Andrew's Blog: Freshman Edition

The man I envisioned myself becoming has changed in only my first semester at Albright. Everything that I set myself up for, everything that I saw myself doing... it's just all changed. I'm excited, but in a way it's a very strange feeling to be going full speed ahead towards one goal only to veer off course and find yourself in a foreign, albeit exciting, locale.

Med-school was all I've talked about since Freshman year of high school. Being a doctor I'd help people every day, see new and exciting things, challenge myself, and HECK, get paid well... but where did it all go...awry... I don't want to say wrong, because I'm ECSTATIC that I've made the change. It seems like the court room has always called to me and found some way to impact my life, and my childhood was spent imagining being some hotshot lawyer in an Armani suit cruisin' around in my lime green Ferrari (it's sad how materialistic we can be even as kids...). It was my grades that tipped me off... I mean, you know that something's off when your lowest grades are in the classes that should be impacting the rest of your life. My heart wasn't in it. I guess it was subconscious self-sabotage on my part, but I FEEL happy now... it's the strangest thing. My mind's just been truly expanded. I... FEEL... new. Thank you, Albright. Thank you.

Posted by Andrew at 1:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was getting a little worried there for a while, but things are settling down again. It's just great being active here on campus. Life's about what you're giving to the world, whether the world sees it or not. It's the little things we do that make all the difference. Volunteering here, giving some money there, turning off the lights when you're not in the room; just being considerate, active, and compassionate. I've almost made it through my first semester of my first year of college, and I don't have A's in all of my classes, and I may very well get my first C, but the experience has just been phenomenal so far. I have a ton of new friends, and I know that they'll be with me forever. I have learned so much in my studies and about life. The true lessons aren't taught, they're just learned. The best part is, you don't have to study to pass life. As long as you're living it with a passion and a fire for mankind, life will never be a loss. Potential is like a check, and passion is the bank teller who takes that and turns it into something useful and tangible: a true, fulfilled, meaningful life.

Posted by Andrew at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

*Disclaimer* "College-related stress is not for the weak of heart or those who may be pregnant or have any disease effecting their immune system..." [Read at your own risk]

So things aren't going as planned. High school was easy. I showed up and was in the top ten of my class. I was in every activity imaginable and managed to make every meeting. I ate three, sometimes four square meals a day and got at least my 8 hours every night, often sleeping for a good 12 or 13 on the weekends... my have times changed!
I can see myself spiraling downward... the work is piling up, and yet I keep taking more on! What's the matter with me?!? What is it gonna take for me to STOP!!!!!!!! I've never had to choose before, and that's what makes college SOOOOOOO HARD!!! You can choose to do absolutely nothing for class and party 24-7, maybe pass but have it not mean too much. You can focus totally on your schoolwork, never leave your room, graduate at the top of your class, but not do much else, so you don't get into that top graduate school you had your heart on. You could find a happy balance between the two and be one of the seven wonders of the world, or you can be a real go-getter like me! I took all the hardest courses in my first semester, signed up for every club imaginable, got an on-campus job, signed up for a service fraternity, and still honestly thought that sleep would work its way in there! HA!!!! If you learn one thing from me through all of these blogs, PLEASE LEARN THIS:
"If you can't enjoy your friends, and you can't enjoy the experience, and the grades are too much for you to handle, you NEED to make the tough choices, and do what's best overall, or it will all have been a waste ANYWAY."
Stick to your morals and NEVER let anyone tell you that you're not good enough to be their friend, or to be in their organization, or that your morals just aren't up to snuff! Go to college and stick to your guns! You've made decisions before, and you've been making them all along the road of life, so don't change just because that's not what everyone else is doing. Even if you lose a few "friends" along the way, what matters is that you can be happy with yourself!
Live and let God!
Be you! Love you! I know! I do!
Keep on lovin' and livin'!
Don't let the doubt get you down!
Work like you don't need the money, love like you've never been hurt, and dance like no one is watching!
Good night, and God bless!

Posted by Andrew at 10:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, guys and dolls, cats and kittens, I'm BAAAACK!!! I know it's been quite a while since I've last blogged and a LOT has happened since then. I've been CRAZY busy, but I hope I can update you a little on what's been happening...

Well, classes are classes. I have a TON of work, I'm behind AGAIN, and my grades just aren't as high as I'd like, but I just feel like there's very little I can do about my schedule until next semester, which we start registering for classes on Monday the 13th (actually, that's just for the honors freshmen, b/c they/we get to register with the seniors to have a higher chance of getting the classes we want, which is all the more reason to keep those grades up!!) I'm actually changing my advisor, b/c my advisor now is a psyche professor, and she's great and all, but I want someone who I have some potential of working on research with, and since she's primarily environmental psyche, like animal behavior and such, I think I'd be better off with the Pre-med advisor as my advisor... b/c I'm pre-med, you see. 8')
So student government stuff's coming along... slowly but it's coming along. It's just been a little rough nailing down meeting times and such, but chugging along now. Unfortunately, we're going to have a bit of a transition with our class advisor due to some unforseen circumstances, but you just have to go with the flow sometimes!
Well, that's all I'm gonna give ya for now, so stay safe and God bless!

Posted by Andrew at 10:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)