The College Update

OK. It only took me a week to get to this so I'll be brief/detailed/organized/everywhere. Thursday we flew out at 6:30AM on Allegiant. Lo and behold, three hours later, I'm introduced to Jessica, a returning student to Evangel, who was sitting just behind me. She's rooming with Randall, a fantastic basketball player from a rival high school. We exchange numbers and part ways.

We get to the hotel my dad booked and are disappointed to learn that the owner is not so friendly. And there's bugs EVERYWHERE (ok, not really, but there were six flies and one creeper mantis thing just chillin' above my head). We move rooms and the bugs are less but still around.

Bright side, that owner is the exception to the general congeniality here. EVERYONE is nice. It's insane. Such a dramatic change of pace. For example, we went to WalMart to buy crap for my room (like a mini-fridge) and my dad asks the cashier how she's doing. She replies that she's doing great, where my dad says, "You can't be; you're working."

"But I've got Jesus in my heart," she says, "so why wouldn't I be great?"

DUDE! I'm living here permanently.

Ok that was a lie. Maybe. I dunno. I can't imagine living back home after I've been there all my life. Whatever, not the point of this post.

So Friday we move in. I have no roommate, which sucks since she's the third one I've chased out, but it's equally awesome because I have an entire room to myself. So lots of set up and "launch" (basically orientation) activities later, I spend my first night in my new home. Lovely, especially since I didn't get any sleep the night before with my parents the chainsaw snorers.

Saturday I was on my own because I had Launch activities all day, then Sunday I ate my last meal with my parents before they dipped out. I miss them like crazy, but less in a homesick way and more in a "Man they do everything for me; they deserve a break from me" kind of way. And they are always a phone call away.

OH! Friday I met my best friend here so far. (Actually, she's tied with everyone else, hahaha). I wore my DeathNote bag to my Launch group meeting, she approached me to compliment it, we talked over anime and spool knitting (a spool knitter?! YES!) and hit it off right away. She's from an insanely small school like me, k-12, with the same weird teacher stereotypes I got back home. Lindsay is a graphic arts major (legit).

I also met several girls in my part of the hall (I'm on the third floor by the way, meaning my parents and I had to lug everything up here. No, there isn't an elevator, stop asking.) One is Gennee, a nursing major, with a vibrant personality. She's so sweet and her older sis is the RA on the second floor. (Her sis Kattee is also a knitter. Dude, everyone knits/crochets here! So stoked) Their mom was a riot; she really knows how to schmooze and extract the right info. (She's the reason I knew who to talk to at the Meet with Your Faculty event.)

Speaking of, I meet everyone and their mother in the Education and Humanities Departments. Ok, not everyone, but enough people. I had to switch advisers because apparently being an English Education major means you're a Humanities kid, not an Education one.

Ooookaaaay? Whatever, not important. Except I did have to drop a class. When I'd already rented the book from chegg.com. But that's ok since I have Young Adult Literature now. And I'm psyched. Met the teacher already (who's also an advisor) and he is so cool. WE'RE READING THE GIVER! Ahem. Sorry, had to- AND HOLES! ...I'm a sucker for youth literature I guess.

But yes. I don't think I'll declare a second major or minor or anything yet. The way I see it, I'm probably going to do my Master's program here as well, so I think I'll be able to crank out any other majors/minors I want. I don't know if they have a doctorate program though. I'll have to ask.

Met my suitemate who's nice if not awkward (because I suck at social interaction, especially after we've already talked basics over Facebook, what else do I mention?). Met another floor mate (who's in the opposite side of the hall) named Elly. She's a transfer too. A Journalism major. Epiiic. OH did I mention this place has it's own TV and radio stations? No? Well they do. And I hope Elly gets involved there.

And there's Nikki, who is sooooooo adorable. I love her! She's always saying hi to me and being enthusiastic. Man, I love this place! Oh, and I didn't have shampoo the other night, so I visited a neighbor, kindly asked if I could borrow some, and Olivia gave me a travel size conditioner and shampoo. How nice! I'd've been like, "Um...what?" Again, socially retarded.

What else, what else? There was this dude Caleb who was cool. And this girl Allegra. Javi, Tobi, Chris, and Abbey. All those guys were with me at our AC dinner. They were hilarious and awesome and really on fire.

Speaking of, they were all talking about their passions and I just sat there. I had no idea what I was passion about. I've lost my fire somewhere and I'm going to get it back. Though that's going to be a trying process. Lots of genuine worship, reading, prayer, outreaching, etc. I'm falling back into that apathetic place.

Speaking of (I say that a lot, haha), The Lord's Table is doing alright. I haven't lost weight but I feel lighter in certain places. I couldn't wear a pair of glasses often because my face was too fat and the frames bothered the sides of my head. I'm wearing them right now and I feel fine. And the three rolls on my stomach are starting to morph into two. HOOSHAH! Praise You, Lord!

This part is a tad graphic/uncomfortable, so skip if you'd like. Ugh, I want to get into a workout regiment, but I'm not going to until I heal up my crazy chaffing rash. Went to the nurse today and she thinks it's a yeast infection going down my thighs. That's gross. A yeast infection is already disgusting (especially right now; it's staining all of my underwear like crazy! I'm like a leaky faucet! She said that's probably because I'm ovulating and the antibiotics I was taking for my ear infection killed off good bacteria, which is making the yeast RAMPANT). She gave me a prescription for one pill that should clear it up in a couple days. And she wants me to use my last Monistat dose on my legs (Monistat is this cream you have to use for three days as an OTC treatment for yeast infections. Two guesses on where you inject the cream.)

Ok, graphic part over. I got a ride from my Launch Leader Dodi(who is so funny and terrified to drive) to Walgreen's and got some stuff. I've been using my debit card like crazy! Mostly for books though. Ugh, books. I'm such an idiot. On my Student Portal, there's a button you can click to view your books for your classes. Me being an idiot, I didn't cross reference those with my schedule. Turns out my Essential Christianity class didn't even show on that list. So all the sudden I get the online syllabus for the class and WOOSH! I need five more books.

What?! And the bill ran me $91. Lame. Oh, and I needed 11 individual books for Young Adult Lit. Which wasn't terrible since they were all under five bucks.

Um, ok, what else? I saw my second potential roommate in the Humanities Department, but I forgot to introduce myself. Oh, and everyone from home has a doppelganger here. No lie.

Ok, well that's about it for now. Maybe I'll edit this to include more detail or more organization. But don't hold your breath. Classes start tomorrow so we'll see what happens.

Much love and God Bless,
EPD