library is a really good place to be. It is so much easier to focus on what you are trying to do when you do not have the TV on or other distractions. The library is a good change of scenery that is sometimes necessary in order to do a thorough job on an assignment. Personally, I like the library because there are less distractions and it is usually a lot quieter than working in my room.
Rule #2: Make Friends with the People on Your Floor
Making friends with the people surrounding you is a good idea for many reasons. While you are still taking mostly general classes, there is usually at least one person on your floor that is taking that class too. This helps when you have a question about an assignment or need a study partner. Also, having friends around you means that you usually have somebody to go eat with, work out with, or just hang out with. Not to mention, having a lot of different friends is always a good thing to have.
Rule #3: Stay Healthy
Sharing such close quarters with another person the majority of your time means you share a lot of things, including germs and illnesses. Even though it is easy to eat pizza and cheese burgers in the dining hall every day, I think it is important to try to eat healthy at least once a day. I personally feel better when I eat food that I know is healthy for me. Also, working out at least a few times a week helps me feel better, too. When I work out, I feel more energized afterwards. I tend to be much more productive on the days that I work out than the days I do not work out. And obviously, being productive is very essential in college since there is not anybody constantly making sure you have all of your assignments done for the day.