A Few Things I Have Learned In College Thus Far...

1. Learning can be fun

School is not all tests and papers and lectures. Sure, there is a lot of that, but one thing I have discovered is how interesting class can be! I learn new things every day: random facts, statements that make me think, and discoveries that challenge my beliefs. I no longer dread class like I used to because I know that my education is a blessing and I have found that love of learning.

2. It's ok to be a goof

Wednesday, for RHA (Residence Hall Association), we provided the good ol worms and dirt dessert to our dorm. It was so much of a success that we ran out in a matter of minutes! Turns out everyone loves to be reminded of the good times from kindergarten with a yummy treat with gummy worms in it. This Friday was Kappa's exchange with the fraternity, Lambda Chi Alpha. The theme was "High School Cliques" and many nerds, cheerleaders, goths, hippies, and preps made an appearance on the dance floor. It was fun to dress up in fun costumes and dance the night away!

3. Laughter is the best medicine

I saw Disney Nature's Oceans movie on Saturday night with my good friends Kirsten and Lauren, and Kirsten's little sister who was out to visit! Now this was no ordinary documentary. Maybe it was the late night or the lack of sleep from the night before, but we were laughing up a storm! Some of the sea creatures and their mannerisms were so funny. Who knew an educational film could be so entertaining?

4. Mexican food=amazing

Friday night after the dance brought on a late night run to JV's, a hole-in-the-wall Mexican food place with a couple of my friends. Our burritos were the size of small children! HUGE! Another wonderful thing about JV's: cheap + delicious=amazing when you are in college and a bit strapped for cash. And it is close and open late!

5. There is no place like (a) home

On Saturday night, some of my good friends and I drove to our friend Iliana's house for a delicious home-cooked meal. We got to play with the dogs, pick tangelos (tangerine-oranges) right off the trees, and eat some amazing food! Iliana and her mom had prepared salsa, guacamole, and enchiladas that were to DIE for! It was so nice to be able to eat food not from the cafeteria and spend time with a family in a home after being trapped in the dorms for so long. Oh and who could forget dessert? Iliana made her famous red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Yum!!!

6. Marketing ploys DO work on me

So I have a punch card from Fiji Yogurt. I thought it would be fun to try to get all ten punches by the end of the year so I could get a free fro-yo! Well, pretty soon this became a big game between some of my friends and I, and we have all been racing to fill up our cards. After my FOURTH trip to fro yo this week I realized we had fallen hard for this marketing trick. But hey, fro yo is incredible and I will miss it when I get back to CO, so sometimes you just gotta be ignorant and use that punch card!

7. The library is your friend

Sometimes you need pure silence to get your work done. The Legal Research Center (law library) has become my home away from home here at USD. I spend hours in here at a time on Sundays catching up on my homework and occasionally during the week when I have a big paper or a test to study for.

8. Mr. University is one of the greatest shows on earth!

Theta, another sorority on campus, puts on the Mr. University pageant every year to raise money for their philanthropy. This year it was on Thursday. Mr. U is a different sort of pageant, where boys from clubs/fraternities on campus compete for the title. They are judged on formal wear, swim wear, and talent. They can get pretty creative! This year there was a Disney melody sung, a lot of funny dances, and even some really impressive backflips! All in all it was a successful show that brought the entire audience to laughter for most of the time. Congrats to the winner, Mr. Cross Country!

9. Bowling is not my sport

On Saturday I went bowling with some of the girls for Kappa. We had a blast even though most of us seemed to get a lot more gutter balls than others....

10. Friends in college are your second family

There is always someone there whenever I need an ear to listen or a shoulder to cry on or someone to celebrate with! I have made a few friendships this year that I know will last a lifetime and I am so grateful for every moment I have experienced, both good and bad. They are shaping me into a better person.

Hope your week is full of laughter!

Avery

Now I Know Where I Get My Good Looks...

Life is all about who you share it with. In college, you will develop new friendships that will carry you through the good times and bad, lasting throughout your whole life. You will realize how important those who look out for you are. In college, your friends become a part of your family and your family becomes a part of your rock-solid foundation, supporting you as you head into your future.

Sharing is caring...

During Intervarsity on Monday night, instead of having our usual community group where we go over a Bible passage together, we went to Yogurtland! After filling up our bowls with the most delicious combinations of flavors and toppings, we dragged our chairs together in a circle and we talked. We shared our biggest struggles of the year, our summer plans, our excitement for break, and our sadness to leave USD behind for three whole months. With our year coming to a close, it was good to have a time to really look back on everything that happened, both good and bad.

Looking back...

When I arrived on move-in day, I knew nobody. I had to put myself out there, attending club meetings and other events where nothing was familiar. At the time I was so nervous and just downright scared out of my pants! As the weeks went on, I got to know more and more people, some better than others. I started off a stranger going to Intervarsity, and now a lot of my closest friends I made through that group of wonderful people. As you get ready to leave home and start something very unfamiliar, be ready to be open minded, put yourself out there, and GET EXCITED! Remember that everyone is going to be in the same position as you. You will all be able to look back and laugh at how awkward your first moments together were after you travel a few months down the road. One of my best friends here (and sorority sister), Colleen, and I always joke about how we were hardly friends at the beginning of the year and how the rest of us girls were jealous of her because the boys loved hanging out with her! Now here we are a few months later swapping boy stories, fashion advice (hers!), and laughing our brains out together over what dorks we can be.

So what have I been up to last week? Besides school work that is....

I spent a lot of time in Aromas sipping my iced green teas or caramel macciatos and trying to get whatever homework I had done. Most of this time got interrupted when my friend Marcus came over and sat down and we would talk about everything from what animal we are to the Bible to logic class to healing from heartbreaks. I love Aromas because there is almost always someone there that I know who can sit down and just talk with me or sit there in silence as we both study (though silence is a rare occurrence). Monday was community group like I said earlier, and my weekly Kappa meeting. Tuesday was my day of relaxation because I wasn't feeling all too well: I hung out in bed a lot and watched a few episodes of Greek on Hulu, made a friendship bracelet for fun, and read some Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. On Wednesday I had ritual review for Kappa Kappa Gamma. While I can't tell you the details of that event, I can tell you that it was a neat experience to learn more details behind the history of my sorority that has been around since 1870! I also had an RHA (Residence Hall Association) meeting where we finalized some plans for fun events for our dorm before the end of the year. Thursday was Intervarsity large group where our guest speaker Scott Schimmel talked about how to chose your career path and make the most of your life. We finished out the great night by heading over to Fiji yogurt and just enjoyed each other's company and continued to talk about what we had learned that night. Friday was the best of all.....

KAPPA MOM'S WEEKEND!!!!!

My mom and two sisters Kendall and Sydney arrived bright and early on Friday morning from Colorado! (That is my mommy and I in the photo above!) I showed them around the school so they could see where I study, sleep, eat, and play. I also introduced them to my friends and we spent some time hanging out back in my favorite campus spot, Aromas. For lunch, we headed to none other than In-n-Out Burger (where I also discovered they are bringing in a Colorado favorite, Noodles&Co, right across the street!). That night we had a delicious Mexican food dinner at Casa Guadalajara in Old Town with the other Kappas and their moms/friends/sisters. Below: Colleen, Audrey, and I pose with our moms and my sisters Kendall and Sydney after an amazing meal.

The next day was quite an adventure! We went down to La Jolla where we went sea kayaking! It was so much fun, gliding over the ocean and looking at sea caves, sea lions, and the view from the water. Here we are just floating our cares away in one of the most beautiful places in the world, no big deal ;)

On Sunday morning, we enjoyed a nice stroll along La Jolla shores, taking in the scenery and watching the surfers ride the waves. I then took my mom and sisters to my church, Flood. We finished up our time together with a yummy lunch in Seaport Village and a walk along the waterfront there, followed by another Yogurtland run. I love San Diego... Below: Us in Seaport Village. A cute little doggie is trying to jump in our picture! (His head is by Kendall's leg on the right)

It was such a relaxing weekend, taking a mini-vacation from school and spending some quality time with my mom and sisters (both blood related and sorority!). Now its time for some homework so that I can get a head start on the week to come! Good luck to all as you finalize your college decisions, I hope USD is your school of choice :)

Love & Froyo,

Avery

College Nerd Moments and Nostalgia

As another weekend comes to a close here in beautiful SD, I am overwhelmed with nostalgia. Why you ask? First of all, "When I Look At You" by Miley Cyrus is playing in my headphones and it is giving me goosebumps. Now, I'm not a huge Miley fan, but hey, this song is not too shabby...

Second of all, I just finished counting how many weeks I have left here before summer time: not even five weeks, then finals.

AHHHHHH WHERE HAS TIME GONE????

I remember in elementary school, middle school, and high school counting down the seconds until summer began. With college it is a different feeling. My heart is in the middle of a tug-o-war between being so EXCITED to go home and spend time with my old friends, but at the same time I am going to miss my USD family as we all disperse around the country. If you would have asked me at the beginning of the year if I considered SD home, I would have laughed in your face then maybe cried because I was pretty homesick at times. Well, college forces you to grow in many ways, and San Diego is now my "home away from home" and I have a place here. A routine. A life. A family. Basically, a lot to think about and miss as I pack up and drive the 18 hours back to Colorado in May.

Well now that all my sappy emotions are purged, I will update you on what I have been up to! School has been keeping me working very hard as I finished up midterms. A couple weekends ago I went down to the beach to watch the sunset with some of my friends. It was spectacular! We ate burritos from a hole-in-the-wall Mexican food place (there are a lot of those places around here yummm!) and watched the sun dip into the ocean. A couple of us were daring and dashed out into the freezing water!

The next weekend was Easter Break! I went home again Wednesday through Monday and enjoyed spending time with my good friends in CU Boulder and spent the holiday with my family and my doggie, Star. Above, my sisters and I dye Easter eggs, one of my favorite traditions.

This week has been full of late-night study sessions and dates with my poetry book. I have been working long and hard on an explication for my poetry class, which is basically just a paper where I write about a poem that I have analyzed. I actually LOVE this assignment, I am having so much fun digging into the words and finding a deeper meaning. Just another college nerd moment :) I promise, you will have some too!

As for the fun stuff, this weekend I participated in the Maher Campout! The Outdoor Adventures club put on a lovely night filled with fun lawn games, smores, and Dutch oven desserts! My friends and I sat around the fire pit just talking and laughing for most of the night.

Saturday night was the "K is for Kappa and B is for Beta" dance with my sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma, and a fraternity, Beta Theta Pi. We all had so much fun dressing up as things that started with "B" or "K". Above, my Big Sis in the sorority, Tracy, and I are dressed up while our friend, Colleen, a Komodo Dragon, lurks in the background! Below, my friends Colleen and Audrey and I take a break from dancing.

As the time to make your college decision nears, I urge you to GET EXCITED. Really think about all the possibilities that are out there and just how many doors an education opens up to you. But please, cherish every moment you have left right where you are. A lot changes in college, but don't you worry! They are very good changes :) No matter where you go, go with all your heart.

Love and best wishes,

Avery

p.s. FEEL FREE to email me with any questions! About anything! I would LOVE to talk to you and help you in any way that I can. averyjohnson-13@sandiego.edu