"What do you want to be when you grow up, sweetie?"

It's the infamous question. The one we have all been asked wayyyy too many times. "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

A process of self-discovery

Do I want the glamorous life of getting my hair and makeup done for me as a reporter? Do I want to theoretically change our country, but also be chastised as a politician? And most importantly, is there a career out there that I would absolutely love that I have never heard of?

I Left My Heart in Michigan

You never know how much pride you have for your home until someone challenges that notion. "Detroit is a bankrupt craphole." Excuse me................???? In college you are going to meet amazing people from all backgrounds of life. You will meet people from different Asia, Wisconsin, Iowa, Oregon, Missouri, and 

I have a friend on my floor who is also from Michigan and backs me up on many of my claims. 

Detroit is a beautiful city to be proud of. Remove people from the negativity of their own ignorane by informing them 

Ahhh.. the Academics

I love college academics. I love learning, I love being challenged, and I love using big words.

Start Preparing for College in High School

-Margin note

-Learn HOW to study- focus for long periods of time and what methods of studying work for you?

develop time management skills 

-discover your interests- make a list of the things you DON'T like. you are already half way to declaring a mjoy

-write a resume
-... And be prepared to revise that resume. Two weeks into college and I have already submitted two totally different resumes. I applied for a student government position along with a job teaching dance. Obviously the two are not looking for the same qualifications so I created a dance resume in addition to my traditional resume. This can be helpful in highlighting the experience you have specifically related to the position you are applying for. 

-develop healthy habits. you will definitely develop unhealthy habits in college, i dont care who you are. Let these new ones be your only unhealthy habits, not just addition to your old ones

- don't skip class! it's way more tempting to do so in college. if you are already missing a lot in high school you are bound to skip in college when there is no nagging parent. Remember, you grades in college are directly related to your class attendance. Somehow that gets looked over.
-learn about your relationship with God. when you get to college you want to jump right in making friends in religious groups. 

10 Things I've Learned as a Freshman

1. Go to every student org's information meeting that you can possibly fit into your schedule- This is vital for a successful college experience. Everyone comes into college with the motto, "no regrets." Well this applies as much to partying as it does to your involvement in student organizations. An information meeting will take 20 minutes of your time and will answer many of your questions. You don't want to be the senior saying, "Man, I wish I would have joined club x, y, and z as a freshman." Remember, "no regrets." Just last night I went to an info meeting for a co-ed service-based fraternity that I thought I would potentially enjoy. Turns out I have no interest at all in joining. I found this out by GOING TO THE MEETING! There is no harm in learning more about a group before deciding to disband the idea of joining. Tonight I'm going to a meeting for the organization Women in Business. I am not a business major nor do I really even enjoy business. Yet, I want to learn more before I decide against this club.

2. You don't have as much free time as you are lead to believe. I am in the classroom more in college than I was in high school. WHAT?! You mean college isn't one giant free-for-all where you happen to do homework occassionally? That's right.

3. If you are lost as to what you want to major in, buy yourself some time by taking 18 credit hours like I am. At the University of Iowa, the maximum amount of hour you can take is 18, and here I am at that max. Upon hearing my peers were taking closer to 15 or less I heavily considered dropping a class. The idea of having less free time than everyone else is daunting, or it was to me at least. Don't cave to the pressure. Instead, you will be the one with more free time your senior year when you are not packing your schedule to fulfill all of the requirements of your major. Taking 18 hour is keeping me busy... very busy. But now I have some wiggle room that puts me at ease. Say I drastically change career paths- I now have built up enough credits that I can take new classes and still graduate within the highly desirable 4 years.

Christ in College

Establishing a relationship with Christ is no easy feat. Being a teenager doesn't make this daunting task any easier. The desire for peer acceptance often prevents teens from ousting themselves as a follower of Jesus to their friends because somewhere along the way, being a follower became moderately taboo. The good news is that in college you are celebrated as a Christian believer.

Since arriving on campus I have had multiple eye-opening, magnificent religious experiences. On Sunday I went to church at Veritas, which is a church service held in the Marriott Hotel. The church has no affiliation with the hotel, but it utilizes the space since the money has not yet been raised to build a structure of its own. Attending service in a hotel ballroom was a fine example of how with a strong body of believers, Jesus can be worshiped anywhere. 

Secondly, I attended my first-ever official bible study. I desire to know more about the teachings of the bible as I am not all that familiar with the specific work. I hope that through this bible study I will learn more about the bible, Christianity, and my own faith.

Finally, tonight I attended my first Cru large-group meeting. It was an amazing mix of worship, music, preaching, and fellowship. I love the people I have already met through Cru thus far and look forward to developing more friendships. I also really enjoyed the worship band. It is amazing how music evokes such a strong emotional reaction. I teared up at one point... not sure why, but something in the music overwhelmed my heart with the varied emotions of joy, sadness, and hope. 

I was eagerly looking forward to college worship and my expectations have been met. Being supported in your religious journey by your own peers is one of the most comforting feelings I have yet to experience. I can't wait to discover the path that my faith creates for me over the next 4 years. 

+Peace

Kickoff at Kinnick!

First Post from Daum Hall

Hey all! Well, here I sit in my dorm room in Iowa City. I've had an amazing, frightening, interesting, exhausting, and exhilarating few days since moving in four short days ago.

Let's start with the basics:

1. My dorm room is awesome. We essentially have a triple for only two people, meaning we have three closets. For those of you who know me well, you can only imagine how excited this makes me. My roommate and I were going to share the extra closet of course, but she didn't have anything to put in it so I sure as heck was able to fill it up! (My roommate is also great!)

2. I've already been to class! Yes, that's right. The same day I moved in I was sitting in class that afternoon for Honor's Primetime. I earned one semester hour of honors credit by participating in a three day intensive workshop. My unit was "Destination Midwest: Immigration and Migration"and it was fascinating. I'm so glad I already have had such a positive in-class experience! I even met a good friend, Emily.

3. I've already completed a presentation! (IN FRONT OF 300+ people) Yay Global Ed! Thanks to you GE, I had no problem speaking in front of the entire group of Honors students on behalf of the "Destination Midwest" group. I comfortably represented my group of 25 students during our presentation with 3 of my new peers :)

4. Tomorrow is the first Service Saturday! I can't wait to get involved with outreach on campus. Tomorrow morning we will make cards for the children's hospital in Iowa City. Thanks to a rather harsh quote I recently found, I'm more motivated to help others than ever. "Children die every day because millions of us tell ourselves that caring is just as good as doing. It's an internal mechanism controlled by the lazy part of your brain to keep you from actually doing work." Challenge yourself to get out there and do some good for those of us we "care" so much about. 

5. Tonight I went inside Kinnick Stadium for the first time. Not only did I go inside, but I stood on the field to form the giant block "I" with my peers for the next four years. I also hugged our adorable mascot Hurkey and got my first picture with him. I already feel the Hawkeye pride growing inside me :)

6. I've rode the buses enough that I'm starting to feel comfortable with them. With my sense of direction, this is a HUGE accomplishment. 

Clearly it has been an outstanding, memorable few days. I'm so happy with my school decision, and am eager to really begin my life as an Iowa Hawkeye. Many of my doubts have drifted away over the past few days, but some still remain. My first ounce of homesickness kicked in today. Mainly because back home Jackie, my life long dance teacher got married. I'm so excited for her and would have loved to be there to celebrate the momentous occasion. I also have a sense of loneliness as I am surrounded by 5,000 other students and have yet to make many friends that I have really connected with. I have undeniably met lots of awesome people and made some friends, but not many that I can foresee myself being friends with for a long time. I'm sure I will make lots of friends down the road, but for now I'm missing my friends and family back home. Hopefully when classes start I will meet some awesome people who share my driven priorities. 

Let's all hope the unfamiliar faces turn into the faces of new friends in the next few weeks for me. For now it's time to embrace everything Freshman year has to offer. Keep following my journey here :)  Until next time, goodnight Iowa City!

They say it doesn't hit you on your last day of high school. They say it doesn't hit you during your commencement ceremony. They say it doesn't hit you at your graduation party. They say it doesn't hit you on your drive to school. Well, so far they are right.

They say it finally hits you when you're sitting in your dorm your first night, realizing that this is your new life. Let's see if they are right. It's move-in day!!! 

And for me it's the first day of classes eeekk. 

Can't wait to see how my room comes together and meet my roommate! 😁

"We knew this day would come, we knew it all along. How did it come so fast?"

What a perfect lyric to explain how I'm feeling about leaving in the morning. All my life I've imagined this day, yet here it is and I still can't wrap my mind around it. 

Why am I not nervous?

You would think I would be crying under my covers by now. I leave for college tomorrow... 

I am moving to a new state, going to school without knowing ANYONE, and leaving my family and friends. Yet here I am a little un-phased. It seems I can't wrap my mind around the changes coming my way

The many things I'm going to miss

I undoubtedly will miss my family, friends, and dance studio oodles when I am in college. There are also a few things of less significance that I am very sad to be leaving. The many luxuries of home that I will miss include: 

1. Showering without flip flops 

2. My big, comfy, full sized bed 

3. Having privacy 

4. My two, spacious closets 

5. My KITTY <33

6. An easily accessible iron

7. Driving (yes, I will really miss the van)

8. A dishwasher 

9. Reliable wifi 

10. McDonald's coffee

11. Not having to wait for a washing machine 

12. The Costco snacks in my basement 

13. Coming home from school & having dinner prepared for me, sitting on the table

14. An endless supply of cold medicine when I get sick 

15. Having a Michigan address :( 

16. Sharing clothes with my mom and stealing Nickie's camis

17. Protein shakes

Maybe it's just me but doesn't it sound like I'm traveling back in time to the Stone Age?! Wish me luck!

I'm Baaaaaaccckkkk

Hey Blogger! Long time no see. Well I'm back and we will see how long this lasts. This is a very exciting time in my life so why not blog about it? Even if no one else reads my blogs, I will appreciate these a few years down the road. Reading about my apprehension for college, having a roommate, and living away from home should be fun. Eeeek...

I write this posts from a stool in my kitchen. Scary enough, ONE WEEK from today I will not be living at home any longer. In fact, I will be living in a residence hall at the University of Iowa. For the first time in my life I will be out in the world on my own. I have my concerns, but it's time to put on my big girl panties and get ready for all that the world has to throw at me. I will stand with my catcher's mitt ready to grasp the challenges and ready to grow from the new experiences.

I've often found myself wondering if going out of state for college was a good decision. After all, I love the great state of Michigan so why was I so anxious to leave? I guess my point still stands that if I don't leave now, I never will. That doesn't mean I will never return to Michigan. In fact, I have full intentions of moving back to Michigan after school, but college is the time to live with no restrictions, to explore, and to be free so I am going to take full advantage of it. The great state of Iowa has no idea who is coming for it. Look out Iowa City... You have met your match!


Well those are all of my late-night thoughts for now. You can count on the next few posts being related to college as well! Bear with me, this is a lot of change for me. Until then, go Hawks!