Insert Summer Classes Here

It's summer and those warm, crazy nights with your friends, and sunny, free days at the beach are calling your name. It's a care free 3 months of doing everything you want and forgetting all about school. Right? Wrong. Especially if you live in Australia and it is in fact WINTER right now... basically, if you live in Australia, this blog is pretty much only good for a time killer and a few chuckles here and there. Anyway, some of us who want to graduate early (or are just making up for the year they took off) are enrolled in summer classes.

College Rule #7
Unless you have a good reason and every intention of going back (like you don't have the funds, or you aren't sure where to continue your schooling) don't take a year off from college. Just stick it out the couple of years and don't waste the time and effort you already put into it. If you stop going because you don't feel like going, you most likely will never go back.

So as you may have gathered, I am taking college classes during the summer. The plan is to take classes every semester so that I can graduate in Fall of 2014 (where normally people in my grade that do 4 year degrees will graduate in Spring of 2014). May I just say, it is so crazy to me that a lot of my friends that I graduated high school with either graduated early this past spring or are graduating this coming spring. When did I get so old? In order for me to graduate by next fall, I have to take classes over this summer and the next.

This summer I was to take my last math credit and my last PE credit. Why colleges require PE credits, I'll never know, and that's a rant for a different day. That was the plan anyway. Of course, leave it to Jordyn to eff things up. I signed up for the PE class with my best friend, Stephanie (which is awesome because I met her through that school and never have I been able to purposely schedule a class with a friend). My math class was a virtual online one. I've never taken a virtual online class before... and I can still honestly say that I haven't.

Essentially, my super awesome community college's system is that they only send emails to the email account they provide you, but once you stop going to school there, they shut off your account and you have to call in to reenact it. Well, you can bet your bottom dollar that they shut off my email account after the year I was away from them. Did I know that? Nope, of course not. So, I'm sitting here expecting to get an email or SOMETHING from them about my virtual class. And nothing. Eventually, June 17th rolls around and my PE class is scheduled to start the next day. I'm thinking, This is odd. Math definitely should have started by now. Let me check my schedule again.

Well, I checked my schedule and low and behold it said that I was dropped from my math class on June 4th. After a ridiculously huge ..erm.. mild panic attack full of nauseousness, bawling, and massive spazzed out texts to my boyfriend, I told my mother where more panic attacks and fits of bawling pursued. You see, I'm definitely not the type of person to skip class, or just not show up. Not even in high school. The fact that so much money rides on a single class, not to mention my goal of graduating by the end of 2014, is not something you just throw away. We only got a 50% refund. The whole situation was just a giant misunderstanding and really lame. I honestly don't ever want to go back there (not like I did after I finished my Spring 2012 semester), but I don't really have a choice. The credits are cheaper there.

College Rule #8
Make sure that you have constant contact with your school. If they only send emails to you through the email account they gave you, than make sure you're checking it regularly and that it's still available to you.

So besides that unfortunate happening, my PE class has gone alright. I've only had one class so far, and already my arms feel like they're going to fall off... and that was 3 days ago. On the plus side, I did 22 "push ups" in a minute... you know, 22 of my girly only go half way down push ups because I have no upper body strength or any strength at all. I won't lie to you, I may be skinny, but I am far from physically fit. I'm surprised I even did 22. Even worse, though, is that this gym class has homework. Yippee skippee The only good part about it is that I'm taking it with Steph. I got to hang out with her after class on Thursday. We went and got food and I sang "I Want It That Way" loudly at the gas station because it was playing, I'm still living in the 90's, and the Backstreet Boys will forever be cooler than One Direction.

Rule #9 About Jayy
She doesn't exercise. She doesn't eat healthy. So don't assume she's fit or in shape just because she's skinny. And ESPECIALLY don't argue with her about it. I think she knows her body a little better than you do.

So if you're having as crappy a summer as me with all of that school nonsense, it's important to remember that it IS still summer, and you should still be having all of your summer adventures and fun. Last Wednesday, I went to the lake with my friend Brittany, and we had a marvelous time. The weather was so nice out. It was a perfect day. We went walking on the docks, trying to catch fish with our bare hands in the lake, and then making flower crowns up on the grassy hill. It's little moments like those that add up to make your summer amazing. Make sure you take as many of those moments that seem like nothing instead of just sitting in your room all day watching TV. There's always something to do other than just school, work, and TV. Make the most of your summer.

Oh, and good news. I'm that much closer to getting my portfolio up and running. I just want a few people to look over it first to make sure it's good enough, and then I'll put it online. I've also gotten a new twitter account to go along with it here. Follow if you'd life. If not, definitely follow Insert Here on twitter. I'll love you for forever.

What are you doing this summer/winter? Ever take virtual classes before?

Peace. Love. Winter in Australia.

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Late Night -Insert Restaurant Name Here- Runs

You're in college. You are most likely broke. You are most likely hungry. If not, you might possibly be the luckiest college student I've ever met (relatively speaking, of course). You always have that super delicious school food that they like to force freshmen to add to their already ridiculously high bill. But as much as we all love the variety (yet still feels like we're eating the same thing every. single. damn. day.) of the food they serve in the cafeteria, sometimes we just need a break from that - even if it's fast food.

College Rule #5
It is perfectly ok, and even encouraged, to get food AWAY from the school cafeteria every once in a while.

I am aware that not everyone is as lucky as I am to have a Wendy's within walking distance of my dorm, along with quite a few other restaurants within 5 minutes driving distance. I suppose that would ease the temptation of eating out all of the time to avoid school food. I'm still trying to decide if that's a fortunate or unfortunate thing for you.... I'll get back to you on that one.

One of the food places around my lovely place of schooling is Denny's. Super classy, I know. Denny's happens to be the hang out place for college students after midnight though, apparently. This could be because college students' sophisticated palates can truly appreciate the delicacy that is Denny's breakfast foods... or more likely it's pretty much the only place with an open dining room that late. Either way, I have made a couple of late night food runs to Denny's in my time.

The best part about my late night Denny's runs was that I went with my friends Paul and Chris. We're all in the same major, so we've ended up working on homework until the wee hours of the night, and then going to get some breakfast at 12 in the morning. I quite enjoy my chocolate chip pancakes.

The first time we went, I got an Oreo milkshake instead of actual food. While Chris and Paul were Vining their weird ass video clips (ok, not gonna lie, they were pretty good as far as Vine videos go), I was using my milkshake as ink to do the kiddie maze on my placemat (I had no writing utensils, you see... and using my own blood seemed a little out of the question). As the night went on, they started making fun of me for not finishing my milkshake, and Paul kept pretending to pour salt into it. Just as he was about to actually dump salt into it (or so I thought), I swatted his hand away. Well I suppose he wasn't expecting it or something, because he ended up dropping it straight into my milkshake. Normal people would have reached in and pulled it out before it had totally submerged and sunk to the bottom, but we're not normal. We spent approximately the next 2 minutes straight laughing. I had to scoop it out with a spoon and try not to laugh when Paul asked the waitress for more napkins and explain what happened. He did a very nice job cleaning it out, though.

That also was the night that when the waitress asked for our orders, Paul asked if he could order off the senior menu. The waitress said yes he could, and then Paul ordered something that wasn't off the senior menu. She said, "You know that's not on the senior menu, right?" to which Paul replied, "Yeah, I know. I just wanted to see if I could order off of it." Chris and I couldn't stop laughing because we didn't think that he would actually ask that.

We were probably such a pain in the waitress's ass that it made me feel a little bit better about the lady we gave our money to totally gyp-ing me. My milkshake was $4, so I was just going to pay $5 total and give a $1 tip. When the lady asked how much I wanted to pay (after listening to that whole conversation about $5 total and a $1 tip) and I said $5, she still put on a $5 tip. So I ended up paying $9 for a stupid milkshake. I should have said something, but I didn't. Still didn't stop me from bitching about it for the rest of the night and most of the next day.

Life Rule #1
If someone cheats you out of money or hears you incorrectly, speak up and say something. If you sit back and let it happen to you, you really forfeit all rights to complain.

The second time we went to Denny's wasn't nearly as eventful. As we pulled in and parked, we noticed how the front of the parking lot was ridiculously brightly lit, while there were no lights in the back. We decided that's where people hid dead bodies. Once inside, we were waiting to be seated, and two slightly older guys came up and started talking to me. They were pretty much hitting on me, and Chris, funny kid that he is, basically butted into the conversation and answered all the questions they were asking me. Meanwhile, Paul was completely oblivious to the whole thing. When the server came to seat us, she asked if it was a party of 5. The guys said "No, unless you guys all want to sit together." It was funny, but Paul basically said "Nooo wayyy" (in his normal Paul-speak). A little bit later, the guys ended up skipping out on their meal and paying and all that wrought. Paul said, "See, they probably would have taken us out back...."

College Rule #6
If someone asks you to go out and do something, go with them. You make experiences everywhere, everyday. Even something as little as going to Denny's at midnight can produce some funny stories and great memories.

Unfortunately, as Paul's not coming back next semester, the Denny's runs were kind of short lived. Paul, Chris, and I over twitter just had a conversation about how much we needed another late night trip, though. Too bad we all live so far away from each other. *sigh* College Life. Moral of the story is, getting food away from college isn't just a quick moment of heaven and break from college food, but also a good time. I definitely recommend getting a group of friends and just going out somewhere to eat. It doesn't have to be somewhere expensive... just somewhere away from campus.

Peace. Love. Denny's.

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Insert Guide To College Roommates Here

If you're going to college, you're going to have roommates - whether you are on campus or off campus, whether it's 5 other people or just your fish, Skippy - you will 9 times out of 10 be living with someone else. If it's your first year moving away from home and living with complete strangers, the thought can be pretty daunting.

Every roommate that you have will be different (unless you request to have the same one every year), every situation will be different. This being said, there really is no exact guide one can give to surviving your college roommates. I think the biggest thing is to be flexible, but keep your ground. I'm the type of person that is non-confrontational, so I will try to stay out of other peoples' ways and be a decent roommate - you know, thoughtful, clean, polite, etc. I keep to myself. That still didn't stop my roommates from first semester from automatically hating me. For some reason I had a target on my back from the moment we all started facebook messaging at the beginning of the summer. Maybe they thought I was weird, maybe it was because I'm older than them, maybe it's just cuz catty bitches gon' be catty bitches... I don't really know. All I know is that out of my 3 roommates, only one liked me.

At the end of the semester, she moved out. At that point I was like, eff no am I staying here. So I ended up moving to another place across campus for the second semester. I think know it was mutually appreciated among all of us. One of them tweeted "that just made my day 10 times better. #thankgod #goodbye" So yes, needless to say, we didn't get along. I pretty much went the whole semester without exchanging words with them - only when necessary.

College Rule #2
It's normal not to get along with your roommates. Just try to be civil with each other, and if it really makes you uncomfortable to be in your own room, talk to your RA or Housing Director. You shouldn't have to live somewhere where you don't feel welcomed. Remember, it's your room, too.

So for all of you first years who were a little shaky about the idea of moving in with strangers that I just scared, don't worry. The second semester, I moved in with people my own age. They were all nice and we all got along just fine the first few months. I ended up sharing a bedroom with one other girl - Casshole - and we became best friends. We started doing everything together, and talking all the time, and basically found out that we are so similar, yet different enough that as roommates and friends we really worked. Unfortunately, by the end of the semester, there were disagreements and arguments and guerrilla warfare going on, that I tried my best to stay out of. Once again, I'm non-confrontational, and I didn't have a problem with any of my roommates. I thought they all had valid points, and I certainly liked all of them well enough.

College Rule #3
Communication between roommates is super important. If you have a problem, talk to your roommates about it and try to work it out... don't be manipulative.

The last day of the semester, I was a little hungover (only slightly...). I was wearing a dress to my final as "business casual" for a presentation and whatnot. This happens to be my favorite white dress, the one whose zipper always gets stuck. I had each of my roommates try to zip it up for me, but it kept getting stuck half way. There I am standing in the bathroom, the temperature getting warmer and warmer, my stomach constantly being pulled at each time the zipper hit its sticking spot, all the while feeling more and more hungover. It got to the point where I had to say "I need you to stop." She asked if I was hurting her and I said, "No, I think I gotta throw up." and then proceeded to run into the bathroom and puke. She left for her final while I was puking, and I never saw her again.

College Rule #4
There is nothing classier than saying bye to a roommate by throwing up. Drink responsibly, kids.

Sometimes, you'll get really lucky, and move into a room or hall where everybody all hangs out and becomes friends. This happened with my boyfriend - his whole hall became friends and did everything together. They would keep their doors unlocked and just walk into each others' rooms. It was cool, and I was always jealous of that. If you make good friends with your roommates your first year, then by all means, room with them again. Even consider moving off campus, because it's nice not having people breathe down your neck 24/7.

Some of you are thinking, Well Jayy, I'm not going away to college. So this doesn't apply. Well sure, but I hope my fun little anecdotes put a smile on your face for even just a second. In actual reality though, you still will be living with people, most likely. Just because you've lived with your family for the first 17 or 18 years of your life, doesn't mean that things won't change once you start going to college. For example, your parents will start yelling at you not just because of your grades, but because if you fail out by skipping classes or not getting good enough grades, then you just flushed a bunch of money right down the toilet. It's super great. Be excited for those arguments.

Essentially, being a roommate is a responsibility. Be respectful. Be clean. Be conscious of others. Be open to communication. And definitely don't be that catty bitch you were in high school. You're in college now - grow up - people don't want to deal with that shit, and they certainly don't want to live with it.

Peace. Love. Roommates.

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Insert Introduction Here

I'm not really sure why I'm writing an introduction post - if you want to know more about me, "Know Me"; if you want to know more about this blog, "Back Story". If you are a creep and want to see my face or find me elsewhere on the internet "Find Me" and "Stalk Me". It's all good.

I guess one of the biggest reasons that I wanted to start this blog was because I didn't renew my domain name this year, and I just HAVE to have somewhere to blog. My aim for this specific blog is to be a little more organized than all that I've previously owned. It'll be quite a struggle for me because I tend to go off on tangents, and jump all over the place, and talk about seemingly random things. You'll learn very quickly this to be true of me.

So what then, do I talk about if this isn't REALLY an introduction post? she ponders as she listens to her Mayday Parade playlist on Spotify. (she has also previously been pondering why she HASN'T started listening to Mayday Parade sooner.) I suppose I'll specifically talk about all of my college and job endeavors. That has to be interesting on some level... right...?

I have been out of school for a month now, pretty much. I can't believe it's been that long since I've seen my old roommate, and one of my best friends, whom I have started affectionately referring to as Casshole. It's a tough thing going from seeing someone every day and talking to him or her about everything, to never seeing and barely talking to him or her at all. I'm going through the same thing with my friend, Paul. The worst part is that neither of them are coming back to my school next semester... so I really won't see them much anymore.

College Rule #1
People leave. They transfer. They drop out. They graduate. It sucks. If you have my luck, half of your closest friends will all leave at the same time.

In the past month, I haven't really thought about school much - other than when I reminisce about stuff with my boyfriend or talk about all the ways I'm going to be able annoy my boyfriend next semester because I will actually live close enough to do so. I ended up checking my school email yesterday though and found out that one of my classes was canceled because not enough people were enrolled. This means I got switched into an 8am class.

Rule #8 About Jayy
She does not do morning. 11am classes are borderline early. She will undoubtedly be late to and sleep through any 8am class she has frequently.

My advisor/favorite professor, Dr. Mooney (from here on out referred to as Moon Master D), also emailed me about classes that I need to take. You see, as one of the few people in my major who actually enjoys and excels at the design part of web design (and one of the only girls), I'm pretty much the only one concerned at the lack of graphic design classes that are required of us. So Moon Master D is helping me fill up all of the open elective spaces with the best possible graphic design classes that I can take. The whole business is tricky though because there aren't really any graphic design courses that'll be beneficial to me that I can take without taking the whole graphic design first year schedule... and ain't nobody got time or money fo dat.

I'm still jobless. I'm still broke. I'm still wondering how I'm going to be paying for my car insurance. Being an adult is super awesome. Dad says there might be a job for me where he works - taking pictures of used cars and putting them up on the site - which would be a pretty awesome gig for me, I think. I do that kind of thing normally anyway.

Other than that, the biggest things happening in my life aren't even happening in MY life. My baby sister just graduated high school last Friday. I can't believe she's so old! I can't believe that respectively that makes ME so old! Although, I'm old enough to legally consume alcohol, so being old has its perks. The other thing is that baby sister has published her first book, which is pretty awesome. I'm in the process of reading it. If you guys are interested, you can check it out here - BUY THIS BOOK RIGHT MEOW. And while you're there (at Amazon that is) feel free to order your good pal, best friend, favorite blogger, Jayy, season 1, 2, or 4 of The Vampire Diaries. She just might have to love you for forever.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY LITTLE COUSIN!!!

Peace. Love. Collide.

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