Monday, April 3rd, 2006   -   Just a nightmare

The past week has brought on a lot of changes. I'm going to start with the fact that I'm not going to be able to do much of playing softball.

Last week at our Lebenon Valley game I got hit by a pitch and broke my right forearm and wrist. The Carlisle Regional Medical Center was awesome. The new building is beautiful, and the doctors knew to send me home to get further treatment. I'm getting surgery tomorrow, so it's good that they did make me go home because I was in total denial about how bad it was. It's been pretty devastating, but a lot of people at school have been calling me and wishing me the best. I should be back on Wednesday night if all goes well. When I do get back it's going to be really hard. I need help with even the smallest daily activities (because I'm right handed). The school has given me an extension on all my work thankfully, and supposedly I am considered a "disabled" student and, if I need it, I can receive help on typing papers and such. The hardest thing is not being able to play softball. I finally found a team where I wanted to be and it ended with one pitch. The next thing to focus on is getting this arm better as quickly as possible. Rehab will be intense, but the trainers will push me once I get my cast off and I'll do anything to be able to play in the fall.

On a lighter note, this week is course selection for next semester. I have to start thinking about my future and what classes to take to get me there. It's scary when it comes down to it because I really don't know what I want to do, and with a potential Biochem major, I'm so far behind. Everyone else started with intro Bio and Chem courses freshman year and I'll be starting sophomore year. So it's looking like Chem, Bio, Calc, and a 200 level writing intensive English.

I really wish all of this was just a bad dream, but hopefully the services provided by Dickinson College and the help of my friends will get me through this nightmare for the last month of school.

Tuesday, April 11th, 2006   -   Turned lefty?

Being back at school has been really hard. Surprisingly though not as physically hard as I expected because all of my friends and teachers have been very accommodating. But I ended up missing a full week of school, so there's a lot to make up. The hard part about being back is giving up the independence that I have always enjoyed here. At Dickinson College you have every opportunity to be around people constantly, but everyone is very focused on their own schedules and goals, life is very much controlled by you and only you. But now, it seems like I need help with everything, like putting on clothes, putting my hair in a ponytail, carrying my tray in the caf, cutting my own food, the simplest tasks!

Luckily, I am feeling much better. I can finally sleep through the night with no pain, and my left hand is getting quite good at highlighting and writing.

The softball girls swept Gettyburg today for the first time in God knows when; I just wish I could have been out there on the field with them too.

Tuesday, April 18th, 2006   -   Pick me up love, everyday

So this past weekend I went home and finally got a real cast on. I can now type, write, and do pretty much whatever I need to do. I am free once again!

We got together last week for Orientation training. Even though it seems like it's going to be alot of responsibility, I think it's going to be so much fun. I know I had a great Orientation last year, but it might be even better running it.

So, I went home for Easter, like most people here do, and got to see all of my friends. We were finally all together for the first time this year, and had an absolute blast. Going to college is awesome because you get to experience new things, but it's always extra nice to go home.

With the end of the semester only 3 weeks away, everyone is looking forward to the summer. I have tons of projects and tests to do this week still. Hopefully by the end of this week I'll be all caught up on the work that I missed, but even when I'm caught up, there's always much more to do.

Tuesday, April 25th, 2006   -   Psyched for Summer!

Down to the last two weeks of school for me. I don't know how I got so lucky, but I have no finals! This past week has been crazy. I've been really working hard on writing my Biology paper, the neuroanatomy of orca whale communication. Thursday I had lunch with the softball girls, who I feel like I haven't seen in forever. With this broken arm it takes me twice as long to do work so I hardly go to practice, only games when I can.

I'm really just looking forward to the summer. I have so many plans. I go home on the 6th, but I do have to come back for one test later in the week, I'm just going to spend the night at Dickinson. I get my cast off on the 10th, and then I go to my friend from West Chester's Sig Ep formal in Ocean City, MD on the 14th for a few days. Later that week is my cousin's wedding, in which I'm a bridesmaid, so there will be dress fittings, rehearsal dinners, and lots of beauty stuff with the other bridesmaids that week. The next big thing is the concert, and then at the end of July I go to Alaska for two weeks. With all of that I'm still going to have to do physical therapy for my arm, babysit my neighbour's kids (which consists of laying by the pool while the boys goof off), and hopefully get a real job somewhere. Will this all work? Probably not, but I'm so used to doing everything at Dickinson College that it's gotta be possible at home!

Sunday, May 7th, 2006   -   Goodbye for now : (

The past two weeks have been a blast! With school winding down and the gorgeous weather there has been so much to do. Let's see, since the last entry this is all the stuff that I've done:

• Floor Program organized by our RA where we learned how to dance to "Check On It" (Our RA is on one of the dance teams here)
• Went to my first boys lacrosse game (it was awesome, they kill each other!)
• BBQ's on Morgan field galore!
• Trips to Casa Mani (the best coffee shop in town) with Stevie
• T-Trout Gallery to see the senior's final art projects
• BBQ at the ROTC house
• Last minute Third Eye Blind concert at Elizabethtown College (great show!)
• Midnight grilled cheese on the quads
• Fast Food 500 (eating contest between the fraternities with the biggest meals from all the fast food restaurants)
• D-tones Concert
• Lecture on cytomegalovirus
• Lecture on the neuropsychology of the human spirit
• BBQ on the football field for athletes
• Orientation Committee meeting (discussing the common film for Orientation, Crash)
• Pizza at Georges and ice cream at Massey's
• Four square and chilling on the upper quad
• Lacrosse playoff game at Gettyburg against Washington College (we lost, sad) stopped at an ice cream stand on the way home and had cookies and cream ice cream, fries, and onion rings for dinner
• Octals concert (comedy and music all in one!)
• Cumberland Drive-in movie theater to see Mission Impossible: 3
• Amani festival on High Street (one of the best street fairs I've been to)

On top of all that I’ve still been doing work (that’s what we are here for, I guess). One of my floormate’s sister said that this is like summer camp. This week has been quite unusal but it was such a great time. To finish off my experience at Dickinson we have our softball banquet at Chilies and the Theta Chi formal on Tuesday night. Other wise I’ll be studying for my Bio exam and writing my Women’s Studies paper. I go home on Wednesday morning and finally get this cast off.

Dickinson has been everything I wished it could be. I have had great classes, great times, and met the greatest friends. I could not ask for a better freshman year.