Except on a much more bizarre, much more pathetic scale.
So at 1:58 today, I got an email saying that there is a campus-wide lockdown.
That's never a good thing.
Thanks to the world of Facebook and online news websites, word spread like wildfire that there's a gunman on campus.
*cue the police swarming, SWAT teams, and general freakouts*
Now, it's not much of a shock that I panic. My thoughts immediately went to the VA Tech massacre. I was terrified.
And of course, there's about fifty billion contradicting stories flying around. So I wasn't entirely sure what was going on for most of the time. All I knew was there was a guy with a gun and police had him cornered.
Then the truth comes out. To the news. Of course, campus administration won't tell US what the heck is going on, but they'll happily inform the local ABC affiliate.
Some dude has barricaded himself in his house, all because cops showed up and tried to serve him with papers or a warrant or something. I've met this guy before, and he's an injured Air Force vet who's got a service dog and PTSD. He has a gun, but he's not out to hurt people. He's just trying to avoid the cops, which is ridiculous since he's never going to. But with PTSD and his house swarmed by practically every law enforcement officer in this county, he can't possibly be thinking clearly.
This is way too much excitement for a Wednesday.
This is way too much excitement for Buies Creek.
Thank the Lord for His protection. May He be with Jared and lead this to a peaceful end. (And soon! I don't wanna miss French class tomorrow! :D)
Remember the guy I mentioned here from my State & Local class?
Well, we hung out again today after class. We didn't do anything except sit in my lobby and talk and flirt. It was fun and cute, but at the end became very cute.
I don't even really remember how it happened, so I'll just get to the point: I told him I'm attracted to him. He told me he's interested in me...but he doesn't have time for a girlfriend.
He's interested. in me.
And at first I wondered if it was just some sort of lame way to give a rejection, but then he explained and gave me a hug and it made sense because on top of his full class load, he's in ROTC and that pretty much kicks his butt. So okay. I get it.
But seriously, y'all. This has never happened before! And while I kind of thought he was flirting back and might be interested due to the fact that he came up to me before class and initiated the hang out after, my low self-esteem didn't want to let myself believe it. Talk about a good surprise. :)
Really, though, most of all, this was like one big giant reminder from God that I'm okay the way that I am and I can't change for anyone. That He's got a man in store that WILL love me exactly the way that I am. That if I stay true to myself and follow His will for my life, wonderful things will happen.
Even though I don't foresee anything happening with Nick in the near future, which is totally fine because I also have a lot going on, today has meant a lot. I'm pretty happy. Okay, maybe really happy. And grateful that God has chosen to bless me like this today.
US History was canceled. My professor got back from Ukraine yesterday, but apparently her cat got really sick while she was gone, so she was at the vet all day today. My English professor was the one who drove her to and from the airport, and her husband was the one who proctored our test last Monday, and she was talking about it in English today. That's the only reason I know. But hey, extra sleep is always a plus in my book.
I got my schedule for next semester approved by my adviser, even if he did make a sort of snotty comment about the fact that I don't have a Political Science class on it, but whatever. He approved it, and I like my schedule, which means that's over and done with.
Then, I got to see Ryann for a second because I had her ID and she needed it back. She left it in Dr. Steegar's office last week and since there was no way to know when she was getting back, I took it in case I had the opportunity to give it to her this weekend. Plus, his office is a bit of a mess, and I didn't want it to get lost in there. But anyway, this was a treat because I basically don't ever get to see her outside of French.
The best part of all was that I'm pretty sure I rocked my Scope & Methods test. I got the study guide done yesterday, but I had such a massive migraine I couldn't really look over it. I'm thankful I have that break before that class because I got to study before it. I just breezed through it...well, as breezy as you can be trying to write six paragraphs of information in less than 50 minutes. Every single test in that class makes my entire arm hurt, no matter how hard I try to relax my hand when I write. I'm just lucky that the block of time for the cumulative final is almost three hours. I won't feel so rushed, so maybe I'll be able to write slower.
To put the icing on the cake of AWESOMENESS, English got let out ten minutes early. My professor has the exact same class (Brit Lit 1) the period before our class, and she said she thinks she moves more quickly with us because she's already gone through it all, so it requires less thinking. Hey, I'll take it. :)
So yeah. Today rocks. At least, it does for me. How was your day?
The good news: I got all of my homework done at a good hour. (aside from the work I needed to get done on my Scopes project, but that didn't HAVE to be done today)
The bad news: Campbell lost the championship 1-0. It was an intense game. The goal didn't even happen till like the 80th minute. Radford got a free kick deservedly, because even I saw the foul on a not-so-spectacular livestream video, and a player headed the ball into the net just above Ryann's hands. She's probably beating herself up about it, but so is the player who committed the foul most likely. Either way, it was one hell of a fight, and it's games like this and a team like this that make me proud to be a Camel. It reminded me of how happy I am to be a part of this school.
I made two signs for my wall this weekend, too.
I love that quote. It's from Angie Smith's book "What Women Fear," and it's something that I know I need to remember. Plus it makes for pretty decoration above my desk. :) If you don't know who Angie Smith is, check her out. Christian or not, she will speak to you in some way, I promise.
And...
I first read that on sweet Sara Frankl's blog, and it's also something I could use a daily reminder of. There can be great power in words, my friends.
I have a headache. I blame doing the study guide for my Scope & Methods test tomorrow. I'm kinda nervous about it, but I probably shouldn't be considering how I did on the first two tests. The cumulative final, on the other hand, is a completely different story. ;) Really, though, I'm lucky I managed to make it to the end of the review considering I had dark circles in my vision for the end part of it. That's something my migraines have decided to start causing. It's fun.
I'm sorry, Tarheel fans, what was that?! The Wolfpack, a team you still refuse to consider real competition
just shut you, the Tarholes Tarheels, out 13-0
meaning that we have won for the FIFTH. STRAIGHT. YEAR.
All together now...We're the red and white from State, and we know we are the best! With our hands behind our back, we can take on all the rest! GO TO HELL, CAROLINA! Devils and Deacs, stand in line! We're the red and white from NC State. GO STATE!
I love my Wolfpack. I love stomping on Carolina. I love watching Tarheel fans whine.
And my mom's paying for me to watch Ryann's soccer game online tomorrow. I don't know if today can get better. :)
Add this to the list of reasons why I'm totally not a fan of this whole November-actually-has-winter-like-temperatures thing: OH MY WORD THE HEAT. See, some dorms here have window units, which means each room can control its own temperature. I have to live in a dorm that does not have the window units and is controlled by the physical plant because window units bring in all the crap from outside which would be horrendous for my allergies and asthma. And because the weather has been pretty cold for the past few days (see yesterday and the THIRTY FOUR DEGREE morning), Campbell has shut off the AC and turned on the heat in all the dorms the physical plant controls. Heat = bad. So here I am, sweating. And all else I'll say about that is that I am SO grateful that I have my own room because if I had a roommate, I'd have to be...ahem...modest right now, and it's too hot in here to be modest.
YAY, no more research paper!
YAY, I have food in my dorm again! (Yay, I have friends who take me to Walmart!)
And best of all? YAY THE CAMPBELL WOMEN'S SOCCER TEAM IS IN THE CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME ON SUNDAY BECAUSE WE BEAT WINTHROP TODAY 3-2!!!!!!! Here's hoping Radford is freaked out by the fact that we beat them just last weekend! If we win, Ryann and her team are going to the NCAA championship!! That's HUGE, y'all. HUGE!
I am so tired, and I took a two and a half hour nap this afternoon. That's just weird for me. The nap felt great, but that usually means I'm completely hyper at this hour. I have to stay up till midnight because that's when my block of time to register for next semester starts. My block is so close to the end, I want to have the best opportunity possible to get the classes I want.
My friend JD, her son, and two of her friends leave on their mission trip to Ghana tomorrow. Please pray for them. :)
Okay, there's nothing on TV. Might as well get a little reading done while I wait for midnight to arrive.
I forced myself out of bed at 6:30. I got ready and went to French. I realized it was THIRTY FOUR DEGREES outside and OH MY GOSH IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THIS COLD. I mean, geez, it's November 3rd. 34 degree mornings don't usually show up till late December/early January. Stop it, Mother Nature, stop it right now! And take this stupid rain while you're at it. Rain is fun to listen to, not fun to walk to and from class in THIRTY FOUR DEGREES. Thanks.
Then I came back and rewatched Revenge because it's pretty much the best show on television, and then I watched SVU from last night which is always awesome but has lost my loyalty to Emily Thorne and Nolan Ross and the Hamptons. Revenge wins. It always wins. Just like Emily.
And then I passed out. Not the literal, seizure disorder kind of passing out, the oh-my-gosh-I-can't-stop-yawning-must-sleep-now kind of passing out. For two hours. And it felt really good.
And then I half worked on my paper that's due tomorrow, half procrastinated some more.
And then I went to eat dinner at the dining hall, which I've been frequenting much more often this semester than in the past. They had breakfast for dinner, which was weird because I've never seen them do that before. I don't even like their breakfast food for breakfast, so I certainly wasn't going to eat it for dinner. So I had barbecue, and it was delicious.
Then, I went to my College Democrats Officers meeting, which was pretty fun. I was a little irked that I didn't get President or Vice President at first, but frankly, it sounds like I have the most responsibility as Communications and Publicity Director/Chair/whatever. Haha! And the President and Vice President both seem really nice, so it's all right. I'm excited to be really involved in a club this year. The current president is graduating in December, so this was kind of an introduction into us taking over because he's been pretty much doing everything himself because the other officers suck and he's tired. So it's gonna be really cool. I'm excited.
I'm about halfway done with my paper right now, so I'm gonna finish it while I listen to Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice. The hard part of my editing is done, so it'll be fine. Plus, I don't have to get up till 9:00 tomorrow, as opposed to 7:30, because my 9:00 professor went to Ukraine for a week-long conference, so it's all good.
Have a fantastic Friday! I'll have one class and get rid of this paper, so my Friday is going to be stellar.
If you've got 10 minutes to spare, watch that video.
CUW was actually useful today.
It was about this "I Am Second" campaign. They played that video from a rapper named LeCrae, whom I don't think I'd heard of before today, and another one from Bethany Hamilton, the pro surfer who came back after a shark attack, and at first I was confused as to what was going on.
Then, I was enthralled. It was a very good lesson for me that you can't judge a book by its cover. But more importantly than that, I was inspired. Inspired to REALLY make myself second. To start really practicing what I preach. To start completely freefalling into God (I'm scared of heights! ;)) without looking back. To stop worrying about me and what makes my life better.
I've been trying to do all of these things to a much greater extent this year, but it's not enough.
It will never be enough when I have a free ride to a beautiful university and my Compassion son and his country are dealing with torrential rains and deadly floods without a quarter of the resources we Americans have to deal with natural disasters.
I have to do more for others. End of discussion.
Also at this CUW, a guy I know from my History class, got up on stage and spoke for a minute. We'd said hi in passing, and we've been Facebook friends for a short while, but I didn't know much about him other than his name is Gabe and he's dating a girl named Audrey. Well, Gabe got up to announce that he and Audrey went to church on Sunday and they heard about a 4th grader from a nearby town who was just diagnosed with leukemia, so they were selling hot chocolate outside to raise money to help her family. He shared, he said for the first time in public, that last year on his birthday, his mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and all he wanted was someone who understood; his mom is cancer-free now, but he felt he had to help this little girl out.
It was about all I could do not to cry right there. But I made it through CUW, and thankfully it ended with a few minutes to spare so I could go to the hot chocolate table outside before my 11:00 class. I gave them $5, then asked him to talk for a minute, and when we walked a few steps away from the small group of people at the table, I thanked him for sharing that. One of the hardest things about losing my dad is how much of a secret people think they need to keep scary things like cancer and death. And the fact that he got up and shared that with 700 people, even though his mom is fine, meant a lot to me. He was so sweet about it, he even teared up while I was talking, which I certainly didn't intend to do, but it showed how much he cared. I'm just glad he couldn't tell my legs were shaking. I don't know why talking bothered me this time, but it did.
Then, later, I heard him tell a friend that he and Audrey were trying to figure out when they could go visit her, and I asked if I could come. So hopefully he keeps me updated with when that will be. I will be honored to brighten this girl's day even just a little bit.
Today has been a good day. A day of conviction. Conviction I needed. From this day on, I am REALLY living for Christ. I am making myself second in all things.
Because it's Tuesday, which means I had French class and got to see Ryann the only time I will this week because she leaves for the Big South Soccer Conference tomorrow.
Because I was exhausted and my Music professor showed a movie and when he does that, he doesn't care if you fall asleep.
Because my State & Local class was fun, and nobody made any stupid comments when I uttered the words "I'm a Democrat who likes Obama", because that's usually a match for angry Conservatives.
Because after class, I got way distracted talking to a cute guy from that class whom I'd never spoken to before, and who made me laugh for an hour straight and then was sweet enough to walk me back to my dorm. We started out talking about cell phones and ended up talking about politics and our dorm rooms. It was awesome. I haven't had that fun of a conversation in a long time. (And he hugged me twice ;))
Because Marshbanks was serving something I actually like for dinner.
Because GLEE is back! :)
Because today has been a constant reminder of how amazing my life is, how lucky I am, and how majorly God can surprise and bless me when I'm least expecting.
So yes, I am chipper. Sometimes all it takes is a positive outlook to make your whole day brighter.
