Hey, You Matter.

In observing all of my friends, professors, hallmates, and fellow students, everyone seems to be having a rough week in some way or another. This is a really perplexing situation since everyone just finished mid terms, but I totally know where they are coming from.

Life is just piling on these past two weeks, and a lot of people just need a break.

And I know there isn't much I can do to help all of the people I care about with this stress, especially not when I am in the same boat, but I try often. I've learned that this help comes in all different shapes and sizes, and while I don't know everyone here very well yet, I'm already learning what I can do to help them. I've learned that this could entail a surprise coffee just because, a cake ball as a study snack, just listening to them unload their stress, sitting there in silence-mutually on social media, having a jam session with showtunes, having a youtube marathon, or even just giving a hug.

I wanted to write this post for a couple of reasons, but the most apparent one is that I know there isn't much I can do for all of my wonderful people at home, and there are some people I haven't been able to help here yet.

I want you to know, yes, you, that you matter. A lot. You don't have to have it all figured out to move forward. Let your faith be bigger than you fear, breathe, and take your next step. Keep your head up, I promise you can do this. Yes, you might be losing hope. Yes, you may want to cry or even give up. But if you want to get back on the right track, if you need something to believe in, start with yourself. You are amazingly perfect in your own way. Please don't ever forget it. Don't lose hope, I have faith in you. I know you can do this. Now go and sleep, and have a great day tomorrow.

Post Mid-Term Update:)

Whew. I'm so sorry I haven't updated the blog in a while, life got crazy really fast and I just recently got a chance to relax and breathe. Since this blog is mainly used to update all my lovely family and friends around the country, I figured I might as well give a real update on what I've been up to.

Okay, so let's see.

I made it through my first round of midterms in college. They went well, and it was nice to get past them so I have an idea as to what I should expect in the future.

I'm also changing my major. That was another huge pile of stress that I didn't need during my midterm week, but hey, I made it. While I think I know what it is going to change to, I'm not going to announce it yet because it isn't completely official. I just know that I'm not longer going to be an education major, and beyond that, I guess we will just see.

I visited home twice! Well, once was for Cleveland clinic, and since that didn't take as long as expected, I got to go to PN's homecoming game and surprise all my lovely friends who are still in high school. The next weekend I was home for fall break, and it was nice to just get to relax. I've learned that I don't really need to bring my homework with me because my motivation is lower than zero when I'm at home, so there is no point in lugging it all the way back to Portage.

The next weekend, Kaitlyn and Brett visited me, and we had an amazing weekend. They arrived late Friday night and they got to meet Hannah and Rachel, (they all got along really well). We ate pie with Aly, and then we were exhausted so we went to San Fran, but our plans to sleep quickly changed to us hanging out on the floor in Hannah and Rachel's room. On Saturday, we braved the ridiculous crowds for the Chicago marathon to do some sight seeing downtown with Aly and help her on her hunt for a new pair of boots. By the end of the day, we were all exhausted and hungry, so we took them to Potbelly's to try it for the first time. We then went back to Aly's apartment, piled on the couch, and watched New Girl. Brett also helped Aly practice for her callbacks which was filled with hilarity. Overall, a very good weekend with my buddies.

And then I survived my Spanish midterm which was the most stressful thing that I've had to do in Spanish so far.

After a super stressful week, I had this weekend to sort things back into order. On Friday, I worked for a few hours since I didn't have any classes, Saturday I worked an open house and saw some other friends who came to visit me. Later that night, we went to adventure in Evanston and on the way back, we got our own car on the El. BEST. THING. EVER. Flips, cartwheels and a lot of jumping ensued. I woke up at 7 on Sunday to finish some projects and then I did nothing productive for the rest of the day. It was fantastic.

And now I'm here, partway through another week of school, with a whole new set of priorities and adventures on my list for the week. A lot of that includes laundry.

I still love it here, and couldn't imagine myself anywhere else. Thank goodness for weekends, though. :)

Two New Humans.

I made a post a few weeks back about my college friends and I gave a little blurb about each of them. Now, knowing how much life can change, especially in your first few weeks of college, I've met some new friends that should be added to the repertoire.

These two definitely cannot be left out.

Preface, as of now, we have only known each other for two weeks, and in those two weeks, we've managed to sing show tunes to each other, craft, and they have gotten me addicted to Sherlock.

It feels like we have known each other forever.
So let's start.

Rachel-An all around amazing human. She is from Grand Rapids-MICHIGANDERS UNITE-but she is moving to California soon. She lives just down the hall from me. She's hilarious, sings all the time, and likes apple cider donuts. A lot. As in, when I brought some back last weekend, she walked around the room chanting "APPLE. CIDER. DONUTS." for a good ten minutes. We both absolutely love Michael Bublé and she understands my passion for the beauty of film. We get together every night and watch Sherlock, although we have been slacking lately, and sometimes we switch it up to watch beautiful movies. She also is in love with Harry Potter, so clearly we got along really well almost instantly. When we are together, we get really good at procrastinating. She's great and our brains are connected the majority of the time, where we don't even need to say something aloud because the other is already thinking it. This year is going to be so much fun with this girl by my side.

Hannah-Another all around fantastic human. We've already gotten so close, it's ridiculous. She obsesses with me over Aaron Tveit and musicals and basically anything and everything we can think of. I decorated her door a few days after we met with the Aaron Tveit memes that I made Aly during her finals last year. She is super supportive and an avid insomniac. Our late night conversations are the best. She is also from Grand Rapids, which means sometimes she might be my travel buddy. FUN FACT- these two are roommates, so obviously I spend the majority of my time in their room. Our adventures this year are going to be ridiculous. From late night insomnia cookies to jam sessions mid-studying, we've got so much to look forward to.

Changing Terminology and the "R" Word

So, as some of you may have seen, I posted a link of a chart on my Facebook page a few weeks ago with this chart:

Now, I don't typically put strong feelings on social media, but this was an exception. I understand that my generation, and the ones surrounding ours, use this word when a friend is acting foolish or stupid, and that isn't okay. In a perfect world, I would make it my life goal to personally abolish this word, and although the world isn't perfect, I can do my part in my everyday life. This word that was once an excepted medical term has now become pejorative. Fun fact- in 2013, the "R" word was deemed incorrect and outdated and was replaced with the word "intellectually disabled" or that someone has an "intellectual disability" in all legislature and medical journals. Therefore, in my mind, there is absolutely no reason to use this word anymore. 

As I've met people at college, I've had to go through my talk many times. In Portage, those who knew me knew that it wasn't okay to say it around me, and I would prefer if they just deleted it from their vocabulary. Many of my friends and peers stopped using this word in our early middle school years, and the conversations I had with those around me greatly decreased by the time I got to high school. Being in a new place with so many people who don't know me means you have your whole story to tell, or I guess, as much of it as you want people to know. I just didn't realize how often I would have to repeat this part of my story.

As I'm writing this, I'm thinking about how I am going to talk to my education class about this topic on Wednesday like my professor asked me to. The main thing that perplexes me is, why am I nervous? If I'm just explaining the facts, what can go wrong? The truth is, I've learned that many people don't like to be corrected or even shown another way to go about things than their own without getting defensive. However, no defense is needed here. If you use this word knowingly, okay. If you know the meaning behind it and how it has metastasized to a negative connotation and still want to use it, I can't stop you, nor can anyone else. But truthfully, when the majority of people realized that this word that has become part of a social normality is no longer okay, they stop. 

I know I can't change the world in a big way. At least not where I am in life right now. I can, however, change little pieces everyday. Little pieces that not only help shape our society into something better, but the pieces that focus on social justice. And maybe, in doing so, I can not only help delete this word from our vocabulary, but also help overcome the stigma of disabilities in general.

 In the end, we are all unique, but then again, we are all the same.

I'm a student teacher!!

Hey everyone, 

So I know I just posted about all my friends, but that blog post has been in the making for a few days now, so here is my latest update.

I just finished the first module of my education class and I absolutely loved it. It's so crazy that we are already in the classroom interacting with kids. Going to my education classes are definitely the highlight of my days. My professor for this class was amazing too. Dr. C was so energetic and was the perfect example of the kind of teacher I want to be in the future. Our whole class was so upset that she won't be teaching our next module. Speaking of our class, my fellow classmates are amazing. It's so cool to be in a class with so many people who have the same motives, interests, drive, and values. We get along really well and we are super weird in an amazingly fun way.

Anyway, I know this post is going to be short, but I'm just so thankful that I'm here in this amazing program (I say amazing a lot) that is the only one in the nation-fun fact. I can't wait to see what our next module holds- we get to visit all of the museums in the area, it's a field trip everyday!

On that note, I leave you with this photo of my classmates and Dr. C on our last day at St. Benedict's Secondary School. 

I love my college friends.

I've made some amazing friends and I've only been here three weeks. I mean, I guess it is kind of expected considering we all live together. The odd thing is, even though we have only known each other for a few weeks, because we spend every waking moment together, it feels like we have known each other our whole life. As Loyola says, your job your first year is to find your family, the friends you can rely on to be your support system when you are away from home. I'm glad I did.

It's interesting to think about eating. For my family, we typically ate dinner together and talked about our day. It was weird coming to college and not really having that right away, but it's fixed now. No matter how busy our schedules are, we all get together to study at night and get dinner...and then typically a late night snack to reward our good study habits. So let's introduce you to my lovely group of hooligans, the people who adventure with me everyday and don't judge me if I take an extra cookie before we leave the dining hall.

Emma: An amazing human being from Minnesota. We like sharing popcorn and having sleepovers. Her accent is awesome, and my two favorite words that she says are bag and room-pronounced beg and rum. She's absolutely hilarious and an amazing supportive human. Fun fact- her roommate also didn't show up, so she has an extra bed in her room that I slept in when Melanie was super sick. She also really likes to sleep on the floor of my room because the carpet is super soft? She also really likes "fish crackers" (Goldfish).

*Note: as I was typing this, every time I said "room" it was pronounced in my head like Emma says it. I might come home with an accent, guys. Be prepared.

Jamie: Another super cool human from Iowa. She likes to volunteer in her free time and do crafts, so clearly we get along well. She has an awesome closet and some sweet Vans. She also likes to have sleepovers, in our time here we had a weekend where we had three sleepovers in a row!! She always talks about Whitey's milkshakes that she says are the best on the planet. but we've yet to try them since they are all the way in Iowa. Jamie is absolutely hilarious and can make any day brighter. She's also an awesome support and has a ridiculously compassionate heart. She went to donate blood today, but they deferred her, and it clearly upset her a lot. I can't wait for us to have a Pinterest craft night soon.

Melanie: My awesome roomie from Illinois. First off- our room looks absolutely amazing and feels so homey. We actually have to keep our door closed a lot because everyone in our hall flocks to our room to hangout, so if we have to study, the door stays closed. We get along really well, and we have the same tastes in a lot of things. Food. Blankets. Planners. (We actually bought the same blanket in different colors and the same planner before we got to school without even realizing it.) We have a ridiculous amount of fun in our room and like to dance and sing. Our adventures this year are going to be amaze balls. She's super cute and fun-loving and likes to make weird noises when her throat is itchy. I think it's funny. :) We can talk all night if we wanted too, just because we get along and love girl talk. Typically we have to kick the boys, Aaron and Nathan, out first, though, because they live in our room. As Nathan says, "25% of the room is mine". Luckily, he says part of the 25% is Melanie's bed, not mine.

Olivia: This is my homie. She' s the one I can go to when I need to obsess over Harry Potter. She's also the one to make me feel bad if I'm not studying because she does so often. She's also obsessed with Goldfish, when we had our sleepover she probably had half of one of the big boxes. She's a swimmer and smiles a lot.

Aaron: This is my lovely amigo from Wisconsin. He says a lot of weird words and we make fun of him all the time for it. For example, he calls the drinking fountain a bubbler and the T.V. remote a flipper. The funny thing is, his reasoning for calling it a bubbler is because you can't tell the difference between a fountain in the park versus a drinking fountain if you use the same words, but then how does flipper work? How do you know if you are talking about flippers you swim with or the flipper to change the channel? Anyway, in all seriousness, this kid is awesome. He's super funny and caring even though he teases me all the time. We spent our first night in Chicago at Jamba Juice with Nathan. Aaron is the one I can rely on to always be just as astounded as I am that we get to live here everyday, and to be amazed by the beauty of our campus.

Nathan: The comic relief of our friend group. Literally, everything that comes out of his mouth is hilarious. He's the one I can go to when I need to obsess over musicals, plays, Newsies, or anything theatre and music related. We also have dance parties often, he tries to teach me to twerk to Anaconda. He's also from Michigan, so we can relate over things that none of our friends have in their states, like Vernors.  We annoy our friends when we belt show tunes in the room, hallways, dining halls, or just walking across campus. Fun fact- Nathan has never had a hamburger, so we are going to change that at some point this year even though it scares him. He lives in my room, so he's basically our honorary third roommate.

Becca: I just met Becca, and we've only really interacted three times, but she's super cool and we get along really well. Just listening to her talk makes the day a little better. She's friends with Aly and Josie, so that is how we met. I like her. It's the best when the four of us cuddle up on the daybed in Aly and Josie's apartment and watch Criminal Minds.


And then obviously, I have some amazing friends that I knew from before this year.

Aly: I don't think I really need a blurb on this one. I love this kid so much. She's amazing and the best. We haven't had many adventures together so far, except for to the ER, which hopefully won't become a common adventure. I'm really glad to have her as a support and just to have someone from home who knows me really well.

Josie: Another one who doesn't really need a blurb. I'm really glad we actually live near each other now and our friendship doesn't just exist on texting and snapchats. She's the bomb.com. I like how even though we haven't know each other long, she still can call me out on my crap, and we can have hour long, deep conversations about life. It's pretty great. I love her a lot too.

So there's my homies. I might be biased, but I say they are some of the best. This year is going to be a blast.

Okay, so here is an actual update on my life so far as an adult. As of now, I've been at Loyola for a little over two and a half weeks, although I've only been in classes for 2 weeks of that.

Honestly, I'm not even sure what to say about college so far. If I had to use one word, it would be AMAZING.

I mean, look at my campus.

What isn't there to like?:)

So let's see, in my two and a half weeks here, I have been downtown 10 times for various errands and shopping trips, all of which have been a blast. I've made some amazing friends to go on all these adventures too. We eat out a lot, which probably isn't the best idea for a large group of broke college kids, but when Chicago is your backyard, how can you not? I've learned not only how to navigate the El, but also the CTA buses. As a friend group, we have visited:

• Lincoln Park Zoo
• Ed Debevic's
• Water Tower Place
• Cheesecake Factory
• Jamba Juice
• H&M
• Forever 21
• Urban Outfitters
• Target-2 floors, might I add. It took us 3 hours to get Goldfish and Gatorade.
• Millenium Park
• Loyola Beach

In our free time, we eat or we go and sit by the lake to watch the waves roll in. During welcome week, we even got to go roller blading in our student center!! 

All in all, I couldn't be happier with the decision I made for college, and these past few weeks have completely confirmed that I made the right choice with Loyola. It's utterly perfect and I'm obsessed.

Now, knowing me, these first few weeks haven't happened without a few bumps and turns. Currently, as I write this, I'm in a hospital room. Now, don't worry, I'll be alright. But as I sit here, I realize that I really miss home. The thing is, when I say home, I mean Loyola. My dorm room that is constantly filled with my friends studying, or deciding where we want to go for our next meal, or even spending the night on my floor "just because". I'm so excited to go back and be with my homies again. 

It's just so amazing that a place I've only lived in for almost three weeks feels so much like home that I miss it already. Just add that to my tally board of all the reasons why I love my school.

I hope you all have a fantastic week, and I'll talk to you again soon. 

Peace, Love, and Chicken Nuggets.

Haley