Thanks

Sad but true, this is my final blog of the year. It's also my last day of classes for my sophomore year at Bluffton University. (I kind of just got goose bumps typing that :/ ) It has been quite an experience blogging this year. I have never blogged before so this was all very new and exciting for me. I hope to have helped future, present, and past students of Bluffton University get a true feeling of how college is. It's fantastic, crazy, busy, stress-inducing, fun, meaningful, educational in more than one way, and memorable. I hope that every student has as good as an experience as I have in the two years I have had at Bluffton and the two I will continue to have. I hope that my blogs have helped in some way or another to anyone and everyone. As a social work and psychology major, I find myself wanting to help people all of the time. When asked if I would consider blogging, I thought it would be a fantastic idea to be able to help future students. Let's hope that worked. I plan on continuing with my blogging experience on my own next year, well, of course, when I have time. I just found out two days ago that I was nominated to be vice president of Bluffton's Social Work Club so that should be fun. If anyone would need any advice, or just someone to talk to, I am always here and you can contact me right here on my blog. Thanks so much for the chance to do this. I really hope I have been able to help others as much as this experience has helped me. Thanks again!

Moving Out Little by Little

It's getting kind of sad around my dorm as of late. I have been slowly moving out of Bluffton for approximately a month. I've taken things home a little by little. Now, my vanity is completely clean (minus my tv that MUST stay until I leave), my shelves are completely stripped of all my wonderful pictures of friends and family, I have been taking clothes little by little so my drawers and closet are almost empty. My neighbors, Abby and Amber, are also moving out slowly. Their shelves are completely bare and their coffee table and futon are on their way. It's kind of exciting to be almost done with classes (one day of classes tomorrow and exams next week) but it stinks that it's so sad with everything and everyone leaving. Another year is wrapping up and half of my college career is finished. Where does time go? It's been a stressful year but totally worth it. Now off to the excitement of summer and a job, and then back to Bluffton for a new and exciting year of college (I'll be an upperclassman!).

Words of Encouragement

The final week is finally here. I have only four days of classes and three days of exams until my sophomore year of college is finished. Oh buddy, these next few weeks are going to be crazy. Today, my hopes are to write two five-page papers and work on a take-home exam. We'll see how far I really get because I wanna take a nap already! Anyways, when it gets to this time of the year, most people will tell you that they need some words of encouragement and motivation to keep things going. One way I found that is easy and that can make anyone feel happy and bubbly inside is to go to givesmehope.com. It's a website that tells lots of good stories that can make anyone want to cry, in a good way of course. Almost everytime I go to this website, I want to cry. It's so good. It really makes me feel encouraged and motivated to get some stuff done. Hopefully some of you can use this too :) Have a fantastic weekend!

Oh, the Final Weeks

It's just the same as high school, the last weeks are full of finishing projects, giving presentations, and taking final exams. We pack up our lives here at Bluffton and head back to our hometowns to work at Dairy Queens and babysit for the summer. We say goodbye to our classmates, our professors, our roommates, but we never fear because we know we'll see them next year. You always think when you are in high school, "Man, I can't wait to get out of here" but in all reality, you are stuck in high school-like situations all day every day. I can't decide whether that is good or not quite yet. I'll get back to you on that... But anyways, I'm getting to that point where I am so excited to be done with classes and not have to work but I'm also not looking forward to having to move home, get a job, not see my friends every day. I wish we could all just live here all year round and hang out instead of having to go to classes or work or home. That'd be great :)

Now that my roommate and I know where we will be living next year, we've been thinking a lot about planning our room for next year. Our room right now is kinda huge and we love it but we wanted to move to the other side of campus next year. The room we have for next year isn't small but it isn't as big as what we have now so we're trying to figure out how to shove all of our stuff into a smaller room. We're thinking about making lofts. I haven't made anything since 7th grade woodshop when I made a shelf so this is going to be quite an adventure. I'm hoping to make it an adventure in which my dad, my boyfriend, and I can bond while probably injuring ourselves making this thing. Well, I guess blood and sweat has to go into everything homemade, right? :) Well, it's time to go to class to give one of my hundreds of presentations. (I'm just kidding, there aren't hundreds. It just feels that way sometimes haha)

As time flies...

It hit me the other day. I am (almost) a junior in college. I know that I have made the right choice in choosing a college because I have been here for two years and I know that I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Here are some of the things that you will find you will love that you can't learn on a campus tour or talking to the admissions counselors (Sorry, Annie):

1. The people. Even when you are walking around campus, you can tell the people here at Bluffton are amazingly sweet, generous, and good-natured people. Almost every person here is amazing. I love my friends here at Bluffton after just two years almost as much as the friends I've had for ten years or more.
2. The campus. If you've ever walked around our campus, you can see it's pretty beautiful. However, most people do not have the chance to see the campus all day, every day, during every season of the school year. It's wonderful during the summer months when we first arrive, fall when all the trees are orange and red and amazing, winter when everything is covered in white, and spring when everything becomes green again and flowers begin to bloom. BEST CAMPUS IN THE WORLD, but I'm a little biased. :)
3. The classes/professors: I love the classes Bluffton offers. The professors are real people who truly want to get to know you and your mental capacities in and out of the classroom. Each of my professors know me by my first name and where I come from, even if I haven't had them since my first semester on campus.

If you can't tell, I love Bluffton. If you get the chance, please check us out. We are totally worth it but don't take my word. Ask any Bluffton student, past or present. :)

AAAAAGGGHHHH!!!!

So now it's literally crunch time. We have two weeks from tomorrow is the last day of classes. Three weeks from tomorrow is the last day of finals. That means it's freak-out time. I have plenty of presentations, papers, and exams until that wonderful day. Between now and then, I must live and breathe homework, class, and work. Oh boy! You can't even imagine the stress that I, as well as all the other students, are feeling. Ugh. It's almost to the point that I'm just ready for it to be done. After overloading for two semesters in a row, I am in dire need for a relaxing break. Let's hope these last three weeks FLY BY!

P.S. Room draw was last night. My roommate was number 16 so we were pretty high up there on the list. We were able to choose a room where we all wanted to be. We'll be in Ramseyer 314 next year so if you ever wanna talk, I'll definitely be around :)

The Final Stretch

It's getting to the point in the semester where everything kinda goes crazy. We are finally at the final stretch. Less than three weeks of classes left and less than four until everything is done. All of my classes are starting to catch up with me. I have projects, presentations, and papers out the wa-zoo to finish up in the next few weeks. I have felt really good about how this semester has gone so far but I'm starting to stress about the coming weeks. I'm glad to know though that I'm not the only one feeling this way. I know a lot of my friends are starting to feel all of the classes start to bog them down and freak them out a little too. Also, I know some professors have summer plans and have to move and lots of other things that they are going to have to finish up while grading all of our projects, presentations, and papers.

This week is ROOM DRAW week! That means, that all upperclassmen, next year's seniors, juniors, and sophomores will be choosing where they live next school year. There's quite a bit of processes that must occur before though. Each person must pay their $100 room deposit. Once you pay this, next year when you come back to school, they will take this $100 out of your bill. After you pay it, you must return a room draw card that says that you will be staying for next year and gives the student life office some minor demographic information. Lastly, every student must register for classes for the fall. After all of this is complete, the student life office will post some random numbers. Those numbers let you know when you will be able to pick a room. Each person gets a number so both of the roommates get to use one number, whichever is the lesser number of the two. My roommate is number 16 and I am number 44. Needless to say, we're going with her number. Hopefully we can find a room that we want to live in for next year. Wish us luck.

P.S. Friday was my big Psychology Research Conference presentation. I did it and I was told I did really well. Phew! I am so glad that it's over though. Now I can use that presentation for future grad school applications.