On Friday I moved into my permanent living space, Scottish Rite Dormitory, for this school year at UT. I was much more emotional when my parents left on Saturday than when they left me here this time last year for my freshman year. I believe this is partly due to the fact that last year my entire six person family was here moving me in, as well as my roommate's huge family causing me to be so so ready for everyone to get out of that tiny space. Also, I spent a lot of enjoyable time with my parents over the summer and knowing that I will not have that again until Christmas break made me a bit sad.
Fortunately, one of my best friends, Catherine, moved in at the same time as me, so we spent the rest of the day hanging out and catching up on each others' summer. Then, yesterday Kat, another one of my good friends, moved into the dorm, and two other friends came into town after being counselors at Ignite, a Christian camp for incoming freshman. It was so much fun seeing all of these girls who are so close to my heart; girls who I can tell anything; girls who challenge and sharpen me spiritually; girls who I can be completely silly with.
Speaking of being completely silly, Catherine and I met the two girls who came in from camp at Pita Pit on the drag and made a huge scene by jumping into each others arms, hopping up and down, and squealing things like "Oh my gosh! How are you?" We then had excellent conversation about the amazing things God did at Ignite. He specifically used both of their experiences from their freshman year to reassure and guide some of the girls at the camp.
Last night Catherine, Kat and I stayed up until one in the morning talking about our summers. We ranged all topics from the state of our relationship with the Lord to almost crying from laughing so hard about Catherine's stories from working at a children's tennis camp. Overall, the friends I have made so far have defined my college experience; they are one of the best parts of my life here in Austin.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
An Adventure in Austin
There must be a law of physics that states if a person is not familiar with a certain area, than he/she will become lost. I am beginning my second year at UT Austin and my first to have a car here. Today, for my internship with my church, I was sent to several craft stores to buy materials for a project on which we are working. What should have been at max a two hour errand (including drive time) turned into a three and a half hour fiasco.
The whole entire trip I seemed to NEVER be in the correct lane in order to turn the way I wanted, to stay on the highway I wanted, or to get on the highway I wanted. I got on and off the TX-1-loop about four times before I actually made it to my destination. Once I finally arrived at the first store it had no supplies that were applicable to the project. Therefore, with nothing accomplished besides the fact that I now understand the West Austin area much better, I trekked over to the other store across town. I made my way to this store without as many issues except for the fact that there was so much traffic. There was road construction, which caused more delays, and I had to sit at a red light for nearly seven minutes! However, once I actually started shopping at the second store I found the items that were needed.
The only other delay involved checking out. Since the materials I bought were for the church they were tax exempt, which involved filling out some pretty lengthy forms. Yet, this extra time spent was well worth the money that was saved and the ten percent discount the church received, because the store has a discount for churches.
Even though it would appear as if I wasted my afternoon attempting to find my way around Austin, I feel as though I challenged myself in a healthy way. I forced myself to be a problem solver and to think in a way I am not accustomed. Also, since I was on my own, I had no one to divert my anger and frustration onto, which in turn showed me I do not need to snap or lose my temper to solve my problems; staying calm and level-headed is key. I needed to be lost and drive all over Austin so that God could show me how to deal with situations in ways that are pleasing to Him.
The whole entire trip I seemed to NEVER be in the correct lane in order to turn the way I wanted, to stay on the highway I wanted, or to get on the highway I wanted. I got on and off the TX-1-loop about four times before I actually made it to my destination. Once I finally arrived at the first store it had no supplies that were applicable to the project. Therefore, with nothing accomplished besides the fact that I now understand the West Austin area much better, I trekked over to the other store across town. I made my way to this store without as many issues except for the fact that there was so much traffic. There was road construction, which caused more delays, and I had to sit at a red light for nearly seven minutes! However, once I actually started shopping at the second store I found the items that were needed.
The only other delay involved checking out. Since the materials I bought were for the church they were tax exempt, which involved filling out some pretty lengthy forms. Yet, this extra time spent was well worth the money that was saved and the ten percent discount the church received, because the store has a discount for churches.
Even though it would appear as if I wasted my afternoon attempting to find my way around Austin, I feel as though I challenged myself in a healthy way. I forced myself to be a problem solver and to think in a way I am not accustomed. Also, since I was on my own, I had no one to divert my anger and frustration onto, which in turn showed me I do not need to snap or lose my temper to solve my problems; staying calm and level-headed is key. I needed to be lost and drive all over Austin so that God could show me how to deal with situations in ways that are pleasing to Him.
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