Wow am I ready to come home. I mean I was just home two weeks ago, but that was only for a day and it was pretty busy. I'm just really ready for some home cooked meals and properly working laundry and a room that's not always hot at night and also hopefully I can get rid of this cough I've had for 3+ weeks (pro tip: never look up your symptoms on the internet). Sorry but I'm just really, really ready. I don't even know if I can make it these two days. Ugh. BUT. When I am home, it will be so wonderful. I'm coming home Tuesday afternoon and I'm bringing my roommate home with me and she's already met over half of my family that we are celebrating with so that makes things even more wonderful! And we'll watch the movie Planes Trains and Automobiles like we always do (and then I have to leave and work at 8:15 that night at Old Navy for Black Friday. That's all I will say.) And then (after my 6am - 10:45 am shift Black Friday - THAT'S ALL I WILL SAY.) We are going to see
Mockingjay. which will be SO GRAND BECAUSE I'VE BEEN DYING TO SEE ITTTTTT. YOU ALL KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE HUNGER GAMES RIGHT?? And then just relaxing and seeing friends and introducing my roommate to everyone which I'm super excited about. JUST ONE AND A HALF DAYS MORE. I CAN DO THIS. Oh, also. I'm 19! Woooo! Again, thanks everyone for the Facebook posts and cards and presents. All of them made me smile quite widely. On my birthday I completed my first college presentation which I felt pretty good about. :) And then (surprisingly) I didn't have a ton of homework so then I discovered the movie You've Got Mail was on Netflix and watched that (if you haven't seen it - I highly recommend you do). And then at 8 we went to Applebee's which was soo good! I'm so glad that I've found such a good group of friends here that I could celebrate my birthday with. They made it better - especially because it was hard being away from my family. So yes! Well I have 2 tests tomorrow so I'm gonna go continue studying! one and a half days. one and a half days. one. and. a. half. days. yes. see you then. xx Bridget
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This week, I will be turning 19. Excuse me what. How? Why? When? What? And since I'm heading into my golden year (and that's the other thing... I was always like wow my golden birthday isn't until I'm 19... well here we are.) I thought I would take this time to just reflect on my past year because I feel like I've learned a lot.
I've learned...
Wow that was probably the longest time I've taken to write a blog post. But I think/hope this list sums it up. A lot of these have deeper meanings to them, but that's the general picture and I feel that I have changed so much (in a good way). Well... my last blog post as an 18 year old. Peace. xx Bridget Hello beautiful people, how art thou? I hope all of your weekends were grand. I, as many of you know (actually like all of you know - I feel like I've repeated this a lot), went home Saturday morning so I could see my high school's musical, Into the Woods. I played the piano in the pit orchestra all four years, so it was really quite odd sitting on the other end. But the show was so great and everyone did such a wonderful job. Idk I've just always been fascinated with musicals and the whole concept of theatre. I am just mesmerized by the TALENT everyone has. Like you can act, you can sing, you can dance, all at the same time? how? But it's so great to watch. I, of course, don't act, I just like to be in awe of people's talent (although I did take an acting class sophomore year - lol). But then I mean for each musical I was involved in, I always ended up memorizing the whole entire thing because we went through rehearsals so much. And then one night last year, I remember I was putting the dishes away and just mindlessly quoting Aida, our musical for that year (my favorite one, by the way). But when I mean quote, I mean quote. Like I say it in the same tone and everything, because that's all I know it as. But anyway, I was mindlessly doing that when my mom looked over from the couch and said "you better try out for theatre when you get to college, that's all I got to say." And I was like whaaat. I wasn't even trying. And then also, I love to write, and sometimes I've pictured myself writing screenplays for movies because those things are a huge part of my life. The future, man. I tell ya. But anyway at the show I saw several of my old teachers which was cool/weird and then afterward I saw all my friends from pit orchestra and the cast and it was an incredible bunch of moments of hugging, squeezing, squealing and laughing. And then I as I was driving home by myself I started thinking real hard because, you know, it's just my thoughts and I. And then I started breathing heavily/making weird noises because as I went through those numerous round a bouts to exit East Ridge I was just thinking to myself: what is this? I just went to musical, where normally at this time I would still be in there, planning with people where we were going to go eat after we put our instruments away. But no. I am an alum from East Ridge. I don't go there anymore. I'm a spectator now. Which is cool too, but it feels so, so, so different. And it's not even like I've had these thoughts previously where I was all sad and nostalgic because I didn't go to East Ridge, but after being there and seeing people I was like what. And then I was heading home to a home that I was leaving the next morning when I had just gotten there that day. I had other friends waiting for me back at school. I had friends I was driving away from at East Ridge. I had friends at different colleges, around the country. It all just hit me. So yeah. Sorry I had to let that out. In other news, before going to the musical, I became the proud owner of the iphone 5s. (for those of you who really know me, I complained about my iphone 4 literally every second. This makes me sound like a really greedy person but if you had my phone you would know). Anywho, it was almost free because I just had to turn in my iphone 4 and do a trade in! So yes I'm very happy because now I can properly capture moments of my life with a capable camera. Two of which I took today: Yes as always, it was great to see these people again. (and eat Chipotle, and go to Vera Bradley to get a phone case, and see friends and my DOG. Look at how photogenic he is!).
Hopefully this week I will survive registration (UGH) and this snow (UGH). But that's for another blog post. Have a good night folks, I think I just might go shower and watch some House episodes! (I'm FINALLY on the last season!:)) xx Bridget Currently: Laying on my bed, in my pajamas by 8 pm. whaaaaat. and blasting the song "Something I Need" by OneRepublic in my Beats headphones because THERE IS THIS LOUD, RHYTHMIC CLANKING SOUND IN MY DORM FROM THE HEATER. IT IS ACTUALLY RHYTHMIC. LIKE ONE CLANK EVERY SECOND. IT IS DRIVING ME CRAZY. THIS BUILDING WAS BUILT IN THE 1950S AND WAS APPARENTLY SUPPOSED TO BE TEMPORARY BUT WELL HERE IT STILL IS: WITH ONE WASHER FOR THE WHOLE FLOOR AND LOUD CLANKING NOISES TO DRIVE STUDENTS CRAZY.
okay sorry I've just gotten really heated with this building lately. (BUT we have new bathrooms which are like one of the best on campus so that's a plus:)) ANYWAY. A few blog posts ago ("This Labyrinth") , I wrote about drinking situations on campus and how it scares me and I want to separate myself from that. Which is true, I don't want to go to parties every weekend and all that. But I feel like I've been a little too quick to judge. See, the reason I'm not comfortable with those situations is because I've literally never been in one. I never have had friends that drink. Seriously I think the closest I've come to witnessing drunks is weddings, and that isn't even that bad. There have been multiple times where I've met people (including guys - what) that I really like but then hear drinking stories and at first I just seriously judged them and thought "we can't be friends." Which is really, really terrible of me. I think my expectations of St. Olaf was that there was a really small amount of drinking, which is a bad thing to assume, because it happens everywhere. So then when I heard certain stories I just kind of froze up and didn't know how to respond. And I mean most of these people are probably not super into drinking, but it's college and you're young and in the moment and everything, which I understand. I just need to have an open mind and not be so quick to judge, ya know? Sorry I just think it's good for me to write my thought processes out sometimes because it makes it seem more true I guess? So yes. Open mind. Calm down. ALSO I will end by announcing my excitement for coming home this Saturday to go to my high school's performance of "Into the Woods" that night! As most of you know, I was in the pit orchestra of all 4 musicals when I was in high school and it was such a lovely experience and I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THIS ONE! And old friends of course:) You guys are going to ROCK. So yes that will be a good motivation to get me through the week! (fun fact: every week the average college student says: I just need to get through this week. lol) I hope you all have great weeks yourselves! xx Bridget Okay. This blog post is very exciting for me and means a lot. Here we go.
When I was at the activities fair back at the very beginning of the year, I signed up for a club called Dance Marathon. I didn't know much about it, just that it was an event we planned for all year while working closely with Gillette Children's Hospital. The event will be in March, and we will be inviting Children's patients and their families. As many of you know, I have mild Cerebral Palsy, which I don't always discuss much. I was born three months earlier and a couple years later, had some bleeding in my brain which lead to the CP. It primarily affects my legs and predominately my left side. Apparently my bones grew faster than my muscles, so my hamstrings have always been pretty tight (which sucks). And my feet turn slightly inward and I have a slight limp which sometimes people ask me what's wrong and I don't know quite how to respond. But other than that, it's not that limiting. I just am not as involved in physical activities because they are harder for me. So this past Wednesday I went to the first interest meeting for this club, excited to see what it was about. They started out with showing us a video of what Dance Marathon was like. They told us that we would be dancing for 4 hours in The Pause but also have activities for the children and their families to participate in. Then, they showed us a video about Gillette Children's Hospital so we would know what it is they do. I of course knew all about it. That place was my childhood. I remember fearing that place because it meant more Botox in my legs or x-rays or Gait Lab or even surgery. I remember the parking ramp was huge, and we always drove to the top, but I thought it was because we were looking for a spot and secretly hoped that we couldn't find one so we could just go back home. But then, I mean, when you got inside it was just so nice. I remember this floor right before you entered was really glittery and I always loved looking at it. And the waiting room was so colorful and always had really cool things to play with. And then the doctors made it even better. One male nurse always came in talking like Donald Duck, and my doctor would give me those circular "helicopters" to shoot across the room. And another one of my doctors that provided the Botox was really nice too. We always guessed which color shirt and tie he would wear (I guessed correctly a lot which boosted my self esteem:)). Anyway, it always turned out to be okay, despite all the scary stuff. So this video showed a girl with CP and how they were helping her walk. And she was so optimistic and adorable. And then they were interviewing doctors and one of them, Dr. Gormley, (the shirt and tie one) came on the screen and I almost lost it. Heck, I'm about to lose it right now as I'm writing this. I just hadn't been there for so long and then all those memories came flooding back that I described above. I just love all that they stand for and their attitude towards the patients because they make you feel so good about yourself. So, after the meeting I went up to talk to the board members about being on the committee that works with contacting patients and their families for the event, because I want to have as much contact with them as I can. Then, after signing up, I ended up telling them that I have experience with Gillette due to my disability and that I knew one of the doctors in the video. They all squealed with excitement and I had never felt better about my disability. It's not that I hate my disability and wish I didn't have it and hate myself because of it. It has just made me insecure growing up; not being able to do the same things as other kids, not being in a sport and feeling lazy, having to have multiple surgeries. But over the years, I've really grown to be thankful for this experience. I was motivated to shadow where I used to go to PT and see other kids similar to me. And one of my former therapists I now shadowed would always look at me and say "can I tell them?" And tell the parents how I have cerebral palsy just like their daughter who was currently in a wheelchair. And their eyes would bulge and they would say: "you can be just like this girl, look at how she's walking!" And the child's eyes would light up and I would just feel so wonderful. Yes, I still do feel insecure at times, but this past week made me more confident with my disability then ever and I wanted to share this feeling with you. I will definitely be sharing more about the event as it progresses. Thank you for reading this and loving me for me and supporting me through everything. Shine on. xx Bridget Sorry for the off schedule blogging, folks. It just so happens that this past week I was busy studying for my 13 chapter Statistics midterm and reading/analyzing a 22 page article that were both due today!!!!!!!¡¡¡¡¡¡ :)):))) :))) but oh well. IT'S OVER. Aside from that though, I actually had a pretty good weekend. My roommate is choreographing an African dance called Gamboot (Marlyne I hoped I spelled it right:)) So my friend and I thought it might be fun to go to one of her rehearsals to try it (and maybe to push her buttons a bit:)) And I wasn't even worried like I was for swing dancing because I just felt more comfortable being surrounded by people I have grown to know and care about. AND GUESS WHAT. I UNDERSTOOD IT AND GOT IT RIGHT AND KEPT UP WITH EVERYONE! It was an amazing feeling. And I was also just really interested by the style of dance and foreign words used during it. I truly do feel blessed with having such an amazing and funny roommate who also just so happens to be from Africa so I can learn cool things like this. :) And then on Saturday, I had uke club again for the first time in a few weeks, so that was really good to get back into. And I felt good about that too. I love my ukulele quite a lot. :) oh and SPEAKING OF WHICH. I've been meaning to name my ukulele for awhile now but haven't yet! I need suggestions! A girl name is preferred:) You can comment below if you like. I just love to name certain things, it adds meaning. Oh and also on Saturday I finally had time to go to the Catholic church that's in Northfield, but a group of St. Olaf students always walk there together. Until then, I had always just been going to the chapel on campus because it was so pretty (and close). But I went with my friend and it was really wonderful. I loved walking through Northfield in the fall, I loved the people at the church, and I especially loved the way old couples beamed at us and said, "Are you from St. Olaf?" :) And then Sunday I went to Target which is the day I always love to go because, at least for now, it's a nice quiet fall day and I can get off campus for a bit. And when I went I wore my St. Olaf sweatshirt and again, got that same smile from people of Northfield. It just makes me feel so good inside. Thank you for appreciating me for me even though you have no idea who I am. Then in the afternoon, I went to support a few friends at an intramural soccer game because the Kildahl team had made it to the finals! And that was just such a lovely day on the hill: I will leave you at that. I just love it here. I love the community, my friends I've made, the things I've done, and the beauty I'm surrounded by.
Have a grand rest of the week. :) xx Bridget |