Summer Update

This summer I had the privilege of experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon. And no, I'm not talking about South Africa again. I'm talking about what Truman kids call a Kirksville Summer.

As you can probably guess, a Kirksville Summer is when you stay in Kirksville Missouri. All summer. Some students choose this bleak fate, but others are sentenced to it by summer classes. I was part of the latter group, and let me say it was no walk in the park. I was taking organic chemistry superlab, which was Monday-Thursday from 8-12 and physics on Tuesday-Thursday from 1:30-4:30. I actually kind of enjoyed superlab because it made me feel like I was in Professor Snape's Potions class, due in part to the reactions and in part to the fact that my teacher was just as unsociable and condescending as Severus himself. You could definitely tell he didn't want to be there, but then again who did? It was summer school! Superlab went surprisingly well, despite one bad omen that occurred on the first day. I broke a $42 Hirsch funnel and had to pay for it! That's right, I broke the only funnel that cost more than $5... I really reach for the stars. I'll spare you the painful details of physics, but let me just say that it was definitely rough staying through each class even though my hilarious professor, Dr. Northdurft, tried to keep things lively with puns and Don Showalter-esque videos (I couldn't find an actual Don Showwalter chemistry video on Youtube sorry guys!). Anyway, I actually ended up with A's in both physics and chem, which made all of the hard summer work worth it! A lot of days were terrible - I sometimes did 14 hours of science a day with combined class and homework and cried for the remaining 10 hours. That's another reason why I didn't update this blog all summer - I just didn't have the time or energy! But it was all worth it in the end so I guess I can't really complain.
As for summer activities that didn't involve schoolwork, I basically spent a lot of time at the Rec playing basketball, watching Game of Thrones, and I know it sounds bad, but drinking was also on the list of top priorities. Firstly, the basketball overload. I think I spent more time shooting hoops this summer than I did throughout my high school basketball career (that is probably an exaggeration, but seriously I played basketball a lot). My friend Jake (he went to Africa with me) saw fit to challenge me to 1-on-1 every chance he got. At first, I schooled him every game with my outside shot but over the course of the summer he slowly improved and learned how to drive (he is taller than me so that was my downfall) and actually put the ball in the hoop. By the end, our record was basically 50-50. At the beginning of the summer, the loser (Jake) would always buy the winner (Me) ice cream from Sonic but then we both started getting fat so we regrettably cut that part out of the routine. I also dragged Jake home with me for a Cardinals game and Eileen's grad party and it was a good time.

Longhorn Cross Country reunited at Eileen's grad party!!! Left to Right: Michelle, Jordan, Some Dingus, Ashley, Mahwish.

 As for Game of Thrones, I first must explain my physics lab partners Tyler and Lester. We all sat next to each other on the first day and I could tell from the start that we would all be good buddies by the end of the semester. Slowly our relationship grew from physics homework to Game of Thrones/drinking buddies! The show is AMAZING and I have to thank them for getting me hooked on it. Lester is my "brother" in my BBB family and was also in my chem class (and got double A's as well!!!), so we spent a LOT of time together this summer and I spent a lot of time at Tyler's house too (I slept on his couch more than once haha). The three of us became very close this summer and they are friends that I hope to keep even though I won't be at Truman this semester!
One of my best friends (also from Africa), Emily, was there for the summer as well and I saw her basically every day. Our activities ranged from driving around blasting "Country Roads" by John Denver to drinking rooibos tea and having heartfelt Africa chats to going to All You Can Drink (AYCD) every Thursday night. This is where the drinking mainly comes into play. Every Thursday night in Kirksville, for only $10 ($9 if you bring your cup back from last time) you can get any drink you want until 1 AM at two bars: Dukum and Wrongdaddies. I would always go with Emily & company. Every Thursday night was a blast (although the next morning usually wasn't) and I made so many new friends socializing at the bar. I would always make the same jukebox playlist consisting of the Beach Boys, Who Let The Dogs Out, Harlem Shake, and Don't You Want Me Baby and then run away so nobody could blame me for it. Emily also took me to a free music festival in Kansas City near the end of the summer and it was super fun! There was a band there from South Africa called St. Lucia! Free burritos and baby's first KC BBQ (burnt ends!) were also highly involved.

Me + Emily + phantom side boob hand at a Cards/Royals game

Although I half expected to absolutely despise this dull summer in Kirksville, to want to go home every weekend, and to have no regrets when I left for Disney, it actually turned out quite the opposite. I made a surprising number of new friends and further strengthened some previous bonds. Because of this, I am torn in leaving for Disney because I know I will be missing out on half of my senior year at Truman with all of the wonderful new people I have met this past Spring/Summer semester, especially during the South Africa trip. I finally feel like I have found my place at Truman - it took around 2.5 years but I got there in the end! I definitely don't regret applying for the DCP but it will be much harder to leave Truman behind for a semester now.

P.S. I started taking yoga classes at the Rec and I am truly horrible at it...see below.