Semester in Review: Sophomore Year Fall 2017

(Pretend like this was posted a few weeks ago)
     This semester has been kind of crazy, which is why I've posted eight times this semester. Yes, eight times. That's two times a month, my friends. Once upon a time, I posted every. single. day. of my life. I cannot fathom that now. I miss those days. I think over Christmas break I'm going to challenge myself to daily blog. I really do love it, I just get to the point sometimes where I spend so much time away from something that I forget how much I miss it (ex: Netflix shows (The Office, Lost, Parks & Rec), reading for fun (what even is that?), writing for fun, journaling, taking photos, playing ukulele, etc.) I do have hobbies, I've just gotten out of touch with them. Hobbies go to the wayside when you spend most of your time in class, doing homework, feeding yourself, keeping your living area livable, and doing extra curricular activities. I wouldn't change it for the world, though, and I'm certainly not complaining. I am SO incredibly blessed to be studying here, to be a part of a great church community and different clubs and organizations that I care about and to have lovely friends who I truly enjoy spending time with. But I do admit that I have less free time than I once did, and that's a choice I made. I decided that I would rather be involved in this community while I have the chance than to spend 12 hours on a Saturday re-watching season 3 of Lost. But it's gotten to the point that when I DO have free time (like today) I don't know what to do with myself, and that's dumb. Scrolling through Facebook, mindlessly surfing YouTube--those are not my hobbies. They do not fulfill me and I don't particularly ENJOY them. They're just activities that I've told myself I enjoy because they're great at numbing my brain after a long day. But that's dumb too because you know what's better than numbing your brain? Giving your brain a rest and just going to sleep! Or reading a few pages of a good book before bed. Or journaling. Anything. 

But now that school is winding down (minus finals), I have free time again! So here are some of my semester highlights.

September:

• Joined Running Club! (I only run on Fridays, lol)
• Started Dream!
• Labor Day hangout with GCC (my church)
• First football game! (this was actually really boring, but it was still an experience)
• Newman Center beach retreat! We went to Cape May Point, NJ (where MF's grandparents live!) for the day and it was lovely.

• Grandparents and parents came to visit!
• Spent a nice weekend at home with the fam

October:

• GCC Mini Olympics (we won best t-shirt design!)
• Ran to the Edgar Allen Poe House
• GCC Passion Conference (three day mini evening retreat with guest speakers and lots of good music)

November:

• Got matched with my mentee for Dream! He is so cute but SUCH a handful...I've never met such a sassy child in my life (yes, Sid, he puts you to shame)
• Newman Center Thanksgiving dinner! This was delicious and came at a great time in the semester when I definitely needed a break from school.
• Thanksgiving break! This was so lovely and so short and made me just want to be home for Christmas break as soon as it ended.
• Celebrated AB's belated birthday at Sam's Club, where we got the family meal deal and a box of honey buns because the sheet cake was too big.

December:

• TJ and I found an apartment for next year! It's a fourth floor walk-up about half a mile from campus and I love it. The apartment door is a beautiful turquoise-blue and there's stained glass in the stairwell!

• GCC Thanksmas Christgiving party!
• Made my first chapbook for creative writing and am actually super proud of how it turned out! Hopefully I got a good grade because it was my final project.
• Haley and I surprised Melissa for her birthday--four months late. Liquid nitrogen ice cream is the bomb (and so are Beiler's donuts--if you're ever in Philly, go to straight to Reading Terminal and get yourself the special at Beiler's--two donuts and a cup of coffee for $3.25)
• Applied for the 4+1 secondary ed English program! Fingers crossed for getting accepted!
• Had a Christmas get-together with Sophia, Melissa, and Haley and ate too many cookies and too much pizza. Made gingerbread houses and hot chocolate floats (surprisingly good!)

• Rode public transportation standing in someone's urine...long story.
• Went ice skating with my Dream mentee!
• Drove to a Colombian restaurant in North Philly with Sophia and Melissa to celebrate the end of finals.
• Finally finished Stranger Things!
• Hopefully passed all of my finals!

And that's about it! Enjoy your break/Christmas/the holidays! :)

-SE Wagner