Ready or Not... Here You Go.

To answer that question.... No. I don't.

And thats only 1/100th of the terrifying reality that is about to hit me.

May 14th is sooner than you think. And with that day comes a diploma, a raging party, a cake, some legit cash from distant relatives, and waking up the next day with a massive last college hangover and a slap in the face by the real world.

Personally, Im terrified.

Graduating means becoming a real person. It means doing things for yourself, paying your own bills, finding a job and an apartment, and frankly, giving up your childhood.

Dont get me wrong. Witt has mostly prepared me for that. But the thing is, I never gave it a chance to sink in. When senior year started it didnt feel like i was 3/4ths of the way done with college, and coincidentally, with my childhood. So i cruised through senior year, excited for summer, like it was any other year, and id be back in the fall.

Lately the reality of the situation has start to hit me. I wont be returning back to Witt in August. I wont eat the gross food in the CDR again. Or streak the hollow. I wont find myself posted against the aids wall, too drunk to remember the name of who Im dancing with. And I wont drive to Coldstone for ice cream at 1am when my roomates and i are bored and craving sugar.

I wont be able to be a college student anymore, and I really never thought that day would come. 

Being about to graduate has taught me that i have taken my time here at Witt for granted. I have let the moments slip by, banking on the fact that id have many more moments to remember. And then i realized that the memories are about to end, and the real world is looming on the horizon, waiting to expose me to its horrors.

Im terrified, really. But Im ready... at least as ready as ill ever be.

Burried By Books

Suffocation.

Its the exact feeling I have when I think about all the work I have coming up in the next two weeks. And I know im not alone.

From the hundreds of people I see daily in the library, post, the hollenbeck computer lab, even the basement of the science center.. I know im not alone.

The end of the semester is a stressful time as it is, with hundreds of us seniors about to graduate, and forced to face the reality of the real world, you would think we had enough stress on our plates.

But on top of it, our professors seem to think that the end of the year is perfectly acceptable time to pile on the work, causing numerous papers, tests, projects, presentations, critiques, etc, all in the same few days.

Personally, I think the end results of such numerous projects would be more successful if teachers spaced the work, and didnt leave the biggest projects for the end of the semester.

With more spaced out projects, I believe students would be able to put more into their projects, and as a result, get better grades and present better.

Since Ill be graduating in three weeks I guess the problem doesnt reach to me anymore. But in the meantime, ill be suffering to survive these last few days.

Rain Rain Go Away, That's What All My Haters Say

But seriously... enough is enough. It's poured enough cats and dogs lately to represent every PETA and Sarah McLaughlin animal rescue commercials that have ever been aired.

I feel as if this spring it has rained more than in past years. From watching the weather and reading about constant showers, upcoming drizzles, and extreme thunderstorms, I have been tuned into the fact that the rain this year is more than usual.

There have even been numerous flood watches and warnings in surrounding areas. Even at my home in Chicago there were flood warnings, so its clear that the rain isnt just centered on Clark County.

Normally I dont mind rain.. but those are the days when I have nothing to do but lay in bed and watch continuous episodes of Glee, and alternate my stalking between facebook and twitter.

But lately the rain has drenched me walking to class before a presentation, caused me to flip mud at my butt the entire walk to class, postponed my outside runs, and left me feeling dreary.

After checking the upcoming weeks schedule I was clued in on the fact that mother nature doesnt plan on stopping her showers anytime soon. The rest of the week is supposed to rain, taking a break for friday and saturday, and continuing sun-tues.

Hopefully the clear friday and saturday will remain that way, because Wittfest is on the horizon.

In the meantime, keep your fingers crossed and your umbrellas in your bag.

The Springtime Sneezes

Seven.

Thats how many times I have sneezed in the last 10 minutes. Now I'm no doctor, but that's just not normal.

I dont know what it is with the springtime, but i have been getting increasingly sick each and every day. Today when I woke up I could hardly breathe. All day ive had a fever, been continuously sneezing, and coughing.

So its allergy season, and naturally that would by my excuse as to why i am sick. However, i am allergic to only one thing. Fuzzy caterpillars. And I havent seen any of those around campus lately so im gonna go ahead and blame mother nature.

This odd weather being 80 degrees one day and 43 degrees the next with rain and snow is NOT doing it for my immune system. Springtime is the time when youre supposed to feel rejuvenated after the winter, and ready for the world. However, I can hardly move my body, and the world from my bedroom is not nearly as exciting as it should be.

So as I down yet another dose of medicine, and facebook stalk until i fall back asleep, ill scorn mother nature for its choices. Stay warm already, its almost may!

Hide Your Kids, Hide Your Wife

But really, hide everything. All your belongings, all your favorite things, and yourself. Because Wittenberg is not the safest place in the world.

Call me crazy, but I dont feel safe at night. I mean, I used to. Sort of. Until this weekend.

Saturday night my house was broken into. I live on College Ave. in a nice brick duplex. While I am surrounded by campus owned houses, mine is owned by a landlord.

The intruder spent ten minutes scrapping at my back door before finally busting through two separate panels, one of glass, the other of Plexiglas. And just like that, I had a fourth roommate.

An extremely unwanted and unaccepted roommate, that is.

This person, who is described as a girl with blonde hair and small fingers is thought to be a Wittenberg student. Witt police say that if it was a "townie" robber, they would have robbed us blind. Instead, they took a black northface jacket, and $25 cash. They left behind another northface, three coach purses, three laptops, two ipods, countless credit cards, a shitty tv (i dont blame them), and expensive ipod speakers.. to name the valuables.

How do I know it was a student you ask? Savannah was sleeping on my couch, and witnessed the entire thing.  However, the girl looked similar to one of my friends, who lives on the other side of my duplex, and is always over, so she assumed it was just her.

Who else would be rummaging around my house at five thirty in the morning on a saturday night (or sunday morning)?

Needless to say, I dont feel safe. I havent slept in days because every noise i hear  I assume is a blonde burglar left to rob the rest of my poor college-selfed things.

I wish Witt police would do their jobs, and actually find the criminal for once.

Until then, i sleep with a golf club next to my bed.

The Drop of a Hat

Have you ever heard someone say to you that things can happen at the drop of a hat? Now upon first hearing this phrase I naturally assumed that it was an asinine statement in which I would never find an relevance. First of all, the chances of me having a hat are slim to none, and secondly, if you had a hat, why would you drop it?

That's all wrong, isn't it?

Things can happen at the drop of the hat. This means that no, you dont have a literal hat, and no, you arent going to drop it. 

Instead, this phrase has a lot of meaning. It means that something can happen in your life that is so quick and unexpected, that it was as if you were wearing a hat, and suddenly the wind blew it off. Just like that, it happened. And you had no warning of said happening.

After this weekend, this phrase has new meaning for me.

Anything can happen, at any time, unexplained, unexpected, and unbelievable.

This weekend I had a hat dropped on me.

I had gone to bed friday night, after talking to my best friend for hours on her car ride home from Florida. She was supposed to be back at 5 am, and I wasnt supposed to wake her up in the morning, even though I was so excited to see her.

When i rolled over at 9am, I had every intention of going into her room and waking her up, even though she had told me not to. But a message on my phone caught my attention. It said "I'm not home yet... call me when you get this."

That's when the hat started to drop.

Upon calling her I learned that she had been in a car accident, about thirty minutes after I had talked to her. The breaks in the car had malfunctioned, and stopped working, and all five girls were rolling through the hills of west virginia going 95 miles per hour, preparing for a collision, which was the only thing that would allow their car to stop. After four minutes of agonizing anticipation, their car took out 100 yards of gaurdrail, flipped seven times, and hit a tree. Upon hitting the tree, the car lit on fire, giving the stunned girls less than 5 minutes to get their things out, and run. While running away with their bags in their hands, looking over their shoulders, they watched the car blow up.

The hat had dropped.

Anything can happen at the drop of a hat. After listening to the story of my best friend surviving a car crash that the paramedics explained "no one should ever survive"  I was finally clued in on the true meaning of this phrase. I have never been so thankful in my entire life, and I have begun to take things more seriously, and not for granted anymore, because anything can happen at any time, and you are not guaranteed anything.

Ill never look at a hat the same way.

Scheduling a life that has no space left to fill

Its the time of the year when everyone obsessed over their schedules for next semester. Which is why we are supposed to blog on scheduling. However, since I'm graduating in may, I don't have to schedule for classes this semester.

Instead, I find myself constantly glued to my assignment notebook plugging in various dates Nd assignments. My schedule has a list of things to be added to it, yet there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to get it all done.

Between classes, my job, homework, community service, and various errands and chores, I'm left wondering how I'm supposed to find the time to do it all. And while I'm busy pondering the unlimited hours left in my day, graduation is looming closer and closer by the minute.

With seven weeks til graduation I have my own schedule to work out. Inbetween finishing all my projects and homework for the end of the year, I'm always searching for jobs and sending in my resume to various employers.

With real life looming on the horizon I find myself searching for a new planner. One that can fit everything I do in it as well as a few extra hours in each day. That way I'll be set and finally able to do what I need to do and still stay sane.

My Least Favorite Thing About Wittenberg

Id have to say, despite the many things I dislike about Wittenberg, my least favorite thing would have to be the PRICE. Honestly, the price of tuition is just absolutely RIDICULOUS. If you add up all the expenses you have in one year here, you are paying a small fortune. And I cant help but think about all the other things I could be spending my money on if it werent Wittenberg. Dont get me wrong, I understand that prestigious univeristies call for higher prices, but some of the things here are just damn overpriced. Like the CDR for example. We pay something like $12 PER MEAL at the CDR, when on many occasions, all you may get is a piece of fruit, or a bagel. Thats just ludicrous if you ask me.

Wittenberg is overpriced. Plain and simple. That has to be my least favorite thing about this place.

My Favorite Thing About Wittenberg

Im not really sure if I have a FAVORITE thing about Witt. I mean there are a lot of things you could say I enjoy about Wittenberg.

For one, the people. I would have to say that the people here that I have met that have made a positive impact in my life are the biggest thing that I like about Wittenberg. But they're not the only thing.

I also like the campus itself. Its small in size, so I dont have to run to class if I sleep in late, not to mention its aesthetically beautiful. And the fact that it is so hilly is a great plus when ice storms hit, stopping us from being able to walk to class:)

I also really like the atmosphere. Because its so small I feel comfortable most of the places I go, whether it be in classes, or out on the weekends.

There are a lot of things I love about Wittenberg... but then again, there are also a handful of things I dont love so much... 

(see next blog)

Lack of Blogs

So I have decided that although we have a required amount of blogs for this class, it seems that we are all lackng, MAC INCLUDED. I think that the reasons for this are a. lack of time and b. lack of interest in blogging.. mainly because we have nothing to blog about.

I think if we come up with a list of certain topics for blogs, we can assign 2 topics for each remaining week, and that way people will know what to blog about and when. And then we will all stay on top of them.

But seriously.. Mac, if you are lacking in your OWN blogs, you cant hardly get mad that we havent kept up on ours :)

Things To Look Forward To

With the end of the year vastly approaching, there is a long list of things that we have to look forward to. So I have decided to dedicate this particular blog to that list, so that whenever you feel stressed about school, you can think of all the things to get excited about.

1. Warm weather- After spring break every day is warmer than the next.. its unlikely that we will have any more snow, and the sun is much warmer now, so every day that the sun is out feels warmer.
2. Classes winding down- By the end of the semester, many of our classes will be winding down, and we can expect less work (at least for the seniors)
3. St. Patricks Day- Thursday is going to be a rowdy day, filled with green drinks and lots of wild parties (green jello shots.. helloooo)
4. Witt Fest- By the end of April, Wittfest will be here, which is single handlidly one of the most exciting days of the semester- especially for those of us who are celebrating our last Wittfest. Not to mention the performer, which will be announced at the beginning of April... Girl Talk is the current rumor.
5. Station- The end of the year is a constant excuse to travel to station for afternoon drinks with friends, or to just unwind from the stresses of school.
6. Graduation week- The week before graduation is constant celebrating, partying, and drinking. Its sure to be the greatest week of the entire year.
7. GRADUATION- For many of us seniors, this is the moment we have all been waiting for. Its time to leave Wittenberg behind, step on that damn seal, and be proud of yourself for making it all four year at this bubble of a college.

GET EXCITED... SPRING TIME IS HERE:)

Intentions Failed

So I had full intentions of blogging over spring break... HOWEVER, I realized my hotel internet cost some absurd amount of money, and the chances of me, intoxicated, trying to figure out how to blog on my iPhone were slim to none.

So here I am, back in good old Springfield, depressed that its cold, and Im not laying on a beach.

Spring break went by WAYY TOOO FASTTT. I hate that its over already.

Some things that were done on spring break...

1. excessive drinking
2. lack of sleeping
3. swimming in the ocean
4. bars until 5 am
5. AMAZING food (crab legs, sushi, shrimp, etc.. YUM)
6. laying by the pool
7. travelling around Ft. Lauderdale trying to find where to go
8. making new friends :)

All in all spring break was AWESOMEEEE and I wish I could go back RIGHT NOW.

But I cant. :(

Until next year....

Warning: Spring Break Is Almost Here

I have decided that since a. I am behind in my blogs and b. this is a great idea that c. I am going to be blogging over spring break.. while in fort rowdy... i mean, fort lauderdale.

With that said, this comes as a warning.

My blogs are sure to be inconsistent, spelled incorrectly, probably jibberish/not much sense, and finally, extremely entertaining.

Spring break is expected to be filled with lots of (legal) alcohol drinking, little food consumption, excessive tanning, and out of control partying.

Expect my blogs to be the same.

Have fun fellow journalists... Dont do anything I wouldnt do!:)

**SpRiNg BrEaK**

After doing that standard 7th grade title for this blog, ill switch back in to grown up mode... or at least college mode.

Spring break is a week from tomorrow. I could NOT be more excited. Its my last spring break and chance to get away from Witt before I graduate (weird).. and im thrilled.

I was supposed to go on spring break with a group of like six girls.. but conveniently, the day before we were supposed to book, three dropped out. So then there was just three of us. And suddently we couldnt afford anything other than a shack on the beach.. which frankly, I was fine with, as long as i had a bottle and I was on a beach.

But however, my friends mom heard we were going to a shit hole and threw a fit. She said she wouldnt let three pretty girls go on spring break and stay some place cheap, which automatically translates to shitty and unsafe.

So she says.... Ill pay for the whole thing. Pick some place nice.

In which case... Ill be staying six nights seven days at the Hilton Resort in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in approximately one week. CLUTCH. And I only had to buy a cheap flight.

Sometimes you get handed the right cards. So basically I cant wait. My spring break is gonna be filled with tanning, drinking, sleeping, drinking, and tanning. And its going to be GREATTTT.

Pictures to come. Pending survival.

Friend or Foe... Forever or For Now?

For my big story that I am working on through out this semester is a story based on college friendships. I am interested in looking at how your friendships evolve through out your time at Wittenberg. For instance, why you cling to certain people your freshman year, but by your senior year, you often dont even speak to them anymore. I want to look at factors that affect changing friendships, or forming new ones, such as rushing a sorority or fraternity, secret societies, or a sport you play. I am also going to look at why friendships end through college. Aspects related to this are changes in relationships, friends that steal your boyfriends, etc. Finally, I want to look at how friendships are maintained when you leave Wittenberg, and why you stay in touch with some people, and lose touch with others.

People that I am going to interview will vary in year (Freshman-Seniors), gender (both males and females), different sports teams (football, swimming, dance, etc), people in different sororities/fraternities, and even focusing on some post-grads to see how they were able to maintain friendships after witt.

Does anyone have any suggestions of certain people I can interview, perhaps that had a friendship falling out, or a drastic change in social groups? Let me know:)

Wittenberg High

I think Wittenberg is a much more expensive, and hillier, version of my high school. Is that just me?

I swear, everyone knows everything about everyone else, and everyone gets into everyone elses business. And god forbid you hook up with someone, by the next day youll run into them in the library, or walking to class, or even in the hper. You cant escape your mistakes, because they are probably in your 10:20 class Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

I feel as if I should be required to take a gym class, and have a lunch period in the north cafeteria.

But what do we do about it? Nothing. We put our ipods in our ears (a distraction so you dont have to talk to anyone), keep your head down, and strut up the Meyers hill, trying to pretend you arent out of breath, all while managing to not get wrapped up in the drama at Wittenberg high.

Best Commercials

Ive been watching the superbowl for an hour now and I have got to tell you, DORITOS HAVE SOME HILARIOUS COMMERCIALS.

By far the best one so far is the one with the goldfish/dead grandpa... do you know what im talking about? Its seriously so great.

YOUTUBE IT... I just looked for the link and couldnt find it.. maybe its not up yet?
Check back.. its worth it.

Superbowl: What It Means To Me

So as im sitting here, about to watch the superbowl, I realized that Im about to experience another superbowl, like millions of other people around the world.

After pondering this for a few minutes, while staring at the spread in front of me (buffalo chicken dip, two kinds of chips, salsa, hotdogs wrapped in bacon, mozerella sticks, ranch and hot sauce (can you say fat??)), and SEVEN cases of beer, I thought about what it is that makes the superbowl exciting, and why so many people watch it.

First of all, the commercials. Half the people that tune in to watch the superbowl could honestly care less about the game itself. Id bet that half the people watching done even know whos watching, let alone root for one team over the other. Companys are paying some outrageous amount of money, for a quick 30 seconds of commercial time.

Secondly, people watch for the food. Coming from my own spread of food (okay, im not LITERALLY alone, im with a group of people), the food during the superbowl is SO DANK, that you cant help but use the superbowl as an excuse to max out on food.

Finally, there are a large amount of people that actually watch for the game. Personally, the BEARS should have been in the superbowl, so I could care less who wins, but I guess some people actually care, and are die hard fans for either the Packers or the Steelers.

In the meantime, Ill be maxing out on delcious food, and waiting for commercial breaks.

Blackout or Buzz

I just finished writing my story on whether students drink to black out or buzz.

I must say I wasnt surprised with what I found. That students here at Witt would more likely drink til they can not remember a single thing of their night, than to casually sip a few back.One of the most interesting things I realized from this story is that I am one of these individuals. If I am going to drink, I figure I might as well go hard.. or what's the point of drinking at all?

One of the bartenders at Mc's gave me some insight into this phenomenon. He said that Witt students drink to blackout because they do things that they dont even want to remember in the morning. I found that so interesting, but also so true.

I think that people drink to blackout and not simply buzz because they want to be able to do things that they wouldnt do sober, and still have an excuse for it. Its so much easier saying you hooked up with that random ugly kid because you were a "blacked out mess". Theres nothing cool about saying "yeah, Ive had a crush on him for weeks, and thought it would be fun to hang out..." You dont wanna look like a bitch to your friends, so its better to blackout and blame your life decisions on too much alcohol.


So what do you do.... drink to buzz? or blackout?

Oreo Flavor

So we are all aware of the racism incident that occurred last week on campus. But what we aren't aware of is why it happened. Initially, I may have been naive, but I almost thought that it had to have been a joke. I don't see anyone that goes to Witt and has the morals to know better, would throw some racist comment around like that. It could be a similar situation to when a girl calls her friend a slut. Even though (being her BFF) she may KNOW that said "slut" in question has only kissed two boys and still clutches her v-card to her chest, but the term "slut" is still used. So like I said, I initially thought that this may have just been a joke.
But then as more people started to talk about it, I learned that the persons whose door this was posted on was a brand new student. Then I fell victim to the bandwagon, and was simply shocked and upset.
I would just like to think that people in this day and age, especially at a place like Wittenberg, know better and are more mature than that. However, I can't say I'm that shocked... I am surprised every day with something new about Wittenberg...

Drugs at Wittenberg

This weekend I did my usual routine. Get ready with the girls, blare music, down a bottle, and head out. But this time I was on a mission. To open my eyes a little wider to the drugs that are on Wittenberg's campus.

 The first party that I walked into was typical, there was drinking everywhere I turned, and a few smokers in upstairs rooms, rolling blunts and chilling out.

Party number two I was searching for more recreational drug use, but didnt find anything above a little weed and a lot of alcohol.

While my experiement seemed to failed, I fell back on my memory of past events to reflect on some more drug use on campus. Occasional harder drugs are never hard to find, and I know a handful of people who have done harder drugs like coke on this campus.

I think that while there are drugs everywhere on campus, it is only a problem if it is harming the other aspects of your life, such as homework, class, work, or other activities. If you smoke weed to chill out after a long day, I dont think its an issue.

In the meantime, im going to keep my eyes peeled for more drug use on Witts campus...