I am so happy to have a brand new start this semester. Spring Semester is always my favorite; it brings hope to new beginnings. This semester I am looking forward to being focus, devoting quality time to my studies, and preparing myself for the next step in my future.

Last semester I realized the mistakes I made. I was overloaded, and I needed to balance myself. Being in college sometimes you could get caught up in a world that is so different than the world you should actually be living in. I am laughing at what I just wrote, but it’s true it makes perfect sense! Being a college student you could get so caught up its ridiculous! Don’t get me wrong college offers a world of opportunities. There is so much to explore in this world, so much is at the door step. For me, I sometimes like to embrace it and try it all; and that can become a problem. As I am writing this I am thinking how could I not? Sometimes people say to me, “Just do what you love.” You know what my response is to that? How do you do what you love unless you search for it and do it all! However I did learn that sometimes doing it all, or doing too much is not always healthy. This semester, I am actually taking the opportunity to not exactly do what I love, but more than likely doing the things that are effective to my life, and the things that allows me to balance a world that is not so chaotic. However, I do recommend doing it all until you find it all, at least even once ;-).

I would like to use this semester to find my balance, remain focus, and embark upon new and wonderful experiences. So far everything has started off wonderful for the new semester! I’m satisfied with my classes, and I did not have to spend a lot of money on my textbooks. My first day of classes was liberating, I felt so relief that I didn’t have to worry about 7-8 classes (buying books for all of them), 22 credits, and three jobs. Yes unfortunately this was my life, and not to mention my other engagements and priorities. This semester I am taking only 15 credits, with two jobs, both which I enjoy. This is the second time that I will return to taking lesser credits since my second semester freshmen year. I am definitely going to enjoy relaxing and enjoying free time on my hands, and attending some campus events, and doing some volunteering.

The Spring Semester is finally here! The month away went by really fast, and I desperately needed it, but it’s time to hit the books once again. The other day, I didn’t feel like I was ready to come back yet. I was really enjoying my vacation to the fullest. However, now that I am back, I am really happy to be here and am confident that this semester is going to be great.

This semester, I am taking Math, which at first I was really anxious about. I have never been a very good math student. I have difficulty understanding certain aspects of it. I remember back in high school when my class was doing proofs, and no matter how many times my teacher tried explaining it to me, I simply couldn’t understand it, and I still don’t understand it. However, I think that this semester of math isn’t going to be all that bad. I know the semester just started, but I already have a full understanding of what we are doing, and I find it to be very easy. The professor said that a majority of what we do in class will not be difficult; it will just be time-consuming, and we will need to show our work for everything. Well, I don’t like the term “time-consuming” any more than the next college student, but I would rather spend a lot of time on something that I understand than receive poor grades because I don’t understand the material.

None of my other classes seem like they are going to be too strenuous either. Like I said, I am really looking forward to this semester.

I was completely exhausted after my last first day of classes!  I had four classes in a row yesterday and came home and just passed out.  I can’t really complain though because I don’t have classes Monday, Wednesday or Friday. 🙂  That makes me happy!  I took my PR Capstone last semester and now have no communications courses this semester.  It’s so weird not taking something for my major. I feel like I’m out of place!

I can’t believe that this is my last semester.  Four years in one place is a long time.  I feel like I was just starting to get used to the city of Oswego and now I am about to leave.  It’s sad but exciting to see where my life actually takes me.

EVERYONE has been asking me “What are you going to do when you graduate?” and I have no response for that.  I have changed my mind literally 20 times in the last 5 months about what to do.  I think I have it all figured out then I just don’t know!  My mom calls me a “parent’s worst nightmare” because I don’t know! haha!

Winter break was uneventful for me, though it was nice to go home.  The holidays were nice!  I’ve got some book recommendations for you!  “Shelter Me” by Juliette Fay and “Love, Rosie” by Cecelia Ahern.  I read them over break and couldn’t put them down!  I also saw Bride Wars and the movies over break and it was okay.

A lot of you probably remember my blog only a few months ago regarding my trip to Pennsylvania to campaign for Barack Obama. Two days ago, as you all know, President-elect Obama was inaugurated as the forty-forth president of the United States, and the most of what I could feel was the same pride and joy as I felt the week that I campaigned for him, and the fateful Tuesday evening when he was elected.

The main aspect of this election and now this presidency that I find groundbreaking is the refreshed sense of pride. There are so many who seem to once again be proud to be an American, and this energy seems to be so fresh. I unfortunately did not have the opportunity to attend Obama’s Inauguration on Tuesday, but I did watch quite a bit of it on TV, and even from merely watching it on TV I could feel the high-spirited energy that radiated the streets.

It was said during the airing of the Inauguration that many of the individuals who attended the Inauguration, and even those who saw it on TV, for that matter, are so proud, because they are making history, and I found this to be a good point. Someday, those of us who were a part of this somehow are going to have a few stories for our children and for our grandchidren, because this right now, the present that we are living in, is groundbreaking history, and we made it. Yes, we did!

I feel confident that Obama is going to change America for the better and that he’s going to bring the change that we need. I am really looking forward to the next four (possibly eight) years of being an American and for once being able to confidently and wholeheartedly say that I am proud to be one.

After 36 hours of driving, including a 12 hour stop in NC for New Years, I’m officially back in Oswego.  Well I have been back on campus since the 2nd for hockey but, regardless, I now have internet access and a computer that doesn’t catch on fire when you turn it on.  Christmas in Dallas was fantastic!  It was just me and my Dad this year.  Of course watching the 24 hour A Christmas Story special on TBS was in the itinerary…can’t break tradition!  But besides Red Rider BB guns and a blockbuster movie marathon we just relaxed, turned on the fireplace, and caught up on life.

I made the drive to NC just in time to see my little brother Scott on New Years Eve and before he headed back to Colorado.  He turned 20 this September…time flies.

So I’m back.  Australia was the experience of a lifetime and while I’ve learned a lot about myself over the last 6 months (well last few years because I have been on the go for a while now) I have to admit there is a huge difference between unpacking bags and unpacking boxes and I am definitely looking forward to the latter at the moment…

Christmas was a lot of fun this year!  I love receiving gifts, of course, but my favorite part is finding the perfect gift for someone else.  I got my neices and nephew books that were all my favorite when I was each of their ages like Amelia Bedelia books and If You Give a Moose a Muffin.  My oldest neice is 8 years old and she loves to cook so I got her a kid’s cookbook that she loves!

In between all of the Christmas festivites I have been helping my parents pack.  They sold their house and are building a new one that is supposed to be done by February 2.  The weather hasn’t been cooperating with the construction at all though.  I’m anxious to see what their new house looks like but let me tell you, I really don’t like packing! 

My only other plans for break, besides relaxing , are to work on my grad school application.  I have been going back and forth, unable to decide what to do after graduation in May but I think I have decided to apply to Canisius College in Buffalo.  We’ll see how it goes!

Have a good break everyone!

I actually read this book over Thanksgiving break and stayed up untl 6 a.m. reading it, because I couldn’t put it down. It’s honestly just that good. Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist is one of the best books I have read in a while. I haven’t read anything even close to this good since M.T. Anderson’s Feed, which was quite awhile ago.

I felt like I could relate to it on so many levels, but at the same time, coming from a masculine perspective, it was oddly blissful to me, because I saw in Norah the emodiment of what every guy wants in a girl. It’s true that I don’t like girls who enjoy playing games with guys, but Norah has genuine feeiings for Nick, and even though she does “play games” with him, we learn through the parts written through her perspective that it’s because she’s afraid, and fear is something that I think we can all understand when it comes to love.

However, back to my claim that I could relate to it, I felt that in so many ways, I am Nick, and Nick is me. I felt connected to the story, and it’s rare that I ever feel so strongly about a piece of literature. I saw the film starring Kat Dennings and Michael Cera first, and I’d quickly be the first (although I’m sure I’m not) to advise against thinking that you can skip right to the film and get the same experience from it, because you will not. I wasn’t crazy over the movie. I mean, I didn’t hate it, but it wasn’t anything special, and yet, I think I’ve done quite enough here to prove that the book was indeed very special to me. The book and the movie are two different stories and two different worlds, and I strongly suggest visiting both.

Five days of classes left! Woo hoo!! Good luck on finals!