Honestly, though, I almost wish this was a vlog. Some things would be a lot easier for me to express vocally, but my sister is currently in the middle of AP-testing prep (She has AP Psychology—bless her—on Monday and AP Calculus AB on Wednesday), so things are a bit too crazy for me to be making too much noise around here. I do squeal a bit on my vlogs, I think, and I do personally prefer writing. Anyway, that’s a sidetrack introduction to say that… A LOT has happened in this past week. And I am pleased to say that the majority of it has been good. Some parts, very good actually. Some sad, but they’re ok. So let’s do another listing of “The Things that Made Amber Happy This Week, Ed. 2!” (with a splattering of realizations/sadness)
(AKA This is going to be a really long blog. Just giving you that warning now- esp since my last ones were short.)
1) To get it out of the way, I am very pleased to say that, for once, all of my finals went well. I’m still waiting for my grade in one class, but thankfully, for a very hard semester, I have done fairly well. Praise God!!!
2) I’M A SENIOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
It’s still really hard for me to process this, but it’s actually true. Granted, this will only be year 3, but I’m still so proud of my accomplishments. To graduate in only 3 years has required me to take all of my hardest classes together, without any “easy/GPA-boosting” classes, and I’ll be honest- My GPA reflects that. However, over the course of this past school year, I’ve recognized that my work ethic has not diminished a bit, even though my grades may be lower than UK. A large part of that is Vandy- Had I started off there, my GPA might honestly be higher now (actually, it would be… I wish they counted my UK classes!) However, after a year at Vandy, I can honestly say-
3) I’ve realized I wouldn’t trade my year at UK for anything. Yes, it would have been nice to know my friends at Vandy for longer than just two years. Yes, it would have been nice (possibly) to have met Mark earlier. Yes, it would have been nice to be able to go to a “Top Tier” school right off the bat.
That would also mean I would have had to give up the new experiences (good and bad) I had, the nervousness that came from accepting a school I had never any intensions of going to (and accepted the last possible day), the feeling of absolute loneliness at being somewhere you know you might be miserable, and, most importantly, the absolute joy at discovering a university where I truly felt at home. I loved my year at UK. No doubt about it. I wouldn’t trade my “freshman experience”, my classes, the movie nights, the parties ;) , the late night tire changes, the 2am Walmart trips, the 2am Qdoba/Tolly-Ho trips, the 3am sledding, the 4am initials carving into the snow, being the only girl in the “guys”, being the only girl in the “girl group” that they didn’t know before the year started, the basketball games, the pillow fights, the swimming excursions, the movie theatre visits, the all night movie marathon I had with the guys (Watching Paranormal Activity at 4am is only to be attempted by the brave at heart), the coffee, the gatherings in Room 711 of Kirwan Tower, and—of course—the amazing friends I made.
No, I wouldn’t trade any of that for anything. Still…
4) I now know that I made the right decision when I transferred. All of those experiences above were unbelievable, and I loved (almost) every one of them. However, this year at Vanderbilt has been just as mind-blowing as my year at UK, and the two years honestly can’t compare to each other- they were both just so different that comparing them wouldn’t lead to anything.
I do need to say this: I am so proud of the changes that I made in my life since I transferred to Vandy, and really, “proud” isn’t the right word. It is only by God’s grace that my life has been so transformed at Vanderbilt, and I am so thankful He has worked in my life so many ways through this. Becoming closer to God is the number one change that has happened this year, and I pray that I continue to grow closer to Him throughout the rest of my life. I now know that God used that year at UK as a way for me to find Him at Vandy. He is truly worthy of my everything, and I give it all to Him.
Of course, this listing wouldn’t be complete without saying that joining Victory, meeting people through the BCM, making so many transfer friends, meeting Mark and starting a relationship, experiencing the hardest classes in my life, pulling more all-nighters than ever before, playing Murder in the Dark at midnight, taking 3am walks around campus and investigating areas we probably shouldn’t be, roof-exploring, swing dancing, prancing across the football field, taking a spur-of-the-moment trip to Café Coco at 1:30am, breaking my foot—just to bring two of my friends (inadvertently) together in a relationship, midnight Dr. Who marathons, showing Aladdin, Tangled, and Beauty and the Beast to someone who had never seen them before, viewing LOTR for the first time, trying out for the famous all-male a cappella group on campus and impressing them enough to be honorary “Femelodores”, studying all night in the BCM study room, and finding such a wonderful group of friends. I love them all so much, and I owe them so much for being willing to make a crazy new friend. <3
5) Mark and I had “The Talk.” No, not THAT one! (blushes)
So we finally talked about after graduation. And as a way of telling him my feelings on the subject, I showed him my blog from a couple weeks back. (Yes, he now knows this site. Hey dear ;) ) Thankfully, as it turns out, our talk went really well. (Praise God!) He’s applying to med schools by the end of summer, and he’ll be sure to tell me which ones he is going to apply to, as we know we will have some overlap (purely by accident), and as I will be applying to grad schools before December, I’ll tell him which ones I’m applying to as well. Our areas that we’re looking to be in, while large, are mostly the same, and if we end up at the same place and we’re still together, we are more than willing to continue our relationship there. However, if we’re still together but going to different places after graduation, we’re both willing to try a long-distance relationship, even though it would be hard… simply because if it’s God’s plan, then who are we to interfere with it? He has everything in store for us, and we simply need to see what His plan is. And we’re excited for it! =D
6) I had to say goodbye to some seniors this past week, including my grandbig Amber and several members of the BCM and Victory. :( *sniff* I’m planning on going to graduation (hopefully), so I should see them then. :) They’ve also promised to come back and visit!
7) I’M HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =D
No further elaboration needed.
8) I have high hopes for my summer plans with regard to an internship. I believe I told you all that I didn’t get the one because of their own limitations, but they’d like to give me a job after graduation, yes? Lol, so silly. Still, I have applied to two other internships over finals week (somehow I found time), and I am excited to hear from a research opportunity at Vandy within the next week. They say they still have openings for programmers, and they have extended their deadline 2&1/2 months, so hopefully they’ll take me! =)
9) My family is fostering a blind puppy!!! Ok, so she’s not a puppy, since she’s actually 8yo, but her name is Ellie, and we will be her foster home soon! =) I’m so excited to meet her!
10) Mark and I are going to try to see each other over the summer! The current plan is to visit each other in the first part of July- my mom has offered to fly one of us to the other for a few days so we don’t have to drive the ~5hrs to and back, and we’re leaning toward me flying up to visit him in Ohio since we could always drive up to BG on a weekend… Still. We’ll get to see each other!!! And I can experience Ohio for the first time! (Lol, I can’t believe I’m actually excited about that…) Rather, I’m excited to meet the rest of his family (I’ve met his dad and spoken on the phone to his mom, while he’s met my entire family) and his friends as well. =) It will be so much fun!
In an attempt to keep this blog under 1754 words, I’m cutting my list off there. Still. Know that my week was wonderful… despite the way-too-late-night finals studying- especially since Mark made it fun! :)
Best of luck on finals everyone! May the odds be ever in your favor!
Also, my song of the week kind of explains a bit of where my head has been this week… You’ll understand. :)
Boyce Avenue- Drops of Jupiter (cover from Train)