Jupiter Island, here I come. :)

ALMOST HERE.

SPRING BREAK IS ALMOST HERE. 2 more days. 2 more days.

Naturally, since there is a lovely break coming up, the week prior is required to suck. I guess I don't have TOO much to complain about. There isn't a set "midterm" time, so professors can do whatever they want. I ended up only having one midterm and one paper this week, along with tons of other random things to do. Unfortunately, I have tons of tests and things the week after spring break too. When the heck do I have time to study? I won't even have time to shower!

But I wrote myself out a detailed schedule on Monday and I've been sticking to it. My midterm is out of the way, and now I only have to concentrate on my paper. 6 pages on the Puritans and how they impacted foreign policy today. Gag me. But that's due Friday, so I have tons of time to do other important things- such as play tetris.

2 days until Florida. :) At 9 PM on Friday night my site leaders will pick us all up and we'll go to their apartment and have a party. The party will include a Planet Earth viewing and pajamas. I sort of cannot wait. Then we'll load up the cars and get some sleep, only to wake up and set out at 3 in the morning. Again, gag me. But we have to get to camp before the sun goes down so we can pitch our tents and such. Then my awesome, super, spectacular spring break in Jupiter Island will begin. :) We'll wake up early every day and work until around 3, and then we'll do some fun activities- such as hiking, kayaking, going to wildlife rehabilitation centers. AHH. I'm geeking out. Sadly, our camp is quite a ways away from the showering area... I am so not conditioned for this. I'm used to showering every morning. EVERY SINGLE MORNING.

Here goes expanding my horizons!

Life is good. :)

Now as for the Puritans and foreign policy...

Yes, tetris.

I've become addicted, though I think the worst of the storm has passed. I've never really played it until this month. I was never really interested. But a couple weeks ago my suitemates all started playing tetris together (and by together I mean they sat without talking playing on their individual laptops). I tried playing, but I died miserably on level one. Currently my record is 207 lines, which is pretty fantastic, if I do say so myself. :)

But now it's not as fun, as I guess my addiction is over.

I have to learn the Greek alphabet for KKPsi. I have a nifty song to remember them. I wish I could convey the wonder of this song through a blog post, but instead I'll just write them out in caps lock to prove that I know something.

ALPHA BETA GAMMA DELTA EPSILON ZETA ETA THETA IOTA KAPPA LAMBDA NU MU XI OMICRON PI RHO SIGMA TAU UPSILON PHI CHI PSI AND OMEGA TOO.

I'm becoming educated here at college, obviously.

This weekend should be lots of fun. :) My family is coming down on Saturday since I won't see them over break, so naturally I'll make them take me grocery shopping and out to lunch. I think we'll hit up my favorite Mediterranean restaurant for some GYROS.

Oh yes. Did I mention that place delivers to dorms, so one can enjoy delicious, moist gyros whenever they desire. Another reason why Sarah should attend UVA.

Then that night I'm attending a quintet concert with some other KKPsi MC's. We have to go to one music event a semester, so we're getting it out of the way early. Should be enjoyable. :)

Sunday I'm eating delicious bagels with JEFF HOUSE, and the rest of the day will be dedicated to studying for midterms.

Life is thrilling. :D

Time to go sing the Greek letters to myself some more.

Hmmm. What to write about.

I had first degree of KKPsi on sunday! I don't know if I said it already, but there are 3 degrees before we're initiated in April! I'd discuss this in greater depth, but I can't. It's a secret. :) But now we're in the blah part of
being a membership candidate. We have to go to lessons and take quizzes and grossness. We also have a task book, to be completed by initiation, that has a million and two things to do. That's an exaggeration. Mostly we just have to contact a bunch of brothers, meet with them, and talk about what brotherhood means to us. It's stressful.

Fun fact! The CNU chapter of KKPsi got suspended for branding. Ew.

School's going dandy! I got a B on my math exam, so all is well! Spring break is quickly approaching!! I ordered hiking boots and my parents are coming down this weekend with a sleeping bag, and I'll be good to go! I can't believe it's so close. Less than two weeks away! I expect to have lots of stories when I return.

Another fun fact! The dining hall had fried doughnuts with ice cream today for dinner. I could not resist.

Time to go play tetris.

I'M A TEACHER.

I want to answer the questions here. I makes me feel more important.

THE FIRST ONE IS NOT A QUESTION. I AM CONFUSED. But here goes!

2. I think optimism is something I developed in high school. Middle school and optimism just do not go hand in hand, but I was on the worse side of pessimism. I had two close friends throughout the time, and even they were started to get annoyed with me. So I just decided to start smiling. I know I personally liked being around happy people more, but I never made the connection that other people felt the same way. From then on the happy, bubbly person is just who I became and I've never looked back. I have no idea when I started caring about my appearance. I've been freaking out about how my hair looks for way too long.

3. I don't know if it ties into optimism or appearance, but Mr. Johnson was definitely the most influential teacher in my life. He made me feel included in the band and wouldn't let me quit. He pushed me out of my shell and into the drum major position and molded me into a leader. Thanks to him, I was a part of a group that I really felt like I belonged in and I became more outgoing. My love of high school band led me to do college band, and now I can't imagine life without it.

4. My memories of graduation are all a blur- and an anticlimactic blur at that. I walked across the stage, got my diploma, and found my family- all without coming close to shedding any tears. I wish it was more memorable, but I just never really liked my class as a whole. I saw myself as just another graduating senior, leaving no lasting marks on anything outside of the band room. I had just recently decided to attend UVA, and I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I felt nervous and unsure- like I was leaving my comfort zone of Manassas. That was a time of doubting myself. All I knew was that UVA would be tough and I was about to see if I could survive.

My views have certainly changed since then. I am no longer unsure. I belong at UVA and I love it here. I feel privileged to call myself a Cavalier. The transition from a high school band of 40 to a college band of 300 could not have been easier, and it really gave me a group of people I could form bonds with early on. I'm the quirky Harry Potter fanatic- a name I proudly hold. But of course I'm still searching for myself. First year is a time of trying to figure out who you want to become friends with, how you want to spend your time, and most importantly, what you want to major in. College gives you the independence necessary to think for yourself, and Charlottesville is definitely a prime location for some good soul-searching.


DO I NEED TO DO ANYTHING ELSE? DO I NEED TO MAKE IT BETTER?

JEFF HOUSE.

Today was good. :)

So I got an email at 2 this morning telling me that I needed to be

"People go here to work out and sweat
And if you jump in
You will get wet."

at 4 that afternoon.

So, obviously, as a UVA student I know the only gym with a pool is the AFC. I assumed all of the 1st year class got this message, but nope, there were only 4 of us. We all get to the AFC and stand in a nervous little huddle wondering what's going on. The older brothers are pretty much terrifying. They've been known to watch the MCs (membership candidates, which is us) from security cameras and stuff. But then we find another clue, and before we know it, we're on a scavenger hunt. :)

The first clue said something along the lines of "people study brains and genes here, there are rats" (but it rhymed of course), which we decided had to be the psychology building, because that's where all the labs are. We go in a back door and proceed to wander every single freaking floor trying to find the labs and the libraries and the rats. 45 minutes later we give in and check the main lobby, and the clue is on the front door. Eff. Haha. That tells us to go to somewhere that sells burgers to kids late at night and is in the basement, which we knew would be the cafeteria in the basement of Bonnycastle (a dorm!).

Too bad the cafe was closed, and we scoured the entire outside and couldn't find anything. Luckily, we had a number to call if we got stuck, and we were informed that the clue would have been obvious, so it was probably just gone. They told us what it was, and we found the next one, and the next one, and the next one.

We ended our journey at the giant statue of Thomas Jefferson, where our last clue was waiting. If you put together bolded letters from every clue the phrase Jeff House formed. The 4 of us are the newest members of said house. :)

To explain that I can only think of one analogy. KKPsi is Hogwarts. There were 4 founders of the UVA chapter. Each founder created his own house, having something to do with UVA. Jeff house is Jefferson! Others include Homer house (because of our Homer statue), Ionic (because of our columns) and Astro (because of our observatory? I don't know.)

The scavenger hunt was thrilling and exciting and I bonded with my fellow brothers. I already had guessed I'd be in Jeff because Dever is, and we go into whatever house our big is in.

This Sunday is another big day! It's 1st degree- which basically is the first ritual before we get initiated in 2 months. There are 3 degrees I think. Can't wait.

Sarah. You need to rush Kappa Kappa Psi wherever you end up.

Just had my first calc exam. >=[ bah bah bah. I hate math. It wasn't like the practice exams.

But on the plus side the rest of today was AWESOME. I got an A on my first english paper and he used it as the example for a well written argument in class. Then I went to oceanography (which I had my first test in on tuesday), and found out I did way above average and got a high A (which happened to be an 88. College curves are so weird).

So the good outweighs the bad I suppose!