First Day of School!

I am officially a senior. I think that means I'm officially old.

Here are 6 reasons why today rocked.

1. I got to meet some of the PNM's that are going through recruitment! They are super stoked about their blue t-shirts and to be at college.
2. Can you say 141 PNMs!? This is 53 more than we had at this point last year. I am stoked.

3. Psychology of Aggression class. I signed up for this class at the last minute because my research seminar was canceled due to my professor taking the semester off. But it was so legit and I am really excited to learn all about this construct.
4. I successfully cooked my first dinner! I may or may not have caused the smoke alarm to go off, but it was delicious.

5. I colored an envelope that contains a letter of recommendation for my sister. I hope that's acceptable.

6. I got see Smoon, even if it was only for a few minutes.

I really like the first week of school, but I am ready for the craziness of the beginning of the year to settle down and to finally get into a routine.

Real Life

5 Weird Things About Being Back at Drake
1. I'm a senior. This is so weird. It didn't really hit me until Brittany and I were helping the first year students move into their residence halls today. I can't believe I started school 3 years ago. I also realized that I don't know as many random people now as I did the past three years.
2. I have my own room for the first time since high school. I really, really like it. It's fun. Right now, the walls are super blank and it's not decorated at all, but it is so nice to know that I can close my door and have alone time if I need it.
3. I've been crazy about cleaning. I absolutely HATE cleaning. But I noticed today that I kept wanting to wipe the counter or floor or table after any little mess was made on it. I wonder how long this will last.
4. I'm disaffilated. I was disaffilated last year, but I lived in the house so it wasn't as weird. But I haven't seen very many women from my chapter. I'm glad disaffilation is only the first two weeks of school this year, even though running around the student center with Brittany and Sarah has been really fun.
5. Tomorrow is the first time since June that I don't have to set an alarm to get up. Woah.

I really like being back at school. I am so excited for all of the opportunities that lie ahead this year and can't wait to make the most of everything I do for the last time. This is going to be like and epic, extended week 9.

#4 - Earn a Green Camp Jacket

3 Reasons Why Getting My 3rd Year Jacket Rocked:

1. They gave them to us at closing campfire week 9 instead of the banquet

2. THEY ARE FLEECE AND NOT WEIRD/UGLY PULLOVERS. I'm going to wear this everyday. Best surprise ever.

3. I got to stand up on the campfire stage with 8 other amazing counselors who have changed the lives of kids for the past three years. They are great friends.

Tonight We:

1. Went to Noodles and got free rice krispies because they forgot Arielle & my food
2. Ate delicious and real fruit at red mango
3. Invested in more stationary and a fun game of "Things" at Target
4. Caught up with good friends and had real life conversations
5. Ran into other staff at Grayhouse
6. Made fun lists about camp
7. Played 6 rounds of things
8. Laughed
9. Couldn't believe that it is week 6
10. Had the perfect and relaxing girls night off

No bad people, just bad action.

I spent all of last semester researching compassion with a professor. It is a complex construct and it overlaps with a lot of other emotions and psychological states. But one of the things that we spent a lot of time talking about is social cognition, and posed the question, "how do we get people to understand that there are not good and bad people, just good and bad action?"

This all came flooding back into my world at mass on Sunday. The gospel reading (Matthew 13:24-30) was the parable about how weeds were planted by the enemy among the good crops. The priest went to explain about how it may not seem fair that this happens, but a lot of things in life are not fair. Yes, this is a cliche, but a lot of times in life we fixate on that, along with placing the blame. However, figuring out "who started it" or who is to blame for a problem or a situation does not allow us to move forward. What we really need to do is focus on the core of the problem so we can address what is wrong, and move forward.

To me, these two concepts are those things that you can talk about for hours. But right now, they apply to my life in various different ways - in friendships, as a counselor, and as a coordinator. I love it when things start to overlap.

Week 3 & 4 in Pictures.

 I had Meghan in 2009 with Molly. We've been pen pals ever since. She is extremely creative and genuine, and I'm so glad I got to see her again! It is crazy that she is finally a Pathfinder.

 This is Emma. She lived in Catawba last week and sat on my lap during the Thursday fireworks show. It was so precious to see how excited she was when they were going off. She sang along perfectly to "Firework" when they played the song.

 Team CILT and Teton Girls. Def. Love them so much.

I'm not usually a big fan of waving my patriotism around obnoxiously, but week 4 at Camp T is a different story. During this week we find as many excuses as possible to chant "USA! USA!" and we dress as American as possible.

Fridays are the best day at Camp. This is mainly because of closing campfire. At the end of closing campfire there is a special ceremony for the campers who can no longer return to camp. As Pathfinder Coordinator, I get to give the medallions to the kids when they are recognized. Last week there were 65 torchbearers, so Mike, one of my village directors, helped me out. We recruited the help of KJ and Tom, the other village director, gave all the kids their candles. It's a very emotional time for all of the kids and we obviously take it very seriously.

It's a love/hate relationship.

Week 3 was full of ups and downs and intense emotional moments, as well as lots of laughs, creativity and fun. I'm exhausted but still am loving life. I miss some of my friends from Drake but and striving to stay present and live in the moment. It's hard to remember specific moments from last week right now.

Over the weekend Sarah, Sarah, Molly, Emily, Mary Claire, Maggie, Grace, and I drove to Louisville to see our best friend - Taylor Swift - in concert. Once our car was approximately 25 minutes outside of the city, disaster struck. We were driving Eleanor home and her friends who were also headed to the concert told her that it was canceled. Panic ensued as we all googled it, went to her website, checked her twitter, and called our parents to make them do the same thing. Much to our dismay, Taylor canceled her first concert EVER due to doctors orders.

Though twitter blew up with #GetWellTaylor tweet, we were not as sympathetic. Determined to make our trek back to Indy way more fun than the concert, Molly, Sarah M, Grace, & I made hilarious lists about why Taylor ruined our weekend and Grace wrote a haiku about her fingernails. Though our dreams were crushed, we had a great weekend off. We ate pizza and ice cream, helped Grace with her vlog, laughed, and got way more sleep than we would have if we went to the concert.

No worries, TSwift should be better soon and we should be able to get our money back. Sarah M & I are determined to go in September when she is in KC.

Week 4 has been so fun. I can't wait for Friday's festivities and to talk with these girls about how much camp means to them tomorrow.