Keep your fingers crossed!

Hello all! Please excuse my absence, it’s that time of year. By that time of year, I mean the 9 ½ months in which I put school in the middle of me and everything else- including my blog.
SO, what’s new? Well, for starters, tomorrow I hear back about the OL job. I’ve been literally praying for this job, thinking and rethinking and giving and then second-guessing interview responses, and planning my summer with the job as a main component, which even I know is foolish and likely to jynx me in the long run. Whenever it occurs to me that I might not get the job, after all the excitement, my stomach falls to my heels and I feel nauseous. I can’t recall where I left off, so I guess I’ll start with Group process day, which can not be explained without my ulcer (?). Two weeks ago, I woke up around 11 on Wednesday morning. I went and had breakfast and walked to my 12:15 class. In the middle of the first half, I started feeling this stabbing pain in my abdomen. I figured it would just go away; it didn’t. It progressed to adull sort of ache all over my abdomen, and I ended up leaving the class during our break at 1:30 and going back to my room, where, aside from a few spurts of getting up and walking around, I slept for about 21 hours. The next day, Thursday, I walked over to the health center, and they urged me to go to the hospital, concerned it was a gallstone. Dad came and picked me up, and we went to St. Peter’s to the ER, where they did blood tests and tested my urine and determined that the problem was between a gastritis in my stomach and the fact that since laying down the day before, I had become very severely dehydrated. They prescribed Nexium and lots of rest and fluids. Well, we got the Nexium, and I drank the fluids, but Friday I had to be back in New Paltz for Group Process day. (Picture, if you will, yours truly hauling a wheelie suitcase, half-walking, half-jogging, half-limping all the way across campus from the bus (which arrived at 3:!8) to Group Process day, whose sign-in ended at 3:30.)
Anyway, long story short, I was sluggish and weak during the roleplay games, the heated debates, and the short skit that was required of us. So imagine my surprise when I get a call the following Monday congratulating me on getting through to the second interview! Hooray!
The second interview went well—as good as, if not better than, the first interview. I made the points I wanted to make and had only a teeny brain fart: when they asked me what activities I was involved in on campus, I FORGOT ALL OF THEM. AHH!!!!! But I felt good about it, dressed appropriately, smiled a lot, arrived early, and made them all laugh. Despite all that, I know that the ratio of second-round interviewees to OL positions is 2:!. That’s nervewrecking. Some of the other applicants were multilingual, one of them mentioning the fact that he was actually fluent in 4 languages and near-fluent in a fifth. Others were involved in other leadership activities on campus, which always conflicted with my class schedule.
Anyway. No use dwelling over it now. I’ll have a definitive answer tomorrow afternoon. Until then, I just have to wait.

So, what else is new? It’s still cold off and on, which makes me physically ache for spring. I want to wear short sleeves and do my homework outside. I want to put my winter coats in my closet and forget about them. And it’s about time!
Classes are going okay. I have some projects coming up in Comp an in Intro to Painting that I’m really excited about; I’ll be creating a soundtrack to a short passage of a book that I love, responding to one of my new favorite movies, and painting an abstract portrait of Aileen Wuornos, who is my new favorite famous criminal. And, if you can believe it, I have 3 classes left in my Microeconomics class. Where on earth did this semester go?
Well, I guess this is more than enough for now. I’ll let you know tomorrow what the letter says!

Hi, all! It's been a while.

Let's see... What's new here?

Last week was Spring Break. It was awesome! I got to go with Dave to visit Tom in Arizona, and we got to do some really fun stuff. I got to go swimming in March- the punchline is that, even in Phoenix, the water was freeeeezing. It was a great week, and I got about 12 hours of sleep every night to boot. I came back to school feeling refreshed!

My classes are going okay. I'm getting stretched pretty thin between school and work but I'm readjusting my focus and working less and studying more and creating an 8-semester plan to graduate ON TIME!!

I applied to be an Orientation Leader- I don't know if I've mentioned this before? Well, every first-year or Fall transfer student signs up to come to New Paltz for 3 days in the summer, and there are 5 sessions to choose from. They come to campus and get a tour of all the academic buildings and tie-dye T-shirts and meet professors and choreograph a lip sync and walk all over the place and meet tons of new people. It's a hectic 3 days but it gets everyone totally pumped for the fall. At orientation, the students are pur in groups of about 15-20, and I would be a leader for one of the groups, which means I have to :

1. Love New Paltz (Check!)
2. Have lots of energy (Check!)
3. Have the stamina to walk miles and miles and spend all night organizing a lip sync (Uh... Check?)

So, I applied, and I interviewed for the position, and I got two letters of recommendation, and now I'm just waiting for next Friday for Group Process day, where the put all the candidates in a room and give them games to play and they watch us interact to see who's outgoing, who's shy, who's a natural leader, who's more laid-back, etc.

After Group Process Day, there's another interview. I'll know if I got the job in about 3 weeks. Keep your fingers crossed for me! It would mean that after 3 days a week for all of July, I would have enough money saved up to pay for the fall semester in cash. WHAT A RELIEF! That would be ideal. Again, keep your fingers crossed! heh.

So, that's about it for me right now. A lot of the same stuff. Tonight I walked home from work without a coat for the first time all year. There was a thick fog over campus, the grass was wet and everything smelled clean. It's FINALLY spring! Time to rejoice!

What's new, what's new, what's new...

In my last post, I said that campus is stunningly beautiful and to expect pictures. Well, one, it's no longer beautiful, and two, I am so sick of the icy weather that even if it was a work of art, I would probably not take pictures of it. But, alas! out my window is a courtyyard, and I see a patch of grass! Can it be? Hooray! Hoorah! Spring is on its way!


In other completely unrelated news, I'll be going home this weekend for my root canal- yuck!- and spending time with Allison for V-day. I'm actually very excited because I'm feeling under the weather and, thus, am looking forward to resting and sleeping in my own bed for 12 hours at a time.


I'm sure the big question is "How are classes?" And the answer is great. Especially Freshman Comp, Women Images, and Intro to Painting. History of Jazz is pretty much a study hall and Microeconomics is exhausting, but I'm getting by. I'm learning so much, especially in the first 3, because the subject matter fascinates me. In Comp, we're reading The Handmaid's Tale and I am absolutely riveted, trying to keep myself from reading TOO far ahead. Women Images, as I said to Mom on the phone the other day, has given me "goggles" through which I see TV commercials, music videos, magazine covers, my friends, even my textbooks in a whole new way. It gets to be annoying when I'm watching TV with my suitemates, though, and all I can think is why is the woman ALWAYS the one using the paper towels in commercials? Are men incapable? Would the paper towels sell less? And so on and so forth. Painting is cool because it's exhausting and frustrating and fun and is totally changing me as a painter.

Anyway, I've gotta go, or I'll be late for class. Back soon.

I'm Back!

Hello all!
I'm back in my dorm! And I'm so happy about it. I'm still in the process of unpacking but I'm not in a big rush. I know where everything is, which is the most important part.

Today, obviously, was the inauguration! I watched it with my friends in the Lecture Center, and when people were asked to stand to honor the president elect and vice president elect, people stood up! When people finished with their speeches/poems/songs, people clapped! We were stunned by the amount of people in DC right now. Today will be one of the most hope-filled days in Obama's presidency. I loved it.

Also, I cut my hair! It's now just shy of shoulder length. I've been struggling with it but I like it, I guess.


We got a white box in the mail the other day, and in it was one of the coolest gifts I've gotten in many years: My Keurig coffee pot, which is currently sitting next to my monitor! It works like a charm and I'm the envy of our residence hall. Thanks, Grandpa!

Anyway. That's all for now. Campus is stunningly beautiful, so expect pictures in the next couple days! Bye!

HO HO HO!!!

Merry Christmas!!


I hope all is well with all of you! School is over until January 19th, when I will be back in class at 8 AM, raring to go for a new semester, just one day before Obama is inaugurated!

The last few weeks have really been lovely. Finals came and went, and I did well on all of them, or so I can assume. I ended up with a 3.66 GPA and recommendations from two professors who suggested furthering my studies in their areas- Creative Writing and Spanish.

Then I did some work with my dad and came home, and I've hardly left the house ever since! I've been working, wrapping presents, cleaning, making a mess and cleaning up again! But now the tornado has died down and the house is calm and quiet and the wrapping paper is all in bags, so I thought I'd check in! Hope everyone is wonderful, full of eggnog and in bed by nine!


More soon!