Happy Friday!

Happy Friday, everyone!

Today is a happy Friday indeed since it is the last day of classes! The sun is shining, the weather is warm, and everyone is sporting their shorts and flip flops. It's certainly a change from last week when it was cold and dreary. This is the exact way I want to kick off my summer!

 I hope you have a wonderful, blessed weekend! :)

Out with the old. In with the new.

I can't believe that my first year of college is already coming to an end. Today was the beginning of the last week of classes and then I have finals next Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to the summer, but the end of the year makes me realize how time really does fly by fast. Half the time, I still think I'm a senior in high school. It's so crazy.

This year started off pretty rocky and I was very unhappy and discouraged the first month here. However, I knew that if I didn't do something to change that, then this all would just be a waste of money. Now, I think I've done a pretty decent job with becoming involved and making the most of my first year in college. I served as an on-campus senator for SGA, joined Special Olympics, went back and forth in my head about being an education major (and stuck with administration of justice), and found a close group of friends. I got to see the Boston Celtics play in our gym. I saw the Blue Man Group perform. I spent sunny days at the beach and rainy days jumping in puddles around campus. I surpassed my expectations academically my first semester and earned a high GPA. This semester is a different story (refer to previous post), but c'est la vie. None of this would have been possible if I didn't choose my path through my first year here. Despite the setbacks and the pessimism that I had, I'm glad and relieved that I decided to have a positive outlook on things.

Next year will be better in some ways. First, I was recently elected as the secretary for the executive board on SGA. I'm certainly looking forward to this and many people have told me that it's a great accomplishment for a sophomore. I am also going to be serving as a student mentor in the fall and I'm excited for this too! We have a great group of student mentors and I can already tell that we are going to be close to one another. Finally, I will be living here with three of my friends next year...

We're very excited to be living here with each other... especially when it comes to decorating our room!

However, all the new changes will mean that I will have to say goodbye to the things and people that I have gotten accustomed to this year. I have been very fortunate to have met a wonderful group of seniors at school and they have had a great impact on my first year here.

The president, vice-president, and secretary of the current SGA e-board have made me feel welcome since day one when I joined SGA. They were there to help me overcome my fear of heights, encouraged me to go out of my comfort zone and try new things, and acted as role models throughout the year. Also, another senior here has absolutely gone out of her way to take me under her wing and show me the ropes of what Salve is all about. She has made me feel comfortable when I wanted to leave, kept me sane when I was about to go crazy, and convinced me that this school isn't really all that bad. She is so involved with this school and I only hope that I can accomplish half of the things that she has done in the past four years that she has been here! I have been blessed to have gotten so close with her over this past year and a piece of my heart will certainly be missing when she graduates in a few short weeks! Love you forever, RER :) You're the best!

But regardless of all of this, I know change is inevitable and I will welcome it when the time comes. Next year will be different, but I am hoping to make the most of it, as I always do. :)

“We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude."

-- Charles R. Swindoll

Dear Calculus,

I gave up on you a long time ago, but you didn't give up on me. I wish you would.

I never liked you in high school and yet, you insisted on getting to know me my junior year (okay, maybe I did like you for that ONE day that I received my first and last A+ on a quiz, but other than that, it was a strictly hate-hate relationship!). I never had any love for you, despite of what you thought. After an awful, torturous year together, I was extremely relieved when we broke up because I thought I would never have to see you again.

However, you clearly didn't get the message because you have been trying this entire spring semester to rekindle the flame and you have made me a very unhappy, bitter girl. Now, your shenanigans have gotten me into trouble... again. I am so thankful we only have eleven more days together. I am not exaggerating when I am saying that I will be the happiest girl alive once I am done with you on Thursday, May 6 at approximately 10 AM. That's right. You heard me correctly. I will be done with you forever.

But until then, you make me want to jump off the Cliff Walk... or do this. It's less drastic, I think.

Sincerely,
Girl whose life and GPA you have ruined.

Late night thoughts.

"Happiness comes in many forms… in the company of good friends, in the feeling you get when you make someone else’s dream come true, or in the promise of hope renewed. It’s okay to let yourself be happy because you never know how fleeting that happiness might be."

- One Tree Hill

I'll Never Break Your Heart.

The last time the Backstreet Boys sung this to me, there were still five of them. However, this song became a lie in 2006 when my heart broke into pieces the day I found out Kevin Richardson was leaving the group. Kevin was the tallest guy in the group with the bushy eyebrows and baritone voice. He was never my favorite, but I still felt as though he was a member of my Backstreet family.

In my early years, I was -and still am- completely and utterly obsessed with the Backstreet Boys. My family friends who were 5-6 years older than me would always listen to BSB whenever I was over their houses, and they clearly influenced me to join the bandwagon. When I was 9, I would listen to the Millenium album on repeat, and once the Black and Blue album came out, I listened to that until the songs started to skip from overuse. In the summer of 2001, my mom surprised me with tickets to see them on their Black and Blue Tour (yes, the tour that got postponed due to AJ's drug rehab). The original date of the concert got pushed to September 10, 2001 (I know). It was my first concert and I had so much fun! We had awesome seats and I made a poster and everything. In the middle of the concert, they surprised us and showed up in the middle of the arena, instead of the stage, so they were even closer to where I was sitting. Of course, at 11 years old, I was positive that they made eye-contact with me at one point.

I wish I could embed this into the post but YouTube won't let me... click here for footage of a concert from their actual tour and feel like a young teenybopper again (side note: seeing mothers with their young babies in the audience made me laugh. My mom bought earplugs and had them in the whole time when she took us)...

... which leads me to this conclusion: you are never too old for a BSB concert. On Tuesday, June 8, I will be attending my second BSB concert in Boston! I am as giddy as I was 9 years ago and I don't care what anyone thinks of me. I'm going with one of those family friends mentioned above, who is now 24... Like I said, you can never be too old. Don't judge us :)

Tell me whyyy, ain't nothing but a heartbreak. Tell me whyyyy, ain't nothing but a mistake. Tell me why, I never wanna hear you sayyy, I want it that wayyy.....