College is School, Believe it or Not!

Too often do people forget that a rather important aspect of college life are these things called "classes." (Or is that just me?) Yes yes, between hittin' up the rec center, being all Maroon&Gold at the football games (please win one), basking in this fantastic October sun, figuring out the city bus system, adding to my friends' and my "quote sheet," and doing those usual "college-weekend" activities, I spend random parts of my weekdays walking to and from and attending 4 classes. So, I figured I'd give you an insight to each of them.

Spanish. Ah, my love. (It should show that I'm quite dedicated to pursuing this as a major due to the fact this class is 5 days a week, for 50 minutes, starting at 8 AM. Meaning I must leave my dorm room no later than 7:35 AM. Granted, this is my ONLY class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays...but still.) For those of you familiar with Gloria from "Modern Family," this is my professor. Seriously. She's super stylin', from Colombia, and pronounces my name "Kigh-la." I enjoy this class, though that's not a surprise considering I've always enjoyed Spanish! So, it's a good start to my día :)

Paranormal Psychology. Be interested in this. We talk about telepathy, ESP, alien abductions, ghosts, and other weird phenomena. I'm a bit of a skeptic on this stuff so it's really intriguing to learn about. Our homework isn't difficult at all, just reading about cool claims of "seeing the light," bending spoons, x-ray vision and such. Last week we had a local psychic/clairvoyant/medium come in and talk to us, and needless to say, I'm still a skeptic.

Latinos in the US. Well...they say everyone in college runs into a class they hate. I refuse to elaborate more on this for fear that this blog falls into the wrong hands. I best stop now.

What is College Writing Seminar. My professor for this is such an interesting guy. From the first day when he walked in wearing a tye-dye t-shirt underneath a plaid flannel button-up I was like "Yes." In here we are discussing how the role of the University has changed over the years, and I find it extremely easy to keep interest in this subject! The downfall: it's a 2 1/2 hour class right in the middle of dinnertime and about 53 minutes into it, all I can think about is food. The upside: it's only on Tuesdays, so I deal.

And there you have it. My first semester of college, freshman year. Just when I think I will have this routine down, I will be taking math and science (excuse me while I gag) next semester. Darn general ed's....

These Rose Colored Glasses...

Maybe it's birth order, I don't know, but the two remaining kids are not anything like the one that left.  Let's start with Tyler....First of all, he broke his phone last week, and now that he has money, he doesn't want to spend it on a new phone.  So, he gets a used phone for free from his girlfriend and pays the activation fee.  Less than 1 week with his "new" phone, it gets stolen.  He had it in his locker during football practice, and he said his locker was locked.  I asked him how someone could steal a phone if the locker was locked, and he said that the lock sometimes falls open.  I think it's user error.  Anyhow, this morning he leaves for school, I drop him off, drive home, and he texts me saying that it's picture retake day today and he wants retakes and could I drive back to school to bring him his grey tee-shirt.  "How do you know your first pictures turned out bad?"  I ask.  "Because I'm looking at them and I'm all bruised from the football game the day before."  Why he has his pictures and I've never seen them, and how picture retakes are scheduled for today with no advance notice, I don't know.  At least this wasn't as bad as last week, when I returned from work and the store and got home at 7pm and he said, "Oh, I need a German dessert for my class by tomorrow morning."  and "It has to be home-made."  (I still haven't gotten the pan back from my "home-made" boxed German chocolate cake...)  Is all this "middle child syndrome?"

Then, there's the third child, who I am no longer allowed to call "the baby."  I am actually fearful of calling her anything because of her quickness to anger toward me.  Last weekend, for example, she told me that she and her friends dressed up as cows and walked in the Beef-A-Rama parade.  "Oh, that's cute," I innocently said.  "Thanks for ruining it for me.  I wish I never would have told you," was her reply to me.  Okaaayyy....

And, don't even get me started on how hard it is to get either kid to do the dishes.  I think they'd rather live in a pig-sty and eat off the dirty floor then spend 20 minutes cleaning the kitchen.  Plus, each of them keeps telling me they "did it last week."  Wow, they are so overworked it's ridiculous!

Anyhow, they say you never remember the bad things, only the good.  Maybe that's why I'm looking back at Kayla's years living here and finding it hard to remember her doing those same things.  Although, if I really think hard enough, I know we had those same battles and trials (and probably worse), and we still have the hole in the basement wall to prove it:>

A Realization

So, talk about spontaneity. Saturday night a couple friends and I were like, "We miss our old friends in La Crosse! Coincidentally, Oktoberfest (ie: the biggest party in the Midwest right now) is happening in La Crosse tonight! Let's go!" After an exhausting afternoon spent dialing every contact in our phones who may possibly own a car, calling car rental places, and thus, realizing nobody will rent a car to three 18-year olds with no established credit, we got lucky and found a few people who had a vehicle and were down to go to LAX anyway! Meeting up with one of my best friends (that's us in the pic) right away when we got there was such an amazing feeling, and I realized that even though we hadn't seen each other in a month, nothing has changed, especially our strong and crazy friendship. She still runs like a goon. :)

You know what was a little strange though? I didn't have to approve this trip with the parents. I didn't have to go through the interview questions of "Who's driving?" "What time will you be back?" "What are you going to do there?" "Where are you sleeping?" I simply texted Mom when we were passing through Winona and said, "En route to LAX!" Of course, being all mother-ly and whatnot, she responded with "Be careful. But have fun!" And that was that! Of course I fill in my parents on what's been going on in my life at college, but it was just a strange realization, that I can really almost do whatever I want whenever I want now! Thankfully, they raised me well enough to know not to elope with some random guy I've known for like a week or to just stop caring and skip class all the time, I want to make them proud and be successful! So yes, college is spontaneous and independent, but the values and goals from back home will always keep me on track.

(By the way, my friend in La Crosse gave me a few of the most recent issues of our local newspaper. I just read them and I see that this columnist said "Wa-la" instead of "Voila." Again. Come on people, really?

Maybe I should be an editor...)

The Path

Ahh, it was so nice to have Kayla home for the weekend.  I am still caught by surprise by the lovely young woman Kayla has become.  It still is a bit strange to me that she is no longer a kid or a teenager that needs routine parental supervision.  She's taking care of herself, doing what she needs to do, and she's on the path to making a successful life for herself. 

She has always had a clear goal of wanting to be a teacher, and she has not waivered in that goal.  Now, she's in college to be a Spanish teacher, and after being there for just a couple of weeks, she is looking at this goal very clearly, and making sure she is on the right path to achieve it.  Right now, big questions loom, "is this the right college for this degree...would it be better for me to be at a different college and finish in 4 years and then work on my Masters while teaching?"  All good questions, and amazing that someone so young is so focused and clear in her vision. 

I'm glad she's thinking of these things and moving in the right direction.  But, I don't want her to worry too much about the future.  Like I told her, if she takes care of doing what she needs to do each day, the future will take care of itself.  Looking at the big picture is sometimes too overwhelming.  Just take it day by day, step by step, Kayla, and you will end up exactly where you are meant to be.

A Visit to Home

First visit back to my pretty little village this weekend! I know, I know, 18 days doesn't SEEM like a long time to be away but it is when you're used to being there every single day! I enjoyed some good old-fashioned Northwoods fish fry with the parents, a relaxing evening of watching "Sophie's Choice" with Mom (which by the way...is not a happy movie! Prepare to be traumatized by her "choice!"), grocery shopping at Trig's, baking a homemade apple pie, walking along the Bearskin Trail while the leaves are starting to turn, tons of delicious food prepared by the world's best cook (yes that's you Mom), cheering on the fabulous Pack for another victory for a 2-0 record thus far, and of course, sleeping in my wonderful bed that I do not have to climb up to :). Oh yeah, I saw those siblings who I dearly missed as well, but not much has changed (meaning the words "Tyler! Stop!" were still present in the house.) I drove a car instead of walking to where I needed to go, took a shower in a tub, not a stall, and kicked back on our big comfy couch, not a little futon.

And what a nice weekend it was, but I realized a few things. Home is comforting, familiar, relaxing, and gives you the sense that life will eventually work itself out from the unsurity and "overwhelmingness" that is college. College, on the other hand, is independent, exciting, inquisitive, and new. I love my family more than anything but they can't come to college with me! That would be some sad plot to a movie where the kid is too homesick and makes her parents live in the dorm with her...come on. Minocqua is my home, and who knows, eventually maybe it will be my kids' someday as well! But right now, I'm here, in one of the biggest metro areas in the nation, home to the country's largest Mall, (and worst football team...sorry Minnesotans!), and I am having an experience I will remember forever. And you know what else? I really don't miss unloading the dishwasher :)

These things I miss...

These things I miss:

• reading the local paper and enjoying spotting the errors (for instance, an article this week attempted to write "voila" at the end of a recipe, but instead the author wrote "walla")
• extra friends coming over at dinner time
• helping to curl hair (because a girl from the 80's knows how to work a curling iron better than anyone!)
• coming home to a clean kitchen because Kayla, like me, cannot stand a messy kitchen
• waking up to coffee on the mornings Kayla woke up before me
• saying "good night, I love you" every night
• proofreading the writing assignments for various school courses
• being asked, "What's for supper?"

These things I don't miss:

• starting the car to find the gas tank empty
• washing loads of jeans
• trying to figure out which socks are hers and which are mine
• helping with calculus problems I could no longer solve
• having my closet rummaged through to find clothes for a play set in the 1920's
• seeing clothes I just wore to work worn as costumes in a play set in the 1920's
• being asked "What's for supper?"

College...Week 1!

Here I am cuddled up on my purple futon watching the VMAs with a couple of my new friends. (Go Ke$ha, Go Ke$ha!) I have completed my first week of classes, and am at the tail end of my first college weekend (the last one doesn't count thanks to all of the orientation madness--see last week's post.) How do I even begin to write about all that's been happening? All the adjustments? All the innate "college-ness" I've already experienced in my first 13 days here at the U? The beginning I guess!

Thanks to that glorious holiday called Labor Day that nobody really understands the meaning of, I started my academic career at the U on Tuesday. At 8 am. Now, this means I need to leave my dorm room at 7:35 to make the long haul across campus to Spanish class. Monday through Friday. Thank God that 3 days a week this is my ONLY class (so yes...naps at 9:30 am are starting to have a special place in my heart.) I actually really like all of my classes so far, at least they seem pretty interesting! And I'm very proud of myself...I'm doing really good at "reading critically" and taking notes in the meanwhile. Hopefully this diligence lasts :S

Yay...now I can talk about the weekend! The "Big 10 Atmosphere" is so awesome on Saturday afternoons, just as you would expect. Every single person on this campus is donning their maroon and gold Gopher gear (I even made sure my earrings were these colors!) This weekend we took on the USD Coyotes which, unfortunately, didn't end in our favor. Yeah yeah...I KNOW Minnesota isn't that good of a football team but it was still so much fun! It was a pretty high scoring game so at least I got the excitement of cheering after touchdowns and getting into the groove of all the Minnesota traditions (like the "key jingling" at kickoff, the counting of Goldy's push-ups after each point scored, and the first-down cheerings and chants.) And of course, Saturday nights are, to say the least, "bumpin'." Huge houses. Legit DJ, (indoors and out). Strobe lights. Enough said.

I decided Sundays are the universal "sleep in too late, chill in pj's, do a little homework, watch the Packer game (that's right-Go Pack Go!), chill more, eat, sleep" kind of day. Its weird how I can walk around in sweats and barely any make-up on and I'm not the only one! Today I went out and layed in the grass in the middle of the lawn by my dorm and did a bunch of reading, I felt so college! I also feel this way when I have to walk up a floor to print one sheet of paper (annoying), when I text Mom asking her what setting to dry my clothes on (I'll get the hang of it eventually), and when I receive care packages from the best mom ever complete with a coffee mug, Packer jersey, and bucket of Minocqua's famous chocolate & caramel and cheese popcorn (I am so loved!)

I still miss home alot. It's getting better each day, which I knew it would, but I mostly miss the comfort of being with my family, and the familiarity of all my friends who are now spread across the Midwest. It helps to know that I'm not the only one who feels like this though, that every freshman in every college across the nation is adjusting to a new life. I'm blessed to know the people who have already walked into my life as new friends, this fact alone lets me know that I'm bound to love college. People always tell me that their best friends are from college, and I see that proof with adults I know, my parents included! I just need to be patient, let things fall into place, and enjoy each new day at this new place with SO much to offer.

Oh! PS) My "tight" jeans now just fit normally. Maybe this enormous campus with all the mundane walking it requires will do me some good. :)