As has become a bit of a tradition, I’m writing a “year in review” post to look back on the events of the last year. In case you don’t feel like reading this all the way through, Happy New Year!
2007 had a rocky start. 2006 had ended badly (honors physics on top of all my other honors courses had certainly made things difficult), and 2007 didn’t look like it was going to be any different. January was otherwise normal: I attended many of David’s swim meets and played with the pep band at a great number of basketball games, including a nasty three day tournament that nobody enjoyed.
In February I let McGovern (a former teacher) borrow my postcards to show his World Geography and World History students. There was also “Snowball”, our high school winter formal dance - I went with David. Craig even came which was absolutely remarkable, as anyone who knows him also knows. I also went and visited Kansas State University with my mom and really enjoyed everything. I also participated in a valentine swap with the members the Quilting Bee which was very fun. (I still have my valentine, Ashley!) Valentine’s Day didn’t turn out well, but it worked out in the end.
I went to the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade in our city with Wrylie, CJ and Jhami. I hadn’t been to the parade in quite some time and so it was really great to go again, especially with such cool people. David went to Arizona with his family and so I missed him quite a lot. I also found out that the Smashing Pumpkins would be touring in North America, although I was rather disappointed later to find that they would never come within 8 hours of where I live. I also struggled with several pathetic Web sites ripping off my original brushes which I was forced to take care of.
April was crazy. I finally got a job working at our local Dairy Queen and then quit a mere 2 weeks later. I’m glad I didn’t stay there because the whole situation was a load of bullshit. I also went to the state FBLA competition for Web site development and got third place - and therefore missed out on going to nationals by just one place. I was very upset, but strangely enough I found out later that one group had dropped out and therefore I qualified to go. It was the most exciting feeling to know that I was going to nationals in Chicago for Web site development. I went to St. Louis, Missouri with the band to perform in a competition. It was a lot of fun, as always, and included: several band kids sneaking into some St. Louis high school’s prom being held in the same hotel, a great trip to Six Flags, and a shooting not even a block from our hotel (we could see the cops and a bunch of people from our window and we were alerted to it by seeing where we were on the news.)
Prom was in May and I had a great time, especially since I went with David. Unfortunately, with all of the flooding in our city, our basement also flooded and with that my room. I had to move everything I had upstairs and I didn’t have my room back for quite a long time. It was terribly hard to study for Advanced Placement and final exams while listening to people yelling and watching TV. I graduated on May 20 and attended a lot of graduation parties. It was euphoric but it was also sad - everyone from our graduating class would be heading different directions and to different places.
In late June and early July I was in Chicago for the national FBLA competition. I was super excited and I had loads of fun there with my friend, Jake. I got to see all kinds of things I’d never seen before - Chicago was so much different than Kansas. Jake and I spent a lot of time pilfering internet from the hotel (the fancy Hyatt) and a local coffee shop. I also met Ethan, who I would later meet again at Kansas State. It was amazing because now I hang out with Ethan a lot, and to think I met him in Chicago!
August brought brand new experiences: I moved into my dorm room at Kansas State. It was my first time living away from home, but it was alright because I knew a lot of people on campus, including David. I slumped into inactivity as far as blogging goes, but I was busy outside of the Internet. I got a job as the Webmaster for the Kansas State yearbook and I still had my 14 hours of college classes a week. I spent Halloween with David giving out candy to little kids who came to the door of my dorm room.
December was rather stressful. College finals were a new experience and although not terribly different from my high school ones it was still stressful to know that so much of your grade hangs on one exam. On December 10/11 a terrible ice storm crashed through Kansas and it also hit the Kansas State campus hard. Finals were canceled and the power was out all throughout Kansas, including the power in the university residence halls and my dorm room. Luckily enough my Software Design professor just decided to cancel my final for that class, which was incredibly nice. I made it through all right and I headed home that Thursday afternoon after my biology final. It was nice to be home for awhile and I was completely ready for a long break. Christmas was normal, except for the fact that my little cousin Kameron was deathly scared of his new “tickle-me-Elmo”.
We’ll see what happens in 2008. I wish everyone a happy new year!
