Breathe.

I SURVIVED MY FIRST WEEK!
Living in an apartment is really hard. Sounds weird saying that. But it's true.
My classes are all awesome, my homework isn't impossible and it's not super difficult to re-learn how to manage my time. But living in an apartment is so rough.
Our toilet leaks really badly and hasn't been fixed yet.
I've burned my arm.
My roommate forgot to fill up the ice tray.
The piolet light went out and I had to sacrifice an arm and a leg to get someone over to re-light it.
I burned cheese on the oven and the whole place smelled.
Honestly, my list is pathetic. What first world problems. But I'm so emotionally drained. All I want to do is find a quiet, air conditioned place and curl up with a book and iced coffee and get away from people. But, I have to keep truckin'.
So I will just breathe.
Sit here in my own apartment, one that is filled with our paintings and crafts and an orange filing cabinet and breathe.

Forward March

I'm heading back to Chicago today! Seriously, I am so beyond excited. This year won't start off with a bunch of awkward hello's and get to know you games (and I will be missing that not at all). I'll be able to step on campus and actually know where I'm going and who I'm seeing. Such improvements from last year.
More importantly, I am so looking forward to everything this school year is going to teach me. I honestly have not one clue of what's going to happen (does anyone, really?). But this is me, an anxious student, willing and ready to take on all of life's new challenges and lessons.

Done.

Yesterday, I went into club. It was empty. Silence bounced off the walls. Gone were the screams of joy and the yells of anger. Instead, in the front office, staff reminisced about the worst kid moments so the summer and the many of the crazy things some of them do. It was somewhat therapeutic to laugh at those challenging moments. Even though club proved to be most stressful job- mentally and physically- it taught me the most.

This summer, the most important lesson I learned was not to judge people. 

Many people live differently that I do. Many people have been raised differently that I have. And just because I don't agree with how they live doesn't mean I can't love them. 

At college, we're always talking about diversity. And after this summer, living in a subarb but working in a very cultured environment, I guess I have really taken a deeper look into the many differences that make up individuals. I am most excited to see how this will affect me as the year continues.