Oops

Guess who's been meaning to blog for weeks? If you guessed me, you would be right. I really honestly have meant to post, however, apparently college keeps you pretty busy. Who'd'a thunk? Therefore you can probably guess that I am writing this instead of facing the million miles pages I have to read and papers I have to write.

I hardly even know where to start. I feel like the past three weeks have lasted for years. Being home seems like a very distant memory, even though it was less than a month ago. Homesickness has set in a little bit, but I feel like the full force of it has yet to hit me.

Classes are going about as well as you would expect. I've only missed one class so far and it was math, so I almost can't complain about that. The thing they never prepared me for in high school is the amount of reading you have to do in college. Let me tell you. I have so much reading. Which makes it easy to put off, because it doesn't really feel like homework the same way worksheets and research papers do.

The non-reading homework I do have, though, is much more involved and proactive than anything I ever had in high school. For my Theory of Wellness class, I'm required to work out for at least 30 minutes three times a week. (Which, to be completely honest is probably a good thing. I'm just barely escaping Freshman Fifteen here.) For my music class I have to attend three concerts and fill out questionnaire about them. In high school, things like that were extra credit.

One thing I've learned is that involvement in the community is a very proactive thing. It doesn't just happen naturally. Sure, I've made a few friends just from classes or meeting them randomly around campus, but it's not quite enough. You actually have to involve yourself in a group, which means you can't just sit around your room all the time, which I've discovered is very easy to do.

I have to say, I really do like it here. It's really nice to have everything so close. For the past three years I've gotten used to going to school half an hour from home and having my friends live an hour away and driving all around the city to get where I was going. Here, I walk everywhere. I walk to class and to the gym and to church and Dollar General. If I actually drive somewhere, usually it's Walmart. And in stark contrast to having my friends live far away, my best friend at school lives directly across the hall from me.

Missing home comes in waves. Sometimes I want to hang out with my friends and it takes me a minute to realize that I can't, because I'm not even in the same state anymore. I almost started crying in chapel the other day when the speaker's daughter introduced him, and I started thinking about how long it had been since I'd seen my parents. I wish I was home more so I could go see my brother and his wife or my sister and her ever-growing baby bump.

Overall, though, college is already pretty great and I can't wait for it to get even better as I'm sure it will. There are so many opportunities to explore and adventures to be had. That is, if I ever finish this Fine Arts chapter. Maybe I should get back to that.

Farewell for now!
Lisa