So my day continues to surprise me, and I continue to surprise myself.

For those of you who aren't RA's at Becker, you probably haven't noticed that I've been trying SO HARD to volunteer, be involved, and generally do a good job.  You might not have even noticed if you are on the staff, unless you're Whitney, WHO IS STARTING A BLOG THAT I WILL REMIND MYSELF TO POST HERE!  Sorry.  When I see that on my page I will remember, for when she gets her first posts up and going. Feel free to ignore the caps lock.

But (anyways)- in Whitney's words- I'm a "beast".  Hahah.

Who knows if anyone else has noticed.  But I've tried to be more active and social, but in my own ways, with my own limits, by my own choice.  I'm still not going to throw parties, I'm not going to be the loudest, most excited person around, but I will make the effort to have fun for myself.

Last night we had Convocation.  And the ceremony was good (our college president quoted Eminem-so yeah), and I was feeling alright.  Then we had a social up at the Hawk's Haven and the RA's may or may not have started a water fight that got me and 2 others completely soaked with icewater from the drink bucket.

And it was fun.


I was laughing my ass off, and playing, and dancing, and joking.  I got frosting smeared across my forehead by a resident (totally playful) and I didn't mind one bit.  I got soaked through (bra and all) and I didn't feel pissed off.  I may have even agreed to go out to a club with a friend, but who knows if that's still happening; she insisted that Friday would be a good day, but I thought that was only 21+.  Whatever, that's not the point. The point is that I have nothing to wear to said "club" anyways.  Just kidding.

Even after all that activity, I left with an RA friend, and went seeking out more socialization with more people.  And it was also fun.  Like me, some of my friends from last year seemed to have changed, in my opinion, for the better.  Who knows if I've changed for the better, but I'm happy for some of the people I got to hang out with last night.

So to continue my "newfound" spirit, I wanted to wear something different this morning.  I have several summer dresses, nice shirts, and the like.  So I tried them on, one by one, but never felt comfortable.  What if people felt I was trying too hard, even though I just wanted to maintain my own feeling of happiness?  What if I actually looked bigger in that dress then I thought? All these thoughts persisted and of course I ended up in a loose shirt and jean shorts, with the standard flip-flops.

I guess all of me can't change.

But- here comes the irony.  Within minutes of leaving the hall, I got probably 15 compliments on my shirt.  My  freshmen year of high school, ratty shirt, which I threw on because all of my trying on of nice clothes made me self conscious about my body once again.  The shirt in question?

 

Literally everyone loves Avenged Sevenfold.  True Story.

Irony accomplished.  Also accomplished? Awesome book covers made out of scrapbooking paper that cleverly disguise my wrong-edition books so the teachers don't gripe on me for saving almost $100 dollars to buy the exact same freaking text.

See?

Oooooo, Ahhhhh, saving money.

Speaking of saving money, one of my residents wants to use the white T-Shirts all the first-year students got at Convocation to do Tie Dye, you know, so we don't have to buy shirts.  I have a house full of geniuses.  (Disclaimer: it's probably just her, I just like to brag).

I'm sure as the semester goes on, and the stress piles on (Maintaining a four-oh isn't easy) I will become less social.  But for right now, I can have fun.

Plus, in a lot of my classes I have people I know----Like "friends" people I know.  I don't know why I was surprised by this.  I am a Junior after all.  In a school this small, I should know people.  

But I was surprised.  Maybe I was just surprised about how happy it made me.

But I also am taking a class where a whole section is on Harry Potter. Be jealous.  It's brand new, a mythology class, and I know a good amount of people in it.  One of the people I know was the very first person I worked with at the Becker College kennel, and the other is another RA.  The kennel-girl (no names unless they have a blog like Whitney) likes to read aloud- so she read us half of our first chapter.  Pretty nice. So we'll have study sessions.  It'll be good.

And then they come with me to Public Speaking right after. 

Another RA is in my Nutrition class. Pretty nice.

This post is pretty long, so even though I still need to thoughtdump, maybe I'll wait until midnight when the thoughts are all jumbled and see what tumbles out.

Until next time...

I might have blogger's block. Ugh.

But I'm going to write about my new RA experiences: two days in.

So the very first night residents were here I got hungry at like - 9 pm.  I thought "hey, I should let them know I'm leaving", so I said "Hey guys I'm going to the Haven I'll be back."

Silence, then...."What's that?"

Me :  *thinking* Oh Crap.

Me: "It's a snack bar style thing on campus"  And I go to continue walking out the door....

My Nice Shoulder Angel: "Maybe you should invite them along...."
My Evil Shoulder Angel: "NO! WE MUST EAT ALONE!"
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Finally:  "Would anyone like to come?"





YES!!!





Well craptoast.  So I waited for everyone to get shoes on.  Then I sent most of them back for their I.D's, so they could actually buy the food.  All in all, 10 of my 18 residents came to the Hawks Haven with me.

It looked like this:

But it felt like this:

Yes- that is me. At Busch Gardens. With the Lorikeets.  It sounds like a murder in  "Clue"

So I showed them around and told them what they could get, all the while "Simo" (a campus Po) is laughing at me and the guy at the register (Who now apparently calls me bacon cheeseburger because that's my favorite) is rolling his eyes at me.

Don't get me wrong.  I had a good time.  I just cried myself to sleep- that's all.

Just kidding, I totally didn't. Cry myself to sleep I mean.  I just needed alone time after all of that. 

I actually like that my new residents immediately bonded and decided to just listen to whatever I say.  In fact, they've already suggested Sunday Night Dinners on their own dime and Jersey Shore nights and study sessions in the common room and Community Service programming.  

If you're wondering, no, I'm not dreaming and, yes, I did pinch myself to check.

In other news, in my New RA World, everyone thinks Lane is really haunted.  Which is fine, because no one is bitching over the laundry (which is amazing in an all female-dorm) because everyone is too afraid to go in the basement.  Ghosty- WIN.

The stories I've heard so far are:

Windows opening by themselves, in an upward (not outward) fashion.  Please note: this was during Hurricane Irene.

And: 

A water bottle falling off a desk when it was in the middle of the desk before.

That's about it.  

So, in summary, ghosts are regulating the laundry issue, and instituting a buddy system, while I battle Duckling Syndrome in my effort to secure a moment to myself.

All in All, I like living in Lane a lot.  The girls are pretty cool, and when I get pissed that ramen is left in the sink and leave a note: it actually gets cleaned up before housekeeping gets there.  Pretty Cool.

Not sure what to write about- taking a shot at it anyway.

I was up at 6:00 this morning because today is check-in day for first year students at Becker and I have the first shift.  I just want to say, whoever gets here at 7:30 on the dot is pretty friggen dumb and shouldn't have gotten into college anyway.  Puh-lease.  WHO DOES THAT?

Lane is still awesome as always. Maybe I'll post some pictures of my decorations.  It's all tropical up in here.

I made that flower. Just sayin'

I drew this too. I'm that good.

Raffia door curtain did not want to stay up.  

Wait for it....

Wait for it....

Still waiting...

I did the entire staircase! (with the help of a resident)

So...many....umbrellas....twitch...twitch..

To Icebreak or not to Icebreak...that is the question.

So all in all, a whole mess of tropical luau. Wooo.  I even have leis.  I'm not gonna take a picture of that.  Maybe later.

So training was fun-ish...it's still training.  But I have wicked awesome pictures of me 50 feet in the air! woo! They are not great pictures of me as a person though, so be kind.

I look happy right?  I believe at this moment
I was trying not to throw up from being so scared.

This is 50 feet in the air.

So I have all this crap to do and all sorts of crap to talk about but my mind is so jumbled it's not happening.  Move-in day is hectic as all crap but I think almost everyone is here.  I think I may have to return to this whole blogging idea after everyone is here.  

But- on another note, for another time- Becker assigned me to train 4 beagles! YAY!

You're jealous. But these aren't the actual beagles.  Pictures later.

I'm cheating on my Duncan with 4 other beagles.  

Ta-ta for now.

I'M DONE!

Pooped. Tuckered. Exhausted. End-of-Rope. ETC.

This is me- right now:

This little guy just couldn't take Busch Gardens anymore.

RA Training is EXHAUSTING for someone like me.  It involves a lot of close human contact, personal connection, and of course, physical activity.

The one thing that gets me the most though, is "Get There from Here" games.  Like, you need to cross the "boiling lava" and you can't touch the "boiling lava" and everyone's gotta get across and no sacrifices and you have to be using every object.  UGH.  Stop with the dumb rules.  If that actually helped with problem solving---no scratch that.  If that had ANYTHING to do with real world problem solving I wouldn't have a 4.0 because I rage quit those games.  

I would rather play name games, even though I totally suck at them and that makes me feel bad because it's not like I WANT to be rude and not remember the person's name.  But when I'm put on the spot I freeze up.

It's not like I don't like my job as an RA.  I just don't like all of the training sessions.  That's not even true.  I'll do anything once.  I even climbed the high ropes and it was scary but I did it!  But when it's five of the same type of team builder in a row, I get very agitated.  Especially when the supposed team builder seems more like busy work.

Sometimes I feel bad for being so pessimistic.  But I was happy and chatting and hyper all morning, I could have an hour to bitch to myself when I get covered in water and Leicester Team loses EVERY TIME. That and I was getting a wicked terrible headache.

But it's over now.  Now it's just on to regular training. I even get to present tomorrow, I'm meeting with a new Pro-Staff member to come up with a bangin' presentation on Community Building.

But right now I'm chillin' I just took a nice short shower to regroup, and I'm heading down to the pizza place to get dinner.

I may not like all of the training, but I know I can get through it to get to the parts of the job I do like.

OH AND: there will be awesome pictures of us all attempting to do the high ropes.  I know that there are a couple of me.

That's all for now.

Remember my post about words that sound weird when you say them over and over?

Jamais vu (never seen) describes a familiar situation which is not recognized. It is often considered to be the opposite of déjà vu and it involves a sense of eeriness. The observer does not recognize the situation despite knowing rationally that they have been there before. It is commonly explained as when a person momentarily doesn’t recognize a person, word, or place that they know. Chris Moulin, of LeedsUniversity, asked 92 volunteers to write out “door” 30 times in 60 seconds. He reported that 68 per cent of his guinea pigs showed symptoms of jamais vu, such as beginning to doubt that “door” was a real word. This has lead him to believe that jamais vu may be a symptom of brain fatigue.




Copied from: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2JZZOV/listverse.com/2008/02/28/top-10-strange-phenomena-of-the-mind/

Just Sayin' I'm not crazy.

RA camping trip tomorrow.  Except we're not going camping.  We're just going to camp in the daytime and apparently calling it camping.  Whatever.