first semester ramblings...
Ahhh, I have returned to reality after the craziness of Rocky...I don't know what to do with all this free time!! It's weird, I tried out for Rocky just 3 weeks after moving into college, so I really haven't experienced the normal college schedule that much. I have re-incorporated a mid-afternoon power nap into my schedule, as well as a whole lot more hanging out with my friends. Hell week of Rocky was rough, it included a whole lot of 3a.m. nights and my first few coffees...whew!! But, I made it, and Rocky weekend was really a blast. The first show was like WHOA cuz the high energy was just such a shock...not an unexpected shock, but there's no way you can really prepare for that adrenaline rush, you know? 7:00 Saturday was an hour and a half of absolute torture...I was really just not comfortable performing that show in front of my parents and aunts, and I feel like it affected my performance so much...sigh. But 11:00 on Saturday night was INCREDIBLE!!! The crowd was just unbelieveable, it was completely packed, and SO many people were dressed up and knew all the shout outs...it was really amazing. The show was crazy high energy, and all my friends were in the audience to dance with and it was just a blast. I loved all my friends for coming...Friday night, O'Neil, Cibbo, and DAN FARRELL came!! That was a big surprise and I was QUITE excited! Also, Jenny, Melissa and Lea came, as well as bunches of BU kids. My family came Saturday at 7, and then tonssss of people came to the late show...Matty, Marcello, Jenny, Melissa, Ashley, Caroline, Jackie, Laura, Sam, Ryan, Scott, and a bunch of others. I was really happy they all came, I felt all special. :)
So here we are at the end of the semester...whoa! I have about a bajillion thoughts about that...I don't think I could've asked for a better first semester, honestly. No, not everything was perfect, but overall, it's been wonderful. I'm so torn about Christmas break...I miss all my friends from home and my FAMILY ahhhh tons, but I will also miss so many things about BU. First of all, my friends I will miss like crazy. Second, I will just miss all the things we do here. There's ALWAYS something to do, there's always someplace that's open...it's never boring. There are a million on campus events and sports events and shows to see and things to do, not to mention the endless possibilities of things to do in Boston. Even just hanging out is not the hassle it is at home...you don't have to borrow Mom's car, you just walk across the hall, or take the T. You don't have to worry about how you're getting home after a night out, you don't have to worry about curfews...everything is a lot more simplified. But I really miss my family like crazy. I realize when I'm here how lucky I am to have my family...I adore my family. Not just my mom and sister and Nana, but the whoooole extended family. I called Max the other day to wish him happy fifth birthday, and he's just becoming this awesome little person...it's amazing. Suddenly him and Jake have all these opinions and ideas and ask all these questions. I love listening to their stories...lately they've started watching the news, and let me tell you, they form some hilarious opinions about that. Max thinks Arafat "is cute!!" and Jake says he looks like "he needs a shower." Heehee.
Ooo, speaking of children. I just cannot quit my job. True, it's overly stressful for a minimum wage-paying work study job, and I'm not nuts about the hours...but I am in love with those kids. Kids amaze me, they really do. One kid asked me the other day, "how old will I be in forever?" They question EVERYTHING, and while that can get frustrating at times ("but WHY do I have to wear shoes outside?" "WHY do I have my diaper changed?"), sometimes their questions just stop you in your tracks and think...wow. Watching some of the little ones learn English amazes me as well...watching them pick up certain words, and watching two kids who don't speak the same language learn to interact together anyways...I love it. I love those kids...
I love it here, I really do. Even when it's cold out, I love my walk to class. It's almost 2 miles, but it just starts my day off so well. I collect my thoughts and I just wake up as I'm walking, eating a pop tart and listening to country music on my headphones. Sure, it's not quite so fabulous in the rain, and will be even less fabulous next semester when the walk is an hour earlier, half a mile longer, and it's snowing, but it's not so bad. I love being in Boston, I love looking at the Prudential building, either on the other end of Comm Ave as I'm walking toward it to class, or watching the sun rise over it out my window in the morning.
And was there ever really a better year than this to move to Boston? The Red Sox playoffs were INCREDIBLE. INCREDIBLE!! From going to see 2 games in September, one with my mom for my birthday and another with $10 BU seats with Ali (her first Sox game!!), to making so many new friends on my floor (and on Dominique's floor!) during the playoffs, to wearing my Sox hat every. single. day., to SPRINTING down to Kenmore after finally defeating the Yankees and just taking in all the craziness at Kenmore, watching Sleeper Hall literally empty out behind us as everyone headed down there, to collecting every single newspaper from the first game with the Yankees until the day after the victory parade (yay for free newspapers at college), to being so completely shocked at saddened when we heard a student was killed, to being the first people to arrive at Nickerson Field to watch the game on the Jumbotron, eating free hotdogs, popcorn, and cotton candy while watching the game, tearing up during the national anthem, crying during the video montage set to "100 Years", going INSANE when we won, the victory parade, brief and freezing cold as it was...I will never forget those few weeks. I'm so glad I was in Boston for all of that.
Sigh. I can't explain how lucky I feel to be here, and how content I am with the way everything is going. I feel like I'm really learning...I know that sounds geeky, but I really love it. I'm learning about things that really excite me, with other people who are excited by the same things. I will genuinely miss some of my classes during break. I get such satisfaction from learning here that I never really got in high school. I'm reading!! I was a Spark Notes kid in high school, and I can't tell you how much I regret that now. The Odyssey...what a great book!! I honestly enjoyed it, and don't want to sell it back to B&N when the semester is over. Gilgamesh? A lot more interesting than the Gilgamesh summaries I read in high school. I feel really challenged here, too. I've been thinking a lot about how different it all is from high school, and I really think I would have done even better in high school if I had found it more challenging. Not trying to make excuses for myself, I didn't do BADLY in high school, at all, but consider this: I worked my ass of in 10th grade honors math. I had a tutor, I went for extra help, I read the chapters, I did all my homework, I busted my butt for a B-. Junior and senior year, I dropped down to the college level, and suddenly, teachers didn't expect as much from me. I slacked off, I slept through class, I didn't do homework, and I CERTAINLY didn't bother reading the chapters. And I didn't do that fabulously, either!! I mean, B+'s and A-'s aren't bad, but I could have easily aced Mrs. Romans class, and I didn't. I got lazy because it wasn't as hard, and then because I slacked off so much, suddenly it SEEMED a lot harder than it was. Does that make sense? Here...everything is a lot more work. I am more proud of the 70 I got on my last biology test than you can possibly imagine, because I put everything I had into it. I have worked harder in that class than in any other class of my life, and you know what? I will probably still have a C- for the semester, C+ if I'm lucky. But I won't care, because I did the best I possibly could, and I DO feel like I'm learning. Now that I'm at college, the whole "it's not the grades that matter, it's what you've learned" thing makes sense for the first time. Sure, grades matter (lots, when it comes to financial aid). But I feel like I am learning $40 thousand a year's worth, and that's what really matters.
This is all very rambly and probably boring, but that's ok. This is all just a place to write whatever I want, to vent or ramble or complain or say everything I've done in the past month. I don't care if anyone reads it, there's nothing seriously personal here, and now I just want my thoughts in here for me to look back on later. And I have lots of thoughts tonight, as you can see. :) I probably won't get a chance to write any more between now and finals...ooo, finals. Lots of studying to do next week. Rocky cast party this weekend, should be fun. I made some awesome friends in that show...and it feels so comforing too, because they're basically people I will know until I graduate, thanks to On Broadway. It's crazy to be thinking about next semester and even next year already...ahhh. These four years are going to fly by, and there's soooo much to do. I know I say it over and over, but I feel like there are just SO many things to do here, and I want to try it all. Besides classes themselves (there are SO many I'm interested in!!) there's studying abroad (which I've got narrowed down to about hmm 5 countries now? haha), intramural sports (which I really really really want to try next semester), a million clubs (I really want to start an Irish Club by the time I leave here, there's every other ethnicity EXCEPT Irish, how is this possible??), so many shows and groups that I'm interested in auditioning for, and not to mention everything else around Boston...we have free or discounted admission to SO MANY PLACES, and I really want to start taking advantage of it. Jackie and I might go to the MFA sometime next week, and I am of course dying to get to the aquarium. Next semester, while it will be crazy work-wise, should have more time for stuff like that now that I'm all settled in and everything.
In short? Winter break will be great, it'll be nice to be home for a long enough stretch that I can unpack and get settled and catch up with everyone at a less frenzied pace than Thanksgiving. Most of all, it'll be a nice break from all the work...which will get me all rejuvenated for 2nd semester, which I am looking forward to even more!!
Good luck with finals everyone!! :)
So here we are at the end of the semester...whoa! I have about a bajillion thoughts about that...I don't think I could've asked for a better first semester, honestly. No, not everything was perfect, but overall, it's been wonderful. I'm so torn about Christmas break...I miss all my friends from home and my FAMILY ahhhh tons, but I will also miss so many things about BU. First of all, my friends I will miss like crazy. Second, I will just miss all the things we do here. There's ALWAYS something to do, there's always someplace that's open...it's never boring. There are a million on campus events and sports events and shows to see and things to do, not to mention the endless possibilities of things to do in Boston. Even just hanging out is not the hassle it is at home...you don't have to borrow Mom's car, you just walk across the hall, or take the T. You don't have to worry about how you're getting home after a night out, you don't have to worry about curfews...everything is a lot more simplified. But I really miss my family like crazy. I realize when I'm here how lucky I am to have my family...I adore my family. Not just my mom and sister and Nana, but the whoooole extended family. I called Max the other day to wish him happy fifth birthday, and he's just becoming this awesome little person...it's amazing. Suddenly him and Jake have all these opinions and ideas and ask all these questions. I love listening to their stories...lately they've started watching the news, and let me tell you, they form some hilarious opinions about that. Max thinks Arafat "is cute!!" and Jake says he looks like "he needs a shower." Heehee.
Ooo, speaking of children. I just cannot quit my job. True, it's overly stressful for a minimum wage-paying work study job, and I'm not nuts about the hours...but I am in love with those kids. Kids amaze me, they really do. One kid asked me the other day, "how old will I be in forever?" They question EVERYTHING, and while that can get frustrating at times ("but WHY do I have to wear shoes outside?" "WHY do I have my diaper changed?"), sometimes their questions just stop you in your tracks and think...wow. Watching some of the little ones learn English amazes me as well...watching them pick up certain words, and watching two kids who don't speak the same language learn to interact together anyways...I love it. I love those kids...
I love it here, I really do. Even when it's cold out, I love my walk to class. It's almost 2 miles, but it just starts my day off so well. I collect my thoughts and I just wake up as I'm walking, eating a pop tart and listening to country music on my headphones. Sure, it's not quite so fabulous in the rain, and will be even less fabulous next semester when the walk is an hour earlier, half a mile longer, and it's snowing, but it's not so bad. I love being in Boston, I love looking at the Prudential building, either on the other end of Comm Ave as I'm walking toward it to class, or watching the sun rise over it out my window in the morning.
And was there ever really a better year than this to move to Boston? The Red Sox playoffs were INCREDIBLE. INCREDIBLE!! From going to see 2 games in September, one with my mom for my birthday and another with $10 BU seats with Ali (her first Sox game!!), to making so many new friends on my floor (and on Dominique's floor!) during the playoffs, to wearing my Sox hat every. single. day., to SPRINTING down to Kenmore after finally defeating the Yankees and just taking in all the craziness at Kenmore, watching Sleeper Hall literally empty out behind us as everyone headed down there, to collecting every single newspaper from the first game with the Yankees until the day after the victory parade (yay for free newspapers at college), to being so completely shocked at saddened when we heard a student was killed, to being the first people to arrive at Nickerson Field to watch the game on the Jumbotron, eating free hotdogs, popcorn, and cotton candy while watching the game, tearing up during the national anthem, crying during the video montage set to "100 Years", going INSANE when we won, the victory parade, brief and freezing cold as it was...I will never forget those few weeks. I'm so glad I was in Boston for all of that.
Sigh. I can't explain how lucky I feel to be here, and how content I am with the way everything is going. I feel like I'm really learning...I know that sounds geeky, but I really love it. I'm learning about things that really excite me, with other people who are excited by the same things. I will genuinely miss some of my classes during break. I get such satisfaction from learning here that I never really got in high school. I'm reading!! I was a Spark Notes kid in high school, and I can't tell you how much I regret that now. The Odyssey...what a great book!! I honestly enjoyed it, and don't want to sell it back to B&N when the semester is over. Gilgamesh? A lot more interesting than the Gilgamesh summaries I read in high school. I feel really challenged here, too. I've been thinking a lot about how different it all is from high school, and I really think I would have done even better in high school if I had found it more challenging. Not trying to make excuses for myself, I didn't do BADLY in high school, at all, but consider this: I worked my ass of in 10th grade honors math. I had a tutor, I went for extra help, I read the chapters, I did all my homework, I busted my butt for a B-. Junior and senior year, I dropped down to the college level, and suddenly, teachers didn't expect as much from me. I slacked off, I slept through class, I didn't do homework, and I CERTAINLY didn't bother reading the chapters. And I didn't do that fabulously, either!! I mean, B+'s and A-'s aren't bad, but I could have easily aced Mrs. Romans class, and I didn't. I got lazy because it wasn't as hard, and then because I slacked off so much, suddenly it SEEMED a lot harder than it was. Does that make sense? Here...everything is a lot more work. I am more proud of the 70 I got on my last biology test than you can possibly imagine, because I put everything I had into it. I have worked harder in that class than in any other class of my life, and you know what? I will probably still have a C- for the semester, C+ if I'm lucky. But I won't care, because I did the best I possibly could, and I DO feel like I'm learning. Now that I'm at college, the whole "it's not the grades that matter, it's what you've learned" thing makes sense for the first time. Sure, grades matter (lots, when it comes to financial aid). But I feel like I am learning $40 thousand a year's worth, and that's what really matters.
This is all very rambly and probably boring, but that's ok. This is all just a place to write whatever I want, to vent or ramble or complain or say everything I've done in the past month. I don't care if anyone reads it, there's nothing seriously personal here, and now I just want my thoughts in here for me to look back on later. And I have lots of thoughts tonight, as you can see. :) I probably won't get a chance to write any more between now and finals...ooo, finals. Lots of studying to do next week. Rocky cast party this weekend, should be fun. I made some awesome friends in that show...and it feels so comforing too, because they're basically people I will know until I graduate, thanks to On Broadway. It's crazy to be thinking about next semester and even next year already...ahhh. These four years are going to fly by, and there's soooo much to do. I know I say it over and over, but I feel like there are just SO many things to do here, and I want to try it all. Besides classes themselves (there are SO many I'm interested in!!) there's studying abroad (which I've got narrowed down to about hmm 5 countries now? haha), intramural sports (which I really really really want to try next semester), a million clubs (I really want to start an Irish Club by the time I leave here, there's every other ethnicity EXCEPT Irish, how is this possible??), so many shows and groups that I'm interested in auditioning for, and not to mention everything else around Boston...we have free or discounted admission to SO MANY PLACES, and I really want to start taking advantage of it. Jackie and I might go to the MFA sometime next week, and I am of course dying to get to the aquarium. Next semester, while it will be crazy work-wise, should have more time for stuff like that now that I'm all settled in and everything.
In short? Winter break will be great, it'll be nice to be home for a long enough stretch that I can unpack and get settled and catch up with everyone at a less frenzied pace than Thanksgiving. Most of all, it'll be a nice break from all the work...which will get me all rejuvenated for 2nd semester, which I am looking forward to even more!!
Good luck with finals everyone!! :)