Oh, the snow in Mayyy.

This blog has nothing to do with snow.

Actually, I am terribly delayed in this whole blogging business so I thought while it's still snowing outside, why don't I update my small fan base on my ever so interesting life.

I am officially done with being a freshman in college. Crazy right? I honestly don't know how this semester went by so quickly. Last semester, now that was a drag.

Let's recap this year.

When I arrived at Cazenovia I felt very welcome, actually. The orientation advisors were great (most of them) and they did a good job at waking everyone up in the mornings with pots and pants.

But anyway, us freshman were hit with a lot of crap at once. This was really a life changing experience and a whole lot of crap thrown on our shoulders. We were placed into a different world and we had no idea what was going to happen and how we were going to handle everything. We were pretty much all scared poopless yet at the same time we all had that rush of excitement.

I met Kathryn shortly after arriving and from that moment on I knew we would get along perfectly despite our musical differences (haha). I loved our room, the campus, the lake, Cazenovia just seemed perfect for me. But later that night I arrived, everything struck me at once.

I was one nervous, paranoid, son of a batch of cookies. After just a few days, I was homesick but never showed it around people. I longed for the familiar halls of high school and the faces I saw every day. I was in terrible need of hugs all of the time and even though Kathryn was beside me for about 90% of my first few days there, I felt alone. I cried when I was in the room alone, vented to Ryan about how unsure I was about Caz, etc.

Kathryn was going through similar things but she was actually showing them in front of people, which is fine. I hugged her plenty of times and told her everything was going to be okay even though I knew her for just a few days. Turns out, things did get better for a lot of us freshman.

Soon, Kathryn and I ran into someone named Lisa. She was going through the paranoid freshman stage as well. We all talked about it and vented about how maybe other colleges would have been a better choice or in Lisa's case, dropping out and becoming a hobo. We all kind of talked ourselves into hating Cazenovia.

Classes started and that just made matters worse, but better at the same time (come to think of it.) I was taking a Funds. of College Math at the time and whole class was treated like we were dumb and we all grew to hate the class. Some of us can't help we suck at math, I'm sorry. Academic Writing II was a challenge. I took Academic Writing I in high school and lo and behold it didn't help me at all in this course. I didn't know what the freak we were writing most of the time (Textual Analysis and Annotated Bibs). I compared that class to pulling a 2 ton train, I sometimes wished I was pulling a train instead of trying to get through that class. The Music Seminar wasn't bad. But, the good thing about that semester is that my advisor put me into a Photography I course (photo was my minor) and an Art History I course. It was with those classes that I realized I wanted to change my major. By the end of the semester, I found a knack and passion in photography. Thank you Eric Boyer, my first advisor.

Throughout these class days, I was a hermit crab. Even though I didn't go home every weekend, I went home...most weekends to visit my boyfriend Ryan. I found it hard to go 1 or two weeks without seeing him. But with being two hours away and since the work piled on, I ended up having to be away from him up to almost a month at times and we both hated it so. In the meantime, we were able to at least saw each others faces on skype. :P I stayed in my room and did work most of the time I was on campus. A few times in the beginning of the year, Lisa, Kathryn and I went to a park we found by the lake. That park ended up being my favorite spot but once it got cold, we stopped going. Soon, Jolene joined our freshman journey.

It wasn't long until I wanted to transfer. I was so sick of Cazenovia, its classes, the people, everything. Everything was just pissing me off and whenever I went through each day I found something new to hate at Caz. I had three close friends and just stayed in the group with them. I didn't make socializing a priority and I did not by any means had any desire to party. So, I started to looking into the art program at SUNY Oneonta. I figured it would be better for me. I already have friends who go there, they have photography, and it's much closer to home.

I battled with SUNY Oneonta for months. I visited, talked to a advisor, sent in everything needed to apply, and made sure my classes transfered. Then, I had to deal with the art department. The chair of the art department was the most impossible person. I never want to deal with her again. I wanted to see if my photography classes transfered, so I gave her my syllabus and hoped for the best. Months later, they haven't told me anything yet and apparently lost my syllabus. At the same time, the chair of the photo department is retiring and whenever I tried to ask if they were looking to hire anyone new to teach classes, I couldn't get a straight answer out of anyone.

When the semester ended, Lisa left for good and it was a sad day indeed. She decided to not give another chance to Caz and immediately jumped on an opportunity to live in an apartment with her friend and attend a school only a few minutes from where she lived. I, on the other hand, had no choice to give Caz another chance. My grades from high school weren't good enough for SUNY Oneonta.

My second semester at Caz was a much different and much better one. I had to take 3 studio classes which I thought would kill me, they actually turned out to be not that bad and enjoyable. I started to meet people within my major and actually started to make some friends (go figure!). Anyway, it all started with my friend, Aaron. We were in Drawing and Effective Speaking class together. One day, we were required to attend a lecture, him and the professor saw me sit alone and wouldn't let me sit alone. So, I sat by them. After that, I walked back to campus with Aaron and we watched some of the Olympics together. He officially brought me out out of my hermit crab shell. Soon, I was no longer afraid of being myself around people and actually letting myself have some fun.

This past semester, it seemed as if everything finally came together for me at Caz. I felt happier and I fell in love with my major and classes I never thought I would like/be good at before (Time Movement & Narrative). I started to actually love Caz and appreciated it for what it is. I found that I am a much better college student than a high school student because I enjoy what I am doing. I finally felt content with college, everyone does at one point or another. Sometimes it takes more than a semester, maybe even more than a year, it's different for everyone.

Here is my shout out to people who made college a not so bad place:

Kathryn, Jolene, Lisa, Aaron, Michelle, Helena, Lindsey, Brian, Chaz, Johnna, Bri, Kaley, Ivan, Emily, Lauren, Elise, & others.

Thank you : ]