Home Sweet Apartment

One of my current roommates convinced me to write about apartment life.  I said okay because frankly I can't think of anything else to write about at the moment, and my deadline is at 2 p.m.

I've lived at the same apartment complex for almost two years now.  In the time I've lived here, I have experienced interesting people, situations, and occurrences.  Trust me, I have plenty of great roommate stories.

Cartoon from www.guidetocollegelife.com

I've always told myself that I would write a book on all of those cherished stories. (My friends and family will tell you, I've already written a few humorous songs.) Well, here is my first step...

Based on my combined two years of experience in this field, a few observations about college apartment life:

1.  There is always someone home. Or about to come home.  Or someone is about to come over.  Or maybe some random person or animal is staying over.  Privacy is limited even if you have your own room, and the walls are paper thin.

2.  Something always needs to be cleaned.  It's either the kitchen, the dishes, the trash needs to be taken out, the floors need to be mopped, or the living room needs to be vacuumed.  You're lucky if you get a roommate who knows how to share these responsibilities or even knows how to do these things.

3.  I guess this depends on where you live, but I feel like something always needs to be fixed.  In other words, something is always broken.  Example: my stove burner always emits a lovely burning smell and every time we cook, the fire alarm goes off.  This results in innovative measures to stop the fire alarm from sounding shrilling screeches.

4.  Often, the fridge is inevitably crowded.  A girl's gotta eat.

5.  You learn the ins-and-outs of dealing with people's different lifestyles.  Everyone was brought up a little different (or sometimes really different) from you.  People will do somethings that will shock you or annoy you.  Your morals could be different, too.  Although, in some instances, they might even pleasantly surprise you and give you incentive to change your habits.

College kids:  Can you relate?  Any funny roommate stories?
Can't find a good roommate?  Maybe you should try this?  Or not.

You Know Life is Busy When...

This week is a crazy week. Next week is a crazy week. I think this whole month has been one extremely long crazy week, and we just didn't know it.  Can you tell I'm really excited about spring break?

Top 4 ways you know it's a crazy week:

1.  Your diet is off.  Don't be too grossed out, but today I ate half of a piece of raisin bread...that was a month old. Yeah, it was a little stale, but no mold, so that's a plus, right? I forgot I ran out of breakfast food, and there's no time to go to the grocery store. Tomorrow, I think I'll change it up and eat a cookie for breakfast, instead.
Lunch was average: I had a decent turkey sandwich.
Dinner...well, between the library and SING practice, I almost forgot about it. With only 20 minutes to spare, PB&J was the way to go, along with an orange I found in the back of the fridge. Yum.

2.  No sleep.  I got approximately five hours of sleep last night, and I've been delirious all day.  I've been going from 7am to now.  I'll probably be up for another hour or so.

3.  Multiple writing assignments, a 10 page paper, a presentation, a two-part midterm, and two applications are due in the span of 10 days.  No big deal.  Just keep calm and study.

My trusty planner.

4.  I'm either at the library, in class, or at SING practice. I'm never home. Except when I sleep, which is rare, too.

It's crazy, but I secretly love it. Life is a gift, and we must choose joy and take delight in the little things. That is my challenge these next two weeks, as my life mimics the four illustrations above.

Spring break, breathing, sleeping, good food, family, and free time are on its way. Until then, live it up.

A Day in the Life of a SING Performer

The craziness called SING has taken over Baylor's campus.  SING is a student-led production that includes 14 broadway-styled acts that compete against each other for 8 spots.  The top 8 get the opportunity to perform again in the fall in another student-led show called Pigskin.  To student organizations, it is a big deal to say the least; performing in Pigskin is to accomplish something great.

Along with SING, come SING problems, as most participants would call them.

Here are my top 3 SING problems or a glance into the life of a SING performer:

1.  This is my normal look.  For the past two weeks, I get dolled up in gobs of hairspray and makeup to look like a living 80s diner girl.  It's hard to return to a normal look--it takes HOURS to remove the tangles that come from teasing my hair and a lot of scrubbing to remove the bright blue eyeshadow and dark eyeliner.

2.  Sleep?  Forget about it.  What most people do not realize is the amount of dedication that goes into these performances.  My sorority has been practicing every night for the past two months.  Some nights are longer than others with open stages, sound tech, lighting tech, and dress rehearsals.  It takes some will power to balance SING obligations with homework, projects, oh and, heaven forbid, a social life.  You can probably conclude that sleep becomes a lower priority.  

3.  Performance nights are...hectic, crazy, stressful, and fun.  SING lasts 6 nights, so each act performs once a night.  On the night of a performance, we meet in our chapter room to get ready for the big show.  It takes an hour or two to get in full costume, including hair and makeup.  Then, we practice for an hour to get warmed up or go over any changes, and finally we have a little pump up party to rev up the energy that is so necessary to perform.  In order to get excited, we dance, eat sugar, and give some motivational speeches.  

After this, we head over to Waco Hall to check in and watch the group who goes before us.  It's a really fun atmosphere because the groups encourage each other and cheer for the performers as they practice the act one last time before hitting the stage.  

Photo credit:  Baylor Lariat

The rush of performance time comes and goes, and we make the trek back to the chapter room to go over constructive criticism and the upcoming schedule for practices.  Another night of SING is finished, and we all feel exhausted and accomplished.

  

To see more SING shenanigans, check out this video by BUStudent Productions.

Want to learn more about this timeless Baylor tradition? Watch this.

Dolphins Continue to Strand Themselves

I've been following this story for the past few weeks, and it continues to disturb me:  Along the coast of Cape Cod, a total of 177 dolphins have been stranded, and out of those, 124 have died.  The reason remains unknown.


Some have speculated that it is because of global warming.  The temperature along the coast is warmer than normal this time of year and could be confusing the dolphins' sense of direction, causing the dolphins to strand themselves.

While many people find it easy to merit different happenings to global warming, I also realize many people doubt that the phenomena is even occurring.  A few years ago, I was a sceptic and wanted proof.  Now, there is scientific evidence that it is occurring.  The cause of global warming remains unknown; it could be man-caused or a natural cycle, or even a combination of both.  I hope in my heart that not only is global warming not man-caused but that these recent strandings are not caused by man either--I don't know how to live with a clear conscience if hundreds of dolphins are dying due to something man-caused.

Rescuers are putting great effort into saving these dolphins and have successfully rescued 43 dolphins total.  People are also holding vigils along the coast.  I greatly commend these efforts and pray that these strandings would stop.

The latest on this story from The Boston Globe