When our Honors Program director, Vince Brewton, asked us what our core four values were, I immediately recited in my head, "Eye contact, enthusiastic voice, share a smile, stay connected." Sadly, those are the 4 Core Essentials of a Chick-fil-A employee and are completely not what he was asking for. No one else really remembered them either, except one girl who randomly knew like two of them. It turns out that he had verbally typo'd anyway and there are actually five core values, and here they are: Creativity, Integrity, Curiosity, Achievement, and Service. Even though those remained a mere vague memory from my first couple of weeks here as this semester progressed, looking back it turns out that those words describe perfectly my first semester of college. Mission accidentally accomplished!
I just love seeing how my time at UNA has revolutionized some parts of my life, while setting in stone other things that were already in me. College has only served to verify the philosophy I always lived by: Don't freak out about what others think of you - no one cares what you're doing anyway.
When we first got to college, a common freshman observation was, "Wow, everyone is so cool here." Do you know why people are so surprised? Because high school was retarded! We were conditioned for pressure and anxiety about awful failures at life like that dude who wears his pajama pants to class and that girl who has too much fun on the weekends. So many conversations I have had with other students this year have this theme of "I look back at high school and realize how much it doesn't matter." Yes, it was a formative time in our life during which we made important relationships and decisions, but we still look back at it and scoff. IT IS OKAY to be best friends with the super-weird kid that makes you laugh. He might creep everybody else out, but who cares? I'll tell you who doesn't care - the better part of six billion people.
I am the same person I was before I came here, but the way I view God, other people, and life in general are always changing. Like Dr. Vince said last night: Values change. Plans change. "You just have to suck it up and be okay with that." Along with the excitement and triumph I have experienced in the past few months, I have also faced circumstances of disappointment and uncertainty. All of these led to differences in my outlook on things, and I am totally all right with that. Change is good. I have now actually walked to town at least three times, which never would have happened where I'm from. I've had three of my own articles published in a real newspaper! I have met really interesting, cool people and watched them grow into college life while I did the same... I use an umbrella now, people! Also, I should probably tell my boss I can't referee this basketball season, because last night I got a call and found out I will have a steady job in town after Christmas break!
The following random song quotation may be the end of my freshman HP blogging experience, but this moment is just the beginning of life as I know it.
"Ain't no lie baby, bye, bye, bye." - 'N Sync
I just love seeing how my time at UNA has revolutionized some parts of my life, while setting in stone other things that were already in me. College has only served to verify the philosophy I always lived by: Don't freak out about what others think of you - no one cares what you're doing anyway.
When we first got to college, a common freshman observation was, "Wow, everyone is so cool here." Do you know why people are so surprised? Because high school was retarded! We were conditioned for pressure and anxiety about awful failures at life like that dude who wears his pajama pants to class and that girl who has too much fun on the weekends. So many conversations I have had with other students this year have this theme of "I look back at high school and realize how much it doesn't matter." Yes, it was a formative time in our life during which we made important relationships and decisions, but we still look back at it and scoff. IT IS OKAY to be best friends with the super-weird kid that makes you laugh. He might creep everybody else out, but who cares? I'll tell you who doesn't care - the better part of six billion people.
I am the same person I was before I came here, but the way I view God, other people, and life in general are always changing. Like Dr. Vince said last night: Values change. Plans change. "You just have to suck it up and be okay with that." Along with the excitement and triumph I have experienced in the past few months, I have also faced circumstances of disappointment and uncertainty. All of these led to differences in my outlook on things, and I am totally all right with that. Change is good. I have now actually walked to town at least three times, which never would have happened where I'm from. I've had three of my own articles published in a real newspaper! I have met really interesting, cool people and watched them grow into college life while I did the same... I use an umbrella now, people! Also, I should probably tell my boss I can't referee this basketball season, because last night I got a call and found out I will have a steady job in town after Christmas break!
The following random song quotation may be the end of my freshman HP blogging experience, but this moment is just the beginning of life as I know it.
"Ain't no lie baby, bye, bye, bye." - 'N Sync
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