Fall 2011

Well, it's official. The fall 2011 semester at USC is well underway, which means the start of my senior year! On May 11, 2012, I will be a graduate of the University of Southern California; now that's a weird thought. I've been working my ass off for the past 3 years here, and the previous 4 in high school to get in here, and now it is all coming to an end! It's a bitter sweet thing, really. I absolutely LOVE it here and am not ready to leave, so I am trying to make the most of my time left, but that being said, this is the most stressful semester of my college career because of one thing... grad school applications. They came out today, so of course I've started working on them. As of now, I feel nothing but discouraged on how little I have to offer on paper. Thankfully I have a strong support system here; Michael and Pastor Dan have been here while I'm crying that I won't get in anywhere and that I have no plan for my life... hey, it's a stressful time! But overall I am trying to remain positive. Happy thoughts! And one day at a time. Well aside from that, classes are going pretty well this semester. My stats professor is wonderful, and super funny so class is never boring. My nonprofits professor is retired, but is so passionate about this class that he is still teaching it, so needless to say it's a good time because he loves what he does. For that class we have to pick a nonprofit organization and research it all semester and at the end, we present the organization to the class and vote on which one gets to receive that $10,000 grant that the class got. It's called "Learning by Giving," and is meant to teach us how to determine which nonprofits are efficient, and do what they say they do, and decide which are worthy of donating to. I obviously chose Lutheran Campus Ministry as we are having severe money problems and figured it was worth a shot. My other stats class is excruciatingly boring, but I'm getting through it and I already know all the material so it is definitely easy. Lastly, there is social inequality which is proving to be a very, very interesting class. I knew going in that I liked the professor, but the subject matter and the group we have is pretty great, so I like it a lot. I am definitely keeping busy this semester. Between class, work and LCM I have 42 hours per week, without counting studying and homework time. So you can imagine where that puts me. I'm exhausted and trying to get into a routine. I am never home because I am always at work, in class or doing LCM stuff... or studying. But that's what college is all about. I'm managing, and definitely still finding time for fun; mainly USC football is my life outside of school, as it always is during the fall semester. Well, I have to get to work. Just wanted to send a quick update. Hope all is well in the outside world. Will try to write again soon and get some more pictures of the beginning of the semester up, including my 21st birthday! They are all one facebook, so check them out there.