Living with Friends

I do not know about you, but when I was in grade school (high school included), I thought it would be awesome if all of my friends lived in the same neighborhood or if we had least had secret underground tunnels that would lead to each others' houses. That way, it would be way easier to hang out! Now, living in a college dorm, I kind of know how that would actually turn out. It is quite easy to hang out with friends, which is awesome! ... Except if you have a lot of work to do.

I got so behind in my BMZ (Botany, Microbiology, Zoology) class this week because I would continuously get distracted from being in a dorm hall. On Wednesday evening, I was planning on catching up on all of my BMZ notes, but my friends and I ended up hanging out with the girl who lives in the single next door to me instead. I ended up studying in the building where my Philosophy class is held to have a more quiet study area temporarily. At least the building's view is beautiful!

I feel like a nerd, but the main reason I'm thankful for this three-day weekend now upon us is so I can catch up, and maybe even get ahead, on my homework. Plus, most of the Ohio residents in my hall have left for home since it is Labor Day weekend (my roommate and my friend Courtney's roommate included), so it should be more quiet and easier to concentrate than usual. Although, I am really happy that Courtney is also an out-of-state student (she's from Georgia!) and is not going home so that I will not be alone!

I'm planning on video messaging in some way with my family, and my best friends Gaby, Krista, and Hannah this weekend. So, I suppose it can almost be like I'm going home, but not really. I'll get a taste of home at least. 

In other news... (sorry, I rarely have the spare time to write, so these might be long). My roommate walked into the hallway the other day and saw this.

How does that even happen? We're on the third floor, I really want to know who carried one of the construction cones from outside up three flights of stairs and left it toppled over in the hallway. Oh well, we didn't question it much, my roommate just described it as "so college!"

Our hall also all had a day where we went outside and painted doorstops for our dorms. I thought they were going to be bricks, but apparently that is not allowed anymore for some reason. By the time that anyone shared the paint with us, we only had three colors: red, white, and black. School spirit? Ashton (my roommate) had to make her own pink, and she also made the black one for our Resident Assistant, Stephanie. My awesome art skills went into the red one (note sarcasm).



Oh, and how could I almost forget how intense the Miami University Symphony Orchestra is so far. I had an appointment with the viola teacher, and apparently taking lessons as a class is an option. However, the lessons are way more intense than any I have ever taken, and if I also plan on joining The Miami Student (Miami University's newspaper) along with my course load, I would probably lose my mind if I took them. So I decided to hold off on lessons, which I hope is okay. It is just weird because I'm the only violist who is neither a music major nor a minor, so everyone else is way more intense than I am - I hope the environment will not overwhelm me.

I love playing in an orchestra, but when it comes to personal performances and even just singling us out during viola sectionals, I tend to get stressed out. I hope I'll be able to handle everything I'm getting myself into. There are just so many options in college, it is hard to not do them all!



I'll leave you with a picture of the Center of Performing Arts in the distance.

Until next time!

~ Valerie