Hello, friends! I’ve been a bit slow to start writing about my life, but there’s a silver lining to that: now I’ve got plenty of material. To start, here’s a quick overview in list form. I’ll get more specific after that.
Cool new stuff I’m excited about:
- I read Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler (you should read it, too).
- I read the Pride and Prejudice spinoff Mary B by Katherine J. Chen (read it).
- I’m currently reading The Color Purple by Alice Walker (read it).
- I finally watched comedian Hannah Gadsby’s eye-opening social commentary “Nanette” (watch it on Netflix).
- I’m falling in love with art + design* all over again via my Intro to Design class, which is taught by the wonderfully sarcastic and funny Katie Ries.
- I’m being reminded of how much I love asking questions and analyzing art + literature in my introductory Humanities Through Fine Arts class, which is taught by the very passionate and crazy-smart Steve Westergan.
- I’m writing and writing and writing and writing and writing (two writing-intensive courses’ll do that to you).
- I started my research fellowship (read about it).
- Nerf gun wars are always a good idea.
- I’m meeting some freaking awesome people on campus, including but not limited to many of my fellow first-year Honors kids.
- Did I mention I’m making good-ass friends? I am. They make me laugh and show me cool new music.
*Soon I want to create a separate tab where I can showcase my art and photography. Watch for it!
Yeah, Ally, we get it. You’re excited. But how are you, really?
Kind of you to ask, thanks! In all honesty, I am doing well. But I never want to make it seem like I’ve had a picture-perfect college experience because I absolutely have had my share of struggle and uncertainty. I’m an optimist by nature, so I tend to ignore the less-than-awesome parts of life here on campus, but I think it’s important to remember reality: no matter how much I want it to seem like it doesn’t, life as a college student (and like, life in general) has its shitty points. So here’s the grittier side of things:
1-3. I’m grateful to have the mental energy and physical time to read books of my choice. There are days when I’m too exhausted to do anything but scroll through social media, so reading even a few books like this feels like an accomplishment.
4. “Nanette” is incredible, but it’s incredible because of the amount of injustice and trauma Hannah Gadsby manages to unpack in just one hour (and the grace with which she does so). Which actually makes it horrifying because, in order for Gadsby to have that material, that injustice and trauma have to exist. And that they exist is sickening in and of itself.
5-7. The material I’m learning in my classes is enlightening, and I love it. However, college is, like. Hard. Well, not even hard––I’m fully capable of doing everything asked of me, it just takes So. Much. Time. Especially writing (so you should appreciate that I’m writing this post). And there’s so much going on: my professors are big fans of discussing one thing in class and assigning entirely different things for me to work on outside of class. So I’ve got nightly homework, but then I’ve also got a paper or presentation looming over my shoulder at all times. And that’s for every class. And I know I should probably get used to it, but I’m a baby freshman, and right now it’s stressful.
8. I wrote an entire post about my fellowship over here. You should read it ;).
9. There is no downside to this one. Nerf wars are always a good idea.
10-11. This post is getting too long, and I’m planning a whole ‘nother post about friends and stuff.
Now that I’ve been honest, I want to end by saying that I’m loving it here at St. Norbert (I’m reluctant to go home most times). I’m incredibly lucky and grateful to be here, and I’m excited for what the next four years hold.
Thanks for reading,
Ally x
P.S. The rest of my blog posts won’t be this long, I promise.
