That's all Folks

As this is my last passion blog I figured it to be appropriate for me to discuss the incoming few weeks. There are exactly 21 more days until my departure with my roommates. That means there are only 3 more weeks with these ladies that I have come to love sincerely. I understand that this post is written slightly differently in comparison with the previous blogs, but that is only because what is being discussed today is more of a lesson than a wacky story about my college experience. In fact, I am going to write about how another person may have a hold on you, even with something as simple as leaving you.

Photo accredited to Hobvias Sudoneighm

Everyone faces the reality of people leaving from their life- be it a death, break-up or some form of falling out- it's just one of those things that you go through. However, the way that people deal with being departed with a loved one varies. Personally, I try to continue moving forward and not allowing it to have too much of an effect on me.

Yet, here I am today, writing about a departure that has yet to come. That has to mean something, right? Well, yes, I suppose that it does. Living with 5 roommates was one heck of an experience and one that I enjoyed very much. Whether you realize it or not, those surrounding you actually effects the way you are. Thankfully, I can say that each roommate has taught me something new about myself and helped me to develop.

Photo accredited to Samantha

That's the thing about life, you never know exactly what role people are going to play. Which is why, if you pay close enough attention you would notice, your personal reaction to their departure relies heavily on the way that person impacted your life.

It is also important to note that departures aren't always a bad thing. More often than not, when a relationship, of any form, is coming to an end people have trouble letting go. I admit, I fell victim to this many times in my life. I am actually doing it now, as I perceive the nearing departure date. But letting go makes us stronger because it allows us to grab onto something that is better, or puts us into a position where the relationship grows stronger.

Learning to let go is a very important ability to learn in life, what's letting go like for you? How do you deal with it? Has there ever been a time in which you dwelled on a task that has yet to come because you fear the results? You do not have to post your response to these questions in the comments, but reflect on them and see how departure affects you. If you don't like the results, reflect on what you can do to make it better. After all, your world lies in your hands.

But we are SO different

Okay, so I know that majority of the post before now has been about some of the quirky moments that I experienced with my roommates but today's post isn't about one of those moments. Today we will be talking about planning. I'm sure that you could imagine the different types of personalities that would be bottled up in one room with six girls, but I'm certain that a minor detail such as planning isn't the first thing thought about when reflecting on the six different girls held under the same roof. Honestly, it wasn't something I thought about until I noticed that they make me look like a person with OCD.

Amanda Hawkins

Here's a fun fact about me, I am a huge procrastinator that enjoys planning over doing important stuff, like homework. However, I manage to plan so well that I find myself in scenarios that other find impossible, i.e having a double major with a minor and graduating in less than 3 years (No, I am not crazy, I'm just good at knowing what I want.) There's also a secret that I would love to share with you, my roommate, taylor, well she's exactly the same as me in regards to planning for her future. But the thing about both of is that in the now we handle people better on a come and go basis; the complete opposite of my roommate Erika. Erika enjoys making plans to go out with others so that everyone finds themselves on the same time schedule and in the same token doesn't plan as far ahead as Taylor and I. 

Then there's Anna who's such a busy body that she doesn't even get to make her own schedule. She just follows the times required for all of her events in order to get through her day. Last but not least, there's Alex and Emily who are the more free spirited out of the six of us; handling life as it comes at them.

The combination of the six of our personalities in regards to planning doesn't seem too bad yet, does it? Well, imagine the six of us during registration week. As each girl schedules her course and screams in excitement as she gets into all of her preferred courses, one girl holding a class for the next because of spots filling up, there was so much pressure... for a seemingly effortless action. If it weren't for how we found a way to help one another based off of one another's strengths, I don't know how things would have worked out. Taylor and I helped the girls select their courses at least 4 weeks in advance. Anna helped me when the numbers for registration didn't go through and all of us were just extremely supportive in one another decisions. 

To me, a friend is someone that helps you get through tough times, even if you weren't aware that they were tough. My roommates and I did just that, we were supportive and used our strengths to one another advantage. Just because someone doesn't do things the way you do, doesn't make them wrong. In fact, sit back and watch because you just might learn something.

Not it for $500 please

Freshman year in college is like being a baby all over again. Almost like having absolutely no antibodies from the viruses that appear. Living in a room with four other girls did not make that process any easier. In fact, it was like being stuck in a quarantine, as one person finally began to get over their virus the next person would get and it was a never ending cycle.

However, when I spoke with upperclassmen about this matter I found out that my roommates and I were not the only ones to feel this experience. It is a phenomena that has occurred for quite some time. Some say it's so much worse in areas where freshman live but no one is entirely sure why. Though if I were to have to guess I'd say it's because most freshman never had to take care of themselves when they were at home; mommy always made sure that they were okay. Which leads to the story that I actually went through.

As mentioned in a previous post I consider myself the mama bear of all of my friends. But the thing is, so does Taylor, and Erika has her moments when she is extremely caring as well.

Can you force the problem yet?

Well if you can't it's okay cause I'm going to tell you. One day I was extremely ill when I heard my roommate coughing up a lung. At first we all thought that it was just a cold with a side of extremely bad coughing, to which we were surprised to find out that it was in fact bronchitis. It was odd because even with an ailment such as bronchitis the rest of us were very tentative in making sure that she came back to good health. Never mind the fact that I had a fever, and both Taylor and Erika had a cold.  Thankfully, the only ailment that continued to cycle around our bedroom was the common cold as we all constantly drank tea and orange juice, as well as took our vitamins.

But the reason behind this post is more than a group of girls constantly getting one another sick. It is about compassion and doing something that can help others. It is the small acts of selflessness that restores humanity into the world. Reflect back onto a time where you acted selflessly. Remember the way that action made you feel.

We live in a time where many of the things we do are only done for some sort of gain. But that isn't always a good thing. Sure, my roommates and I may have gone overboard in not caring for our own health immensely but it allowed us to recognize that the world isn't only about us. When I asked Taylor why she reacted the way she did, she said "It isn't my first time taking care of myself, I have no problem helping someone. I'd rather not let them suffer." A statement that I agree with completely.

Hell Week

Hell week is a term that my friends and I have created to express some of the most stressful weeks of the school year. Have you ever had a week where there was at least 3 or 4 exams to do? Well, that my friend is what I call hell week.

Photo credited to Roman Leinwather

The stress of having to place your entire future into the hands of an exam is scary. So, scary in fact that the chaos that is going on in your head begins to show to the outside world. For the most part, the room 116 Brumbaugh was extremely clean; until a stress week appeared that is.

There was once a time in which we each had our hell week consecutively over the course of a month. The importance of this timeframe lies in the way the room would slowly become a mess that we never saw before. I don't know about you, but I legitimately cannot think when my room is in shambles. However, this was one of the times I figured it to be best that I stay out of the room so that everyone can focus on what's important, i.e their exams, and not have to add another burden to shoulders of those going through hell week.

Photo credited to David Feltkamp

I think that was one of the biggest lessons I learned with my roommates: the ability to understand something that someone else is going trough and to help them with it. Though I may not have been helping them directly in regards to their exam, I certainly helped by not creating another thing for them to worry about.

The ability to understand where another person is coming from in regards to what's happening in their life is important. It is a skill that all people should learn to posses because it helps when you actually need to ask that person a favor or to do something. Asking at the right moment, and waiting for them to get through a difficult time, not only gets you what you want but it helps them. At the end of the day, everyone has a weight to carry. So, why would you attempt to make the weight even heavier?

Photo credited to Britt-knee

If you are unsure of how to be considerate to another person's schedule or life think of what you would like if it were you in their shoes. It's so happens that the first week of hell weeks was mine which made the mess of the room extremely unbearable after a certain point in time. That is why as we were rearing the last hell week of the room, I cleaned the entire room. That's right, I did more than just my section of the room and helped everyone else out. While the action was small it helped to bring a smile to each of my roommates face; which brought me joy. Even in the midst of one of the most crucial times of the year, we managed to find the time to be joyful.

Heartache & Heartbreak... There's a difference

When living in room of girls, there should be no surprise the amount of time that is spent worried about guys. Don't get me wrong there's a lot of talk about school, calculating GPA's, figuring out future course schedules, a.k.a the works. But guys still hold a factor in our lives, and we aren't quite sure why. There's me, the girl has her future wedding day all planned out even though my boyfriend and I are exactly 150 miles apart. By the way, the wedding date 02/02/2020 #You'reInvited. Also before you even ask, why THAT date, check it forwards... now check it backwards; I call it giving you life! Moving on, there's Taylor who is also pushing through a long distance relationship while in school. They are what I call the cute gamer couple, when they talk they don't just talk. They actually get on their computers and game together. There is also Alex, she's a free butterfly, having chosen not to have stress within her freshman year. Anna and Erika are the innocent ones of the bunch having never been in a relationship before, for their own personal reasons. Last but not least there's Emily, who found her romance on the soccer field here on Penn State's campus. All six of us have very different relationships and therefore very different experiences within our relationships'. But one thing that we all have in common is that we have felt the differences between heartache and heartbreak; thus the reason why we always help one another if someone was feeling either of these emotions.

Heartache has come to be the feeling that I am very in touch with since the school year began and I know that it is something that many of you have felt at least once in your life, even if it isn't over a person. While, this may seem a bit depressing to think about, it isn't as bad as it could be. Heartache just informs you that you love and long to be around those that you care for. 

But heartache is the little sister of heartbreak, who is a lot more aggressive and a lot harder to ignore. Unfortunately she managed to find herself in our dorm when our roommate went through her first ever breakup. When asked to describe how she felt, she said that her heart was falling into a million pieces and that she was unsure of how to pick it back up. To which the rest of us responded that she did NOT have to do it all alone. At first she was weary, uneasy and unsure of what she do. After all it was her first boyfriend, ever. But she got through it because she had a group of friends to help pull her out of the slums. 

The way that the six of us have become close enough to become friends is something that I am entirely grateful for. But the big take away of this moment is that in life, you never HAVE to be alone. Every friend was a stranger at least one point in your life. So, if you feel like there's no one to turn to, look for a new shoulder to cry on. The world isn't that bad to the point where you have to suffer through the pains of heartache or heartbreak alone. Especially considering that it's a feeling that nearly all of us have been through at one point in our lives or another. 

A Princess Is What We Wish to Be

As you may or may not have noticed, I am a girl. Talk about stating the obvious right? Well, as I girl my mom, aunts, cousins, grandma, etc. all have raised me to be a princess. Which is why on the night that I will share with you, that I was completely baffled. There were four girls in college that sat around for an entire day and watched multiple versions of Cinderella.

Hey, don't look like that! The experience was grand and that is the precise reason why I am going to share it with you today. It was after an immense amount of homework that my roommates and I decided that we needed a break. Thus the beginning of our fairytale.

CG Hughes

The first version of Cinderella that we watched was the animated version that was broadcasted on disney channel. Of course us, being so childish and dorky, immediately rushed to watch the version with Brandy because it was a musical. 

We all began to explain our love hate relationship with the sisters, and analyzing the way that they treated Cinderella. We all came to the conclusion that the reason that Cinderella was forced to endure such maltreatment was because they were completely and utterly jealous of her. Why? Well it was apparent to us that the mother instilled hate into their veins because of her jealousy in regards to the relationship of the father and his deceased wife. 

But that hardly stopped me from singing the sisters musical numbers, " Oh why would a fella want a girl like her? A girl whose really lovely! Why can't a fella ever once prefer a girl whose merely me?!" These are the lyrics from one of the numbers that displayed exactly how insecure that these young ladies, the sisters, were of themselves. 

I believe that the the reason I love that specific number so much is because it something that I can personally relate to. Maybe not in the sense that a guy may not like a girl like me. But more so in regards to not understanding why certain opportunities cannot happened for people like me. When I work so hard, only to be refused my opportunity because someone that has access to more resources places the hard worker to the bottom of the list... But let me rant NOT! Because for every missed opportunity I found myself in a better and new situation which is why I sort of can relate to Cinderella as well. I say sort of, because for the life of me I do not see why she hadn't kicked those rude step-sisters and step-mother to the curb once she was of age to defend herself. 

However, Cinderella's story relates back to the way that I can relate to the step-sisters. No one wants to constantly feel like a second class citizen. After watching the movie and placing myself directly into the movie I pulled myself back to the reality that I am able to live. I turned around and saw three new sisters that treated me as there equal. 

The movie may have been a fairytale, but it was something that I personally related back to in reality. I was an only child becoming to Penn State, and everyone that I knew that had to live in a house full of women found themselves constantly bickering and arguing. Thus scaring me for the life that I was destined to live in room 119 Brumbaugh Hall. 

However, it turned out to be a grand and lavish experience that I willingly offered to do it again next year. Same girls. Just a different room with a different hall. I changed my entire demeanor on living with others based on my experiences here at Penn State. I mean seriously, would you turn down the chance to surround yourself with royalty like yourself? I think not

* Take what life throws at you with a grain of salt. You never know what may be in store for you. As the fairy god mother stated."It's possible for a plain country pumpkin to become a royal carriage. It's possible for a plain country bumpkin and a prince to join in marriage.... impossible is possible." It's always possible. 

Birds and Bees

From being an only child to basically having 5 sisters is a big jump. But one that I was forced to make. However, it is not something that I wish that I could take back. Especially on the nights in which we all were able to share pieces of our history with one another. Plus, I cannot forget to mention that every night was a sleepover. Boys, school and aspirations were things that were commonly mentioned throughout the first semester.

In fact, I will never forget the night that I had to give my roomie the birds and the bees talk because I was assigned the role of mommy within the room. Today I will not be disclosing my roommates name for the sake of her embarrassment, so today we will go by the name Jane Doe, Jane for short.

Jane was an innocent girl who was protected from a vast majority of the outside world growing up. Her parents did this because they did not want to take the risk of ruining her innocence, and while this may sound really bad I was forced to take that innocence from her.

On the night in question the entire room was empty with with exception of Jane, me and one of our other roommates.

I was watching Flash, a series that I had recently found myself immersed in when I overheard Jane's conversation with her best friend. To keep this rated PG let's just say they were discussing how they wanted to play with the bees but without using a beekeeper suit for protection.

Need I announce how surprised I was when I heard that? I immediately turned around and asked if she had the birds and the bees talk with her parents back at home to which she responded by saying no.

I then proceeded to explain how that decision wouldn't be a really good one considering all of the dangers that one little bee could bring, and let's not forget about the possibility of having eggs to hatch as the bird!

But the funniest part about all of it was that in the end, even after being informed about all of the dangers that could be found she still insisted on just trying it to see what it was like. Especially because the bee that she was into really wanted it and she was afraid he would go looking for it somewhere else.

Then I was forced to explain that giving it up wouldn't necessarily give her the sense of security that she was looking for. In fact, it may actually make the bee travel to another bird regardless.

That was the day that I realized that everyone doesn't always know the things that you know and that it sometimes to helps to share the knowledge that you have so that you prevent them from making mistakes that they may regret in the future. Ignorance is bliss but knowledge is key.