Freshman year is over?!

It's finally here!!! Classes are over and finals start tomorrow. Freshman year is finally coming to a close. I am so excited and so sad all at the same time! The year has honestly flown by. Sure high school seemed like a breeze, but nothing like college. I can't even describe how weird it is to try and come to terms with the fact that in five days I am going to have to pack up and leave. My little corner in the room I share with Courtney and Emily will no longer be mine, and I will no longer think of it as my room. I am so excited to go home. People are just starting to drive me a little crazy, probably because we have lived in such a small space for such a long time. Even though my friends sometimes drive me crazy I know that in about two weeks I will miss them dreadfully. I get a little sad when I think that this is the last time I will ever be a freshman. It's a little sappy, but it is still weird to think about.

The year has been filled with ups and downs, but mostly ups. I have made a great group of friends. I love them all dearly. Each girl is different, and yet when one of us is missing the group seems empty. I know that we will all stay connected over the summer. I am very excited for next year because almost all of us were able to get on the same floor. Those of us who aren't going away to work at camp for the summer will drive to visit one another. It will be weird not to see them every day. Chris and I will be a couple hours apart so we will probably only see each other a couple times over the summer. Knowing that I won't see everyone every day makes me realize how lucky I am to be able to hang out with them every day in college. Being apart will make me realize how important they all are to me. Honestly being away from my family made me realize that they are important to me and that I love them all, even my annoying little brother!

I am off to my last track meet, conference. Hopefully I will get some studying done. I am happy that they year is coming to a close and I won't have to have classes for three months! However I am sad to not only leave my friends, but Luther. The beautiful setting of the college makes me feel peaceful and calm. I don't know if I am ready to jump back into the fast passed life that awaits me in the cities. Either way, I have had a wonderful and memorable freshman year. Luther was the right choice for me. I guess you just kinda know what school is the one for you. Sure I have some friends transferring because Luther didn't quite fit for them , but I am fairly certain that they don't view this year as a waste. I wish them all the best of luck and hope that the next school they go to is the one for them.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog this year. It has been unbelievably fun writing about my freshman year at Luther. I hope you all have a safe and fun summer!-Leah

Slip Sliddin' in the Mud

As finals are approaching, the weather is getting nicer, and it is getting a lot more difficult to not only study, but pay attention in class. I find myself daydreaming about all of the fun outdoor activities my girlfriends and I can do on the weekends. However my plans have been getting foiled because the weather has not been ideal. If it is warm, it's raining, and if it is sunny, it's cold. Last night Sierra, Anna, and I decided to spite the cold weather and take advantage of the mud puddles around campus. We found a field that had a couple huge puddles of mud and had a mud fight. The three of us ran around in the mud and slid through the puddle, and then proceeded to have a fight. Needless to say we got fairly muddy. It was so much fun.

This is really our last weekend to do fun things like that because finals start next Saturday. People have told me that usually during the spring people go canoeing or tubing down the river, but since we have had so much rain the river is really high and cold. I guess it is probably good that we can't go canoeing because I still have a lot of homework to do this weekend. I am hoping however, that it will stay sunny and get a little warmer this week so I can study for my finals outside.

Defying Gravity

Over spring break I went to Chicago with my mom. She and I went to see Wicked. My favorite song from Wicked was "Defying Gravity." The other night I was up at midnight trying to do my chemistry homework and I realized that I was attempting to defy gravity. You might ask what kind of gravity I am talking about because it isn't the kind that you learn about in Physics. There is no definite quantity associated with this gravity. The gravity I was defying was the kind that was causing my head to want to fall asleep on my chemistry book instead of finishing my homework. Needless to say half an hour later I gave into the gravity, and gravitated towards my room and into my bed even though I was not done with my homework. The experience made me think, about how throughout my first year at college I have learned to defy gravity.

• Defying gravity is getting out of bed to lifeguard at 7 a.m. four days a week, when I was up studying till midnight.
• Defying gravity is staying up to study for a chem. test when my body and brain ache for sleep.
• Defying gravity is finishing my Bible paper on a week night when everyone else is going out to the movies
• Defying gravity is writing my blog when it's so much easier to waste time stalking people on Facebook or watching Tila Tequila
• Defying gravity is rewriting my Paideia paper for the tenth time when I'm really sick of reading it and can almost recite it from memory.
• Defying gravity is trying to be nice to and patient with my roommates and the second floor Olson girls I live so closely with, when we're all stressed about homework and tests.
• Defying gravity is making myself go to track practice every day when my times haven't improved nearly as much as I'd hoped and I would rather walk to the Whippy Dip with my girlfriends.
• Defying gravity is not giving up on the chem. lab that I have to keep redoing to get the right results

As the weather is getting nicer there will be more and more gravity for me to deal with. It is always more appealing to lay outside in the sun, walk to the Whippy Dip, walk by the river, or just goof off with the girls instead of going to class, band, work, or track practice.

I must be honest. I am not always very good at defying gravity. Often times I am not strong willed enough to resist the temptations in life. Maybe this is what we are supposed to learn how to do freshman year of college. In high school I did not have as many problems defying gravity. I suppose it is because instead of defying gravity I was defying my parents or teachers, which did not always turn out so well for me. However as freshman year has progressed I have become better at defying gravity. I guess I have done an okay job even without a broomstick!

Although I have become better at defying gravity, I still don't have any good advice on how to defy the gravity in your life. It is something that you will have to learn how to do, if you don't already know how. I leave you with my best wishes in learning how to defy the gravity in your life and a few of the lyrics from the song. Have a great rest of your week!-Leah

"Everyone deserves a chance to fly
And if I'm flying solo, at least I'm flying free
To those who ground me, take a message back from me
Tell them how I'm defying gravity
I'm flying high defying gravity"

A trayless cafeteria?

This week in the Caf, we students are the guinea pigs in a little experiment. The experiment happens to be that the trays are taken away, and we can only use plates and bowls. Granted when we had trays we used plates and bowls and such, however now we do not have a tray to place multiple plates, bowls, or cups on. The powers that be decided that we, Luther students, were wasting too much food. Their solution to this problem was to take away the Caf trays. They thought that if people would have to carry all their plates of food they would not be as likely to take as much food the first time around. At first I grumbled and complained about this. Who wouldn't? Eating dinner, which at one point in time only required one trip through the food lines, would now require at least two if not more trips through the food lines. Plus getting something to drink would be a pain because where would I set all my cups? ( In college you usually do not just have one glass with dinner. It is common to have three or more). The idea of having to walk around the Caf to get more food or to get a salad to have with my main course sounded unappetizing. Previously, I thought that this week would be the worst week of my life because the trays would be gone, I was very wrong.

In general the food quality this week has improved. There has been fresh fruit at every meal, which is really nice. Also making two or three trips to get food really isn't that bad. Getting drinks is a little annoying, but I will live. Plus I do feel like I waste less food. While not having a tray may be a little more time consuming, it is not that bad. People are getting used to it. Will this be a permanent change? I don't know. After this week the powers that be and supposedly the students are going to decide if the trays will disappear permanently next year. I am okay with either decision. However if not having trays means the food will be better and that there will be fresh fruit and maybe some red meat every now and then, I would prefer to not have trays. I hope you have a great rest of the week and enjoy your school cafeterias with or without trays!!-Leah

Four and a half weeks and COUNTING!!!!!

Yesterday, a man named Tim Frakes came to talk to my Honors Conversations class about international issues. All year my class has been reading an article or two every week about a different international issue. He was so inspiring!! Mr. Frakes is a professional videographer, and he just returned from Kenya within the past month. I loved listening to him speak and asking him questions. For an hour we discussed various topics, which included ending world poverty, the world's view of Americans, how the majority of Africans are leap frogging technology, and the conditions in various IDP camps around Africa. Listening to Mr.Frakes talk about his experiences, especially those in Africa, made me want to drop out of school and go change the world. I hope that some day I will be able to help the less fortunate like Mr.Frakes.
I handed in my final version of my paideia paper yesterday. It feels sooo amazing to finally be done with it. We are now gong to read a book titled Useless Arithmetic which is actually rather boring in comparison to the Holocaust unit. Hopefully the book will get better soon. Even though the book is not very interesting to me, I don't have to write any more papers for Paideia this year!!!
It is crazy to think that I am going to be done with school in four and a half weeks. I feel like the school year just began. Even though I am excited for the end of the school year- because let's face it, who's not?-I am sad that my freshman year is almost over and that I will be separated from all of my friends for three months!! Sure people say that you can visit your friends during the summer, but I won't really be able too. Emily lives in Las Vegas, Caitlin is working at a camp in Montana, and Beth is working at a camp in New York. Yes, I have other friends, I am not a complete loser, but they are my best friends here at school and so not being able to see them will be really sad. Thankfully Chris, Jake, Courtney, Sierra, and Brooke will all be close enough to visit this summer so I won't be left all by myself. I guess I shouldn't be making myself sad by thinking about this summer before it hits, especially since I still have over a month left on campus. On that note, I am going to go be crazy with the girls before I go to bed! Have a great rest of the week-Leah

Spring Break

I don't think I ever expected myself to say this, but, I was soooo happy to be home over break. It was really nice to be able to relax, sleep in my own big bed, and not have to worry about work or homework or classes or track or trying to fall asleep in a noisy room. Actually, I had to worry or at least think about most of those over break, but for some reason it was much nicer and more relaxing doing all of that at home than at school. I was supposed to run and lift weights for track. I did do some running over break with my golden retriever Sophie. I had a lot of homework to do because later this week I have two mid-terms and my final research paper is due on Monday. Needless to say I have a lot of studying to do in the next couple of days!! It was nice having my own room again. I love my roommates, and the girls that practically live in my room, but there is something nice about having your own space. I have my own corner in my dorm room, but I don't really feel like it is entirely mine. In my room at home I don't really care if I can't see the floor because there are clothes everywhere. However in my dorm room I feel badly for my roommates if my corner is even a little bit messy. Thankfully there is very little space on the floor in my corner with my desk for me to put clothes!! I have to admit that it isn't that hard to be motivated to clean my room in college, especially since recently cleaning my room has become another procrastination tactic for me.
Although I had a wonderful break, full of spending quality time with my family and going to Chicago with my mom for a couple of days, I did miss my college friends. I am excited to be back on campus with everyone. However, I am not excited to be doing homework regularly once again. I am enjoying the spring weather, along with most of the rest of the students at Luther. It is fun to see more people out and about on campus because it is warmer. More and more often I am seeing people playing sports games like Frisbee on the Library Lawn or just sitting on one of the benches under a tree on campus. I love seeing people out on campus. I can't wait for even warmer weather and less homework!!!!-if that day will ever come;) I hope you all have a good week and enjoy the nice weather!-Leah

What is Paideia?

I have had a request to describe what paideia is. Lets see, how can I explain paideia?

Paideia is the freshman English course that every single first year student has to take. Even if you get English AP credit in high school, you have to take paideia. Every section of paideia, each class is called a section, reads the same books. Its nice to read the same books as all of the other freshman on campus because then you can talk about how much you like or dislike the books with your friends. However more often than not you over hear people complaining to one another about either the book it self or just the large amount of pages we have to read for homework. I enjoy being able to talk to my roommates about the books, especially before I start writing papers. First semester we read about seven books. During class we mainly just discuss the books. Honestly it feels much like the English classes I took in high school. Each book was different from the others. We read a Shakespeare play, a book by Martin Luther, the Odyssey, and a couple other novels. Each semester each professor gets to choose a book that only their section will read.

During second semester we have to write a 12 page research paper on whatever subject our professor chooses. The research paper is actually the only paper we will write all semester. We are supposed to do various drafts, extending over a large period of time. We will continue to read books throughout the semester although I think we are only reading 5 or 6. In general I like paideia. The class is interesting, at times. I really like my professor, which helps a lot. If you do not like the professor you get first semester- you do not get to choose whose class you are in- you are able to switch for second semester. The part that I like about paideia is the writing, simply because I feel like I am understanding what the expectations are for writing at a college level. Even though I dread writing the papers, I know that it is a good experience and is making me better. I hope that this better explains paideia. Everyone will tell you that it is horrible, but honestly its not that bad. There are definitely worse things in life. Sure, sometimes we have a lot of homework/reading but for the most part it is manageable.

I have two more days until break, and I can't wait!!! I am ready to be done with school for a week. I hope you all have a great rest of the week and a Happy Easter!-Leah