Life Two

Well.  I haven't vomited yet.  Although I think I almost did this morning.

I guess I should start from the beginning.  Hmm?  We get there on Wednesday and we are supposed to check in at the Lofts (the girls' dorms).  We go in and it's pretty crazy.  Not as organized as it could have been.  And that is where I get some very special news.  I am in a completely different room.  New floor and everything.  Do we know if my roommates moved with me? Nope.  We walk into the room and there's a girl with her two parents who is someone I have never ever seen before in my life.

I have new roommates.  I had spent all summer trying to get to know my roommates so we could ease into this stupid college experience as smoothly as possible.  But no.  I have to start over.  I have to go in with my arms outstretched in a completely dark room.

So it's my family and hers unpacking.  She's from Indiana.  Blah blah blah unpack.  We leave and get more stuff done.  And come back to find another roommate.  From New Jersey.  Then more unpacking.

Then sleep?

Thursday?  Alright.  Orientation.  It's basically EFY.  I literally have two counselors and we have groups and we play games with our groups and we have groupe meetings and discussions and we go to assemblies.

Friday?  Same thing.  Except even though I'm in "Bella Voce" on Tuesdays and Thursdays I still had to audition for the people to see what they thought of me.   So you go and wait with a bunch of other people in the hallway and while you wait you can totally hear the person going.  And while you wait you have to pick a hymn to sing for the people.  There are a couple of books going around so you can think of a hymn but I needed a book to see.   The rumor is that they as you to sing the soprano part and the alto part (with the piano).  So I end up choosing "As Sisters In Zion".

So it's finally my turn OH.  Wait.  They made us fill out a little piece of paper with our info and everything and our choir background.  I said:  3 years of high school choir, church choir since 8th grade(?), and conducted choirs.  Now, after I came in and handed that paper in and introduced myself they asked about it.  Oh.  Again they.  There were two guys (rather young, maybe still students)  and one old, sweet lady.  Yeah.  They asked about the conducting.  And right at that moment I completely regret writing it down.  And I told them.  I said, "I probably shouldn't have written that down."  And they laughed.  They loved me. But I told them that I conducted the youth choir and the ward choir.  And they might have been impressed.  I don't remember.  Wow.  Anyway.  Getting to the point.  Ummm what did we do.  I think first we did.  My range.  I got up to I think she said a high C and then down to an F# if I heard/remember correctly and then we did a memory thing where she would play a little five note diddly and I would sing it back to her.  No big deal.  Unless I'm tone deaf.  Then we did the hymn which was okay.  The problem with the whole audition was that I was pretty rusty.  I hadn't been singing  very much for the past two weeks and so I was a bit squeaky.   The worst part of the whole the was the alto line.  I start making my one line up because I wasn't looking to hard and I was all over the place.  And once I lost one note I lost 'em all.

I think the results are in, but I don't want to go down and check 'cause they're so far away.

And then for the rest of Friday we had the luau (I went - it was just food) and Knight games (we're the Knights) which were fun to watch people fools of themselves.

Saturday? We took an honor oath.  We did a service project.  OH.  Ok.  We had a toilet problem.  We went all over the dorm looking for a freakin' plunger and we finally found one but I knew by just looking at it that it probably wouldn't work.  I tried for an hour to fix the toilet but it wouldn't work.  I was so upset and a little angry because what kind of dorm wouldn't have a plunger even in a closet somewhere.  So, after a little bit of crying,  I drove to walmart (I'm not going to capitalize it.)  and bought a stupid plunger.  Though I shouldn't call it stupid because it is my most favorite thing.  After I unwrapped it and unclogged the toilet, I woke up my roommate and told her the toilet worked (it had been  about 7 hours of it not working).  Then I went to my computer to tell Facebook that the toilet worked and my internet wasn't working.  I nearly started crying again.

Oh yeah.  That's a thing.  The internet is seriously having a problem.   It's fast when it works but something is wrong.  I'm doing different experiments before I go to people because it's seriously a weird problem that all three of us have.

Then I did my laundry and then we went to a dance.  Then we went to sleep.

Then we woke up and went to church.  Tonight we have a fireside.  And now the internet is breaking left and right.  I'm truly angry.


Overall:
I'm glad that my room got switched.  Classes are starting tomorrow.  Mmmmmehhhhhrrrrgggg. Scared.

Finally!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have figured it out!  After all this time of thinking and thinking I have got it - and it is good.

I have always found the idea of different types of learning very interesting.  What works best for people? How to teach what?  Which teachers are best at which type?  I wanted to find the perfect teacher.  I  might be able to say that I did.  It was my tenth grade social studies/AP European History teacher.  He had this way of making history into a story - a story that I was fascinated by.  If I had to give credit to someone for my love of history, discussion, politics, social sciences, learning, it would be him.  Because of the story telling.  

So while I was watching this video, I was a tad distracted and I started thinking about how I learn.  And then it finally clicked.  I am very much an auditory learner.   I looked it up to see if it was a real thing and I got this: "Auditory learners are those who learn best through hearing things.  They may struggle to understand a chapter they've read, but then experience a full understanding as they listen to the class lecture."  This is so true.  I hate reading text books.  I wish someone could read them to me.

While taking tests or writing essays in school, I would remember information that my teacher said.  But not just, "Oh, she said ___."  No - I would literally repeat exactly what I heard: words, tone, fluctuations.  I would replay the whole scene, listening to my teacher's voice which is why my social studies teacher was so good for me.

THIS is why I am so good at music.  In fact when I've heard a song and I hear someone try to hum it, sing it, cover it, I can very easily hear a mistake.  I can't tell you what you did wrong, but I know it's there.  That's why, when I played piano, I played by ear.  I rarely used the music which is why I eventually quit, because I never really learned how to read music.

Funny things:

• Though I am very good at music, I am extremely terrible at lyrics.  It takes me a very long time to learn lyrics and I have to work very hard at it.  
• I can't take descriptions well.  If someone were to describe what their new dress looks like, the color, the length, the cut, anything I wouldn't even try to visualize.  I would stop the person in mid sentence and say, "Don't even try.  I can't do it."
• I am very bad at directions.  With directions I am a visual person.  I need to have been on the trip before, many times before or I need a map (gps style works best).  
• Even small directions like, "I need you to get something for me..."  Where a person would spill out directions for which room to go into and which closet to open and which shelf to look on.  No - I get very nervous when someone confronts me with something like that.  I have to try so, so hard to remember.  That's where the auditory playback comes in.

I can't believe it took me this long to figure out and I just had a quick talk with my mom.  I said, "Mom, I'm an auditory learner," and she said, "I know."  My mom knew.  Of course she'd know, but it took me my entire childhood to finally click it all together.  I'm so excited to use my new found information! 

Oh boy.

Today, I got a college email about housing.  It showed me where to find out who my roommates are (who a already knew about) and what to do when I get there. 

"New students are scheduled to arrive on Wednesday, August 25^th between 9am and 5pm. Orientation activities will begin the next morning.  Your student ID card and orientation materials can be picked up at Main Hall after you have checked into your housing assignment."

Before, I was pretty okay with the idea of going to college.  But after getting this email, I am scared.  I am scared about being eight hours away from home.  I scared about living with three new, different girls and having no privacy. I'm scared to be taking college-level classes.  I'm scared to have more papers.  I'm scared to have to take care of myself.  I'm scared that after this, after the next four years, I'll be a full on grown up.  That I'll have to have a job, that I'll have to support myself.  I'm scared that I can't do it.

It's all hit me.  And I don't want to go.  

Graduation.

So Saturday, June 26, I graduated from my high school.  We will be going through everything that happened that made that day the way it was.

So it started the day before, Friday.  At one o'clock I went to my graduation rehearsal.  It was a complete waste of time.  We learned where to sit.  It took an hour and a half.  We also got our caps and gowns.  Green for boys, white for girls.

Now, looking at graduation photos, I have always wondered how those dang caps stay on everyone's heads.  They look so unstable.  So I open my package with my cap and gown and take a look.  Turns out, my cap CAN'T stay on my head.  It's just a piece of cardboard on a little fabric circle. There's no way.  I'm nervous for the whole rest of the day, "How on earth is that stupid  cap going to stay on my head?!"  I try looking online.  "How does do you keep the graduation cap on your head?"   There are almost no answers.  Most of them say, "How to decorate your graduation cap," and the rest of them say, "Hairstyles best for graduation caps."

Well I finally find one little thing that says, "Use some bobby pins to keep your hat in place."  Thank goodness!  I found something useful, but I was a little embarrassed that I didn't think of it.  The next problem was that I didn't have any bobby pins.  I used to have a ton, but I threw them away, I never used them.  But after I read that I searched the house frantically for something to use.  I finally found one little red bend snap clip with a red flower on it.  It stood out.  Not a lot, but it did.  I would clip the cap on the opposite side of the tassel, for balance.  It barely worked.  I had to keep very still, I couldn't look up or down.  After I partially solved my problem, I went to bed.

The next day I got ready and we went to pick up my friends to get there an hour early.  Ladies and Gentlemen, here's where it gets ugly.  I have a major problem, where I get so nervous that I get really nauseous.  I also have a big fear of throwing up.  Put those together and you get an awful cycle that eventually leads to vomit.  Well, that's what happened.  I wasn't PARTICULARLY nervous.  I didn't want my hat to fall, I didn't want to trip, I had to sing that day, but I wasn't too nervous, but nervous enough.  (Turns out I was a little sick too, we had a thing going around the family.)  But yes, I threw up.  I feel really bad because my friend and her mom were in the car too, but I've thrown up in front of a majority of my friends.  Heh.

We get there and I'm still feeling ill.  I see everyone already wearing their caps and gowns  so I get mine on.  I work to get my hat on, and we walk to the building.  Tons of people are out talking and taking pictures and I start looking around.  Other people's hats look different than mine.  They look like they have elastic and better fitting.  People aren't walking around like they're holding books on their heads.  Turns out, my hat was DEFECTIVE.  I was furious.  How dare they give me a defective hat!  I was so angry.

Well, I was supposed to be there an hour early to get lined up.  We were late, but it turned out that it didn't matter.  Which also angered me.  I hate waiting for something that I don't want to do.  I stand there and make chit chat with random people dreading the ceremony.  We all have no idea what we're supposed to do and I feel like I'm going to throw up again, so I'm looking for quick exits.

We finally start walking into the auditorium.  Students and teachers go on the stage and family and friends sit in the audience.  The aisles we have to walk down are really narrow and the floor feels really weird, I guess old.  Then we have to climb some really rickety steps.  The problem with this whole walking up thing is that I have no idea where to walk, so I want to look down BUT I CAN'T!  My horrible cap will not handle it.  AND my huge sleeves from my gown gets stuck on rails and banisters so I have to stop and unhook it.

We get to our seats and we stand for the longest time.  Then the choir has to sing the National Anthem.  I have to walk BACK down the stairs (without looking down or holding my hat like a dork) on to a dark floor where I have to keep looking down to not fall.  We sing, we go back up, my sleeve gets hooked.  I sit back down and sweat.  It was so hot.  So many people and bright lights with multiple layers of clothing.  I was dying.

Some people give some pretty awful speeches and then the choir has to go back and sing "Breakaway".  We did well, but those stairs - horrible.  We sit down and listen to more speeches.  Then we finally get our empty diploma cases.  I get up, shake hands, take pictures - fine.  Then I'm going around to get back to my chair and I bump into a whole row of chairs and make a racket.  The audience didn't see, but all of my peers did.  One kid even said, "Well that's embarrassing."  I just laughed and kept walking like a loser.

To end it all:  I didn't throw my hat and it took me forever to find my family again.  I was expecting it to be bad, and it was.  It wasn't like, "Oh well it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be."  No, it was worse.  It was horrible.  And now I have to go back to my awful school to get my diploma.

It sucked - it's over.
The End.

Overwhelmed by Amazing

Yesterday at 7:30pm, I saw one of the best movies I've seen in a long time.  I saw Toy Story 3.  Ladies and gentlemen, it was so good.  So, so good!  I laughed, I cried, I screamed, I yelled at the screen.  There were tears in my eyes either from laughter or heartfelt moments.

I was a little surprised by how scary it actually was.  Now, I don't mean that it was a thriller, it was scary for a children's movie.  There are some very unnerving scenes and characters.  But it was so good.  I think I'm going to see it again tomorrow with the fam.  

As we (my friends and I) were driving home I had an idea that I really think would work.  Tell me what you think.  

So after I walk out of a movie I'm (most of the time) happy with what I saw, or at least enthusiastic about it.  Especially for this movie, I wanted to go right back in and watch it again.  I think companies shouldn't have people wait months and months for their movies to come out on DVD.  I think that there should be DVDs available  right after people walk out of the movie.  I know that if there were DVDs of Toy Story 3 on sale right there, I would have absolutely bought one.  Not even 24 hours after I saw the movie, I'm forgetting how much I loved the movie, I just know I loved it.  I know that after waiting many months, I will have forgotten that I even like the movie.  

I know there would be problems with production numbers and whatnot, but I think it would really work out, especially for kids movies.  Kids love the movie, they want it, they throw a fit.  

The moral of this story is: I WANT TO OWN TOY STORY 3! 

Jolly Green Giant

In my school something pretty popular that's been going around is the metal water bottle.  I had wanted one, but I was very picky about what I wanted and I had no idea where to get one.

A little while ago, I read a blog post by Caitlin.   She is a very strong advocate for the green movement, because she's cool like that.  In that post she mentioned the importance of not wasting water bottles.  She wrote about a couple of brands so I finally could look for bottles that didn't look ugly.  She mentioned Sigg and that's where I got my new aluminum water bottle!!

I use it every day and I think it's so great.

I encourage everyone to invest in one because they'll easily pay for themselves with the prices of disposable water bottles.

Colegio part deux

I didn't even think to put course descriptions so here they are!


Biology of Women:
Basic biological principles related to women’s health. Topics include nutrition and fitness, stress management, reproductive anatomy and disorders, sexuality, pregnancy and childbirth, menopause, and other health concerns.


College Algebra:
Designed for students with a solid background in high school algebra. Provides a basis for further mathematical study. Students with a strong mathematical background should take MAT 241 rather than MAT 115. Topics include equations, inequalities, graphs, linear functions, polynomial functions, rational functions, exponential functions, logarithmic functions, and trigonometric functions.
-I don't know why I'm not in calculus because I just took pre calc.  I guess this class is a starter for everyone.


Becoming a Leader-Servant:
Introduction to the leader-servant mission of Southern Virginia University. Through lecture, discussion, and exercises, students will explore the importance of scholarship and discipleship in becoming leader-servants. Students will also explore each of the university’s core values and how those values can be incorporated into daily life. Attendance at lectures, forums, and devotionals required. Satisfies the core curriculum requirement for leadership and service.


College Composition:
Development of critical thinking skills through reading, writing, and speaking with an emphasis on refining one’s ability to identify, propose, and defend text-based claims. Includes guidance in analytical reading as well as instruction in the writing, editing, and research processes. Students also receive instruction concerning how to access and use learning resources provided by the university.


America and the Enlightenment:
An introductory study of the American Founding in the context of the European Enlightenment using primary texts from major American and European authors of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Topics include the rise of modern science, capitalism, popular government, and the role of religion in a free society. Includes LDS scripture on the purposes of government.


Bella Voce:
Bella Voce is an ensemble whose aim is the training of women’s voices and intellect. This group is an audition choir performing choral music crossing many genres and eras.

Colegio

Whelp.  I got my schedule a while ago.  I feel like I should be hearing about my roommates soon, but I don't know.
Tell me what you think about my schedule.

Monday, Wednesday, Friday:
9:00 - 9:50 - Biology of Women
10:00 - 10:50 - College Algebra
11:00 - 11:50 - Becoming a Leader-Servant
12:30 - 1:20 - College Composition
1:30 - 2:20 - America and the Enlightenment

Tuesday, Thursday:
9:30 - 10:45 - Bella Voce

14 credits.

Epic beyond all reason.

This song:  "Gone Away" by Lucy Schwartz.  I was amazed by it the moment I heard it.
I LIKE this song.  And when I like a song, I really like a song, and when I really like a song, I really get into it.   I tried to find the sheet music to the song - no good.  The song's not popular enough.   So I sounded it out and wrote the accompaniment.  I'm so proud of myself!  It too some amount of hours.  Maybe it can count for some personal progress (hint)?  The divine nature of music... heh.

Well I'm going to be bringing in the music on Sunday and maybe making some unsuspecting person try and play it so I don't have to hear it on the twangy, synthetic keyboard.

Awkward Family Photos (.com)

 Awkward Family Photos is a wonderful website that posts hilarious pictures to share with the world.  


The title of this one is "Eye Contact".  

The subtitle is, "Has anyone seen Aunt Telcia?"


Take a little while to look at this beautiful picture.  Try and think about why this picture might be funny.  
If you think you might be stumped the scroll down past then annoying arrows. 


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Now these are some comments that people posted about this picture:


-i haven’t laughed so hard in SUCH a long time. oh man, i’m still crying hahahaha.
funniest thing i’ve seen in awhile.

-I was, like, what’s so awkward? And then, whoah! That’s hilarious!
-I actually jumped when I saw the eyes down there!
-OH MY GOD. For while I thought it was creepy just because they were all looking at the camera.. it took me forever to realize there was a person underneath. Nightmares.
-haha took me forever to figure it out, until i saw the eyes peeking out under the mother haha this is great


Now go back up and look at the picture.  Do you see it?  If not, keep looking and re-read the comments.  


I've seen this picture a lot of times.  I very regularly visit this site and often see this picture.  For the longest time I didn't understand.  I always thought, "Alright.  I guess it's kinda creepy that every member of the family is looking at the camera. Even the baby.  What baby looks at the camera?  I don't like this one."  Then today I re-looked at this picture and figured, "Why not?  Maybe other people think something is funny that I don't see."  This is obviously true!  I laughed for so long after I finally saw it.