something new

at school i get a little tired of just being an athlete. all my life sports have pretty much occupied my time. for a while i took jazz class, horse back riding lessons, went to art camp, went to oceanography camp, yet sports have stayed consistent in my life. i do love them and i'm pretty good at them, definitely main reasons why they have stuck with me for so long. but every once and a while i get bored of just being the athlete. so in the past, i've tried to do things that branch out a little, and community service and volunteering are some of the things i like to do. this semester i have signed up to be a mentor of a 5th grader at a near by elementary school. i've only been once but it was amazing! we're called mentors rather than tutors because we don't help the kids with homework, unless they ask us, we just spend an hour with them: talking, playing games, hanging out with other mentors and mentees. it's really cool. today i'm going again. my mentee's name is yanise. she's adorable. she's in 5th grade and is hispanic. she really likes that she gets to hang out with college kids. she gave me a big hug after only playing with her for an hour last week. but it made me feel so good. can't wait to see her again today! i definitely think i will stick to mentoring through the rest of my time at trinity.

21 woot woot

february 23rd is a good day. i get to celebrate my birthday along with many other people i know, most importantly my dad. you would thinking that sharing your birthday would be something to not like about your birthday. but for me it's always been awesome. it's a cool bond that my dad and i have. we get to share it together. yesterday i turned 21, soooooo old. it's crazy. nothing too big, dinner out in west hartford, ordered my first alcoholic beverage at a restaurant, and a yummy cake that my friend made (i will most certainly have to post a picture of it when it comes out because it was beautiful!). it was a good day all around. birthdays are fun!

hugs and kisses, and maybe a sprint or two

today is not only valentine's day but it is the first day of softball starting. today we only have testing (timed sprints, push ups, and sit ups), tomorrow starts the first official practice of the season! i can't believe it's already here. i'm definitely pretty nervous since i haven't been playing softball as much as everyone else since i was abroad, but i hope that by working hard enough i'll prove myself capable. very excited for this season, we have a REALLY strong team, the freshman are great, and my two best friends are the captains, pretty good stuff! anyways, happy valentines day everyone!!!!

oceanic flight 815

so i know i'm a little behind BUT i have just finally gotten into the show LOST. yes i know the season 6 premiere just aired but i just started watching season 1. i'm on episode 7 or something like that. a friend of mine from school got me hooked on. i'm definitely obsessed. and i'm pretty sure there are lot of my family members that watch it so sorry that it took so long, but i'm pumped that i have something to watch now during my down times. and no commercials and no waiting in between season, pretty cool stuff. so for those of you out there like me who never got turned onto it, i would definitely suggest getting started. who knows, maybe i'll be able to catch up to the new season.....although work might get in the way of that!

do you shoot the rabbit?

well i have been busy busy busy at school. new apartment, some new friends, some old friends, lots of classes, lots of work already. but it's all been pretty great. the best thing so far that i've gotten to do was go to a coaching symposium. something that i was picked for after filling out an application. it's a trinity sponsored event, over the weekend, and totally free! it's only for female athletes in my conference, nescac, who think they might be interested in a coaching profession. since coaching is something i've always thought about, i figured this was a great opportunity. i got to listen to some great speakers on the history of sports, the history of women in sports, title IX, coaching philosophy, coaching fundamentals, teambuilding/chemistry, leadership theories, practice planning, recruiting, work/life balance, ethical/moral decision making, and gender in competition. some of the speakers were really fantastic! i also got to meet new people from my conference and different sports and we had some round table discussions. great weekend overall. it really opened my eyes to new avenues as a career that i hadn't really thought of. and it also gave me a new pool of people to work with to reach out to if i ever need their assistance. as we left we were given a certificate and whistle, ready to go! great experience and definitely worth my time, opened some new doors for me, always a good thing!

domestication

well after two very fun and exciting months at home, i am back at school. while i'm not looking forward to doing work again i am super excited about where i'm living!! i have my very first apartment! and i'm living with a girl that i met abroad. i'm super excited. the place looks great so far, a little messy with boxes and stuff but it's on it's way to looking amazing! i will definitely post pictures once the mess is all cleaned up. this is my first place where i am by myself (or at least without my parents) that has a kitchen and real feel of a house/apartment. today my roommates are moving in and tomorrow starts school. this year, or at least this half of the year will hopefully be awesome. it has some big shoes to fill because australia was amazing, but i think it'll one of my best at trinity!

let the sunshine in

last weekend was fun, exciting, and relaxing. on friday night i went into the city to visit my sister elizabeth. we went to ikea to buy some new things for my apartment. very exciting! and since she forced me to buy things that she thought i would need i think i'll have a good start to my kitchen. then we had a nice dinner out and mike joined us. and then we fell asleep watching the movie stardust (which i would actually like to finish, it seemed pretty good from the little i saw!). then saturday i met my mom and aunt and cousins for lunch in the city and then a broadway show. we saw hair. it was amazing! if you like out of the box, provocative, in your face type stuff along with lots of dancing and singing, this would have been right up your alley. the show was so good. it really made me want to fight for a cause and wear a lot of fringe! it definitely seems like it would have been a cool time to grow up in (60's/70's). after the show my mom and i took the train back home where we were greeted by elizabeth and grandpa. with my dad's help they were all putting together a vintage ceramic christmas tree that was smashed in delivery. it looks great now! then of course the night ended with lots of video game playing (although my dad played the longest because he didn't save our progress so he stayed up for another 3 hours redoing everything we did that night!). then sunday we had to say good bye to elizabeth and said hello to heidi and linda. i told them all about my australian adventures and we chatted by the fire, watching football, and eating cupcakes, yum! a very good weekend indeed. for the next few days i'm in dc visiting a friend i met in australia, good times again!