0064.

This morning my Intro to PR teacher said, while admitting that he'd grown up in a different era,

"When I was growing up, when the President spoke, you listened."

It would be an exciting thing to hear what he had to say or get the chance to meet him. I mean, he was THE President.

I think most people would agree that element of respect and reverence for the leader of one's [our] country has diminished greatly. At least among those who do not agree with the leader's policies. We concurred in our class that perhaps that decline was set in motion during the Clinton term, mostly due to the scandals he was involved in.

It makes my heart a little sad that that sort of general admiration and attitude of respect towards the President has been lost.

Anyways, I read the speech President Obama made today for the school kids. I thought it was awesome. I think there's something special about the President of our country taking the time to address just the students. I mean, when was the last time our President spoke directly to you and your peers? I think it would be really cool to feel included in that group. I think the fact that he took the time to do that was great. And I think the speech was actually rather moving.

It made me sad, once again, that people who do not share his opinions on issues almost automatically expected the worst from our President. But if he had spoken these words to me, I would've felt a little inspired. :) Let's face it, he's got that whole public speaking thing down.


Click here if you're interested in reading the transcript.

0063.

I haven't blogged in over a month, and I'm struggling to find something good to blog about. So I'll just give an update.


This summer was very much a summer of transition. I'm trying to be better at embracing change...

First of all, i changed my major at the end of last semester, so the summer was filled with a series of bad experiences with community college classes on my way to beginning my new major at Belmont in the fall. "Physical Science" at Nashville State apparently means "basic physics including an inconvenient and unnecessary shift halfway through the semester in which your teacher, whose phd i can only assume is fabricated, decides to simply 'remove' any and all math from the course." It was basically the most frustrating joke of a class in which one cannot win without simply accepting his ridiculous justifications of his teaching style. If you could call it that. Not to mention the hoodlums (i use this word because i feel it is accurate and a necessary description) who only care about automotive technology and think that enrolling in a class that takes place from 1pm til about 3pm means "attend at any point during these two hours for the duration of your choice, and whatever you do, make sure everyone is aware of your presence at any given moment."


Anyways. I also took Biology online, which was a huge mistake.

Then Belmont took away our bottled water.

I got to see some of my best friends from home a few times, including a visit to Tuscaloosa which was so much fun!

I was also finally baptized. It went by really fast, so basically I remember standing backstage, wondering where our young adult minister, Ray, had vanished to, because he was the one dunking me. I remember stepping into the baptismal which, p.s., is totally just a metal trough that they try to pass off as fancy by strategically placing a wooden frame in front of it. The water was surprisingly warm. I recited the shpiel (i don't know if that is an actual word or not) i had memorized about why i wanted to be baptized. Because, let's face it, I am no public speaker and I am not about to get up there and start rambling and/or forget to say anything relevant at all. Then I was wet and it was over. But I am so glad I did it. I feel like this is something God wanted me to do, and I finally got up the courage to not care about the fact that I am 21 and not 8, like most kids that get baptized at Fellowship.

Then Beaman owned about a week of my life. But I really do like it there. New Grad Assistants. Transition again.

I'm washing my hands a lot so I don't get swine flu. Mostly because I will do whatever it takes to avoid throwing up.
Also, whose idea was it to name it swine flu? Maybe something that sounds a lot less like a death sentence and/or plague. Like "piglet flu." Awww.

I am starting PR at belmont. It's a little weird being around different types of people (99% girls, 50% blonde) and having classes in a different building, but I'm liking it so far. It will push me out of my comfort zone but once again, let's face it, I need that. I'm rather attached to my comfort zone.

This week I have to call my teacher's friends, family, and former coworkers in order to question them about her personality and life so that I can write a fake obituary about her.

Let the awkward ensue.