Senior Year

So, I'd like to get in the habit of journaling, because it's always interesting to go back and read old posts and laugh at how silly I was, and still am :)

Today is freshman move-in day, and I'm feeling simultaneously old and young, excited and grumpy, and very, very nervous for this year. I've already forgotten things and misplaced keys and spilled coke all over the key cards, so at least I have room for improvement today! Despite having to check in all my residents and answer questions and try to solve problems, I have a clean room to stress in, which is nice. It seems as though I will have a pretty good number of freshman on my floor this year, so I am hopeful that they will be excited to come to programs and Community Council with me. This year I have to log 3 conversations with every resident on my floor and I have to have some sort of program/social every week. Ha. So that's gonna be new and busy :P

Our staff is interesting this year, because about half of it is made up of talkative, spontaneous people, (which I am not) so meetings are gonna be challenging. So far people seem to be getting along pretty well, except that I have heard multiple people express concern about one person on staff. I'm inclined to agree that they might cause problems; however, I'm determined to maintain a positive attitude and encourage others to be positive.  Scheduling duty and staff and one-on-ones was stressful, but I think once we get into the swing of things everyone will calm down and get along better.

The one thing that I'm genuinely concerned about for myself is how my personal beliefs are going to affect my interactions with other staff; I am super conservative and traditional and my Christian beliefs affect everything else I believe. I'm pretty certain that no one else on staff has similar convictions, and we've already had some tense moments in [deep] conversations when we got to religion or really liberal social ideas/social justice. I know that this is the way life is, and that I have a better opportunity to stand out in a way that reflects positively on Christ when I'm surrounded by non-Christians, but it's hard and rather uncomfortable. Thankfully, I will be able to go to Navs this semester, so I will have to make sure that I spend intentional time with them every week so that I don't slip into discouragement or un-Biblical beliefs/actions. Ryan N. was on my floor for a while today, and he said kind things about me to my residents, which was nice :) I was glad to see him, and he seemed happy to see me too, so I guess not everyone at Navs has lost hope in my salvation because of Life Drawing last semester :P

I am nervous about this year, though, because I know I'm going to be busy and I also know that I'm not gonna feel like doing homework or writing papers or learning German vocab or going to ResLife events or applying for jobs or looking at grad schools. This semester I am working on my honors thesis, which means I am writing a substantial paper about the functionality of Renaissance jewelry and also making a set of functional Renaissance jewelry, which should be fun but also tiring. Next semester might be worse, though, because I'll practically be in all studio classes, with one art history class, so I probably won't ever sleep. But all that aside, it's crazy how close I am to being done with my major, minor, and honors degree! I am so excited to move on from OSU; I've had a great experience here, but I am ready for another change. I would love for that change to include moving closer to home and getting a studio, but I'll just have to wait and see. That being said, if one more person asks me what I plan to do after graduation, I might go crazy (and I know it'll only get worse).

Life is weird, people are weird; I am weird. I just hope I make it through this year intact!