Last Semester in Review
The past semester and a half have flown by in a complete blur. Every year of college I've said that the year I'm in is my favorite year. When I was a sophomore, sophomore year was the best, when I was a junior, junior year couldn't be beat, and now that I'm a senior, I can conclusively say that life does indeed get sweeter every year. So without further ado, here is last semester in review...
New Hobbies
I adopted two new hobbies: yoga and climbing. I started taking a yoga class for fun and really enjoyed it so I've kept it up this semester as well. They don't offer a Yoga II course, so I've just been practicing at home, but it's still been good. Last semester, I also picked up climbing (both top roping and bouldering) with a close friend. We got belay certified and went every week together. Unfortunately for me (but fortunately for her!), she graduated last semester so I haven't had anyone to belay me this semester. For the time being, I've put top roping aside but continue to boulder once or twice a week. I've also started taking an adventure climbing course this semester and have been learning new knots as well as belaying and climbing skills. The class is entertaining and my classmates are super easy to work with (minus the occasional person who never comes to class and has no clue how to even tie an overhand knot, let alone a double figure 8 on a bight. I let other groups take those people on. I don't want to die). My only regret is that I didn't start climbing sooner, since the rock wall on campus is totally free. I also wish I would've taken more 2-credit kinesiology classes (they offer gymnastics, women's self defense, camping, scuba diving, tennis...pretty much anything you can think of) before senior year, but I guess up until this year my schedule was pretty packed. Looking back, I had the same regret in high school with unified sports: I wished I hadn't waited until my junior year to start. But sometimes it takes a year or two or three to get comfortable enough with where you're at that you're ready to branch out and try new things.
MF and DL Visiting
Back in October, MF and DL stayed with me for the weekend and we went to a Tall Heights and Paper Kites (two separate bands) concert downtown. The concert was in an old church so it was a very *intimate* venue and the bands were both good, especially Tall Heights. Paper Kites played too many slow/obscure/sad songs and the lead singer didn't have much of a stage personality, but I would for sure go see Tall Heights again. The day after the concert, we walked around Center City, South Philly, and Chinatown, met up with MF's boyfriend, ate at an Indian restaurant, and perused some street markets. It was a great weekend and I'm glad the three of us were able to spend time together in this lovely city of Brotherly Love.
Dream!
While I was away in Spain, someone redecorated the community center where we have Dream so there were all these really cool murals on the walls when I came back. Dream has been going well and we've been getting more mentors and our old mentors are getting more involved. Unfortunately, we've had a rough year with people in administrative roles quitting but we're figuring things out and charging ahead. I've started to tutor my mentee and his twin brother each once a week and it's been nice to spend time with both of them outside of Dream. Since my mentee is a nine year old boy and I am a 22 year old woman, we haven't been able to have any deep life conversations yet but we communicate in other ways. He's developed the habit of hiding from me when I walk into a room and he's actually quite good at it to the point where I genuinely have to look for him and when I do find him or when he eventually pops out from wherever he was hiding, he has this big, mischievous grin on his face. He might hide from me, but I've been told that as soon as the first mentor arrives to Dream on Fridays he goes right up to them and asks if I'm going to be there. It's taken a long time, but I do feel like we're forming a bond and I'm glad that I'll have at least another year with him. While he could not be more opposite from me--he's the energetic, rambunctious, hyper, and wild to my mellow, calm, quiet, and safe--somehow it works out.
Continuing traditions
Since freshman year, I've gone to Ocean City, New Jersey every summer with a group of friends to celebrate the end of summer and beginning of a new school year. This year, our day trip was fairly short and a little bitter sweet, since it was the last year and we were missing one of the gang. We still had a good time though, and I didn't get sunburned like I did last year. Even though I won't have the same group to go with next year, I'll probably still make the trip to the shore a few times this spring and summer since I'll be staying in Philly. The beach is an even more magical place when you've been cooped up in the city.
Another tradition we've established and carried out since freshman year is our end-of-the-semester gingerbread house making extravaganza. Once we near the end of finals, we celebrate by eating Pillsbury Christmas cookies, exchanging Secret Santa gifts, and making both beautiful and hideous gingerbread houses. This tradition is yet another I'll miss next year, but I know that with the end of old seasons and traditions comes new ones :)
Visiting DL at Messiah
I visited DL at Messiah for the first time freshman year but I was only able to stay for a day and I hadn't been back since. Obviously a lot had changed in those three years (new friends, new dorm, new job, new favorite locales) so it was really fun to visit again and meet DL's friends, co-workers, and roommate, go to her church, hang out at the Pulse, eat at the Union and the dining hall, check out a super cute, quaint library, go thrifting, and watch the movie Running for Grace featuring the adorable Ryan Potter. Oh and the avalanches! Avalanches are the Union's version of a McFlurry and my goodness are they delicious. We sat in the Pulse, eating our avalanches and looking through an old yearbook while DL's friend and co-worker ate a plate full of chicken tenders at his desk. You don't get to do any of those things as an adult. I also got to see the darkroom and learn a little bit about how film photography is made. It was very retro and made me understand why so many romantic scenes happen in darkrooms...the lighting is practically asking for it. I also ran into a guy who used to go to my church at Temple but transferred to Messiah! So that was cool/coincidental.
Trip to NYC
TJ and I decided to take an impromptu day trip to NYC this December. We took a bus from Philly and walked around midtown Manhattan and Central Park. We ate lunch at a really good sushi place (it was so much food we didn't need to eat again until after 8pm) and saw someone get proposed to while ice skating at the Rockefeller Center (it was super cheesy and vaguely embarrassing, but the couple seemed happy). It was very cold, but also very festive and put me in the holiday spirit. I've only ever visited New York in the winter though, so I'd like to go again this summer and see a different side of the city (both in terms of the weather and in terms of a different neighborhood).
Puzzle Making, Christmas, and watching Titanic with AB!
AB has recently fallen into a love-hate relationship with puzzle-making. She mostly enjoys it, but Disney can't seem to make a puzzle without a few missing pieces, so that has been frustrating. She also never backs down from a challenge and insists on doing 750+ piece puzzles. Anyway, I went over and helped her put together her Tangled puzzle and wasn't able to do much (maybe 30 pieces) but we had a good time anyway. We also celebrated Christmas at AB's house this year, which is always nice because her house feels very festive and home-y around the holidays. AB and I got DL a Pride and Prejudice card game which was very sexist and dumb but also surprisingly fun to play. Of course, AB won. We ended winter break by me going over to AB's house to watch Titanic since I had somehow gone 21 years without seeing it. It was surprisingly good (I know, it's a classic so it should be), even though the acting wasn't that great and the CGI was definitely dated. But overall I'm happy I saw it. I know AB was mad at me that I had no reaction to (spoiler alert) Jack dying, but I knew it was coming. I might not have seen Titanic, but I could still tell you basically the entire plot.
Overall, I really loved my classes and professors last semester and was able to do a lot of fun things with a lot of wonderful people. I'm hoping that this semester will be just as good as last (although so far it is proving to be a little more challenging...oh well, it'll make me even happier to graduate).
Since this post ended up being very long, I'll save a review of this semester so far for another post.
Until then,
-SE Wagner
New Hobbies
I adopted two new hobbies: yoga and climbing. I started taking a yoga class for fun and really enjoyed it so I've kept it up this semester as well. They don't offer a Yoga II course, so I've just been practicing at home, but it's still been good. Last semester, I also picked up climbing (both top roping and bouldering) with a close friend. We got belay certified and went every week together. Unfortunately for me (but fortunately for her!), she graduated last semester so I haven't had anyone to belay me this semester. For the time being, I've put top roping aside but continue to boulder once or twice a week. I've also started taking an adventure climbing course this semester and have been learning new knots as well as belaying and climbing skills. The class is entertaining and my classmates are super easy to work with (minus the occasional person who never comes to class and has no clue how to even tie an overhand knot, let alone a double figure 8 on a bight. I let other groups take those people on. I don't want to die). My only regret is that I didn't start climbing sooner, since the rock wall on campus is totally free. I also wish I would've taken more 2-credit kinesiology classes (they offer gymnastics, women's self defense, camping, scuba diving, tennis...pretty much anything you can think of) before senior year, but I guess up until this year my schedule was pretty packed. Looking back, I had the same regret in high school with unified sports: I wished I hadn't waited until my junior year to start. But sometimes it takes a year or two or three to get comfortable enough with where you're at that you're ready to branch out and try new things.MF and DL Visiting
Back in October, MF and DL stayed with me for the weekend and we went to a Tall Heights and Paper Kites (two separate bands) concert downtown. The concert was in an old church so it was a very *intimate* venue and the bands were both good, especially Tall Heights. Paper Kites played too many slow/obscure/sad songs and the lead singer didn't have much of a stage personality, but I would for sure go see Tall Heights again. The day after the concert, we walked around Center City, South Philly, and Chinatown, met up with MF's boyfriend, ate at an Indian restaurant, and perused some street markets. It was a great weekend and I'm glad the three of us were able to spend time together in this lovely city of Brotherly Love.
Dream!
While I was away in Spain, someone redecorated the community center where we have Dream so there were all these really cool murals on the walls when I came back. Dream has been going well and we've been getting more mentors and our old mentors are getting more involved. Unfortunately, we've had a rough year with people in administrative roles quitting but we're figuring things out and charging ahead. I've started to tutor my mentee and his twin brother each once a week and it's been nice to spend time with both of them outside of Dream. Since my mentee is a nine year old boy and I am a 22 year old woman, we haven't been able to have any deep life conversations yet but we communicate in other ways. He's developed the habit of hiding from me when I walk into a room and he's actually quite good at it to the point where I genuinely have to look for him and when I do find him or when he eventually pops out from wherever he was hiding, he has this big, mischievous grin on his face. He might hide from me, but I've been told that as soon as the first mentor arrives to Dream on Fridays he goes right up to them and asks if I'm going to be there. It's taken a long time, but I do feel like we're forming a bond and I'm glad that I'll have at least another year with him. While he could not be more opposite from me--he's the energetic, rambunctious, hyper, and wild to my mellow, calm, quiet, and safe--somehow it works out.
Continuing traditions
Since freshman year, I've gone to Ocean City, New Jersey every summer with a group of friends to celebrate the end of summer and beginning of a new school year. This year, our day trip was fairly short and a little bitter sweet, since it was the last year and we were missing one of the gang. We still had a good time though, and I didn't get sunburned like I did last year. Even though I won't have the same group to go with next year, I'll probably still make the trip to the shore a few times this spring and summer since I'll be staying in Philly. The beach is an even more magical place when you've been cooped up in the city.Another tradition we've established and carried out since freshman year is our end-of-the-semester gingerbread house making extravaganza. Once we near the end of finals, we celebrate by eating Pillsbury Christmas cookies, exchanging Secret Santa gifts, and making both beautiful and hideous gingerbread houses. This tradition is yet another I'll miss next year, but I know that with the end of old seasons and traditions comes new ones :)
Visiting DL at Messiah
I visited DL at Messiah for the first time freshman year but I was only able to stay for a day and I hadn't been back since. Obviously a lot had changed in those three years (new friends, new dorm, new job, new favorite locales) so it was really fun to visit again and meet DL's friends, co-workers, and roommate, go to her church, hang out at the Pulse, eat at the Union and the dining hall, check out a super cute, quaint library, go thrifting, and watch the movie Running for Grace featuring the adorable Ryan Potter. Oh and the avalanches! Avalanches are the Union's version of a McFlurry and my goodness are they delicious. We sat in the Pulse, eating our avalanches and looking through an old yearbook while DL's friend and co-worker ate a plate full of chicken tenders at his desk. You don't get to do any of those things as an adult. I also got to see the darkroom and learn a little bit about how film photography is made. It was very retro and made me understand why so many romantic scenes happen in darkrooms...the lighting is practically asking for it. I also ran into a guy who used to go to my church at Temple but transferred to Messiah! So that was cool/coincidental.
Trip to NYC
TJ and I decided to take an impromptu day trip to NYC this December. We took a bus from Philly and walked around midtown Manhattan and Central Park. We ate lunch at a really good sushi place (it was so much food we didn't need to eat again until after 8pm) and saw someone get proposed to while ice skating at the Rockefeller Center (it was super cheesy and vaguely embarrassing, but the couple seemed happy). It was very cold, but also very festive and put me in the holiday spirit. I've only ever visited New York in the winter though, so I'd like to go again this summer and see a different side of the city (both in terms of the weather and in terms of a different neighborhood).
Puzzle Making, Christmas, and watching Titanic with AB!
AB has recently fallen into a love-hate relationship with puzzle-making. She mostly enjoys it, but Disney can't seem to make a puzzle without a few missing pieces, so that has been frustrating. She also never backs down from a challenge and insists on doing 750+ piece puzzles. Anyway, I went over and helped her put together her Tangled puzzle and wasn't able to do much (maybe 30 pieces) but we had a good time anyway. We also celebrated Christmas at AB's house this year, which is always nice because her house feels very festive and home-y around the holidays. AB and I got DL a Pride and Prejudice card game which was very sexist and dumb but also surprisingly fun to play. Of course, AB won. We ended winter break by me going over to AB's house to watch Titanic since I had somehow gone 21 years without seeing it. It was surprisingly good (I know, it's a classic so it should be), even though the acting wasn't that great and the CGI was definitely dated. But overall I'm happy I saw it. I know AB was mad at me that I had no reaction to (spoiler alert) Jack dying, but I knew it was coming. I might not have seen Titanic, but I could still tell you basically the entire plot.
Overall, I really loved my classes and professors last semester and was able to do a lot of fun things with a lot of wonderful people. I'm hoping that this semester will be just as good as last (although so far it is proving to be a little more challenging...oh well, it'll make me even happier to graduate).
Since this post ended up being very long, I'll save a review of this semester so far for another post.
Until then,
-SE Wagner
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