Flight of the Busy Bumblebee

So, I finally just decided I would sit down late tonight and type up a blog because apparently doing it during the day is impossible. The hours just keep getting away from me.
Okay, so it's been so long since I posted on here that I'm not sure what I said last post. Therefore, I apologize if I repeat myself, but I'm too lazy to go back and read the old one. ;p
Anyway, onto the spoils:

I am still volunteering at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, which is super fun. However, it turns out that the only time I'm available this semester to volunteer there is November 10. This is due to all the other cool stuff I am doing:

I am volunteering at Heritage Community, which a Senior Living center in Kalamazoo. I go to Amber Place, which is an assisted living center in the community, every other Tuesday (I used to go every Tuesday, but with everything else, I had to ask my supervisor Rebecca to cut back :/) and read to a group of residents. Last week, there was a line dancing activity during my reading block, but one of the residents, Dick, didn't want to go, so I had a one-on-one session with him. I read the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which I had begun to read the week prior. Of course, since most of the assisted living residents are memory care patients, he did not recall this. He asked me to recap the story up to the point I was reading (he thoroughly enjoyed hearing it at the time, but was glad to hear it again--to him, for the first time). As I had hoped, he loved my reading to him once again. He laughed at all the right parts and was actively listening to me and looking at me as I was reading. He's such a sweet man! It made me feel really good to make his day, even if he won't remember it once I'm gone.

Also, doing Bronco Buddies again. I have yet to hear back from her, as I recently sent my first letter. But she seems like a sassy little thing and I hope she's fun! She's very "grown up" for a fourth grader. Near the end of her note, she told me "My best friend is Emma, she's in my class. We hang out (not play) together. And by the way, my picture is not updated." xD
I still email KK, but apparently she's an extremely busy fifth grader and can only email me once a month or so.

And the biggest news, I think: I joined a sorority!
Pi Beta Phi. Our philanthropy is Child Literacy (hi, I wanna be a literacy coach!) and we do some regular ol' literacy on the side. My sisters are super cool, and super sweet. A lot of them are just as geeky as me, they dig Harry Potter and appreciate my dry humor. We always get some good laughs in at sisterhood events. Can't wait to get my big and become initiated!!!

This is Leeann, a friend of Kat's, and now my sister!

This is Dani, or pledge educator. Love her!

We had our first sisterhood event soon after, where we all decorated a puzzle piece. Then, Lidia, our president, put them all together to make the puzzle of Pi Phi, with each piece representing the members. So cute, right!?

The ATO Fraternity boys came by to welcome us new members and give us carnations (or sorority flower)!

My puzzle piece

Some of the other puzzle pieces, drying :)

I'm sworn to secrecy on some things that have to do with Pi Beta Phi and what we do within it, but I CAN tell you that it's already been a wonderful experience and while we have sisterhoods every Tuesday and meetings every Sunday, it's lovely to know that I have people I can turn to and that I can call my sisters. <3 p="p">

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Lately, I've been feeling very burnt out. Between all the cool extra curriculars that I'm doing and my academics, I've got a lot on my plate. While I don't want to give anything up, I feel like I'm not doing anything for myself, even though I'm doing things that are worthwhile.

I hadn't seen Lindsey in ages, but today, we had plans and those plans became a spontaneous explosion of events:

We went to Mongolian for dinner, ate too much, like always. Then, as we're sitting there waiting for the checks, Lindsey goes "I really want my cartilage pierced. Can we go to the mall?" So, of course, we went to the mall. But she didn't want to do it alone and it seemed like the perfect way for me to do something for myself, which coincidentally I had been searching for, and I got to do it with a great friend of mine. In fact, she'd said earlier that day "It's like I never left you, Sam." <3 gee="gee" her.="her." i="i" love="love" p="p">

                                               

Anyhow, so then we went shopping a little and maybe spent a bit too much money, but it was a good time and we can't regret that. Plus, there were some awesome deals we just couldn't pass up!

We'd had plans to meet my Pi Pal (one of my Pi Phi sisters), Carmen, at Pinz to go bowling. Ladies night, $1 games, $2 shoes! WHAT WHAT! So we had to hurry over to the alley to meet her on time, but then it turned out she was late too because another of our sisters, Emily, and her Pi Pal, Sam (haha) wanted to come too! So we all played 3 games together, spent only $5 and had a great time together, even though we're all awful at bowling!

Lindsey's lovely (notice the ball is already in the gutter) technique.

She got a strike!

The final score of game 3.

But we weren't done yet! We both needed to go to Meijer, so we scooted on over there and bought some stuff. Then, around eleven, she finally brought me back to my dorm. We learned that she has a good chunk of time between classes on Wednesday, so she's going to come hang out in the dorm with me until her class, instead of the boring ol' library, since I'm right here by both her classes. :) That means we'll see each other at least once a week!! The best end to a not go greatly started day. <3 p="p">

A New Home

Once again, I find myself moving in with a couple of girls I don't know.
And once again, I had roommate trouble.
The very moment the information became available, I was looking at the contract.
The next day, I texted her. No response.
I searched for her on Facebook. No correct results.
Eventually, I looked at the contract online again and. No roommate.

Kat and Erica are my quad mates, as I'm living in this big quad now. They are both freshman. Kat and I hit off immediately, texting almost everyday and having the space basic interests and lifestyles. She's gorgeous, too.
Erica and I spoke a little, but we didn't seem to really click. There was nothing wrong, we just weren't really chatting.

So yesterday, I met them in person and moved all my stuff in. The walls are now covered with pretty pictures and cute wall clings.

It's still not finished, though, and all the totes are driving me insane! It's so cluttered right now and it makes me anxious. Can't wait for mom to come pick me up on Thursday, so I can take all this crap home. Not to mention that I'll get to see my family, also. :) I miss them already.

Erica has had her boyfriend here since late last night and Kat and I are unsure if Erica will be trouble in paradise or if it's just weird because we just moved in. It remains to be seen.
So far, she doesn't seem like the type of girl I would hang out with, but we're getting along alright and I don't hate her. Haha.

I can only hope my roommate, whenever I get one, will agree with our set-up and be like us, so that we don't have to live with someone awful. I would hate to have to worry about my stuff when I'm in class. I wish there was a lock on the armoires, Erica's friend already took one of Kat's belts to wear without asking. :/

I've only been back a day, but it feels like I never left. I already hung out with Karlie, Kallyn, and Brittany, I have the room looking good, and I'm ready to start classes.

This weekend is gunna fly by.

Two More Weeks, my foot is in the door

Ten days before I come home. Twelve lectures and four finals.

It can't possibly go by fast enough.

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On the bright side, I went to meet my Bronco Buddy on Friday!

After a four hour drive to Illinois, we walked in the front door to this wonderful sign.

Then two young men showed up to escort us to the classroom. Just outside the door, was our school flag! These kids were so excited, me and Elise were the first Bronco Buddies around the corner and all the kids were looking toward the door and there was a stage-whispered chorus of "They're here!"

They gave us a tour of their school and then we did a Q & A with them. After that we had pizza, played kickball, and gave the kids some gifts! I got Kayla a Western shirt that matched one of mine, as well as a Scooby Doo shirt. She also got a scrapbook and some of my paper and stickers, because had spoken about scrapbooking our letters and meeting.

She loved it all. She surprised me with a present too! She got me some stickers for MY scrapbook and a pretty purple ribbon that said "love" with hearts all over it. I'll be sure to use it in my scrapbook of our letters!

The day was over way too fast and we had to start the FIVE hour drive back (time change).

I won't post the pics of me and Kayla, since she's 9 and I'm sure her parents don't want her face all over the internet. :) But for the family--I'll show you guys when I get home!

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That's really all the news I have.

I went to Copper Beech this weekend and hung out with the girls and some of their friends.

It was nice to hang with them before I go home for the summer. Especially since I can't hang with them next weekend. It's my last weekend for the year and Linds, her mom, her grandma, and I are going to see Hairspray here. Then, hopefully, we'll hang out. We'll probably have a Greek/Study marathon. By that I mean, we'll watch a ton of Greek, take a break and study for finals, and then watch more Greek, and then study...blah blah. It'll be great. :)

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One thing I'm worried about, other than finals of course, is that the deadline for applying to be a junior counselor is fast approaching and the a question I need answered has not been replied to by the guy I'm supposed to email with questions! I'm concerned I won't be able to apply. And the question I asked could determine if I can or not too. I think I may be lacking a requirement. :/ Guess we'll find out if he EVER emails me back.

Let's hope!

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Be home soon! <3

Winding Down

While the semester is coming to an end, I still have time before I can stop stressing.

I'm ahead on my homework enough that, while there is three weeks of classes still before finals, I only have two weeks of homework left to do. Some of that will get done today, as well.

All that's left:

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My brother, Bobby, was supposed to come out to Western this weekend, but they had a ton of snow, ice, and hail and he was worried about making the drive. So, yesterday I got a ton of homework done before I went to the Drag Show that our LGBT group, Outspoken, puts on every year. That was a lot of fun and I met some cool people from the group, and from WSA that Brandy knows. They invited me to go to the Diversity Lock-in tonight, where they will be doing some team building-esque activities. Brandy planned the event, so she asked me to be a volunteer for her. She didn't have that many people helping out, so I said I would do it. She won me over when she said I get a free t-shirt. :)

Anyway, the Drag Show was so great. It lasted a long time, but that was okay because I wasn't bored of it. It was different than I thought it would be, but I guess I've never been to a Drag Show before, so what I expected doesn't mean that's what it's supposed to be like. They didn't just walk down the runway in their outfits, they did a whole dance number. Some of them really looked like women too! Some of the girls also looked a great deal like men.

Dolly Dion:
GQ Joe:

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Tomorrow is Lindsey's birthday! I'm so excited. I got her the new Footloose DVD. I bet she's going to want to watch it right away. I love that movie just as much as she does, so that's okay.

Speaking of birthdays, Celeste's was this past Wednesday. Linds and I walked into her room and sang her happy birthday, with the cha-cha-cha in between lines and all. :)

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Only 4 weeks before I'm home for 4 months! I'm so excited to come home!

I'm even to start working!

Speaking of work, I have been filling out applications (and learning you have to go to lots of places to get the application) and some of these jobs I really hope I get.

Here's my list of places I plan to apply: (* top picks)

OptimEyes*

Dollar Tree

Victoria's Secret PINK

Hobby Lobby*

Claire's

PacSun

Kohl's

Charlotte Russe

Macy's

Barnes and Noble*

Pet'Smart*****

The reason Pet'Smart is starred so many times is because I applied to be a Pet Care Associate. That means I get to work WITH the animals, instead of around them. I would give them food and water and medicine, clean out their cages, make sure they're healthy--all that good stuff.

I'm not sure I'll get it, since my work experience is minimal, but I sure hope I'm at least considered.

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Mimisu is doing alright. He's weight lift training now: I put washers on the other side of the lever so it takes more muscle to push down. To end the experiment I need him to push down at least 25 washers four times in row. So far, he's stayed in the 14-18 range, which isn't bad, but I still need to get through one more experiment before I do my final one (which I still have no idea what to do for). He's gotten up to 21, but as soon as that happened he stopped performing well and immediately fell down to 13 washers. Lazy rat. :P

Sad news, though: one girl in my class named her rat Agamemnon (like the rat from Flowers for Algernon). I warned her, jokingly, that this was bad luck (for those of you who don't know the story--the rat dies at the end and it's very sad).

When we got back from Spring Break, we got into lab and Kendra says to this girl "I'm so sorry, but you're rat passed away prematurely over break."

Hers is the only one to die so far--there's only 6 labs left. Perhaps I was right about the bad luck in the name, after all.

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Ah, so I went to that thesis seminar.

D:

I'm not any less anxious about it. I might even be more so, now.

I have NO idea what I'm going to write about. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

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Finally, some upcoming events.

Easter Weekend: I'm going homeeeeeeeeee!!!!!! :D

April 12: Shawn's birthday! Not sure what I'm gunna get him yet. Hmmm.

Funny thing about this day, Linds' boyfriend, A.J. also has his birthday. Strangeeeee.

April 13: Bronco Buddies trip! I'm so excited to go down to Illinois and meet Kayla. That's all she can talk about in the letters she sends now. "It's almost April, I'm so excited!" haha. Oh, what a cutie.

April 20: Hairspray with Lindsey and her mom and grandma. It should be super fun. :) And a wonderful de-stressor before finals.

Which bring me to..

April 26: Move out day! I return home. YAAAAAY!

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And with that, I ought to do some work so that I can erase some of that marker off my board. Maybe after Chapter 30, I'll watch Battlestar Galactica for a bit. I'm so close to the finale and I get excited just thinking about it. :D :D :D :D

Hot Hot Hot!

I've been so stressed out about getting all this homework done, that I didn't even realize I was stressed until Shawn and Lindsey pointed out that I needed to calm down and take a break.

Somehow, I stopped being ahead on my homework, but I'm hoping to remedy that this weekend. Lindsey isn't here, so I should be able to accomplish it. Of course, I may be going over to Karlie's. But she works until five thirty tonight so I still have all that time. Plus, she has a project to work on too, so we'll probably just have a homework party. :)

As for the actual work:

I have to study, study, study. I have a Bio test on Tuesday (studying with Kar, probably--I should be okay), a Communication Disorders test of Wednesday (easy peasy lemon squeezy--I know all my note cards), and a History Test on Thursday (going to attempt to study--if the T.A. does the same crap from last time though, I guess I'm out of luck, but my grade wasn't that bad).

My final project for Psych is coming up--the draft for the paper is due next Thursday (the 29th). I've decided to write about the conditioning of women to want huge, extravagant weddings and how even when they act like Bridezillas, they still get what they want (I will be using clips from the show, Bridezillas). I think it's going to be fun. Plus, I get to watch bride shows. Haha. I'm also trying to use My Big Fat Fabulous Wedding and My Fair Wedding. :)

My Fair Wedding will be easy because these women have cheap, "ugly" wedding stuff and this guy comes in and makes everything crazy big and beautiful. Reinforcing? I think so. :D

As for my rat lab project, though. I have no idea what kind of experiment to do, but I better figure it out soon. :/

Fun Stuff:

Linds and I went to Pinz and got $1 games because it was Ladies' Night!

Well, sort of fun stuff:

I'm signing up to be a Junior Counselor at the Leadership Camp I went to the summer between my Junior and Senior year. If I get it, I'll go the Summer of 2013. This is only sort of cool, because I have to write an essay for it and all.

Also only kind of fun is on Wednesday I'm going to a seminar about the Honors Thesis (even though I might get that Psych lab thing). In the last blog I said the seminar was on last Thursday. They had two sessions, which is good because this last one started in the middle of my Psych class. So now, Brandy and I are going together (the fun part) on the 21st.

Weather:

For awhile it was so windy here that I was falling over. Now, it's so hot and I only have one pair of shorts! D:

I'm not complaining about this weather by any means, though. I'll wear jeans if I have to and just be hot; I'd rather that than be freezing!

Well, I've procrastinated from studying enough!

Lawson Lunatic

Since my last blog, I've actually had a life other than homework. Yay!

I've found a way to constantly stay ahead of my homework--it's lovely to know the assignments for the whole semester.

Now, my calendar is full of fun things to do!

Lindsey, Emily, and I decided to go to the hockey game last weekend. The students are called Lawson Lunatics because its Lawson arena and we're crazy fans! Our chants are so funny.

We were versing Alaska, which is kinda weird, I guess. But we played them Friday and Saturday--Friday we kicked butt. Saturday, not so much. :(

But the important thing is that we had a great time!

The Broncos are versing Ohio State this weekend and I want to go, but the only person I have to go with is Karlie and she isn't sure if she can come because she has a lot to do. We'll see how that works out. But it would be pretty lame to go alone. Haha.

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Other fun things coming up in my schedule:

Friday: Bronco Buddies lunch! We're skyping our buddies!

Saturday: Volunteering at the museum. Love that place!

Sunday: Dinner with the Deans. It's a sneak peek into the honors courses that will be offered in the Fall.

Then I go home next weekend! Then I go to Dad's the next weekend to see Rock of Ages!

Then a week later is Spring Break. It's going to be awesome to be home a whole week and not have to worry about homework!

March 13th I register for the fall semester! So excited! Remember that Super A I mentioned? I'm well on my way to getting so many OAPs that that one credit can become 3! I'll be taking a 3 credit course with no lecture or work!

March 15th is a seminar for our Honors Thesis. But if I'm lucky I can be part of the BRSS (Behavioral Research Supervisory System) program. Basically, I'll be an assistant of a grad student and I'll write little weekly reports and papers that will accumulate to become my thesis paper! That way, I don't get overloaded with trying to research and write the whole 30-40 page paper all at once AND I get to do sweet research! AND I could get Departmental Honors!

This will be really great if I decide to minor in Psychology! Plus, it will look awesome on a résumé!

With any luck, my brother, Bobby, might be coming to visit the last weekend of March. I sure hope that works out!

Then April 13th I go to Illinois to meet my Bronco Buddy.

Then two weeks after that I'll be all done with exams and I can come home for the summer!

Then in May, I have Relay (WOO!) and Nicole said I could come job shadow her for a week! This is great because I have to job shadow a Speech Pathologist before I can apply for the Professional Program here at Western and if all things go well I'll be signing up for that next February. And I'm very close to being able to apply for the professional elementary education program too. :D

Everything is going fabulously!!!!

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Mimisu is still doing great. He's on lever pressing now and he's very good at it. I'm hoping to get a video Monday, because it's so funny to watch him quickly go around in a circle. Lever, water, lever water. Teehee.

There he is!

I don't know why, but he doesn't like it when I try to get him out of the Skinner box. He doesn't mind me getting him out of his cage or anything, but he doesn't like me to touch him when he's in the box. He actually leaps out of the box. It's funny to watch and so far I've been able to be where he jumps, so he jumps right into my arms. But I'm worried one day he'll jump some other way and I won't catch him. Sure, it will be his fault when he hits the floor, but I'll still feel bad when he gets hurt. :/ Professor Combs says she's never seen a rat jump out of the box like that.

Go figure I get the unique one, right? :P

He's such a brat. Just like me. :D

Of Rats and Disorders

Classes are going well. I feel pretty confident that my grades are staying high.

Especially in Psychology.

Rat Lab is awesome.

Mimisu, my cute little partner

He's pretty smart. I'll have more pictures later.

I don't know how much I can say about the lab at this point, since we just started our first experiment (although, Mimi is doing so well, I can start recording data on him next lab--YAY!).

My Psych class is pretty cool, too. I mean it's routine

Go over homework. Talk about Chapter. Answer any questions people have. Quiz. Leave.

But it's fun. Sometimes we get into neat discussions.

On Thursday, we talked about the difference in having language communications and having reinforcers that make animals do something. Coco, the gorilla, may not actually be talking--so says Professor Combs--she may have just learned that by making the sign 'banana' (which the people working with her taught her) that she gets a banana. She may not even know that the sign means banana in a type of language.

I'm not sure I agree with this, but I suppose I don't have any evidence for a counterpoint.

I was thinking, maybe I could even minor in Psychology, as well Elementary Education. It would really help with my major, I think, because then I would better understand and even work better with children with disorders.

I'm not sure yet, though. I have to see how much I enjoy Psych at the end of the semester.

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As for my Communication Disorders class, it's still pretty boring. But I don't really care because it's a Speech Path class!

A few interesting things have been associated with this class, though. :)

Stephen Tasko, a Speech Therapist (and a Bronco Alum), came in to talk to us about how to maintain a healthy voice. This has a lot to do with our vocal folds. Our vocal folds are not pretty, so I haven't added a photo in the blog. If you're curious...Google search with caution.

They don't bother me for a few reasons:

1. They're natural

2. I'll have to work with them as a Speech Pathologist, might as well get used to them now

3. They're kind of interesting

Anyhow, Dr. Tasko brought in a camera, just like they use in clinics to check out your Vocal Folds, to show us his. A lot of my classmates were grossed out by the folds (and the fact that you could see way down his trachea!), but like I said, I thought it was really interesting.

Maybe I'm weird.

A couple other cool things (sort of) is that I have two papers to write. Writing the papers is the not-so-cool part. But what they are about is what's neat-o.

So, for the first one we were given a book list from which we had to pick one, read it, and write about the disorder in it (after research), then write about the impact of the disorder on the book's main character's life, as well positive and negative interactions with professionals. After that, all I have to do is say what insights I've gained and how it is similar or different from what we learned in class.

I read the curious incident of the dog in the night-time, yes it is really all lower-case.

It's a fictional tale about a boy named Christopher who has Autism. He finds the dog of a woman who lives across the street, but it has been killed. He decides to write a book (the curious incident of the dog in the night-time) about it--his para-professional tells him to--and all these crazy things happen.

It was a really good read and it really helped me understand what Autism is like. As a Speech Path, I will be working with lots of children with Autism, so I'm glad for that.

Honestly, I think I may read some of the other books on the list, just because.

For the second paper, I have to interview a Speech Pathologist and then write about the interview and how it fits (or doesn't) with what we learned in class, as well as how the experience influenced my interest in the profession.

It's not due until April, but seeing as Nicole, my sister, is a Speech Pathologist (in an Elementary School, no less) it seemed silly not to interview her. Because she is a lucky resource and she's doing exactly what I want to do once I finish Grad School...in my next life. Just kidding.

Anyway, she was so happy to help when I asked if I could interview her some time that she had me call her later that week (which is great, I'm not complaining by any means).

SO, my interview is done and now all I have to do is write the paper.

I haven't yet because, well:

1. I still need to write the paper about the book I read for the same class

2. I have a ton of other homework

3. It's not due until April

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My life is pretty much class, eat, homework, sleep, repeat. But that's alright because Lindsey and I sit together in my room and do homework together. Or I do homework and she watches Gossip Girl. Whichever.

We have lunch together Mondays and Wednesdays, and I have lunch with Emily and Liz (the girls down the hall that we watch Pretty Little Liars with) on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

That's nice, but it's about all I can say as far as having a social life. Which is alright with me. To me, College is about my higher education, not about being ridiculous and doing whatever (ahem, other people on my floor). I do admit, without Linds in here a lot of the time, I may have gone crazy (in the sense that I would have lost my mind, not become a stupid college kid). But I have her, so I have nothing to worry about. <3