The End of Another Beginning

It's been a while. I can't believe how busy it's gotten toward the end of the year. It's amazing how fast my first year of college has gone by. Some of the drama from high school was definitly present at college too, but I've learned a lot and had a blast doing it. Cheerleading was awesome (hopefully, I make the squad next year... keep your fingers crossed for me!), I've met some great people.... I'll miss ya everybody... don't forget to call, and a wonderful guy.. love ya, babe. As much as I hadn't realized it throughout the year, looking back, I've changed a lot... or at least grown up a little and learned how to look at situations from more than one angle.

UIS was a learning experience... just like any other college, but there are things here that you wouldn't be able to find in very many other schools. The teachers care about their students, if you're a Capital Scholar, you basically get to live in a 3-floor hotel full of teenagers, and there are tons of extracurriculars and events that keep you busy. I thought a lot about leaving at the beginning of the year, but I've decided to stay for at least another year. I want to see the school continue to develop... which it will, just like it has in the past couple of years, especially when general admissions begin.

Until next year, have a good summer everyone :-)

Intermural basketball, baby!

"The Girls" had their last game on Sunday against the best guy team in the league. It was a lot of fun. They weren't playing to kill us, they were just playing to play. It was awesome. We only lost by 10 points and at one point it was 11-10! I wanted to wrap my foot (i think i pinched a nerve or a tendon or something) and play, but Collin wouldn't get me any tape because he said playing on it would just make it worse. They wanted to just stick me at the three point line and I could stand there the whole game, but I wouldn't be able to do that. As soon as someone came at me with the ball, I would've wanted to run after em.

Mom just came and brought me crutches, so I'm in for a great next couple of days.

French test today. Enough said. Actually, the language program here is pretty up there. They're trying to make it a minor.

A woman named Suzy interviewed me about blogging for a paper she had to write. It was interesting. I never really thought about how unique this is for perspective students to be able to tell what actually goes on day to day here.

Things to do this week:
Movie at Brookens Auditorium
TONS of work
cheerleading for the last guys home game :-( .. not ready for it to be overwith yet
Cabin Fever games outside! should be interesting...
Oral Comm speech (gag)... one of the teachers (first name Mike.. not supposed to post last names) is awful. His ego excedes his intelligence. It's like he has to be a jerk just to prove to all of us required to take this class that he's smarter than we are. I guess not everyone has the same problem though.

homework time

Kate

GO BIG BLUE

Blue Crew (like a really loud and obnoxious pep squad) and a few cheerleaders (me, Megan, Kristin, and Amanda) took a charter bus (Thanks ICCB!) to Lebanon to watch the guys battle their rivals, the McKendree Bearcats. What the heck is a bearcat, anyway? It was awesome. We all made Muck FcKendree (not Fichigan... sorry 27-0 GO ILLINI) t-shirts and cheered the guys on.

Talent Expo

Talent Expo tonight... it was quite interesting. There were actually a lot more people there than I expected there would be. (There was free pizza so that could've had something to do with it :-) ) The Student Center was full... mostly people standing due to the bad planning on the part of those who put it on... There were NO chairs, but people stayed. I sang while Jeff played the guitar. We were first... then Chad, who should've won, then Jeave played the piano. There was a dramatic speech that received second place (hmmm) and a drum ensemble as well as the UIS choir. It was pretty amazing how many people were involved. Surprising for the size of the school. Can't wait 'til next year!

Quote of the Day: Life is all about timing. - C.Lewis

Finally!

Finally! The internet is working! I've been having some computer problems, or I would've posted sooner. February has definitely been interesting. Classes have been going pretty well. "Who Am I?" ( a CAP class ... ) has actually been really interesting. If any of you who are reading this come to UIS next year, try to get Tavia for CAP122. She's awesome. Bio-chem is pointless as usual, but at least now, we're starting to learn things from the labs. Dr. Bapat's very intelligent, so I'm getting something out of it. Calc II is extremely easy. Hopefully, it will pick up as the semester goes on. Oral comm. is the only class I'm having difficulty with.. or at least I WILL start having difficulty with it as of tomorrow when I give my first speech. Wish me luck. I was thinking about printing out my speech and reading it (which would bring my grade down a letter grade because our teacher is a little psychotic), but Collin won't let me. I guess if I can make him go to class, he can make me at least do what I'm supposed to be doing.

Saturday, there was a girls' game at 1 and a guys' game at 3. I woke up with just enough time to take a shower and run to the girls game. I sang the National Anthem, which went surprisingly well considering I hadn't even talked at all that day. :-) I wish Collin would've gotten there a little sooner to hear it with his dad and his uncle. Speaking of which, his family came down to see the game. I was a little nervous about meeting them. They all seemed really nice. I didn't get to stay and talk, unfortunately, because I told my grandparents I'd visit them that night and I had to get something at work by a certain time. Collin talks about his sister, Kara (I think that's spelled right, but I'm not sure) all of the time. I wish I would've gotten to talk to her a little more. I played volleyball, which he said she wants to try out for... we could've hit a ball around or something. :-) His mom seems really personable. I told him to shave a little... that didn't happen, I guess it only works once?

Saturday night I came back to the dorms and got to hang out with Kyle, Collin's brother, Kyle's girlfriend, Katie, and their friend from highschool, Scott. We had a pretty good time. I heard a lot of stories from Katie. She was a cheerleader in highschool, so she said when Kyle found out Collin was dating a Katie who was a cheerleader, he was like "He's copying me!". Hmmm... :-) Kyle and Scott were really nice too, very funny.. but apparently, according to Collin, Kyle was on his best behavior and I didn't get to see how he really is? LoL Basketball Sunday morning was fun. Katie and I took Scott on... and beat him... though we did have a five point lead ;-)

The first intermural basketball game was Sunday. Boy, was that interesting! We're the only girls team. It was soo much fun though, even if we did lose by 41 points. We still scored 40 points on them! I put us on the bored with two 3's... I didn't think I'd make em... and swish.. right over Matt's (another blogger) head! It was pretty sweet! I only scored two more points the rest of the game, but I didn't get to shoot much. The guys were stronger, taller, and faster, but we still had a good time.


Time to work out. Pics up as soon as I can upload them onto the computer.

Wednesdays always seem too long...

So I'm putting off writing my oral comm. dedication speech proposal. I was just informed that it isn't due until 5 PM tomorrow and for once I don't have to work! So... I'm eating a pickle and watching anchorman, which by now I almost can recite the whole script.

to Brick: "which reminds me, i've been meaning to tell you... you may want to find a safe-haven, family member, lay low for a while... you're probably wanted for murder."- Ron Burgundy

One good thing about the cold weather.... SNOWBALL FIGHTS!!! Most of us seem to have the attitude "let's go play in the snow!" It's awesome. There's even been some major sledding goin on... with lunch trays none the less. Very creative.

Talent expo is coming up. It was kinda short notice when I auditioned so I just picked a song. (Martina McBride-How Far) Jeff is going to play the guitar for me. It sounds good so far. We were just jammin, messin around with this Evanescence song.. it was pretty sweet. Rich, Jeff, and Reese are starting a band I may be able to sing/keyboard for. If anyone's interested, e-mail me with your name and instrument.

I met this amazingly talented guy last night. His name is Nick and surprisingly, I already kind of knew him. I went downstairs to get a drink from the cafe and I heard someone playing the piano, so I went into the great room to see who it was. Adam, from my bio-chem lab last semester was sitting doing homework and his friend was sitting at the piano. Come to find out, they're both good friends with my friend Jenna from the Muni and other music stuff... they both went to Pleasant Plains HS. He was amazing; a musician and an artist. Good taste in music too. Jeff and I practiced, the Nick came back and played the guitar and sang a little. I played for him a little and sang and showed him my landscape painting. He kept saying he was amazed or something to that affect. At 5 AM we decided to call it quits and he said see ya soon. Hope I see him around.

They guys have a big game on Saturday against McKendree. I hope Collin's at least somewhat better by then. I hate to see him in pain.

College seems to make you do crazy things. It's like I'm doing things I would've never thought I would. Questioning a lot too.

Anyway, I get to sing the National Anthem on Saturday, then we're cheering and performing at halftime. It's gonna be great! Come and see us and Aaron, Aaron, and Collin and the rest of the guys!! January 22 at 3 PM at the gym in the Student Life Center. See ya there!

And we're back...

Classes started today. First venture of second semester was into CAP land... 122 Who Am I? Seems to be off to an interesting start... pretty "psychology" based... I think I'll like it. Then came French. I was scared to start in the middle of the year with the expectation that I actually remembered everything from high school, but it wasn't bad at all! My class has 6 people in it, which is awesome for a foreign language. Had a couple hours to chill, then off to calc II at 4 PM. SOOO late for a math class. There are a lot of people in my class I was excited to see, though. My best friend's brother, Luke, was even there! Small world!

Word to the wise: buy your books offline (cheaper) or buy them early. The line at the bookstore was a million years long. Got to talk to Jeff though. I'm trying to talk him into playing the guitar for me so I can sing at the talent show we're having on campus :-)

Cheerleading was rough tonight, everyone was kind of out of it and tired. We'll be fine. Things started to shape up. I got back and ran for a while.

Lots of stuff to do, lots of things to talk about.

There's one person that I wish I could just be completely honest with, but I don't want to hurt him. I wish, at this point in my life.. just for now.. things could be a, to use an EXTREMELY outdated and ummm grandparents-y sayin, "fly by the seat of your pants". Just whatever happens, happens. It's not that simple when peoples' feelings are involved though.

Well, I'm supposed to be talkin about the school so I'll move on :-) We've got a lot to accomplish this semester. Each wing is coming up with fundraisers to raise money. Tons of activities... somethin for everyone. I want to go watch Friday Night Lights here.

Well, it's early (midnight... as opposed to 4:30 which is when we went to bed last night), but it's time for bed. Kristen's sleepin and I'm sure the light from my laptop isn't helpin ;-)

so... g'nite everybody

any stories from the first couple of days back??? I'd be glad to hear about em!

Oh, I got a card from Jeremy today (christmas/birthday card). It was funny. College makes friends even closer, I think.

~Kate