Ready for Adoption!

Well, so much for updates about the kittens. They’ve been keeping me busy—that’s for sure. I’ve really enjoyed having them around and they’ve truly made my summer so much better.

I think it’s better to just get the sad news out of the way first. A few days after my first post about the kittens, they had to put Lily to sleep. She had what’s called FIP and is a disease she was born with that causes fluid to collect in the cavities in her body. The treatment is very painful and the vet said it was more humane to put her down. We were not expecting this at all but we took solace in the fact that she had a loving family for her last days.

Little Lily sleeping with me.

Anyway, on to happier times. Jackson and Dexter have grown so much over the past month. They’ve doubled in size and have grown so close to each other. They think they’re brothers, it’s very adorable. They wrestle together until they wear themselves out, and then fall asleep with each other. I’ll catch them cleaning each other too.

My little boy!

They both got fixed yesterday and that marks the time they are ready to get adopted! Well one of them got adopted sooner then the other as I officially am keeping Dexter. It was exciting to sign my name as the “Adopter” and call him my own little kitty. We’ll bring in Jackson tomorrow and we’re pretty sure he’ll get adopted right away. It’s weird to think he won’t be around, but I’ll be so happy he finds a good family. We might even get a few more kittens to foster before I have to go back to school.

The toy boys hamming it up on the window sill.

Meet the Kitties

Last year we had to put down our very sweet kitty Ginger. We’ve had her since I was a little girl and I don’t remember life without a cat running around the house. Since then, being home has felt so empty. I miss the feeling of a warm little furball purring in my lap while watching TV. Since my mom won’t let me get another cat…I’ve come up with the next best solution: fostering.

I toyed with the idea for a few days and finally mentioned it to my mom. I did a little research before and realized it was kitten season. To my absolute delight, she agreed! I tried going through the SPCA, but in order to foster you have to go through one of their classes and the next one wasn’t until June something. Lord knows I couldn’t wait that long! So I kept looking and found an organization’s post on Craigslist. It’s called Cats About Town Society (or CATS) and they have a little adoption center set up in one of the local PetSmarts. I emailed them and within 10 minutes I got word that there were kittens waiting to be fostered! Yay!

Bringing them home as they stare up at me as if I'm an alien!

"Sleeping" in their little box we set up

Two days later we were on our way to pick up our bundles of joy. The tiniest kittens I’ve ever seen were handed to us. The smallest weighed 1 lb!! The three of them were 8 weeks old (2 from the same litter). We picked up food and some litter and were on our way. Before we left, we were told the most important job for us was to give them great names—it helps them give a good first impression when they’re being adopted.

So for this post, I want you all to the meet the kittens!

Dexter

Starting with Dexter. This tiny little boy coming in at 1.2 lbs is the sweetest little cuddler you’ll find. Within an hour of bringing them home he already fell asleep in my mom’s arms. When he was just a bay, he had an eye infection and now his left eye has a blueish film over it from scarring. I think it just gives him more of a personality. He loves to sleep—especially if it’s close to someone. He perches himself on my shoulder or chest when I’m laying down and can stay like that for hours if I’d let him. Dexter will play a bit with the other two, but he’s more of people cat. Guaranteed to melt your heart in seconds!

Lilly

Next up is Lilly. Affectionately referred to as Lilliput from Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travelers because she’s so darn tiny! But the fact that she’s only one pound doesn’t stop her one bit. She’s a little ball of energy and tries to keep up with her big brother. Yesterday she started to limp on one of her legs and breath heavy. The vet said it was from the pain, so we’re keeping an eye on her.

Jackson

And finally there’s Jackson. He is like the Energizer Bunny and is always getting into trouble. As the biggest one (1.5 lbs haha) he pounces around proudly, sneaking up on Lilly or trying to get Dexter to play. He’s the most adventurous out of all three and I feel like I’m always pulling him away from something he shouldn’t be doing. Despite this, he has the cutest little meow that greets me whenever I haven’t seen him in a while and when he’s playing by himself he coos like a little birdie. I hope he goes to a great big family with lots of kids to keep him busy. 

I’m hoping that I will post more regularly about these little guys and keep you all updated on how they’re doing! Time to go snuggle with one of them!

Dexter and I snuggling on the couch.

Looking Ahead

As the semester starts to come to an end, I’ve found out where I will be living next year. Thankfully I will be the Freshmen Wellness RA again in the same building I’m in now. I love the Wellness program and I love this building as well. But it’s weird to think that even though I’ll be doing the same thing, it’s going to be completely different.

I have grown so close to my residents and it’s so weird to think that I won’t see them on a daily basis—sometimes multiple times a day. My residents have exceeded my expectations ten fold. They are so amazing and each one of them is great. I’m so happy and lucky to be their RA. We’ve had a great year, and I hope that the next month or so is just as great. And it will be cool to see them next year and be their peer—no longer their RA. Although I’m sure they’ll always think of me as their RA.

And my staff. My staff is absolutely amazing this year. What a great first staff to be on. There is 12 of us and our Hall Director makes 13. The chemistry between us all and the way we interact is truly amazing. I hope that our connections will remain as strong next year, even though we won’t be together. Yay Irma/Dana!!

So then I can’t help but think ahead to the future. It’s going to be so different to have a new hall full of residents. Getting to know an entirely new group of people and figuring out the dynamic will be fun and nerve racking at the same time. I think it's going to be especially weird to be in the same area and building I'm in now with completely different. But meeting my new staff members the other day was a weight off my shoulders. I’m excited to get to know them better, and it will be fun to go through training as a returning RA with them.

I feel like when you’re in college, you have to constantly be thinking of your next step. It’s hard to enjoy the present when you have to think of where you’re living next year, how you’re going to move out all of your furniture and things, and what classes you need to be taking. Sometimes I need to remind myself that this is truly the best time I’ve had and I need to enjoy every second of it!

Follow Up to WW

One of my last blog posts from February was about Weight Watchers. I am absolutely hooked. I have changed my entire lifestyle and love myself for it.

I’ve found that I’m skipping my usual afternoon nap to get to the gym. I actually want to go even after all these weeks. I’ve slowly increased my cardio workout from 30 minutes to as much as an hour. And I’ve figured out the best inspiration to go: reading. I am able to read on the elliptical, which means all those books I’ve wanted to get to can finally be got. I’ve read two books and am on my third. I only read them at the gym, so it’s my reward for going.

In addition to exercising 4 or 5 times a week, I’ve learned all the tricks to eat good in our cafeteria. This was not easy. Weight Watchers is all about planning out your meals and when and what you’re going to eat. The night before, I think of what I will have for breakfast. And during breakfast I try to plan out lunch. If I’m not prepared, I’ll overeat and make bad decisions. I’ve slowly learned the point value for my favorite foods in the café and I know what’s a best options. I enjoy perusing the salad bar and have even tried broccoli as well for the first time!

I’ve also found that over these few weeks, my appetite has decreased. I can eat less and still be full. And I can go longer in between meals because I know the right snacks to eat. When I did this at home before freshman year, I found it almost impossible to continue at school. But now it’s almost harder to be home now and keep up with it. Funny how things change. Either way, I’ve lost 13 lbs in about 8 weeks. I’m so pumped for the summer to look good and feel great!

Spring Doubts

Sometimes I feel that I’m missing out on a huge part of college by not going to parties and clubs every weekend. I’ve made a choice to not drink based on a number of different reasons. Of course I’ve had a few drinks in my life—at a wedding, a summer party at our house—but it just doesn’t interest me to get drunk every weekend.

When I interviewed to be a Resident Assistant, I told them that I would like to be the Wellness RA. I explained that it is my choice to live the Wellness lifestyle anyway, and that I think I could help my residents understand their choices to be substance free. Here I am now a year later, and I still stick true to what I believe. But there’s a part in the back of my head that questions whether or not I’m missing out. I see so many pictures of “last night” and all the smiles on everyone’s faces. Most of my weekends include staying in, playing games, or just hanging out with my residents.

It’s not because I don’t want to drink because I’m underage—living at college, I feel like age doesn’t even matter when it comes to alcohol. Everyone can get it if they want to. I think it’s more of the degree that college students do drink. Not many people are satisfied with having one drink in a social situation. One drink turns into three or four and that’s when things get out of hand.

While the sororities here don’t promote drinking and parties, it’s an inevitable part of Greek life. Obviously where there is a large group of college students bored on a Friday or Saturday night, there will be partying. Sometimes I think that I didn’t get to bond properly with my sisters because most of the bonding was done at parties that I didn’t care to attend.

One of the major reasons I don’t really drink is because I want to REMEMBER the things I do. The scariest thing to hear about is people that don’t remember what they did the night before. I can’t imagine losing that much control. But I do understand that you can be safe and still have a great time. Just as an RA and living on this specific campus, it’s sometimes hard to remember that.

However, a weekend like I just had has proved to me that it’s possible to have fun without facing it in a drunken stupor. My staff is full of awesome people, and we know how to have a great time without getting wasted. Singing karaoke and hosting spontaneous talent shows are just a couple ways we entertain ourselves. Weekends like this reaffirm my decision to be substance free. I’m sure most of the people that go to my school will probably read this and look at me funny, but I’m glad I’m able to be firm in what I believe in. I hope my residents can see this in me, and I hope that I make it easier for them to stay true to their values as well.

Empowered

This Sunday I joined Weight Watchers again. College hasn’t been very nice to me, so it’s time to take control. I give the credit to my friend Victoria—Vic for short. I texted her Saturday morning to get lunch, and she said she couldn’t because she was at the gym. I just sat there and thought that that’s where I should be. So I put on my tennis shoes and joined her.

I hoped on the elliptical next to her in the empty gym and started my 30-minute work out. Afterward, she showed me the “magicalness” of the gym that I had never found. I was a little intimidated by the weight machines to try them on my own, but Vic showed me the ones she did and we did them together.

She also showed me the scale. The dreaded enemy. The second I stepped on it, I knew it was time to do something. So the next day I joined Weight Watchers online. It’s really cool how interactive it is. You can search for food and it automatically has the points value. You can keep a chart of your weight loss and see averages and what not.

I’m really into it. I’ve never actually wanted to go to the gym. But yesterday when I couldn’t go, I honestly missed it. I’ve pretended that I like going before and kind of sneered at people who say they like it. But it is official…I enjoy going to the gym!

So I’ve already seen results already and I’m definitely making conscious choices to eat better. I like making good changes for myself and it’s nice to finally be in control. I finally understand what people mean.

3 Parts of Me

Being in college is a little weird. For four years (well for most people, it’s 4) you’re living this life that’s divided into different parts. Think about it, for 4 months, you live at home, and for the other 8 months you’re at school.

So one part of me still lives at home with my mom. I go to work a few days out of the week, and the only other person I hang out with besides coworkers is my best friend Haley. I didn’t really stay in touch with people from high school, so all the people that I used to see on a daily basis, I only see their Facebook status updates. Going home is a little weird. Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing my parents and being in my own room in my own house. But it’s not where I am anymore. I spend more time at college than there, and with each year I feel like I’m getting farther and farther away from that life.

But then at college, there are still different parts of me. I have my own room as a Resident Assistant and a hall of great girls. This year I’ve met some of the most amazing people and I know that this is where I’m meant to be. I have a lot of responsibilities here, whether it has to do with schoolwork, helping a resident, or programming with my staff. There’s always something for me to do. But I love to be busy—so it’s great for me.

The other part of me is when I visit my boyfriend Jeff. He’s only a two hour car ride, so it’s easy to drive up to see him when the weather’s nice enough to let me. It’s like a mini vacation whenever I go up to Massachusetts. I try not to take any work with me, because I never get it done there anyway. And it’s just a break from everything school related. It’s hard that we only get to see each other maybe twice a month though.

The challenge is trying to make all these parts of me co-exist. Right now, I feel most grounded when I’m at school going about my normal routine. It’s when I step out of this that things get a little hard to manage. I’ll be home and want nothing more than to have things to do and be busy like I am at school. Or I’ll be at Jeff’s and wish that he could live a little closer to make it easier to have a relationship. It’s a weird time in my life, nothing can really prepare you for college until you’re actually there living it.

Being Juror #5 (Final Part)

Deliberation was a very unique process in itself. We were all basically strangers and the first thing we had to do was pick a foreman. We all sat around looking at someone else hoping they would step forward. After that bit of housekeeping was done. We went through everything about the trial. Since we weren’t allowed discuss the trial with anyone until a verdict was reached, it was such a relief to talk about it with others who experienced it with you.

On the third day, we decided to vote on the first count early in the morning. Someone collected all the folded pieces of paper and read it out loud.

Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.

It felt like my body got heavier with each word.

Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.

I tried not to make eye contact with anyone.

Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.

It was official. Guilty on count 1. Everyone breathed a sigh. A sigh of what, I’m not sure. On to the next decision. This one took longer.

We had to have the court reporter come in the room and read to us a section of the trial. She fascinated me. I watched her throughout the trial, typing silently on her special keyboard. I had to ask her how she did it. She explained that she taught the computer everything it knows. It’s based on syllables instead of words, and that for every trial she sets new commands into it. Well, after she left, we talked a bit longer. And voted for the second count.

This time there was one not guilty. 5 more minutes of deliberation changed their mind. We called the bailiff to tell him we had reached a verdict on both counts and after a little bit more waiting, we were called into the courtroom. Within ten more minutes, the defendant heard the live changing word: “guilty”. The jurors were dismissed and left the room to go back to the regular routine of their normal lives. The defendant returned to some jail cell to be sentenced later on. I’m not sure how long he was sentenced for, but it doesn’t matter because I did my part of civic duty.

Being Juror #5 (Part 2)

As I sat down, I looked over to the table in the middle of the room and see the prosecutor (a mousy little man), the district attorney (a tiny but very pregnant newlywed), and the defendant (a sunken faced man). It was a little somber.

The courtroom itself was totally not what I was expecting. I watch so much Law and Order to distort my expectations that I was a kind of let down. It was a rather plain room with 70s style wood paneling on all walls. The best part about it was that the jurors had the most comfortable seats! It’s the little things in life.

This isn't the courtroom I was in, but to give you a little idea of what it looks like.

So next comes probably the worst part about jury duty: juror selection. It takes FOREVER! The judge questions/talks to every jury about their Voir Dire form they filled out. He goes through the 12 jurors in the box, and then the 6 extra sitting in front. It was weird hearing him talk to all the older adults in front of me, saying they’ve been at their job longer than I’ve been alive. He asks them all sorts of questions having to do with their career, family, connections to police, education, everything. Then he gets to me.

My list was so short that he asked me where I go to school and for what, and pretty much moved on. Guess I passed the test? So 13 people later, it’s finally time for the lawyers to dismiss jurors that didn’t quite meet up to their standards. Within minutes they’ve thanked and excused 7 people. The nature of the case was sensitive so they needed to make sure the jurors were fair and basically didn’t come to any conclusions before the trial. I don’t really want to talk much about the case, but I will say it involved a young teenage girl and an older man.

Anyway, for those of you doing the math, you’ll realize that there are only 11 jurors left now, so it’s time for the judge to call 7 more up. Question the new 7. Send us home for the day and make us come back on Tuesday.

Tuesday morning rolls around, and we go through another 7. Thankfully, it stops at round 3 of questions and I’m still sitting nice and cozy in seat number 5. It’s kind of a cool feeling to be a juror. These lawyers think that you are honest and fair and competent enough to try their case. It took me a little to realize that I was as equal as the 70-something juror sitting next to me even though I’m only 19.

The trial itself went smoothly. It was only a few days long. It’s really amazing how many breaks the judge takes though. Two 20-minute breaks in the morning and afternoon, and sometimes a 2-hour lunch. The jurors are only there from 9-4:30, so that means we’re really only in the courtroom for a little less than 5 hours. I feel like we could be a little bit more productive and use this time more wisely.

Either way, I took the time that we did have very seriously. I took so many notes to make sure I didn’t miss anything and paid close attention to everything. The lawyers kindly reminded us that this was not going to be like Law and Order or CSI. They were right. People misspoke—especially them. The prosecutor especially would go round-and-round in questions, often asking the same one 3 or 4 times. Even at one time when he was trying to explain the DNA findings, he was confusing everyone because of the awkward questions he tried asking the expert witness. Thankfully, the judge was also confused and just had the witness explain it herself.

So after the lawyers are done comes deliberation. The bailiff guides us down a secure hallway, into a secure room that only he can open. It was a room on the corner so there was a great view of Sacramento. There was a table with 12 office chairs around it, an easel with paper, a corkboard, and a TV with DVD/VCR. There was also a bathroom because nobody could leave the room—how thoughtful.

(Still more to come!!)

Being Juror #5

Sometime last semester, I got a letter in the mail from the Sacramento County Judicial System asking me (not so politely) to come in for jury duty. Thankfully, I got to decline because I was 3,000 miles away and that would be one hell of a commute. However, my very honest mother told them not to worry and that I would be home for winter break. Well they found me during winter break.

I was a little peeved because my whole plan during break was to work as much as possible because—like any college student—I’m in desperate need of money. So this really screwed up my plans. But as it came closer, I got a little excited. It would be a cool new experience and kind of a break in the monotony of being at home.

My home for 4 days.

For those of you who have never been to jury duty before, it’s not glamorous at all…but it is pretty interesting if you people watch and observe all that you can. Honestly, I think the worst part of going was parking. My first day was easy because I got there at 7:20, a little before the other jurors. But the second day I had to find another lot. And boy am I terrible at navigating the city—so that was quite an adventure at 8 in the morning.

Once you get through the metal detectors and up to the second floor, you have to check in and then sit in the “Juror’s Assembly Room”. Awesome. It’s basically an airport with no planes to catch. They have the same exact chairs that are all connected and TVs that don’t play anything you want to watch.

So you’re in this room with a few hundred other people, and the woman behind the counter will call off a list of random names to go report to a courtroom. At this point, I’m not exactly sure if I want my name to be called or not, so I sit there anxiously half disappointed and half relieved that I don’t have to move.           

But eventually my name gets called and I report to the fourth floor to Grand Courtroom 29. Apparently they love to make you wait, because this is just another place to stand/sit around until you hear your name called. Luckily though, I don’t have to wait long. After the bailiff steps out, he calls my name fifth and I take the seat as Juror #5.

(More to come later!)

New Semester

So obviously my goal to post blogs failed miserably when I was at home, so I’m going to start over. I love to write and sometimes it gets a little old to write papers for classes all the time. But since I do have to write the aforementioned papers, I may not have as much time to post regularly (but it’s not like I really ever did anyway!)

This semester is going to be very busy. I’m taking 5 classes…3 of which require me to write papers often. Honors Greek Tragedy is probably going to challenge me the most. While I enjoy reading plays and learning about Greek history along the way…if you’ve ever picked up a play by Sophocles, you know that it’s really not the easiest thing to get through. Thankfully my professor is very knowledgeable about Greece and it’s history in general and is very well versed in its literature. I’ve only had one class with him, but he seems to present it in a fun way and still teach us a lot.

I’m excited for my Media Studies class as well—after all, it is my major. I wasn’t able to take a media studies class last semester because they didn’t offer what I had to take, so it’s so nice to get back to what I love. Media affects us all so many times a day we don’t even keep track. As you’re reading this, you’re being affected. It’s truly amazing how much technology has taken over and engrained itself in our daily lives.

One of the best parts about this semester though, is that I only have class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I did this on purpose though to make room for my internship at the Green Bride Guide. I’m so excited to start as a content editor intern sometime next week. I’ll post links to what I write! But, since it hasn’t started, I get a really long weekend—made even longer because we got a snow day on Thursday!

I cannot believe how much snow is on the ground. Connecticut got over 2 feet earlier in the month (when I wasn’t here thankfully) and none of it has melted. So on top of that, we got a little over a foot of snow Wednesday night. The guys that clear the roads and walkways on our campus stayed overnight to get everything ready in the morning. But lucky us, classes were canceled even though the snow stopped before sunrise. Here are some pictures outside my residence hall.

Overlooking Sleeping Giant

Library to the left.

I didn’t realize why they called for a snow day until I had to go bail out my car. Thankfully one of my residents helped me—it was a semi-big job. Because I didn’t have a shovel, we literally had to dig my car out. The snow was all the way up to the middle of the tires and the entire front of my car was covered in a shelf of snow. It took us about ten minutes. My poor little California car got a big taste of this terrible New England Winter! I'm just glad I didn't have to do this by myself, early in the morning!

First Snow of the Season!

So I’ve really missed writing in my blog all the time, but this year has been so hectic that I just haven’t had much time. Every time I think about sitting down and writing in it, I feel like I should be doing other things. But anyway, I’m going to be on break soon, so I’m going to make a conscious effort to write more often.

This Monday, we got our first snow! It was so beautiful. I really love the snow. I was like a little girl about it. It started flurrying at night. The whole Residence Hall was buzzing. People were popping in and out to catch a few flakes on their tongues—me included.

Then, around midnight, it really started to pick up and actually start to stick. And I don’t care if you’ve lived with snow your whole life, the first snow is so exciting! I documented the night on my phone. Here’s the two pictures from that night.

Light dusting from behind my building overlooking the tennis courts.

Starting to build up!

So I went to bed an hour later than I should have (at 2 a.m.) because I was in awe staring out my window. I have a great view of the creek and there’s lights shining so you can see the white flakes at night. I finally fell asleep though, but woke up early.

At 7 my body woke me up and I opened my eyes, grabbed my glasses, and looked out my window. WHITE! Everything was covered in white. The grass, the pavement, the trees, the tennis courts—everything!!

I was so excited that I couldn’t go back to bed until I stepped outside and got to touch it for myself. So that’s exactly what I did. I grabbed my phone (to snap a pic of course) and threw on my sweatshirt, marching outside.

Same view from the first picture, plus an inch or two of snow!

It’s a beautiful moment to enjoy a snowy morning by yourself. It was still snowing when I went out there and my black sweatshirt was quickly covered with tiny little puffs of ice.

I have this philosophy about snow. It is so perfectly beautiful that I don’t want to bother it. I feel bad when I walk on a fresh, smooth plane of snow. I want to preserve it for as long as I can so others can enjoy it too. I kind of cringe when people unnecessarily trek across snow when there’s a perfectly good salted sidewalk right next to it.

Needless to say, I’m excited for it to snow again. This time I want to be snowed in and have classes canceled…it will probably have to wait until I come back in January though.

My New Blog

Another one of my professors has asked me to make a blog. This time its showcasing my projects I've done in my Interactive Digital Design (IDD) class. Check it out and let me know what you think. Erica's IDD Blog

Here's a preview of whats on it. I took pictures from both my Yosemite trip and my cross country trip.

Strengths Quest

My Residence Hall Director, who is the woman who runs the building I work in and is basically my boss, and me and the other RA's in the building take this test to see what our strengths are. We're always thinking about our weaknesses because they are what hold us back--we notice them. But we rarely take time to notice our strengths. They are just a part of us and make things easier for us when we didn't even realize it. After seeing my top 5 strengths, it's kind of scary how accurate this test is. The strengths are in order, so the top one is my number one strength and so-on. I'm going to go into each one in more detail for what they mean to me and how I view them, but here's what the site describes them as.

This is me in a nutshell:

INTELLECTION
You like to think. You like mental activity. You like exercising the "muscles" of your brain, stretching them in multiple directions. This need for mental activity may be focused; for example, you may be trying to solve a problem or develop an idea or understand another person's feelings. The exact focus will depend on your other strengths. On the other hand, this mental activity may very well lack focus. The theme of Intellection does not dictate what you are thinking about; it simply describes that you like to think. You are the kind of person who enjoys your time alone because it is your time for musing and reflection. You are introspective. In a sense you are your own best companion, as you pose yourself questions and try out answers on yourself to see how they sound. This introspection may lead you to a slight sense of discontent as you compare what you are actually doing with all the thoughts and ideas that your mind conceives. Or this introspection may tend toward more pragmatic matters such as the events of the day or a conversation that you plan to have later. Wherever it leads you, this mental hum is one of the constants of your life.

INPUT
You are inquisitive. You collect things. You might collect information-words, facts, books, and quotations-or you might collect tangible objects such as butterflies, baseball cards, porcelain dolls, or sepia photographs. Whatever you collect, you collect it because it interests you. And yours is the kind of mind that finds so many things interesting. The world is exciting precisely because of its infinite variety and complexity. If you read a great deal, it is not necessarily to refine your theories but, rather, to add more information to your archives. If you like to travel, it is because each new location offers novel artifacts and facts. These can be acquired and then stored away. Why are they worth storing? At the time of storing it is often hard to say exactly when or why you might need them, but who knows when they might become useful? With all those possible uses in mind, you really don't feel comfortable throwing anything away. So you keep acquiring and compiling and filing stuff away. It's interesting. It keeps your mind fresh. And perhaps one day some of it will prove valuable.

EMPATHY
You can sense the emotions of those around you. You can feel what they are feeling as though their feelings are your own. Intuitively, you are able to see the world through their eyes and share their perspective. You do not necessarily agree with each person's perspective. You do not necessarily feel pity for each person's predicament-this would be sympathy, not Empathy. You do not necessarily condone the choices each person makes, but you do understand. This instinctive ability to understand is powerful. You hear the unvoiced questions. You anticipate the need. Where others grapple for words, you seem to find the right words and the right tone. You help people find the right phrases to express their feelings-to themselves as well as to others. You help them give voice to their emotional life. For all these reasons other people are drawn to you.

DEVELOPER
You see the potential in others. Very often, in fact, potential is all you see. In your view no individual is fully formed. On the contrary, each individual is a work in progress, alive with possibilities. And you are drawn toward people for this very reason. When you interact with others, your goal is to help them experience success. You look for ways to challenge them. You devise interesting experiences that can stretch them and help them grow. And all the while you are on the lookout for the signs of growth-a new behavior learned or modified, a slight improvement in a skill, a glimpse of excellence or of "flow" where previously there were only halting steps. For you these small increments-invisible to some-are clear signs of potential being realized. These signs of growth in others are your fuel. They bring you strength and satisfaction. Over time many will seek you out for help and encouragement because on some level they know that your helpfulness is both genuine and fulfilling to you.

RELATOR
Relator describes your attitude toward your relationships. In simple terms, the Relator theme pulls you toward people you already know. You do not necessarily shy away from meeting new people-in fact, you may have other themes that cause you to enjoy the thrill of turning strangers into friends-but you do derive a great deal of pleasure and strength from being around your close friends. You are comfortable with intimacy. Once the initial connection has been made, you deliberately encourage a deepening of the relationship. You want to understand their feelings, their goals, their fears, and their dreams; and you want them to understand yours. You know that this kind of closeness implies a certain amount of risk-you might be taken advantage of-but you are willing to accept that risk. For you a relationship has value only if it is genuine. And the only way to know that is to entrust yourself to the other person. The more you share with each other, the more you risk together. The more you risk together, the more each of you proves your caring is genuine. These are your steps toward real friendship, and you take them willingly.

Editor's Power

My latest article has been published today. I got a little tip from the editor-in-chief to add a little meat to my article and I went ahead and added some hard facts in there. It's nice to get constructive criticism, even though, I'll be honest, I've been known not to take it too well at times. But given in the right ways I think it's very helpful.

However, I'm a little annoyed that some editor (not sure who) changed the first sentence of my article. To me, it sounds a little snobbish to start out by saying "In my Californian opinion...". First of all, this is something I would never say. And second, I don't want everyone to hate me. Oh well, we'll see how they respond to this one.

Here's the link.

No Homesickness Here

This year, I am pleasantly surprised that I haven’t been very homesick.

I miss the people at home—my mom, my dad, my best friend—but I don’t really miss being at home. This summer was interesting. I was bored a lot. I really don’t have much going on at home anymore. My life is here now (as much as my mom doesn’t want to hear that).

This year has been a great one already. I’m really enjoying living on my own. However, sometimes it’s a little, well, lonely. My group of friends used to live in my building last year. So because all of us were extremely lazy, this worked out well. But now that they all live together in another building, I don’t see them nearly as much. I’m not really involved in their plans and most of the time they don’t make a huge effort to come visit me.

On the bright side, I’ve gotten closer to the RAs on my staff. We’re on the same schedule and do live in the same building. Weird how that works out. Anyway, I feel so comfortable as an RA. Like this is what I’m meant to do. I love my hallway, my building, and my staff. It’s a great atmosphere. 

First Article!

So today my first article was published in my school's newspaper, The Chronicle. Here's a link to it: Bob Saget Opinion Article

Within an hour of it being posted, I already had 2 comments online. While they weren't encouraging comments, it's nice to know that people are actually reading what I have to say. I'm in the process of planning my next article. I'm not sure if I'm going to stay solely in Opinion. While I do love sharing my thoughts with the world, I'd like to do a hard news story or maybe even a feature. Im doing a news feature for my Journalism class, so maybe I'll work on that for both class and the paper.

The meeting for the paper is tonight and I'm also thinking of joining the production stage of the paper (editing, designing, things of that sort). I'm interested in running the actual web page because that's leaning more towards what I may be doing in the future. But anyway, I hope you enjoy my article! It's fun seeing my name in the by line of a paper again!

Getting Old

It’s official, I’m getting old. Sometime last week, I pulled a muscle on the left side of my back. It is the most annoying thing in the world. For those of you who have hurt your back before, I feel your pain.

It might not be so bad if I didn’t have a life and could just lay in bed for a week. But of course I had to drive 2 hours to Massachusetts, walk around all weekend, drive 2 hours back, and still have to walk to all my classes and sit in very uncomfortable desks and chairs.

However, think goodness for Aleve and Icy Hot! They are the only reasons that I’m able to get through the day. But I still feel a little ridiculous holding my back to bend over to pick something up. I suppose this is just a little taste of what it’s going to feel like when I’m older.

It's About Time

So this semester, I have decided to finally join the newspaper for my campus. I wanted to do it last year, but for some reason I never made my way to their meetings on Wednesday nights. But, with the encouragement from one of my residents (yes, it’s a two way street of support in my hall) we went with one of my friends.

For the next edition of the paper, I am planning on writing a story about being from California at a school in Connecticut. Sound a little familiar? So maybe it’s not the newest idea I’ve had (pauses to look over blog) but I think it’s a great point to start. It’s kind of like introducing myself to everyone.

The cool thing about our newspaper—called The Chronicle—is that even if your story doesn’t make it in the print edition, they post everything online. Once I’m officially published, I’ll be posting links to my stories so you all can check them out!

And yes, I realize that it's been a while since my last post. I'm going with the excuse that I've been really busy (because I have been really busy) and just haven't had any quality time to sit down and do this. It's difficult to write personally when I have homework to do and newspaper articles to write. Also, for one of my business classes, I've been asked to write a blog. So I'll be spending some of my time doing that. I have to post 4 times a week on a subject of my choosing. I'd just like to reflect that I don't even post 2 times a week--let alone 4--on this blog. We'll see how that goes. Here's a link to it: Erica's 20 Percent Time

Labor Day Weekend

It’s great to be back at school and be busy again. During the summer I feel so unproductive that it’s nice to actually do some work and cross something off your to-do list. But, at the same time, it’s great to take a break. Whenever I see Jeff is my break time. This weekend, he came and stayed with me and we had a blast. More importantly, I put all my work away and just focus on having fun. I know I’m not going to get any of it done anyway, so what’s the point of even thinking about it?

We had only two things we wanted to do: enjoy an awesome storm and hike the mountain that’s across the street. The first item on our list failed miserably. Like I said before, Hurricane Earl totally missed us, and we got small excuse for rain. So that left us with only one thing planned. But, not to worry, whenever we’re together, we always find something fun to keep us busy.

On Saturday we did a little bit of shopping, and I picked up some things that I have needed. We knew we wanted to do something outside because while the hurricane didn’t bother us, it did bring some amazing refreshing weather. On our beautiful day, we finally decided to drive 20 minutes south to a small beach that my friend recommended to me.

It was so peaceful to walk along the shell-strewn beach listening to the calming lapping of the waves. I love finding beautiful shells to take home with me. This trip, I found a very unique one that is now sitting on my shelf.

While I was collecting shells, Jeff—my soon-to-be pro photographer—was snapping away beautiful shots totally enjoying the way the afternoon sun was glittering off things. I’ll put a few of my favorites in so you can check them out.

After that, we went to the pizza place where my friend works and had a delicious dinner followed by some ice cream. We then returned to the beach to sit on a blanket and watch the sky change colors for the sunset. But, it’s only so romantic until the sand fleas start attacking.

The next morning we were up a little early so we could climb “The Giant”. The name of the mountain is called Sleeping Giant because it looks just like one. So we were going to go get breakfast (and coffee) at the caf and grab a few sandwiches for lunch on the top, but when we got there, it was barred off and we saw that it doesn’t open until 11 on Sundays! Leave it to college to be open so late. Aren’t people up before then? Apparently not.

Anyway, we then had to hike up to my car (and yes it’s quite a hike, it’s parked in a lot called “Hilltop” and they aren’t kidding) and went to go get some Dunkin. Fueled up with a breakfast sandwich and Jeff with his coffee in hand, we finally were able to start our adventure.

It was a beautiful hike and it’s so nice to go with someone who’s on the same pace as you and is appreciating the same things. The view from the top is absolutely amazing. You can see the entire campus and all the way to the Long Island Sound. We were overlooking a beautiful forest of trees and it sounded like the waves of the ocean. 

Let me add here too, that Jeff had his Dunkin cup in his hand the entire way up—and down.

We found a friend at the top of the mountain climbing on the rock. He was a little caterpillar that we had some fun with taking cool pictures. Jeff got him on a leaf and placed him a tree when we were leaving because he seemed so out of place on the edge of a cliff.

But now that Labor Day Weekend is over, it’s time to start the week. Thankfully,  I had enough time today to finish all of my work and the great part about this is that now I have only 3 more days until the next weekend because I don’t have class on Friday’s!