Good morning and happy Thursday!
Friday was a “snow day” for us- or for me, at least. My first class got moved online because the roads were so bad and my second class was canceled. Under normal circumstances, I would have been jumping at the chance for a lighter day but I was just disappointed to miss class this early in the semester. I did get the chance to catch up on some homework and take the weekend slowly. I savored every minute of silence and sleep during my first weekend off in what feels like forever, even if it has not been that long since we even started back at school.
The quiet was short-lived and I have been nonstop since Monday! My birthday was on the 7th- my first ever birthday away from home. After years of waking up to cupcakes in bed and ending my night with Dirty Dancing watch parties, I was worried I would spend the entire day feeling homesick. But living on your own means taking ownership over how you live your life so I simply decided my birthday was going to be amazing. I told every person I could think of that my birthday was Monday, I bought myself a cute little ice cream cake, and manifested myself into a happy freaking birthday.
All that worry and planning ended up for nothing though because my friends and family found a way to make it special. I started my morning by seeing my mom and grandmother briefly (perks of going to college so close to home). I had just enough time to run the balloons and chocolate-covered strawberry tray upstairs before grabbing coffee together. It was still a Monday which meant classes and mock trial, but I was able to squeeze in a couple of meals with friends and cake that night. Overall, I would call the start of my 19th year a success.
birthday cake that night
Tuesday was a typical day with the Child Study Center in the morning, classes and studying that night, and HoCo that evening. HoCo or House Council is pretty new to me since Freeman used to hold it on Wednesdays when I had mock trial. Residents and ResLife staffers get together once a week to talk about hall issues (like the laundry machines which have been ruining our lives these past weeks), go over what happened at Senate that week, and engage in general tomfoolery. This week’s theme was stuffed animals but, alas, I have no stuffed animals in my room! Instead, I brought my special education textbook which oddly enough did not win the prize for the cutest stuffed animal.
I spent most of Wednesday at home because of a family commitment but finished the night off with mock trial and essay writing. I guess this is has been a pretty normal week on the surface but homework has been intense. Then again, I feel like I say that every week. I had four assignments due at the end of the week, a mountain of readings, and oceans of prep work for mock trial regionals. It’s still to early to tell if this is normal for 2nd semester of not. A couple weeks from now, I will either look back and thank God this crazy period is over or laugh at how naive I was to think it would ever end.
Wish me luck,
Jessie