Mount Union... Sill feels like home!

I was in Alliance on Saturday to have lunch with Kim. So much has changed! It is amazing at how different things are there. There are new places to eat - Panera, Chipotle, a brand new Dairy Queen in a different location. There are new places to shop - Maurice's and Kohls. Some places have closed. Some have been torn down. I'm not gonna lie - I was a little jealous!

I wasn't going to, but I decided to head over to Mount Union. I thought I might swing by the book store and maybe pick up a new sweatshirt. Of course, the bookstore was closed as usual. Seriously, no matter when I go there, no matter what day or time, that bookstore is always closed.

I didn't want to waste the trip to campus, so I decided to drive around a little bit. It is amazing to me how unrecognizable parts of it are. Obviously there was the little name change. I will never say UMU or University of Mount Union. It will either be There is campus housing now where Sigma Nu and Phi Tau were. The athletic complex has pretty much swallowed a whole block.HPCC is different. T&H is different. Everywhere I looked - things were different. It made me kind of sad. I always thought Mount Union would feel like home for me, no matter how many years passed. But now, just 6 years later, it already felt like a foreign place.

I decided to start looking for things that looked familiar to me instead. Once I started looking at it that way, everything looked a lot different... a lot more like the place where I had made so many great memories and had grown to love.

I walked by the rock - covered in layer after layer of spray paint. I went through the Campus Center and picked up a Dynamo.

I swung by Dewald Chapel - a place where I probably could have stood to spend a little more time.

I walked around the lakes and Elliott - my dorm for Freshman and Sophomore year. I always thought it was so cool that we got to live in a place that reminded me of The White House and we got to walk out and see the lakes every morning.

I walked over the kissing bridge - which never worked for me, but I hear it worked its magic for others.

I was happy to see that 205 Simpson, the house where I lived Junior year and became friends with Christine, Courtney and Rachel, was no longer Campus Security. Seriously, way too much fun occurred in the house - it was just wrong to see it turned into something so "official".

Chapman Hall - This building was one of the man reasons why I went to Mount Union. I remember walking up to it on my senior visit and thinking how beautiful it was. I could really see myself going to class there. 

 

And of course, I had to stop by the ADPi house. I love that little blue house.  I met so many wonderful ladies because of this house and made so many great friends.

I loved my time at Mount Union. I guess they have to keep making updates so that students keep coming and paying tuition. As sad as it is to see so many things change, it would be heartbreaking to see my Alma Mater be anything less than the amazing institution that I knew it to be. It's just nice to see that not everything has changed.

Can't Sleep...

It is 1:37am and I am still awake...

I went home from work today sick and slept all afternoon. The past couple days I have woken up with awful headaches. Today was the worst. My head was throbbing, the light hurt my eyes and I felt dizzy and nauseous. It was awful.

Anyways, after several hours of sleep and half a bottle of Advil, I feel much better. Unfortunately, I am now wide awake, which basically means that tomorrow should be a stunningly fabulous day.

So, what do you do at 2 in the morning when you can't sleep? Well, I am watching 30 Rock and organizing my calendar...

If you see me tomorrow, I apologize in advance.

30 Rock – Rocks my socks off!

I know that I am late to the bandwagon, but I am in LOVE with 30 Rock!

I have never watched it on TV. I’m not sure why. I don’t even know what day or time it is on. But I was looking for a new show after I finished watching How I Met Your Mother. I wanted something easy to follow so I wouldn’t have always have to give my full attention and I wanted to watch something that would make me laugh. After digging around Netflix a little bit, I landed on 30 Rock. JACKPOT!

I love Tina Fey as Liz Lemon. I love how easy it is do other things and just listen to the show – like work. I seriously sit at my desk laughing all day long. People are starting to look at me weird! I especially love all the references of Cleveland! How awesome to have our city mentioned on the show!

I’m on episode 80 of 102. I’m kind of bummed that I am getting to the end.

Taking suggestions now on what show to watch next!

When I grow up...

Recently I have decided that I do not want to be in the insurance industry anymore. “Why?” you might ask? Well for starters, because it is insurance. Enough said, right? If that is not enough of a reason, there is a long list of other reasons…

It isn’t fulfilling.

It’s full of bureaucratic b.s.

It is full of shady shady people, and usually they are the ones in charge.

You get ahead based on who you know and how much you kiss their butt, rather than what you know and how hard you work.

You pour hours and hours of your personal time into trying to be caught up and on top of things so that you aren’t looked at negatively and your efforts are rewarded with more work.

I feel like I could go on for days about the reasons why I know longer want to work in the insurance industry, but it would not do any good. I decided that I needed to do something to make a change rather than complaining. I needed to make a life change...

Quarter life crisis, party of 1?

When I started thinking about what I wanted to do, my mind was all over the place. I could go to law school like I had originally planned. I could become a college professor and teach Sociology or Criminology. I could go work at Starbucks and get free Chai Tea Lattes and spread cups full of happiness. I could run away and join the circus… wait, no, that’s not a real option, although I have considered it several times.

I am so jealous of the people who always knew what they wanted to be. How nice it must be to have discovered your purpose early on and were able to pursue it. I didn’t want to work in insurance, I just landed there. And while I had passion and excitement for a while, that has all been sucked out of me!

When I was in high school I wanted to be a doctor. When I got to college, I wasn’t serious enough to go through the steps. That’s when I discovered Sociology, Criminal Justice and Law and I fell in love. But, after college I wanted to make money rather than go to school more and I ended up in insurance.

Over the past couple months, I have been looking into the medical field more, and I finally landed on something! I could be a Physicians Assistant! They basically can do everything a doctor does, but under the supervision of a doctor. So I could examine patients, prescribe medication, order and read diagnostic tests and perform procedures. I found a program through Tri-C and Cleveland State – 28 months and I would have a Master’s Degree and a certificate! It sounds perfect for me!

I went to an information session at Tri-C. The program is very intense. 28 months of full time, all year around the clock school. No time for working, family, friends or fun.

And that’s the down side…

No working.

We would basically need to make it thorough 2 ½ years on 1 person’s income. Also, where do kids fit in to all of this? Yeah, they don’t…

So, now it is back to the drawing board to find something that I really want to do with my life. Realistically, I know that I will either need to go back to school or start out again at the very beginning of any other field, which I don’t mind. I just want to find something that I love to do and feel happy doing.

So the question now is – What do I want to be when I grow up?