Hey, Anybody Can Do It

Well, this fall I set out to write about experiences, feelings, etc. to use my blog to remember my time at Gustavus. Needless to say, with the occasional interruption, the blog has become a bunch of pouty complaints seemingly spouted from the fingers of a moopy freshman. Fortunately I could make a strong argument that this is not representative of the last eight months of my life. In general, I think this past year has been academically challenging, especially with P-chem, Mol. Genetics, and Proteins. The academic stress has been compounded by a general time shortage because of work, med school applications and interviews, Dad getting sick, and my ineluctable personal need to be in 50 million student organizations.
I started the year with the complaint that all of my friends lived across campus. Now, I have made several new friends that have become some of my closest: HJ, BS, EB, BB. I complained about how hard P-chem was, but by the end I took the final in forty-five minutes and got the A. To be sure, I've complained about a lot of things, but the more I think about it I've learned so much from each of these "bad" situations.
And not all my experiences this year have been bad, by any means. Starting the year by sneaking bricks from the ruins of Wahlstrom Hall at midnight set the tone. "It's f-ing scary up here, I'm not gonna lie," a classic Barnitt line from CF training on the rope course. Walks in the Arb, translating Ovid, doing some reading just for fun, yogaing it up -- there have been many fun things about this year. And I'm thinking January 27th should be a personal holiday, Getting Into Wash U Day. I've gained a mentor in Prof. Dahlseid, and found out some cool things about RNA in the process. Pam hooked me on Project Runway, and recoiled in horror with me when Santino didn't win. At Wash U I met some people that might be in my class next year, and I can't wait. I've never met a more laid-back and fun, yet incredibly brilliant bunch of people.
So this year has been a mix of the good and the bad. Most of the bad things I've learned from, either how to deal with stress in a positive way or how to let go of unneeded extras when time doesn't allow for them. The good things have reminded me that there is life outside NHS. And I've also got a hell of a lot to look forward to: a summer clinical researcher by day enjoying St. Louis by night, moving into my own place, catching up on some writing, re-reading the rest of the Chronicles of Narnia (MG, PC, VotDT, SC), seeing Movin' Out with the fam, and a whole lot more.
Well, there's another month left to turn around my optimistic streak. But I doubt it will. It's all about seeing the glass as half full, I guess.