Breaking the Bland

Most readers have probably noticed how much I change the design of my blog.

            In the course of six months I have had six different color schemes. I want to apologize. It might be exciting to click on the link to my blog and see a new background, or it might be just frustrating.

            But I will explain my actions.

            I would consider myself a pretty boring person. I might not sound like I have a boring life, but I do things in a routine. I just stick to the same plan, way of doing things and lifestyle.

It’s not that I don’t want some excitement in my life. Trust me, I keep waiting for the excitement to begin. But changing the pictures and colors on my blog, my little piece of the world that is truly all mine, gives me the sense of excitement I sometimes need. So the next time you see the background change, just know, I was probably bored.

I find it interesting that this is the only thing in my life I am willing to change at the click of the mouse. I could dye my hair, but I think you and just about anyone I have ever met would never forgive me. And I might never forgive myself; of all the things God gave me, he gave me great hair.

I could change the backdrop on my laptop, but the black and white photo booth snapshot of my two best friends from home and me is perfect.

I could switch up my wardrobe, but I like being comfortable and simple. I could try a new style but I am not a runway model.

I could change my profile picture, but the one I have works so well. I could try a new sport, but God certainly did not give me athletic ability.

I could change my major, but I’m not that brave. I could try any myriad of new things, but hey, I’m comfortable. What can I say? I’m pretty darn boring.

And would I trade my perfectly boring life for something more exciting? I don’t think so. The grass is always greener, and I’m happy right where I am. I just get bored sometimes.

P.S. Check out my new blog about my thoughts on the entertainment world. The Popcorn Critic click on the words The Popcorn Critic in teal. 

Proof that I was bored and wanted a new blog. 

Now is the time to be selfish

If you don’t already know what makes Northeastern so special, then I wouldn’t call you a true follower of my blog, but that’s ok, I’ll remind everyone.

            We have what is called the Co-op program. This means that after three semesters, students have the option to apply and take a full time job, not an internship, but an actual job at big name companies.

For six months the student works as a full-fledged employee. Then she returns to school for more classes and eventually does it all over, repeating the process three times. So yes it takes five years to graduate, but when you come out, you have a year and a half of actual work experience.

Before anyone gets to go on co-op, we must take a class that teaches us how to write a resume, a cover letter, how to dress for an interview and how to interview successfully. I am currently in this class, although, I won’t co-op until next spring.

This week in class, our instructor gave us an assignment: plan out your college experience. I have to write on a piece of paper when I want to go on co-op, when I want to be in school in Boston and when I want to go abroad.

This task might not seem so hard for the average college student, but I suddenly found myself faced with a daunting task. I wanted to live in the now, not five years from now.

For a person who always desperately clung to a plan for my life, I suddenly became a “Why don’t we just wait and see what happens,” kind of person.

It’s not that I don’t want to plan my future; I just want to have options. What if I want to take a vacation or hop on a plane to Europe on a whim? Northeastern is saying I can do that only if I plan ahead.

So what do I do? Do I study abroad? Do I do three co-ops? Do I go abroad during a summer session? Do I only study?

The future is certainly up in the air.

I had a friend telling me about the pressure to stay in touch and be the person she was in high school and come home as much as she could. But she said something that made me realize she is absolutely right.

“Now is the time to be selfish.”

In ten, twenty, thirty years, who knows what my life situation will be, but I probably won’t have the chance to study abroad for six weeks, a summer or a semester. I won’t have the chance to take a job for just six months to give it a try and come back to the classroom afterwards. I won’t have the chance to be young, make mistakes, find myself and stumble upon my future. That is something I am sure of.

            So now is the time to be absolutely selfish. I need to think about me, what I want to do, what will make me happy and what will lead me to the opportunities of a lifetime. 

Returning Home

In one of my first blog entries I wrote about the importance of remembering where you come from in order to move progressively towards the future. This past week I had the chance to go back to some of my roots and take my own advice.

            Now I didn’t want to be one of those pathetic kids who comes back to high school the first chance they have simply because they can’t let go of high school, but I did go back to Holy Family anyway.

            I told myself it was because I wanted to wish my best friend’s younger sister a happy 16^th birthday at school. But I was using this as an excuse to go back and see all the teachers I really did miss. I wanted an excuse to go back and show everyone, “Hey, look, I made it.”

            Going back reminded me of all the things I did miss about high school, but it also helped me to see that moving on is a good thing.

            It helped me to see that life goes on without you sometimes, so don’t dwell on that and live your own life. Holy Family certainly kept going, even without the Class of 2010. However, it was comforting to know that we are missed.

            The best thing about going back was seeing the pride in my former teachers’ faces when they heard I was succeeding.

I got the chance to talk to a few students about my college experiences. I remember being a junior in high school with college on the horizon like it was yesterday. I blinked and here I am about to head back to school in Boston for my second semester of my first year of college.

But talking to the students made me realize that no matter how many people tell you about college, how many books you read about it, how much you prepare for it, college is a surprise.

You just have to take that leap from high school to college with blind faith that Holy Family gave you everything you need to succeed. I learned for myself that they did.

Mr. Gumerlock gave me a good sense of humor to take with me. Mr. Good taught me some very important advice about beginnings. Mr. Bishop and Mr. Domko gave me self-confidence in my academic habits. Mrs. Prew gave me some important lessons about letting go and being myself no matter what. Mr. Blair taught me to always believe in myself. Mr. Galmish taught me that I wasn’t screwed for college assignments. And Mr. Wilson taught me that I would end up at the college where I was supposed to be.

They all made me into a great college student ready for success. It was good to look back at Holy Family because now I’m focused to begin again. 

My Year 2010 in Review

Well here we are at the end of a marvelous year. This was a year of change, a year or new adventures, a year of goodbyes and a year of hellos. What a year it has been.

            It is hard to believe that just one year ago I was a senior in high school with absolutely no idea where I would be in the next six months. Well, I can honestly say, one year later, that I know I am exactly where I’m supposed to be.

            Last January and February I was just trying to figure out who I was and where I was going. March Kairos (a retreat at my high school) gave me the opportunity to really examine my life and answer that question with “I don’t know, but I’m not worried.”

            April was a whirlwind as I visited colleges and made a decision as to where I would be going in the fall.

            May was probably my favorite month. I said goodbye to high school. I said goodbye to the comfort and security of knowing everyone and everything about my small community. I said goodbye to an amazing four years filled with a few life challenges, a lot of fun, and incredible friends.

            As I threw my purple graduation cap into the night sky with my 137 fellow classmates, I was symbolically throwing my childhood behind me, and I did it with a smile. It was certainly bittersweet.

            May was a month of celebration and reflection. We celebrated my past, my future and a huge milestone in life, one I will never forget.

May turned to June, which turned to July. Those summer months I worked at a job I loved because of the people I worked with and had fun with. I also enjoyed the months as a time when I was still a child on summer vacation, but in the back of my mind I was anticipating something bigger.

August was a month of waiting and transitioning. I was getting used to the idea of moving across the country to start something brand new.

September threw me right into that change. I met so many new people and discovered new things about myself. I thought that once I got to college I would be a whole new person. What I found out for the next few months was that I was still and will always be me.

I made some great friends, had a number of laughs and realized that hey, I’m living in a big old city and sometimes high school never really does end as much as we’d like it to. But life goes on and often times, it is only what we make it.

So for your enjoyment I have made a slideshow of my year 2010. It was fun to watch as my life transitioned from high school senior with friends of a lifetime to a college freshman with new friends and experiences.

This year was one of change, of goodbyes to the life I knew, and hello to a life I chose. I became a person of new perspectives, and I can definitely feel myself growing up. I became a better version of who I was one year ago. Thank you to all of you who helped me reach that potential.

So what will 2011 bring? I can’t wait to find out! Happy New Year!

Season's Greetings from Boston

Everyone buys their baby a “Baby’s first Christmas” ornament, in fact, I still have mine, but maybe they should make a “College student’s first Christmas” ornament.

            This ornament, at least for me, would need to say quite a lot. It would need to be symbolic of every emotion not just the Christmas season can bring for a college student, but also every emotion I experienced the past four months.

            We’ll begin with Christmas, though, to start simple. As everyone returned from Thanksgiving break, the Christmas carols came on, the door decorations went up and the gift buying frenzy began.

I too got into the Christmas spirit; however, it was different than it had ever been in years past. Of course the shopping was fantastic in the city. With just about any store you can think of a T ride from my dorm, I was in Christmas shopping heaven.

But I miss the Colorado snow (and I think most Coloradoans do too this year). I miss the smell of the pine tree in my living room (lucky for me, my parents are waiting to put up the tree with me). I miss the lights in my neighborhood (especially the Santa and reindeer lights outside my own bedroom window). I miss baking Christmas lemon squares, peanut butter chestnuts, toffee and fudge with my mom (she better have some ready when I get home). I miss the Christmas quilt that hangs from our banister and shaking the gifts that appear under the tree.

Absence certainly does make the heart grow fonder. Last year, I did not want to bother with the lights on the tree, put up the Nativity scene or wrap the several gifts my mother bought for others. Now, I miss those traditions. So for a college student who misses home anyway, Christmas is the perfect time to head home for the holidays.

So that ornament should be a heart to stand for the place in my heart I hold my home.

This past semester I went from scared and anxious, to excited and surprised, to angry and hurt, to homesick and nostalgic, to accepting of the whole experience.

I have come a long way since Aug. 30. I am excited to head home for three weeks, but I also think I will miss school. I will miss my friends and the city.

So that heart ornament should also have the Boston skyline, perhaps a husky (my school mascot) and a periwinkle purse (an inside joke between me and my friends).

Goodbye Boston, have a wonderful Christmas without me. I’ll be in my lovely home state of Colorado where God can give me a white Christmas (fingers crossed). I will be back before long and we can have even more adventures in the spring. 

Me and some friends, Chelsea and Kait, at the Christmas tree in Boston Commons.

 Merry Christmas! 

Home is where the heart will always be

It had been 85 days since I’d been home. It had been 85 days since I’d driven a car. It had been 105 days since I’d seen one of my best friends. And thankfully, it had been only 30 days since I’d seen my parents.

            But this is a long time to be away from the home I’d known for nineteen years. On my recent trip home for Thanksgiving, I reflected on some of the things I am so thankful to have in my life, things about home that I miss.

            The first thing I realized I missed was the view of endless majestic mountains staring me down as I drive west. I knew I would miss the great Rocky Mountains, but who knew I would miss them so much.

            The next thing I missed was not having to have my Husky card on me at all times. This card, which is just my school ID, is my life; it is my room key, my meal swipe, it allows me to get into my building, and it has my laundry dollars on it. If I lost my Husky card, I would be lost, hence the post-it note on my door that says, “Got your Husky card?” The first thing I did when I got home, I was in my room and as I was leaving I reached toward my desk for my Husky card. Just a habit I guess.

            The next two things I miss have to do with the bathroom. It really shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that I miss having a bathroom to myself instead of sharing with 57 other girls.

            I miss taking a shower without shoes on. It was so nice to just jump in the shower without squeaky flip flops, not to mention the odd sensation that your feet naturally dry before the synthetic material flip flops are made of do.

            And never again will I take quilted 2-ply toilet paper for granted. The cheap sandpaper toilet paper that comes in bulk will do in the occasional public restroom, but I will never be that cheap.

            I also missed my parents, sitting on the couch doing absolutely nothing, eating home-cooked meals, and driving.

            So I am thankful for the view Colorado provided me all those years, my wonderful parents who provide me with the opportunity to miss these things because I am at a great school and the opportunity to do absolutely nothing at home if I so choose.

            Home was different and the same. I have changed a lot in the past 85 days, so I guess I expected home to change too, but it didn’t. I slid right into my old routines; home was still home. I am thankful for this, because my heart will always have a place to run home to. Because no matter what I do, where I go or who I become, 10160 Vrain Ct. Westminster, CO 80031 with Pat and Judy Quinlan will always be where my heart is.

          

My love affair with the Boy Who Lived

“And you, if you have stuck with Harry until the very end.” This is the seventh dedication J.K. Rowling writes in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. This isn’t just one of those meaningless or inside joke kind of dedications. I truly felt Jo, as she is affectionately known, was writing that dedication to me.

            Harry Potter is not just a worldwide phenomenon, movie franchise, record-breaking book series, a theme park or the Star Wars of this generation. Harry has been there for me through my entire life. He has filled my life with so many memories. In a way, he made my life worth living. The first part of the finale movie releases in one week, and I couldn’t be more excited.

As I turn 19 on the very day Harry starts to say goodbye to the world, I can see the page of my childhood turning. The new movie release has me feeling nostalgic not only about my childhood, but also about my love affair with the Boy Who Lived.

In part, I have two people to thank for helping me to love this series. My Aunt Kathleen first introduced me to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone as a six year old. She told my mom about a new book that was taking Britain by storm.

My mom then bought the small paperback and began reading it to me every night. She is the other person I must thank. She fell in love with the complex characters and clever story line. She instilled this love in me. I remember listening to the first chapter of the first book and thinking how truly different this book was from anything I had ever heard before. If only I knew then what an impact it would have on my life in coming years.

My next memory takes me to second grade where I read the third book during free time in class. My teacher was so impressed I was reading a book of that size for a second grader.

Then in third grade, I was Cho Chang for Halloween with a blue Ravenclaw Quidditch cloak. I even had a Harry Potter birthday party. My invitation and cake did not have the commercial Harry Potter images because it wasn’t popular yet. I was ahead of the game.

In fourth grade the first movie came out near my birthday. I went to see it with my parents. I remember getting goose bumps as the whole world I had imagined in my head so many times came to life on the screen. I received the movie soundtrack for my birthday and listen to it to this day.

The next few years are a blur with Harry, but deep down he was always there. He was always in the constant search for himself and was fighting the fate that made him who he was. I loved every little twist and turn, every new character, every triumph and every new disappointment.

When the sixth book came out, I was in Atlanta, GA, for a wedding, but I made my parents find the nearest bookstore so I could go buy it. I then read it in a week, which is actually a long time in the world of Harry Potter; some people read the books in a day or less.

Then it started coming to an end. The seventh book was released on July 21, 2007. I went to the midnight release party at Barnes and Noble with my two best friends and my very tired mother. I still count this as one of the best days of my life. Something about that night was so magical (pun intended).

I finished the seventh book in Hawaii looking out toward the ocean at the sunset. I don’t think I could have closed my time with the book Harry any better, except maybe if I was at Hogwarts itself.

Now it is time to start saying goodbye for real. The movies that have recreated Rowling’s creative genius into a touching and exciting adventure are ending. The three actors that portray the series’ lead characters are being interviewed about life after Potter. But what about the rest of the kids in the world who have carried Harry with them their whole lives? What do we do? Is there life after Potter? I’ll let you know next summer when the final installment comes out on July 15, 2011.

So yes, that dedication was for me, because I have stuck with Harry until the very end. And I hope you have too.

Me, as Ginny Weasley, and some friends, Harry, Voldemort and Elmo included, before the sixth movie premiere in 2009.