First Day Mishaps

Yesterday was my first official day of classes that are held on campus. I was a bit nervous for the actual class, but never once thought to be nervous about arriving to class on time and finding my classroom. This was due primarily to my, apparently naïve, assumption that since this first class was being held at the Midway campus and is only one building, that it would be easy to find.



I checked, and double checked, the classroom number before heading out to drive to campus. We left at 5pm because we needed to stop and get me water and a snack, just in case my blood sugar started to go low in class. We finally left the city in which I live at about 5:20pm. This was obviously too late to be leaving on a Wednesday evening. Traffic was crazy! We got off the main highway to try and take back roads assuming that this would be much faster. However, a lot of other people apparently had this idea as well and were trying to commute through downtown St. Paul to get where they were going. I was becoming a little annoyed and looked over at my mom who just smiled and said, “Welcome to the concrete jungle!” I did not find the humor in this at the time, however now I laugh when I think about it. I tried to remember my new positive, calm outlook on life so that I would not get too stressed out. I kept telling myself that getting upset over it wouldn’t help me get to class any faster so I might as well just relax. After turning down several wrong roads, almost getting into an accident with a very pushy city bus driver, and gawking at the military men in uniform at the Veteran’s Memorial in front of the State Capitol, we finally made it to campus.


When we arrived there were cars everywhere and people biking, running, walking, and sprinting towards the main campus entrance. When I arrived inside the building it was an absolute madhouse! There were people running every direction, scrambling to get to their classes and ask for help if they didn’t know where their class was. After talking to a very nice lady in the lobby I learned that my class, which is in room 18, was in fact NOT on the first floor as I had presumed but in the basement down a creepy, dark hallway. After walking halfway down said hallway I only noticed maintenance closets and an “office” that had the name of some creepy company on it—no people were in sight. I turned back to the stairs I originated from to ask the security guard where room 18 was and she informed me that it was in fact down the creepy hallway I had just come from and that it was a ways down. I had to squirrel through the dark tunnels of the basement all the while thinking “Am I walking into my death? Are they going to keep me here forever and run painful experiments on me?” I did eventually find the class, arriving just about in time for the class to start. Luckily my teacher is a very understanding person and even joked about how even she has a hard time navigating the building.


On a side note: Yesterday I received an email from the student editor of Haute Dish, MSU’s Arts and Literature Magazine, and they are going to publish two of my photos! =) I am very excited for this! I hope to have many more submissions accepted and to also get some things published in the newspaper for money! It isn’t much, but it is a great start to the future career I hope to have!


Overall I think I will really grow as a person, a student, and as a writer over the next two years, and even over the next 15 weeks of this class. I am not big on public speaking, reading my writing in front of an audience, listening to their critiques and feedback, and working in a workshop setting. All of these things will be a new, perhaps sometimes uncomfortable, experience for me. I am willing to take whatever this semester, the next two years of my education, and the world throws at me and make the best of it. After all, you only live once and I want to make the most of my time so that I don’t have any regrets. I have spent too much time caring what others think, being too shy to really grow and make amazing friends, and taking things too seriously at times. This semester not only marks the beginning of my journey to earn my Bachelor’s degree, but also the beginning of self-discovery and becoming who I truly want to be in life!

FINALLY!!!

I finally received the email from the financial aid office letting me know that all the issues/confusion with my loans and bookstore credit have been resolved. I logged onto the bookstore website to, once again, order my textbooks for this semester. It is really cutting things close because the semester starts on Saturday. Luckily, I don't actually have a class on campus until Wednesday August 25th.

MSU grants course access before the semester actually starts, which actually makes me very happy. I would have preferred that IHCC did that as well. I would like it even more if I already had my textbooks. I will already have homework in my Intro to Professional and Technical Writing class as well as my Marketing Principles class. I am a little worried for all the work in my marketing class. When I met with a counselor/advisor at MSU back in June and she told me to keep in mind that these classes will be a bit harder than the classes at IHCC and most of the time people don't really realize that I kind of brushed it off. There is a ton of homework! I just need to stay on top of things and keep remembering my goals. I have made it this far, I refuse to give up or slack off now. If anything, school is even more important to me now because these classes actually pertain directly to my degree and my career aspirations.

On a bit of a side note: I will finally be having surgery!! =) It seems like I have been waiting forever even though I just started the process at the end of May/early June. I meet with the surgeon on Aug 31st and have my last check-up/progress visit on Sept 8th. They said they will submit my approval for surgery to the insurance company on the 8th after my appointment! I am really excited and find myself being a lot more motivated to eat healthy and exercise in preparation and anticipation of the surgery. I am a little more nervous for how the surgery will go and if it will be successful. In a weird way, it seems scary to make such a big change and even to accept the changes that will happen with my medical issues. These will all be good changes and I am extremely happy about that, just hope that things go as planned. I know I will be healthier and a lot happier after all of this occurs!

As a last big girls night out, a few friends from mostly IHCC are going out to celebrate the start of the new school year, the new adventures and chapters of our lives, the fact that Kelly, Jenna and I are leaving IHCC to attend new schools, and Sam's upcoming 21st birthday. We are going to the Hard Rock Cafe in Minneapolis and I am so excited! I have needed a good girls night out just having fun and enjoying amazing friends! I realized that I have met some amazing people and have a great support network since starting IHCC. I could not have asked for a more supportive, loving group of friends. Especially in the EMS dept--they truly are my crazy, dysfunctional medic family and without them I would not be where I am! I have found a big piece of myself I thought was lost because of them! I will forever be grateful and I will most certainly never forget them! I think the transition from IHCC to MSU would be much more difficult if I thought that I would never see them. Luckily, I can walk over to IHCC and see them anytime I need to! I <3 it!!!

New Beginnings

As of yesterday (August 12th) I have officially earned my Associates in Arts degree from IHCC. Even though I had my graduation ceremony back in May, actually receiving my degree depended solely on my successful completion of my Logic class. I have never really liked math, nor have I ever really understood it well. I was surprised to find that I earned an A in the class! This gave me a 4.0 GPA for the semester and an overall GPA of 3.55. I wanted to graduate with honors, but you need a 3.75 for that. I am trying not to be too hard on myself about this. I tend to be a lot harder on myself than other people are.



In about a week I will start up school again at MSU in Saint Paul. I am a little nervous because the campus is a lot bigger than Inver Hills and I am still very unsure of where everything is on the grounds. I am lucky to only have three courses on campus; two at the main campus and one at the midway campus. The midway campus will probably be the easiest to navigate since it is just one building. I am also nervous because I don’t know anyone who goes to school there which makes me a bit uncomfortable. I felt nervous when I started Inver as well, but at least I knew someone who went there and could help me navigate everything.


I feel somewhat rushed this next week or so. I need to go to Walmart and get some notebooks, pens, pencils, folders, etc. I also, thanks to the financial aid office not telling me that I have to fill out a loan request form, to try and get my textbooks as soon as possible. As it is I will probably not get them by the time the semester officially starts. I was hoping to have them immediately because we can access our courses online starting on the 18th and I wanted to read as much as possible to stay on top of things before the semester starts. I also, however, have an eye doctor appointment, a dentist appointment, an appointment with my surgical care team at Southdale, and I also need to have my toenail removed for the second time in 10 months. I want to have my toe “surgery” before the semester starts so that it has time to heal before the semester really starts up.


This is the start of a new beginning, a new chapter, in my life. I want to make the most of it and truly enjoy it along the way. While I had a lot of fun at Inver I feel as though I didn’t fully let myself experience everything like I could have. I want to make sure I get the most out of the next two years of my academic life. I want to step out of my shell and really let myself shine! I have learned that you need to let go of the past, live for the future, care less about what others think, do what makes you happy, and live every day like it’s on purpose! =)