Orange Panties and Peeing in the Shower.

Now that I've successfully obtained your attention, I officially have three more days of classes and then a week of finals before moving back home for the summer. Honestly, I'm excited to move back home. Of course I miss my family and friends, that's a given. And I'm excited to get to see them this summer again. But there are a few things from home that I definitely took for granted. Here is a list of random things I never thought I'd miss but did:

1. My bed. Seriously. My bed at home is equivalent to Jesus. And my dorm bed is like some random homeless dude, smelling like urine and booze. Who would you rather sleep on? It's not so bad once you stop thinking about all the other people who have slept (and done a lot of other unmentionable things) on that mattress... Even with an eggshell cushion, a mattress cover, and my frequently washed sheets it feels super gross. So after a while I got over thinking about how icky it was, but it still doesn't make up for the fact that I think it punches my back/neck in my sleep. (Thank God for Megan who gives awesome massages by the way) So when I go home, I will have my beautifully comfortable, full sized bed and I will enjoy every minute of it.

2. Toilet Paper. I pay $20,000 a year, you'd think dorms would splurge on some 2-ply but alas, no. Every time I go home I'm like WOAH! This toilet paper feels AMAZING! So I'm looking forward to not having to wipe with some paper product pretending to be a luxury amenity. Sorry to say public toilet paper, you just don't make the cut. I'm voting you off the island. I'm starting to think that ridiculous commercial about the girl who brings her own TP to college isn't as ridiculous anymore.

3. Singing in the shower. Yes, I know I could do this in the public showers. Who's going to stop me? Public showering sure doesn't stop the girls and guys in my hall from belting out an High School Musical tune for everyone to hear. I just don't think it's the appropriate time. (also, the dancing/singing parties people decide to have in the showers? I don't get it. I prefer to shower alone. It's the only alone time I get and it barely even counts because I'm not alone) Which brings me to #4.

4. Alone time. In the dorms you are around people. ALWAYS. You don't get a minute to yourself. Even when you're alone you are surrounded by people. Walking alone, you are walking with 10 other alone people. When eating alone, you are in a dining hall or restaurant full of people. When you are using the toilet, there's a girl in the next stall invading your privacy. When you brush your teeth, the girl curling her hair is in your space. When you go back to your room, your roommate is there doing her thing. Don't get me wrong, I love people. I just want some time where I don't have to worry about bothering anyone or that somebody is staring at me while I do my personal hygiene routine. It gets really claustrophobic.

Despite all of that, I really loved my first year of college. And living in the dorms has been an important experience in my life, I just don't think I'd do it again. So here, I leave you with my advice and tips for anyone who lives in the dorms in the future. (This is mainly for you Sydney)

-Public showering is not that bad but make sure you securely adhere your towel to your body before leaving your room. Mine has never fallen off, but I know people who have... so unless you want everyone to see you naked, make sure you're good before making the trek down the hall.
-Wear flipflops in the shower ALWAYS. People pee in the shower. It's just a fact. Yes it's gross, but you move on, and wear the dang flipflops. Problem solved.
-In college you learn to adapt in weird ways, like brushing your teeth in the shower so you don't have to make the extra trip to the bathroom later, and eating/showering at really random times. You take what you can get and you consolidate time as much as you can.
-Although it's all-you-can-eat, don't try to eat everything in the dining hall in one night. You end up feeling like crap.
-Frat parties are stupid. And the thing is, I totally knew this going into college, but I went anyway. It's cheap booze and drunk guys trying to get laid. Which everyone knows. But they want to "experience it for themselves". So go for it. Pimp yourself out to get in, drink a cheap beer, and decide you're never doing it again, because the image of the girl wearing the bright orange panties is permanently lodged in your memory now. And not in a good way. You're welcome.

I probably have more but, that's mainly the gist of it. Hope you've enjoyed my dorm life rant. I would like to say there is parts I will miss, but no. I'm too excited for my apartment next year with my girls. And my own bedroom. BEAUTIFUL. Now to go study for finals.

Never Alone

If someone were to ask me what is the most important thing in my life, I would, without hesitation, say my family. My parents, my sister, my grandparents, my aunts and uncles, my cousins, everyone. I went home this past weekend for my dad's 50th birthday party where a large majority of my family came to celebrate and party, and it hit me, as it has so many times before, that I wouldn't trade this for anything.

Anyone who has talked to me recently knows that last week was really rough. It's coming down to the wire here at school, therefore stress, hormones, and craziness are taking place. The minute I got home though, I felt one hundred times better. Nobody really had to say or do anything special. It was just the feeling of being somewhere where I knew that I wasn't being judged, and was being unconditionally loved that elated me.

I'm now back sitting in my dorm room, preparing to take on another week. Another to-do list. And I have this sinking feeling of loneliness, and I realize, the feeling of loneliness is always amplified immediately after you leave the place in which you are unconditionally loved. And it is for this reason that I didn't go out of state for school. I love school. I love being independent and on my own. But there just comes a time when you need to go back and be reminded that there is a group of people somewhere who loves you regardless of what you do or what you say or what color you decided to dye your hair this time.

I'm also glad that I'm able to be there for any one of them. Especially my sister who means the world to me and whom I got to see go to prom this weekend where she looked absolutely gorgeous in my dress from last year. It's good to be needed.

So, to my family, I love you all, unconditionally. I will always be here for you even if not physically, just as you are for me. Thank you.

Toleration is Timeless

I got into a little argument/discussion with a friend yesterday about the validity of Lady Gaga and what message she is sending to the world, particularly young women. I decided to dedicate this blog post to my beliefs and my everlasting admiration for Ms. Gaga and what she stands for. I personally love Lady Gaga. Not only because her music is catchy (which reminds me, I need to turn on a Gaga playlist for inspiration), or because she never ceases to surprise anybody (remember the egg?) but for the equality, kindness, and originality she stands so strongly for.

I recently saw a video where a fundamentalist Christian had parked himself in front of her concert, picket sign in hand, and when she approached him in her car she politely introduced herself and he rudely handed her a "get out of Hell free" card saying that "she is going to need that where she's going". She then told him that they better open up the gates, and tried explaining that they really do believe in God at her show. He called her a pervert because of her stance on homosexuality and told her she was raised in a screwy religion when she explained that she went to Catholic school for 13 years.

The ignorance of some people truly shocks me sometimes, and you can tell that Gaga was hurt by this, but instead of being upset, it motivates her to be stronger and more adamant about sticking up for what she believes in: equality for all people.

Now it shouldn't surprise anybody who knows me that I'm a huge advocate for gay rights, and have been known to call people out on the hurtful things they may say, and have gotten into plenty of arguments on behalf of my gay friends and neighbors. I believe that people shouldn't be judged based on their religion, race, sexual orientation, or gender. And the fact that Lady Gaga is so open about her beliefs and loving of everybody makes me love her even more. Out of all the celebrities out there who support equality, she's the one who always gets awarded or penalized for it and she takes it with such grace and stride it amazes me.

I look up to Lady Gaga. I know that her music and shows are highly sexualized, and she almost never wears pants. But that's who she is. And you can judge her for it all you want, but she's never going to change because of your judgment, and she encourages everyone, whether they be gay, straight, black, white, boy or girl; to just own who they are and not care about the judgment. Really that's all that life comes down to; Everyone is going to judge you at some point, and happiness comes when you realize that you can't do anything about it. That's why I've decided to try my best to ignore the judgments of others, be who I am, and there isn't a darn thing anybody can do about it. I'm going to embrace it and move on. And I have Lady Gaga to thank for that. :)

If you're interested in that video I mentioned earlier, here's a link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrOYFZwmMUM&feature=player_embedded and skip to about 2:40 because the beginning is long and really has nothing to do with my point. Hope everyone is having a wonderful day!