18 | December | 2014 | Daily Moves and Grooves

Beautiful friends of the earth, HELLO!

I’m done with my first semester of college and my mind is blown. I am typing up this post from my cozy home in New York, and I could not be happier to be on winter break for a month(!) spending time with family and friends. I am, however, going to dearly miss my friends from BU!

Finals are over, and I have concluded three things: I still despise statistics, I love psychology, and a good breakfast that involves peanut butter and banana makes any morning of a final exam better.

Post-chemistry-final distress selfie

Mom picked up brother Ben and me from Boston yesterday, and I’m happy to report that our drive home was much swifter than our drive back home for Thanksgiving break. I drove most of the way home, and we were cruisin’ right along. Thank God!

My last Boston meal for the semester was grilled lemongrass chicken with rice and veggies from a delicious Vietnamese takeout place. Hit the spot.

The Great and Small Things I Learned This Semester

Needless to say, college teaches you things. Of course you obtain your book smarts and knowledge of this awesome universe in which we live, but some of the most valuable things are learned by just living life away from home and getting out of that sweet comfort zone. So without further ado, here are some of the great and small things I’m taking away from my first semester at Boston University!

(P.S. I’m typing this list while listening to OneRepublic’s song, I Lived. It’s awesome inspiration music.)

Holding doors for other people and having the door held for you is an easy way to make you smile.
It’s not the end of the world if you don’t have plans on a Friday or Saturday night. In fact, it’s often preferable.
The fruit crisps are the best desserts in the dining halls (a la mode, of course).
The communal bathrooms will get gross, but you live through it.
I still don’t know the names of all the guys on my floor (is that a good thing?).
I have the best roommate!

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Dorm workouts can make you as sweaty as a gym workout.
But nothing beats an outdoor workout by the river.
And running is oooooookayyyy…I guess. 😉
10 AM classes are ideal. Not too early, not too late.
Always snag bananas from the dining hall. You can never have too many bananas.
“Room keys, ID card, room keys, ID card, room keys, ID card, PHONE!” <— an important thing that needs to run through my mind whenever I leave the room.
It is possible to make best friends in just three months.
I’m the “mom” of the group.
Hugging gets you through the day/week/life.
Statistics is poopy.
So many of my problems in the past were a result of a negative outlook and a “woe is me” attitude. Mentality is incredibly powerful.
You will observe weird people, and you will also be the observed weird person.
I am a messy, klutzy person. Exhibit A // Exhibit B.
Pedestrians RULE Boston. Sorry, drivers.
The dorm walls are thinner than you think. Beware.
How to cook steak…sort of.
You will probably eat more sugar than you should, but life goes on and things will balance.
There will always be cookies. Everywhere.
Lunch and dinner dates are a thing and I kind of love them.
You will end up wasting more time than you wanted, but if you have the drive, you will find the time to get work done.
Sleep is uhhhhhmaaaazinggggg.
You walk so much in college. To go to class, to go to the gym, to get to a study place, to get your food…
The funk in my dorm hallway slowly but surely gets worse every day (it’s honestly only the boys’ side). It was getting to near toxic levels when I left.
Selfies are a way of life (see huge collage under #13).
My blogger friends and readers are so wonderful and supportive.
Speaking of wonderful…It’s good to say words such as wonderful, beautiful, and awesome to people, especially when you genuinely mean it.
Humans are resilient like WHOA. We go through a lot.
This semester has been one of the happiest times in my life.
My faith has grown more this semester than it has in my entire life.

There are at least fifty other things I learned in addition to these, and I’ll probably think of them as soon as I hit publish, but here’s what I have for now!

It’s been so fun. There’s literally nothing I can say or do except to thank God for His abundant blessings. I pray that I can be fruitful with His gifts by spreading joy and service to others.