Life of a Journalist 3: A Reflection of The Flaming Arrow

Sylva sunset

This was my column originally published July 20, 2012 in The Western Carolinian. 

I started working in the journalism field at "The Flaming Arrow." It was a tiny pamphlet-like booklet with no color whatsoever and folded like a magazine. In the center sat two giant staples that held it together and forbade the reader from turning to any of the other pages. It only wanted to happily sit open at the page where the staples were visible. This was my high school newspaper, and it is how I got started in all of this.
"The Flaming Arrow" was not what one would call "hard news." The biggest stories we ever covered were on teen pregnancy and the asbestos concern in the school's ceilings. Everything else had to do with feature stories on interesting teachers, who won the recent rivalry football game (which definitely was not us) and where students traveled for the holidays. Our biggest and greatest story every year was what happened and who showed up at prom! The truth, most students wanted the newspaper for the buy one, get one free six-inch Subway sandwich advertisement. Most kids would tear out the back page and throw away the rest without looking at it.
But to our ten-person staff, "The Flaming Arrow" was our pride and joy. It was the main reason that I finished high school.
Maybe you have found that talent comes absolutely natural to you. It is like breathing. You don't have to think about it, and further instruction on how to improve that talent is neither difficult nor stressful. For me, that was journalism, and with "The Flaming Arrow," I got the start I needed to move forward into college.
Until I actually got to college... My journalism class in high school was taught by an English teacher, who graduated from Western Carolina University. He not only encouraged me to attend WCU but also to get involved with the paper. Boy, did I get a shock when I stepped into the Old Student Union building for the first time! 

 Did you know that there is a separate style for journalism articles? I certainly did not, and neither did my English teacher who taught us to write in MLA like he would for an English class. The news reporting AP style was something completely different and bizarre. No italics! Commas have no rhyme or reason to them. Only the first word of a headline, unless part of a series or a proper noun, is capitalized. I was baffled.
Thankfully, The Western Carolinian is a teaching newspaper, one that guides and corrects in a forceful but non-threatening manner, one that does not grade or judge but helps to improve. With that in mind, I blazed forward from a staff writer in the Arts and Entertainment department to being the first sophomore News Editor in several years.
I would encourage anyone and everyone who has not found that natural, raw talent to seek it out without delay or hesitation. While it is important to try new activities and get out of The Comfort Zone, there is nothing wrong with relaxing in the fact that you can recognize the gift that makes you unique. It can take you places you never thought possible.
You may have read the stories of my freshman days in "The Freshman Fifteen" or how my cat and I went through living off campus together until I decided to transfer away to a different university. But, what brought me back to Western Carolina was this paper, and I will always look back to reminiscence on my "The Flaming Arrow" days as the starting point to bringing me here as your Co-Editor-in-Chief.

Spring Semester Schedule

Here is my schedule of classes at Western Carolina University come January. I just added my final class today... I'm finally going to take out that Math liberal arts requirement! I have been putting that monster off for two and a half years!
Monday:

1. English 394: Film Adaptation from 11:15-12:05
2. English 350: The Renaissance from 12:20-1:00
3. English 242: Cultural Studies of Nonwestern World Literature

Tuesday: 

1. English 200: Intro to the English Major (yeah, what...?!?!) from 9:30-10:45
2. English 303: Intro to Professional Writing from 11:00-12:15
3. Math 170: Applied Statistics from 12:30-? 

Wednesday:

1.  Same as Monday

Thursday:

1. English 303: Intro to Professional Writing from 11:00-12:15
2. Math 170: Applied Statistics from 12:30-?

Friday:

1. Same as Monday and Wednesday

It's going to be an English semester, that's for sure!!

TR

I always hate Tuesday/Thursday classes. They're half an hour longer and I never seem to take anything interesting on these days.
At 9:30 a.m., I have the most horrible and excruciating course I've ever taken. It's a Writing Intensive class called Critical Approaches to the Study of Literature. It is the keystone class that English majors are forced to take. No one likes it, everyone complains about it, and it's that one class that makes or breaks an English major. If you can't handle it, get out of the department!!

What makes it worse is the professor I got. She's a dot of a woman with scary teeth and Harry Potter-like glasses. And after nearly ever sentence, she cackles!!! She says something clearly not humorous and cackles at herself. She goes off topic, is unclear in her teaching, doesn't know how to operate simple technology, and is making this class impossible to pass. Obviously, my feelings toward her are of great dislike.

At 3:35 p.m., I have Internet and Society, a class to give me hours for my financial aid requirement. It is taught by a small Chinese woman who speaks incredibly good English but with a heavy accent. She's so incredibly adorable, but her class is slow and just one PowerPoint slide after another. The interesting aspect of this class comes from my sarcastic and rambunctious classmates. They keep the class moving as we guess what word our professor is trying to pronounce and asking abstract questions about the Internet. Our final project is making an online blog. Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to use this blog. I must make a new one and report on my research for the paper we are working on. We have to pick a country and describe how that country uses the Internet. I wanted Egypt for obvious reasons, but had to pick Ireland instead. The Irish aren't very plugged in so I plan to focus on how Irish citizens aren't online in this day and age. I'm not sure yet how to turn that into a blog, but we'll see.
My Tuesdays and Thursdays are days I suffer through. Thankfully, it's only twice a week! I look to my Mondays and Wednesdays when I got to Brit Lit and Friday when the week is done!!!

http://summereng4u.wordpress.com/category/uncategorized/page/2/

The End of the Catamount Era

Thursday was my last day of college classes as a Western Carolina University student. This week is just a lot of exams!!

Twister Night

A sadness overwhelmed me on Thursday, to look around and know it was the end. No one could understand. When I texted Morgan that it was my last day, he sent back "Wohoo!" But that wasn't what I was feeling at all. So much has happened in the last two years, so many amazing or horrendous things. I guess you could say they were all amazing in either a good or bad way. Honestly, I couldn't tell you exactly if there was more good than bad or vice versa. I think it was an close equal dose of both.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not regretting my decision to transfer at all! No, I'd never regret that... unless I got to Greensboro and it's a holy disaster, but I'm confident that won't be the case.
But I am sad that I'm leaving behind good friends, a good job, and a beautiful view of the mountains. I wish I could take them with me, except the mountains (at least for Little Honda's benefit).
The following was written for The Western Carolinian in my column "Off Campus Living 101:"

Climbing a tree

"Catamounts, this is not only the last "Off Campus Living 101" article, it is also my last editorial column working for The Western Carolinian.
"I am saddended that for the fall semester I will not be returning to Western Carolina University. Instead, I am transferring to finish out my college career in a place that I hope will bring me new opportunities, new networks, and new experiences. In August, Sparta and I will be moving out of our Cullowhee apartment into a rented house in a quiet suburb to be near one of the UNC mid-state college campuses. It will be a big adjustment for both of us - me to be living in a house and the work that goes into that and Sparta adjusting to living with a Labrador retriever and another cat. It should be interesting!

Honors College Formal

"I wanted to take the time to thank everyone at The Western Carolinian for supporting me and helping me shape and strengthen my writing. When I started as a contributing writer in the Arts and Entertainment section working for free, I never thought I would become News Editor, at least not in the span of less than two years! Also, I would like to thank the readers who would randomly come up to me if they realized who I was to share their excitement about Sparta or my rain boot fiasco last year. You guys were the reason I asked Justin Caudell if I could start "The Freshman Fifteen" and writing that column and this has been my favorite part of my job.

Birthday dinner

"My two years at Western have been nothing less than exciting and dramatic. I have learned so much and grown as a person. College was nothing like what I expected and certainly attending college in the little town of Cullowhee is not for the faint-hearted. The incoming freshman class of 2009 and I have faced being snowed-in over Christmas break, endless rain, power outages, losing a chancellor and gaining a new one, and the invasion of zombies! The experiences I have had and the people I have met will never leave my memory, and I hope to visit on occasion for shows at FPAC, Mountain Heritage Day, and other events that can be found only at Western Carolina..."
In response to my hard work and dedication, I received this award from Justin and The Western Carolinian. I was shocked, thrilled, proud, and sad simultaneously. Thank you to everyone there. This is will always hang on one of my walls:

Observation Skills Equals Wisdom

These are just a few of the things I've learned in my 19 years without a text book or a teacher telling me so...

1. No matter how shy a dog is, when given the right attention and love, it can always become the happy dog it once was. This cannot be said for an aggressive dog.

2. While McDonald's may use real chicken in their nuggets, they don't tell you what part of the chicken they're using!

3. Saran Wrap always wins!

4. No matter what cool trips to faraway lands your friends have taken, some times the best experiences are being locked up in the house during a storm with no electricity.

5. If the technology for iPods and iPhones still didn't exist, we'd all be ok and survive.

6. Writing a good story takes more than just a good or new idea (that's a dig at you, J.K. Rowling!)

7. Journalists aren't always out for blood... or sometimes not even the truth!

Half Way There

You know those times when you have a week where everything has to be done, everything is due?! For college students, that is the entire month of April!

On Thursday, Morgan and I celebrated our six-month anniversary!! While we were both very excited about it, it wasn't much of a celebration! There was too much to do. Morgan just got promoted at work. I returned from Raleigh today to work on a group presentation in Speech Communications and I really need to be off-book on my Acting I script. Oh, and I just learned that I have a project due in News Writing on Thursday and I have articles due to The Western Carolinian on Friday. While I was in Raleigh, it seemed all Morgan and I did was try to find me a job for over the summer. And, it's going to be like that all of April.

I'm scared to know what mine and Morgan's relationship will be like when there's not a crisis. When we were together from October to November, we were constantly worrying about what would happen when we were separated along with Kate was in the hospital. In December, I was trying to apply for a transfer to UNCG while Morgan was concentrating on graduating. Then near Christmas, Morgan got bad news about his family that continued to escalate through January and February. In January, we started our long distance relationship, and I returned to an apartment with a flea infestation to battle while Morgan adjusted to apartment living. I applied for a transfer again, this time to UNCG and NC State. Then in March we nearly broke up... twice, because of the long distance and incompatibilities. We spent much of the time crying and/or frustrated at our circumstances. Recently, it's been a battle of getting me a job over the summer and how to move to Raleigh while looking for a house to rent in Greensboro and making sure I transfer successfully in the fall while keeping my grades up and turning in projects on time for my last weeks at Western Carolina. It's a lot!

There's also Sparta to consider. As he has a "lovely" habit of throwing up his food after each bite, I'm constantly hovering over him with a roll of paper towels in my hand. Also, I worry about how the constant traveling will affect him since I no longer feel safe leaving at him at home after he escaped from the apartment twice and was lost in the woods!! I love that cat to death but some days..... I wonder if he's worth the fight. Until.... the week I left Sparta in Raleigh for Morgan to care for because I was returning in a few days. I'd never been so lonely in my apartment! There was no furry face to greet me after class and there was no one to say good night to. There was no obnoxious meowing all day! Losing both Morgan and Sparta... now that's something I can't stand! And, I won't ever do it again!

* * *

The crazy thing is I'm not the only one going through all this mess. Well, I am with the long distance relationship maybe but not with the school work.

My friends are all going through the April Crunch too. I don't know why professors think it's a good idea to escalate work at the end of the semester. Don't they know that everyone else does it too and that we as students no longer have the time or energy to put as much effort into their classes? And it just happens to be the time they assign the most point-worthy assignments, the "Big Ones," the ones that could save or ruin the grade you have or have not been trying to earn. It only makes sense that one of my classes is going to suffer because I'm trying to put attention and time into the others that I have causing me to forget at least one that fell behind.

I saw Jonathan in the library today. He told me he'd been there for nearly four hours straight!

I know some people who have slept in the library overnight because there's just no point in spending 20 minutes that they could be studying or working to walk back to their dorm room.

It's insanity!! And it should be stopped..... but I'm too busy to do anything about it!!!!! I might have just enough time to finish writing this and make a Facebook group for action. If people can overturn the Egyptian government through one, I can take down professors' crazy lesson plans with a Facebook group, too!!!

Go social media!



Momentary Break

It's been a whirlwind of a week but then again also very slow. After two days of cancelled classes due to heavy snow, I had my first class of the spring semester: Investigations of Environmental Geology. Before, it had been nothing but watching TV, making snow angels in the snow, and missing Morgan so much it hurt. We Skyped every day and left our web cams online all through the night because I didn't like having to say good bye every night. And boy did we get some snow! I haven't seen that much snow since the blizzard when I was still under 5' 5".

Poor Little Honda is barely visible in the snow

Today I had three classes, two communications for my major and one theatre. And I realized something as I was sitting in the communications classes... I don't want Communications to be my major anymore.

In high school, my journalism teacher was my hero! He was hip, young, inspiring, motivational, and every straight female in school cried the day he got married to his sweetheart because he was that fine! I don't want to say he bullied me into taking Journalism as a major. That's definitely not the right way to put it, but it's the only way I can think of.

Now that I no longer have his guiding hand and wisdom around me every day, I'm losing my confidence and passion for Journalism. Unfortunately, what I really want to do is unavailable at Western Carolina University as a major. Which makes me excited to get outta here and transfer already to a) a university with the major I want, and b) somewhere closer to Morgan.

* * * Momentary Break * * *

I had to break there to drive five hours to Raleigh. Apparently, there's no school Monday, so I decided to take advantage of the situation to visit Morgan. Along the way, I ran out of CDs I wanted to listen to in Little Honda's CD changer so I switched to radio. I'd like to sing the praises of the 96 Rock! What an awesome radio station. First, we heard "Black Betty" followed by a late 80's/early 90's rock ballad with backup singers so hilarious that I laughed out loud. Then, there was Creed followed by "Mississippi Queen" requested by a guy for his ten-year-old son at 9:00 p.m. Little Honda was... ROCKIN'. "Oh my gosh, this station is awesome!" I said out loud as I cruised along I-40 right outside of Raleigh. I hadn't had that much fun in the car since Christian gave Cody his video camera and he, Wes, Jude, and I traveled to Greensboro to see Joe play in his band. That was some epic road adventureness. (Cody is definitely one to have in the car as a passenger. He stays awake the whole trip. He'll never run out of un-interesting topics to discuss. He has the energy of a four-year-old but knows when enough is too much and has so many car games to play!)

But what was I talking about before??

* * *

Oh yeah, I want to change my major. ...Yeah, well... there you go! I want to change my major. Now I only have to survive a whole semester with classes that I no longer need. Oh well!! Sorry, Father. 

In other news... I think my Geology professor is part gorilla, my Speech professor sounds exactly like actor John Malkovich and said, "black people, red people, yellow people" like he was quoting from a Dr. Seuss book, my journalism professor is from Macedonia, and I still haven't had a single Ballroom Dance class. It's only been a week and already, it's been a crazy semester.

I certainly didn't expect any less.

Another Semester Down

Ice is on the driveway. Final grades are being emailed in (3 A's so far!). The C-Store has been cleaned out! It's that time of year again: the end of another semester.
The end between the spring and winter semesters is starkly different. In the spring, you will NOT find food in the C-store. Points on Cat Cards do not roll over from the spring to winter semester but they do roll over from winter to spring. Thus, everyone who hates Western Carolina U runs to the C-Store or their favorite dining hall to burn all their points or otherwise it becomes money for our horrible football team!

At the end of the winter semester, everyone is clogging up Highway 107 trying to get out of the valley before the roads ice over (even further) or it snows (even more!). It is important to get out as fast, as soon, and as stressful as possible.

In the winter semester, everyone is sick. End of argument.

In the spring semester, the parents stick around longer. It's nice and sunny outside. The trees have regained their leaves. The flowers have bloomed. Campus is alive. In the spring, parents make early river rafting reservations, enjoy the town, and go hiking. In winter, it is dead, freezing cold, iced over, depressing, and... unappealing. The only appeal in winter is the plentiful Christmas tree farms in every corner. 

This winter semester is different for me. I have an apartment. I'm not trying to pack everything in my dorm to return home to a real bed, real food, and a real home. I have that now here in Cullowhee. I have my Charlie Brown Christmas tree, my warm bed, my wacko cat Sparta, and Morgan (who will soon be packing up his things and moving back to his hometown to start adult life). I didn't escape and run out of Cullowhee as soon as my last exam was over with... which was 1:30 today which would have sucked if I did still live in the dorm. No, I am staying here for awhile.

I'm going to see my baby graduate tomorrow!!
We're going back to Nick & Nate's for pizza!
We'll probably go to Waffle House another few times.
We're going to recreate our own Christmas!
We're going to cherish our last days together at the apartment and try not to shed any more tears.
Only one thing stands in our way..... MONO!

To be continued....



Sparta out in the snow



What I Said about December

I know in my last post I was all about kicking December where it hurt and that it wasn't going to bother me. I was either wrapped up in the moment of writing or naive or trying to forget. But I'm not that strong about December and the fact that Morgan's leaving.
While I should be getting ready for the Health Center right now, I'm here in bed crushed by what I saw on Facebook:

 "Morgan ****** is attending "Graduation" on December 18, 2010 at 2:00 p.m.

Ramsey Center"

That was hard to read! Because I know that's it.

And yesterday Morgan and CC were joking around how they'd never come back to Cullowhee and should try out a restaurant soon. Morgan turned around and whispered to me, "But I'll be back for you."
Still, something about the whole situation, how light and careless it was, tears started rolling down my cheeks like the end movie credits being rewound. Morgan promised how we'd do all this stuff together and he'd be there for me every day.
"But I'll still need you after you're gone," I whimpered sadly.
He didn't know what to say to that, as I recall.
Secretly, I'm not brave whatsoever about December. I can picture myself driving back and forth from Raleigh every chance I get and every weekend Morgan will have off. But it won't be that picture perfect. He'll be supporting himself by himself on a full-time job for the first time in his life. I will working as the news editor of The Western Carolinian and carrying a load of classes I need to graduate. There will be sleepless nights on the road. There will be arguments over the phone. There will be frustration, emotionally and physically. It won't be fair!
But if we can get through it, I'll never let him go!

"Separation II," Edvard Munch, 1896

Knock, Knock

Like I said earlier, it was one of those weeks where everything was due and I didn't have a moment to breathe. On Wednesday, I had one of those moments where I was so stressed I just burst into tears because if I didn't, I was going to implode before long! So into tears I burst, pulled myself together, and got my stuff together!

Then I had a night like last night: hanging out with Chris, laughing hysterically, eating candy and Cheetos, watching "How I Met your Mother" and an awesome film noir movie Double Indemnity. That was the most fun Chris and I have ever had! I couldn't live without him.

Then there was today! Today was amazing! I got to sleep in for an extra hour - more like roll around in bed for an extra hour because Sparta woke me - and biked to school in the amazing crisp weather after a week of gloomy clouds and rain. I turned in my Communications assignment - check that off the list. I turned in my Literature paper - check that off the list. The "Ice Cream Book Club" met for lunch, but instead of Ice Cream Musical Chairs, today we played Smoothie Musical Chairs. I had a Strawberry Swirl or something like that with plain frozen yogurt and real strawberries! It was berry delicious! On Wednesday it was Oreo ice cream with Oreo cookie crumbs, gummy worms, and grape Nerds sprinkled on top! FLAVOR OVERLOAD! I swear, by the end of the semester, over half of my DB points will have been spent at Freshen's in the dining hall, but it's so worth it! 301 more to burn! Last class: Communications test - check that off the list.

After my test, I would have normally biked back to the apartment, but instead, I made a pit stop at Coulter where my English professor wanted to have a word for me. Professor "Stat" is a kind man who believes in a lesser creative side of writing. We don't always see eye-to-eye about writing, but we get on well. "Billy" (one of the boys) and I are the only ones who actively participate in his class (mostly because it's at 8 a.m.), and he has singled me out for my writing talent. He wants me to write an essay for a conference at the end of the semester here at Western to get my name out there.

Two things: this conference is for a) seniors and b) English majors, both of which I am not!

Yet... Professor Stat is willing to vouch for me, become "my sponsor," and get me into the conference because he believes I can tackle the assignment.

But it doesn't stop there!

After Western's conference, there is a national conference for writers in Montana sponsored by The Honors College that Prof. Stat wishes me to re-enter my essay into. Should it get accepted, I would be given $500 to travel to Montana and present my essay!!! MIND OVERLOAD!!! Stat was sitting there telling me, and my brain was pulsing from sheer size of the opportunity that was being handed to me on a silver platter. This weekend, I will be spending the majority of the time thinking of whether I want to accept this offer. Some of you may be saying, Dude, take it!!! What are you talking about, thinking it over?! Well, after a week like this week: do I really have time to add an extra assignment? Everything things needs equal attention:

1. My job!!
2. My GPA for Honors College
3. My 18 credit hours of school work
4. I need some free time
5. Sparta's well being
6. Household chores (shopping, cleaning, laundry, paying rent)

If I feel I can't handle all six of those things plus a major 5-7 page paper on top of it all, I'm unfortunately going to have to say "no" and hope for another conference next year!

Sparta Moment:
Daily, I take Sparta on walks in the backyard of the apartments. The weather is amazing outside today, and I practically threw Sparta out the door to get into the fresh air! My cat is surprisingly a little mountain cat! We were climbing all over the hills in his great quest for... I have no idea! Well, as we were walking, a locust flew up from the grass and Sparta jumped completely off the ground, smacking the locust between his white paws! Then, the poor baby fell and landed directly into a thorn bush!!! There went the locust and poor Sparta refused to move so I had to reach into the thorn bush and pull him up and out. Thankfully, there was no blood and no thorns that I found.

Sparta's bad luck continued. This was just plain stupid on my part. I brought Sparta back into the house and set him on the loveseat next to the window. The leash was still in my hand connected to his blue medium-sized dog harness. Upset we had to come back inside because I was being eaten by mosquitoes, I opened a window for Sparta and while my back was turned, the cat tried to jump onto the neighboring coffee table. But the leash was too short!! And Sparta was yanked back by his leash and sent crashing into the ground!!! He just did not have as good a day as I did!

River is Home!!!!!

I'm so excited! I can't believe this!!!
Last semester, the boys and I said good bye to "River" as he packed up not for the summer but from Western for good! He was going to head out west to study wolves, his true passion! It was a tearful good bye, and over the past few days, we have all really missed his infectious laugh and warm presence. He is as close to Jacob Black as I'll ever get!

This evening, I was sitting in my apartment reading "Kayla's" Spanish text book out loud to her in my best Espanol accent when Christian called.

"Hey, you have to come to dinner with us!"

By this time, I'd been through a mountain of homework and four classes since eight that morning, really didn't feel like walking over to campus or driving, and Kayla was going to cook dinner! But, Christian was insistent, saying he needed everyone in "the group" to come to dinner to tell us "my plan." I was completely baffled and slightly annoyed, but I drove over to campus, parked, and entered the dining hall before anyone else even got there.

The cafeteria food hasn't changed. It still sucks! So, I was kind of annoyed by that as well as I sat down with the gang and picked at my slimy pizza and spoonful of pudding since there was nothing else worthy of eating. Suddenly at the other end of the table, Dave started making some kind of hoopla and I heard an exclamation from Cody. I glanced up from my plate and walking toward the table is a tan guy with long black hair, baggy shirt, sunglasses, and a familiar-looking face. As my brain tried to piece together who this person was, I grew afraid then shocked and confused. This person isn't here anymore! As it finally dawned on me that River was actually back, a huge smile swept across my face, and I nearly started to cry. Cody's expression was beyond description and beyond hilarious. Here was River, one of my beautiful, amazing boys come home to all of us! And Christian and Dave had known the whole time! Those boys! My annoyance and frustration immediately disappeared as I was so happy to see River again!

After dinner, we headed over to Walker, our dormitory as freshmen, and proceeded to go back to the 5th floor where it all began: "My Boys," "The Group," "The High Five," everything that now makes up my world. Christian and Cody filled in a freshman about what kind of year he was going to have based on whose past room he was residing in. Cody dismantled a poster. Christian punched a door with his foot.

"Did we ever even leave for the summer?" I asked Adam after we left as Christian pulled another "Stranger Rodeo" stunt. "I mean, I think we just moved houses."

Nothing could prepare me for seeing River walk up the group. It was one of the best surprises I've ever had! Notice the difference between how I reacted to the first time I saw The Viking again? I certainly did!

Just Jump Outta Bed

My alarm went off in Muse's "Starlight" this morning at 7:00 a.m. I jumped out of the bed... quite literally because that's the best way to wake up. Just jump out of the bed! If you're not truly awake yet, then hitting your head on the closest object will probably jolt you awake! ...Or send you into unconsciousness. I'm pretty sure that counts as an excused absence so you're still in the clear.

At 8:05, I crawled sleepily into English 102 with one of my boys, "Billy," and we sit through a tedious lecture from a rambling man about how the class was going to go. I must be prepared for the awesome work load he will bestow upon us. With one other English class and two Communications courses plus a job at the newspaper, I'm going to be swimming in Microsoft Word documents! O_O

At 9:05, I arrived in Writing for Mass Media taught by Mrs. Mass Media herself. Her husband, Mr. Mass Media, also teaches at Western Carolina and runs the Communications department. Mrs. Mass Media, who I'm sure I'll get to know as well as my mom, is not only my personal academic advisor but also the head of the journalism department (a.k.a. my concentration). I have a good feeling about Mrs. Mass Media.

At 10:10, I have a prune-ish looking woman come in dressed in head to toe in deep purple to tell us in a flighty stance how we're going to be learning about poetry first in Intro to Literature, a class for my minor of Creative Writing. My intuition tells me I might not always find the class so interesting because of this professor's stammering and sudden thoughtlessness, but I wasn't going to immediately drop the class. More than likely, I wouldn't be able to get into a different section that went with my schedule.
A break for lunch then a rather suave-seeming gentleman enters my Interpersonal Communications classroom, which I had originally thought Mrs. Mass Media would be teaching. The Joker, who enjoys starting every class with a joke or two today's being "What did the fish say when he ran into the wall" and I finished for him "Dam," was a casual guy with a twitch about his hands. Every word with emphasized with a hand gesture. You know, he doesn't seem the type, but if one day he announced he was gay, I wouldn't be surprised at all. Not because of the hand gestures, but also because he wears no wedding band and I get these really strong vibes about people. I don't have a swelled head, but I'm usually right.
The entire day I was on the lookout for The Viking. It was only a matter of time before I ran into him, I knew that, but throughout the day... nothing! I wasn't thrilled. I wanted to get it over with, but it was nice. Then after Intro to Lit, a familiar-looking girl sidles up beside me as we head down the staircase.
"Hey, aren't you friends with "The Viking"?"
I was completely caught off guard and after stumbling and mumbling for about thirty seconds in which the girl says his full name as if I were trying to think if I knew this person to which she referred, I finally managed, "Um... it's... um, it's complicated. We're not f-f-friends anymore though."
The poor thing saw I was obviously flustered and probably a bit pale and immediately apologized.
"No, no, it's ok. Please, it's ok," but I didn't know if I was assuring her or myself
We parted with smiles, and I think I will enjoy her company in the future. As long as her friend The Viking stays far away.
After classes were over, I headed to the book store to get one that wasn't a rental happy and ready to kick back at the apartment. I had survived the day. The Viking wasn't in any of my classes. I hadn't seen him or his girlfriend or her roommate and life was sweet. I exited McKee with one of my friends talking about when who came around the corner! The Viking! I immediately spotted him. It's hard to miss that cloud of fiery red hair.

I cannot describe the icy rocket that shot through my stomach, down my shaking knees, and into my feet. But, I continued to walk as normal, talking to my friend, and we crossed paths. I didn't make eye contact, but I know he saw me! And we passed like we were complete strangers never to have met, never to have conversed, never to have hugged, never to have kissed, never to have made promises to each other. I can't think of anything sadder or more breath-stealing than passing the one who you knew so intimately and.... Even now, a summer past since we last spoke, I tried not to let the tears start when he walked behind me. I try to ignore the emptiness in the boys' conversations when they purposefully leave his name out saying "Adam's room" when it's really Adam and The Viking's dorm room. Driving back to the apartment after jury duty, I had this horrible, vivid flash that Cody, The Viking's roommate last year, could have possibly invited him over to check out the place and I would walk in and see him there... and I began to suddenly sob and shake so badly while driving down the highway just a minute away from the apartment. I was about to pull  over. I probably should have.

This has to stop eventually! Please, it must stop sometime. But I dwell on everything, anything like it's the most important detail, piece of information that I could soak up when it is so insignificant. What makes it more difficult is that everyone else knows it's insignificant and makes me feel wretched for paying attention to it the way I do. But that's me. I can't help it... but I can't keep living (or not living because it doesn't feel like I'm living, I wasn't "living" this summer) like this.

Note to Self: Buy a Personal Cooling Fan

I decided to walk it out today. I decided to sweat more than the small stuff. I decided to stroll along. I decided to walk to the beat of my own drum. My own drum told me not to drive my car to campus across the street for my trip to the campus bookstore. My own drum is "so DUMB" as "Chris" would say! Why do I listen to the beat of my own drum? It might have something to do with the complete and total brainwashing of "Sesame Street" telling me to be my own person. I'm sure I'm not the first to hop across the highway to campus, though.

On the way there, I got a lift from one of my roommates. I just hopped into the bookstore and got a massive pile of text books, larger than I'd ever had before. Strange titles like Interpersonal Communications: an Indepth Look stared back at me before I hefted them into my bag still having to carry the two smaller ones. 

I then headed immediately next door to pick up the latest issue of the campus newspaper where my seven articles were proudly displayed!

When I exited the UC, I noticed a horrible scene! The huge lawn and drive that cut the walk to class in half was GONE! The beautiful trees my friends and I played in four weeks during spring semester were wiped away! The beautiful grassy lawn where we blew bubbles, played guitar, and had a giant snowball fight during one snowstorm was replaced with mucky Carolina clay, cement blocks, bulldozers, and a large chain-linked fence. I was at first shocked, appalled, and now saddened that our amazing playground has been demolished. I only hope they replace it with something equally beautiful instead of the sudden concrete/brick courtyards that have been popping up everywhere like between Blue Ridge (that could have made a beautiful garden!) and beside Walker Hall. I am beyond disappointed.

So on I walked, around the construction, past the Courtyard dining area, under the Balsalm/Blue Ridge arch, past Belk, and through the back lot of the Fine and Performing Arts Center. Well, it's starting to get rather hot, and those books are starting to get really heavy. This is the beginning of regretting my decision. Through the front parking lot of FPAC, across the street, past the freshmen parking lot, between Cullowhee Creek and the football stadium/basketball court, past the overflow parking to where I finally greet the highway. I dash across one side, hit the grass median, wait for the light to change, then dash across the other two lanes finally coming to the road that leads to my apartment. Up the road, across the winding drive til I get to the 65 degree hill where my apartment sits the very top! After all of that, this hill was the back breaker. I was hunched over like I was being buffeted by wind instead of strolling up a hill on a sunny day. This thing is MONSTER!

Down the sidewalk, up a flight of stairs, through the door, down the hall, and I crashed in front of my giant fan and sat there for probably 10 to 15 minutes cooling off. Never had air felt so amazing! I wanted to drink it up!

This whole trip makes me wonder what I'm going to do to get to class tomorrow. Should I wear a bathing suit, suck it up, and walk? Or do I take my car for the first couple of weeks until the heat cools off? Seeing as Father pays the majority of my bills, including gas, I know exactly which one he'd pick!! Actually it'd be more like what he'd do. "Lex, I'd suck it up and just walk. It's just sweat! In fact, I jog every evening no matter what the temperature." Ya, ya, Father, and you ate all your peas every night at dinner. I know, I know! ;) God bless that wacky man!