Tuesday, May 25, 2010

I'm a busy busy bumble bee

Emphasis on the "busy" and the "bumble" in that title. Want to know my general summer outline that's actually pretty specific? It's CRAZY! And I'm beyond excited. I know some people long for that lazy summer spent by the pool and memorizing what shows come on at what time during this fine season. But I am way past that stage. Now, summer embodies the vary meaning of "busy". And, frankly, I love it.


My summer doesn't "officially" start until June 7th because the 6th is a Sunday and I take the lovely SAT on the 5th. Then the 4th is sort of randomly tossed in there and who knows what I'll be doing that day. So that first week I'm sort of doing some babysitting, sleeping in a little, relaxing, getting prepared for the next 2 crazy weeks.


The following 2 weeks I'll be working at my church's vacation Bible school, chillin' with some kindergarteners who are basically the cutest kids ever. Giving piggy-back rides and holding hands are all part of the routine. Then the week after VBS, I head to Atlanta, GA for some mission trip action. With 200 of my closest friends, of course. Being in charge of a VBS site by afternoon and in charge of other stuff by morning and night, I will gladly crash into bed each night and enjoy my next week off.



Or maybe not. Babysitting my cousins and some kids down the street may not be overly relaxing but less difficult than, say, being in charge of a VBS site. And it'll be the perfect time to do college applications. College applications. AHHHHH!!!! That kind of freaks me out. But babysitting is a relatively easy and even fun way of earning some money, so I won't object to it.

But I only get a week and a few days before I go to KENYA. Hot dog. Leaving on Tuesday, July 6th, I'll be out of my home for a total of 17 days. Crazy! I'm sure there will be many a-blog about that particular trip. Ya-hoo!! I'm so amazingly excited about that. I can't even describe it.

Then when I get home, I have a nice week off. With the usual babysitting and whatnot. Then it's off to Pine Cove for me. My last year...noooooo! Though the fact that my last year at Pine Cove is here, I'm excited for future options with the awesomeness that is that camp. Possibly an intern there next year. Possibly applying to be a counselor after my freshman year of college! But that's quite a ways off. I still have lots of praying time before that happens. Anyway, going to my last year at PC with one of my best friends is just amazing and I'm thrilled to be able to go.

After I get home from my week long camp, it's time to start getting school stuff together. Of course, I go to be a counselor for the 4 day long elementary school kid's camp my church does. Rockin' C Ranch. I'm pumped! I'm one of those weird teenagers who loves kids. What can I say? I'm quirky.

When arriving home, I get my senior year schedule and new parking space and but a week later, school starts up.

And that, ladies and gents, is my summer. Hope you enjoyed hearing the overview, because I will SO keeep you posted. Get excited. :)

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Ode to the past great shows of Nicholodean (or however you spell it)

I feel as though this title is fairly self explanatory. Sorry for any horrible spelling mistakes I will make/have made already. I should be going to bed. BUT I'M NOT! Ha. I love the end of the school year. Anyway...
1. All That. Talk about hilarious. It had some of the greatest sketches EVER! Gotta love the Drake Bell, Amanda Bynes, Keenan, Kell, Josh Peck and many others that made up that epic cast of epicness. So amusing. Though I must admit that All That was not one that I watched frequently, it is still far and away better than some of the junk that is currently on TV for the younguns. Have you watched kid TV lately? Gag in a bag on a hag.
2. The Amanda Show. Mer-her! Anyone remember that one? I feel like the girl Amanda Bynes portrayed in that sketch was named Courtney but I could be mistaken. Amanda Bynes might be the funniest person to ever hit TV. Except probably not, but she's still hilarious. Judge Trudy and the dancing lobsters ("Bring out the dancing lobsters!"). The random things that happened at the end of the show when she was signing off. It was just pure greatness, especially when Drake and Josh were on the show. Speaking of which...
3. Drake and Josh. Not gonna lie. They were my favorites. Fat, awkward Josh. Suave, flirty Drake. Their shenanigans. Their demonic sister Megan. Baab the sheep. The foreign movie Ick Glockma about the goat. The fact that Josh's boss at the theater loved Drake and couldn't stand Josh. Crazy Steve. The weird dude with the mullet who always had the weird jobs at the movie theater. Some of the situations they got into were so ridiculous that you just had to laugh. I remember it rained seriously all summer so my mom and sister watched episode after episode of Drake and Josh until my mom fell in love with the characters. Good times.
Anyway, that's my oldies recap. Love those older shows. The Amanda Show>Hannah Montana. Obviously. Hope you enjoyed this exceedingly random post. Have a nice day!

Friday, May 21, 2010

Pull myself together

That would be the title of one of The Rocket Summer's songs on their latest album "Of Men and Angels". Awesome album, I highly recommend it. Anyway, the words of the song go a little something like this...

"So I must pull myself together; this is a brand new day; pull myself away from my mistakes."

Obviously, that's not the whole song. But those three lines speak volumes. Pull myself together, this is a brand new day? SO TRUE! Life is meant for living in the now, not the then. I heard this awesome quote once. It was by Morgan Freeman in one of his movies. I can't remember which movie but that's irrelevant. He said something like "The now is a gift. That's why they call it the present." I have a horrible memory, but I feel like that was the general gist of it. And I like that quote a whole bunch. Anyway.

But it really isn't our job to pull ourselves together. Because we're incapable of doing it all on our own. The desire to be pulled together and away from past mistakes has to be there; we need to want it. But us actually yanking our broken pieces back together to move on from what we've done? Not so much. That's what one calls a "God thing". We are totally unable, inept, stupid, clueless, oblivious, bumbling, awkward, and generally useless when it comes to fixing things in our spiritual and emotional lives. We can't do it alone.

And, thus, we are not alone. The fact that we pull ourselves away from our mistakes is great. The present is a gift--so accept it! Know that the screw-ups you made yesterday, last week, a few months ago, a couple years ago DON'T MATTER. They don't. So stop thinking about them because we don't have time machines and, therefore, cannot go back and fix said mistakes. Unfortunate but very real fact of life. That's where God comes in. If we can't let go of what we've done, He'll remove it from our minds. The Bible (though I honestly have no clue where...maybe in some of Paul's letters?) says that God removes our sins (aka, screw ups, mess ups, etc) as far as the east is from the west. Translation: really, ridiculously far. He'll take the sins, take the blame for the sins, so we can be rid of the sins. Comprende?

So let Him pull you together. Forget about what you've done that you're ashamed of because He's already forgotten them. It's like they didn't even exist. Forget about what you've done because you don't need that burden. You don't need any burden, for that matter.

"Pull myself together; this is a brand new day; pull myself away from my mistakes."

I guess that could be a prayer too. "God, pull me together, this is a brand new day. Pull me away from my mistakes."

I know what a lot of my prayers are going to consist of now. What about you?

Monday, May 17, 2010

Being a leader isn't all about the glory

By any means whatsoever. Being a leader is...hard. A lot to keep track off, a lot to make sure that everything is going according to plan, etc. I know that leadership isn't all flowers and rainbows, but sometimes you just feel underappreciated.
Of course, this story isn't extreme underapprectiation. It's more like, 4th grade girls are beyond oblivious.
One of my best friend's mom is in charge of the children's ministry at my church. So whenever Ms. Suzette needs help with something as pertaining to children, Paige and I are the first recruits. Not that I mind; I love kids.
This particular time, Ms. Suzette was hosting 20 4th and 5th grade girls at her house for a huge party. They were going to Cici's for dinner, then the local aquatic center, then Main Event for some bowling. A packed night. While we were at Main Event, I was bowling with my little team. I'd been giving high-fives and hugs by the minute, even if they only got one of the pins(or none) down. They still deserved some form of recognition for doing their best. It was then that I bowled a strike. When I turned around, I expected them to run up to me and congratulate me. In reality, they were talking about hair, not paying attention to me at all. So I just sort of laughed, humbled, and prepared to sit down, my strike unnoticed. But when I looked up, I saw the cute employee clapping for me. So I bowed and grinned, embarrassed.
Story of my life.
Hope this reminds you to not expect everything you think you might deserve, especially recognition. Sometimes, the best thing is for you to know that you did it and that's all that matters.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

No small thing?

We've all heard the John Mayer song. "I wanna run through the halls of the high school, I wanna scream at the top of my lungs". Yeah, that one. Pretty awesome song. I know that I want to run through the main hall of CHS, screaming something along the lines of "YAHOOOOOOOO!" Not because I don't like the school, but because that chapter of my life has closed. Time to write a new one.
But let's think about the rest of the words of the song and the author of it himself. There's no such thing as the real world, eh? Beg to differ. The real world is everywhere; in high school and out of it. Surely, Mr. Mayer, you would know this. I mean, of course are teacher's are always like, "You'll need to know this in the 'real world'". And they're right in sense. What is high school; fake world? Seems pretty real to me. I mean, it is the vault that sends you to college, to the rest of your life? What about that isn't real? Mildly confusing. And, honestly, I see nothing bad about the "good boys and girls who take the so-called right track". Some people just have unconventional methods of being happy and, dare I say it, successful. Though we all know you can be happy without success. And vise versa.
And, another thing, though John Mayer has the voice of an angel, I will NOT be the first in line to buy any book on advice he makes. He has mastered the fine art of being a jerk; almost down to a science at this point. Poor Jennifer Aniston. My respect level for him has bottomed out. And yet, that will not stop me from trying to get tickets to his next concert.
So, a vicious cycle. John Mayer's lyrics as well as his actions are questionable. Ha, of course, don't take from this that I'm a Mayer-hater. I, much like many others, disagree with some of his actions.
Hope you don't hate me because of my minor bashing of John Mayer.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

You gotta cry before you sing

I feel like Five For Fighting hit the nail on the head with this line from their song "Chances". I mean, how true is that? There's no way you can feel relief if there's nothing to be relieved from, right?
This year has been such a hills-and-valleys year. My stress level has both shot to the sky and bottomed out. Sometimes this happens in the same day.
I remember at Winter Weekend, I was so relieved when it was worship time because I needed it. I needed it like air, like water. Like any necessity. It was just...something that I had to do. And it felt fantastic. But I need more than just an awesome weekend to let it all out or look forward to. After WW it was like, "So, when's summer?"

Now, with only 13 days left of my junior year, I've come to the realization that my heart might burst on June 5th. Just explode. Why? Well, here's a few reasons...
1. My last SAT will be that day (and I know it'll be my last SAT because this is it. I feel like I'm going to rock it. Not only am I super prepared, but I've got a God who can move a mountain with his breath.)
2. I'll be done with the most stressful year of my life.
3. College applications start. Oh my gosh, it's already here?!
4. Junior year will be OVER. Can I get an amen?
5. I'll be getting my results for this writing contest I entered any day.

And a whole slew of other things.
But I have to endure first. I have to go through the SAT classes. I have to pass my finals. I need to get my grades up more if I'm going to have any shot at A&M. Junior year, as of now, is still going. I'm not done. I still have to be patient for the contest results.
And I am not a person gifted with the virtue of patience.
My "crying" isn't over yet. I haven't washed my hands of the school year quite yet. I still have to last, tears and breakdowns included.
But the joyful singing I'll be praising God with when I step out of that SAT test is going to be so worth it. Worth everything I've gone through this year. My voice, not beautiful to anyone else, will be God's most prized possession.
I'll sing, laugh, dance like a fool. I'll be like David when the Ark of the Covenant came back; dancing for everyone to see and not caring what people will say about me.
To cry before you sing is like a rainbow after a storm; horrible at first, beautiful in the end.

Monday, May 10, 2010

I'm meeting Rick Riordan on Thursday.

Waaaa-hoooooooooooooooo!!!! Love him. Why? Because the dude can write like nobody's business. Though I haven't read any of his adult stuff, his kids books (which I call "middle school boy books") are pretty stinkin' awesome. So here are a few things that I'd like to say/ask one of my favorite authors but probably won't have time to.
**Note: If you know little-to-nothing about the Percy Jackson series and you're reading this, you will be extremely confused. Don't say I didn't warn you.

1. Percy Jackson might be one of the best heroes ever. Way to make an awesome character.
2. Did you intend to make PJATO (Percy Jackson and the Olympians) a lot like Harry Potter?
3. I've always loved Greek mythology. Now I love it about a bijillion times more.
4. My friend always argues with me that the Titans are better than the gods. And I've beaten him in all our arguments. Thank you for equipping me with that knowledge.
5. What did you think of the movie? Because I hated it.
6. You did a great job explaining stuff in your new book (The Red Pyramid). I don't think many people know a lot about Egyptian mythology.
7. Sadie and Carter Kane (in the new series) make me laugh.
8. I'm proud of myself; I'm starting to notice things that will make the series. I have learned. :)
9. You rock.
10. What was the inspiration/source of putting the name Linley in The Red Pyramid? That cop must be awesome. :)

So this is a short one. Mostly I'm just super pumped about Thursday when the dude is going to sign my book!! Aww yeah! :)

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Agent Linley

Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? I could so be a spy...not. I am not that good of an actress nor have mad skills in being coordinated/ninja-like. Rather unfortunate, I know. But here are some reasons why I do and don't want to be a spy.

Why I do:
1. I'd be a spy. Like, James Bond and Maxwell Smart.
2. Can you say resourceful? Jason Bourne (though not technically a spy...) could kill someone with any given household object. If I were a spy, I could kill you with, like, a butterknife. Not that I would want to do that to anyone. I'm just saying that I could...umm, anyway.
3. I would know tons of national secrets. That would be so awesome.
4. I would be the very definition of "kick-butt".
5. My acting skills would be worthy of Oscars/Golden Globes/other acting awards
6. Talk about adrenaline rushes.
7. I'd be using some pretty sweet weapons/gadgets even if I could kill you with a butterknife.
8. So long, school; I've got a country to save.

Why I don't:
1. The pressure would be insane...I could be compromised and killed at any time on a mission
2. It's not like I could tell anyone anything! I'd be living a lie on missions and at home because I couldn't tell anyone about my "real" life.
3. My dating life would be nonexistant.
4. My life as an actual spy would be shortish. At some point I'd be behind a desk to stay. Assuming that the US government doesn't try to kill me to protect it's secrets. Yikes!!
5. Talk about some life-or-death situations, jeez.
6. Traumatized!!!! Especially as a teenage spy. Poor Alex Rider.

So yes. I just completely listed out reasons to do/not do something that I won't ever get the chance to do anyway. But, hey, always be prepared, right?

Friday, May 7, 2010

As of late...

So, I feel like I should update y'all on my writing via my blog. You know, on the off chance people are actually reading this. Um, anyway. Here's a brief history/current projects as pertaining to my hopeful career is an author.
**Note: this does not include various poems and short stories I have written.
1. My first "novel" I ever wrote was called Ship Girl. I wrote it in 5th grade about a girl named Jesse who got a job during The Great Depression and got shipped all around the world because some people were chasing her. She was disguised as a dude to get the job. I went back and read it about a year ago. Ha, so terrible. Oh fifth grade me. So grammatically challenged and historically inaccurate.
2. My next "big thing" was a novel that I was quite proud of until probably sophomore year...when I went back and reread it. This one is called Day of Fire. Four kids have a super rare stone that this one dude wants so he can "rule the world". They (rich girl Lexi, nerd girl Carrie, jock boy Trevor, class clown dude Mac) are kidnapped and held captive for 3 whole months while man attempts to wear them down and get stone. They eventually break out, dude goes to jail, Carrie and Trevor fall in love, Mac gets a puppy, and Lexi is still stinkin' rich. It took me 130 pages to make all this happen. But I'm still rather impressed with myself to write 130 pages on Microsoft Word 2003 as an 8th grader. However, Day of Fire will be kept in my computer forever, with the exceptions of Haley Wilson (who has a copy), Alex Kersey (who has it saved on his computer), and Charles Cain (he wanted it for his birthday...). If you, for some unknown reason, just really want to read this horrible piece of writing, feel free to ask. Just don't judge me when/if you do read it. Thanks.
3. My latest completed project is called Life Goes On. It's a Christian fiction; aka, a generally bad idea. Campbell, a rebellious teenage girl, is sent to do community service at a rehab place for suicidal people. She is totally bitter about it at first but then starts to get to know the patients. The tell her about their faith in God a lot, she rejects it each time. Then, alas, it sticks and she accepts Jesus. There's a lot more teen angst that goes down, but that's the basic story line. Christian fiction is so not my favorite because it's so angsty (is that a word?). I don't like reading it because of it's angst in the characters. The characters are never normal. You would think I would transcend that but nope! I decided to be cliche. Anyway, it's better when it comes to formatting and character developement, but the over-all story line is dry and predictable with the occasional redeeming point. I don't think that, if I saw that book on the shelf at a store, I would buy it. Which is harsh and you might be thinking, "Oh, Linley, it can't be that bad." Yes, friend, yes it can.
4. So I had this semi-brilliant idea for a book. The main character could go through dimensions. Not time traveler. No, this is different. The main character, a sassy but innocent girl named McKay, can go to a few different dimensions. It's a series. In the first book, she can only go to a world where the South recently won the Civil War (so, that world is still about 150 years behind McKay's, and our, normal world); a world where the Olympic gods are real, and, towards the end of the book, she can go to Hogwarts. Disclaimer for the Hogwarts thing: she can't effect anything that happens to any of the characters; it's like she's just a ghost (no, not one of the ones that float around the school) and can only observe. No, I will NOT make any thing up or add new scenes to the classic and great series. My only problem is that I'm stuck as pertaining to that story right now because I don't know what the great revelation at the end of the book will be/how to get there. Um, yikes.
5. Last one, I promise. Well, for right now, anyway. Four American teenagers who like to write and have put their work out there have been selected to be trained by one of America's finest authors named Harrison Levi. They live in a mountain mansion for 2 1/2 months for author training and at the end will be close to having a book on the market. Their adventures will be taped and put on a TV show that will be a huge hit around the nation. I'm using a lot of my friends in this novel in both names and characters, so, if you know me and we talk fairly often, there's a solid chance that you are/will be in this story. For example, as of now, characters inspired by my friends and family Haley W., Taylor T., Claire M., Paige T., Natalie O., Emily Ann H., Holly C., Tanner and Leslie M., and many others are already in. And I sort of embodied myself as one of the main characters...don't judge me!!! Oh, and I'm on about page 120 and not even half way done. A tad exciting. I am NOT stuck on this. :)
So, I've written a lot more failed novel attempts than successful ones but I refuse to delete any of them. You never know when the fancy will strike to pick them back up again. Thanks for reading!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

If I could meet 3 famous people they would be...

We'll just launch right into this. The title is pretty self-explanatory.
1. Jason Witten. Like, hello! He's basically amazing. First of all, he's a football player. And he's pretty dang good at being the Dallas Cowboy's tight end. Heck yes, #82. My favorite was when he was carrying the ball and his helmet came off and he still got several more yards. Pure greatness. But the best part about Witten? He is second. He is a Godly man in a job that is not Godly by any stretch of the imagination (oh, hey, Ben Rothlisberger). Spell check on the QB's name just now. Anyway, Jason Witten proclaimed his faith for the world to see. And that gets him a bunch of awesome points in my book. So he's the first in my list of people I want to meet.
2. Josh Hamilton. Noticing a trend? Okay, so maybe I've only listed 2 so far. But Josh Hamilton plays baseball for the Rangers. He's got curly hair and a nice swing when it comes to going up to bat. He also has a past of drinking in a big way. And a few tattoos. But you know what? Much like his fellow Dallas sports player, Hamilton is second. Redeemed from his past mistakes and covered when it comes to the ones he'll make in the future, Hamilton makes his past known as well as his faith. Gotta love those Dallas athletes.
3. Rick Riordan. No, he is not an athlete. He's not from Dallas. He does live in Texas (the ever-cultural San Antonio). The best part about this man? He writes. And not only does he write, but he writes well. Heard of Percy Jackson and the Olympians? The movie, perhaps? Well it was based on a book. A book series, actually. And it's only one of my favorite, favorite, series ever. Right up there with Harry Potter and Maximum Ride. His humor is witty. His characters are always great. The stories are always beyond interesting. What's not to like?
So yes. Here's my top 3 people I would meet. Notice how there are no "celebrities" on here. True, my fourth choice would be Taylor Lautner. But I said 3. So that's what I'm stickin' to. Hope you liked my choices. :)

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

I'm kind of freaking out.

I have a number of things to panic about, but they have been handed over to God, so I no longer worry about them. But the things that I'm about to write about here aren't so much "I'm worried about college/future/school/life/etc" but rather, books. Call me a nerd. I'm okay with it.
You might think I'm obsessed (because I suppose I am...) with the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson. James Patterson is mostly a writer for adults, his 2 most popular series being The Women's Murder Club and Alex Cross. They're murder mystery books that also have some heated character drama. Not really my type. I prefer his books for teens, including the Maximum Ride series and his new Witch and Wizard series and Daniel X series. He writes a lot of series. Anyway, the latest MR book came out over spring break. It was sort of epic. I loved it and hated it. I couldn't look at it for about three days after finishing it. Yes, it made me cry. Profusely. So when I got home from spring break and checked my email, I saw that James Patterson had made his first officially sponsered writing contest. The task? Go to chapter 35 in the latest book. Notice how a small scene is missing between chapters 35 and 36. The job is to write that scene. Well you know I jumped at that. Talk about awesome! And the best part? The winner gets $2500 in college scholarship money AND their name and home state in the next Maximum Ride book. How cool would it be if my name was in my favorite book series? What if I (as a character) was in the same scene as the main guy character?! Swoon! That would be so amazing. But, alas, I don't get the results back until the last week of school, or around that time. The realistic part of me knows that I probably won't win. The imaginative and wishful side of me is praying that I do. But as I mailed it (after giving it a good luck kiss, of course) I told God that it was His now.
In other bookish news, Rick Riordan has a new series out. Rick Riordan is the author of one of my other favorite series. You probably have heard of it. Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Yeah, basically amazing series. So now, Riordan is starting this new series with Egyptian gods and goddesses, much like the Percy Jackson series. I'm practically giddy with the prospect of reading this new series. I just read the premise...it looks AMAZING. So now I'm going to go beg mother dearest for money to buy it. I'll keep y'all posted. YAY BOOKS!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

I'm kept in check...most of the time

I'm prone to road rage. We'll just establish that now. It isn't extreme, let-me-get-the-most-lethal-thing-in-my-car-and-hit-you-with-it road rage though. It's more like, you-do-something-I-don't-like-I'll-yell-at-you. And the people who rip me off don't even hear me when I yell at them. That's a good (but sometimes frustrating) thing. So here's a few examples.
Tanner and I were driving home from somewhere. We were on MacArther, coming from the Lewisville direction. I'm going about 40 in the 35mph zone, just kind of cruising along, talking to Tanner, that kind of thing. Suddenly, this huge black truck zooms by me and the dude who was driving smirks at me like, "you wimp" and keeps hauling down MacArthur. I was kind of mad, just thinking "Okay, he's a jerk." Then, as he passes me, I see the unmistakable green Texas with a dragon in it: the famed and annoying Southlake emblem. To say I flipped out is an understatement. Tanner was emarrassed. Although Dragonpoop couldn't hear me, I still kind of let him have it. Whatever.
Today, whilst coming home from school, Tanner and I stopped at the Heartz/Parkway intersection, like we were supposed to. It was a normal day, everyone going their turn, that kind of thing. Then this oldish dark green minivan just flies around the corner, coming from the other side of parkway (Tanner and I were coming from the HS direction, minivan was coming from the Kid Kountry direction, to give you some perspective). I was halfway through the intersection, BECAUSE I'D GONE MY TURN, and minivan almost hits me, so I honked at him. Minivan driver was a fat, balding man with a beard who had his window down. So, after I informed Lardface of my existance via horn, he proceded to flip me off. Well you know I just took that so well. Take my anger from Dragonpoop. Multiply it by about six bazillion. I yelled and hollered and, this time, Tanner was right there with me. Of course, we were kind of laughing. Like, this dude might have been going to pick up is elementary school kid and yet he's flipping off students who are obeying the law. Like, I'll try not to follow the basic rules of driving next time. Jeez.
I'm not a mean driver. In fact, I'm a pretty nice driver. If you cut me off, I'll probably give you a little honk from my horn, but I'll forget about it. No hard feelings. Mostly, I just want other people to know that I'm on the road too and it isn't their place to just go zooming around like they own the place. But I let people in, don't get on people's tail, etc. A main reason for this is the cross that hangs from my rearview mirror. It reminds me to not follow close behind people and to let people in when they're stuck in a parking lot or whatever.
So, fellow drivers, you can thank Jesus for allowing me to not tailgate.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

here's my thoughts on college as of now

So, I've been doing some serious college thinking since probably last year. Junior year is "the year". You know, with all the SAT/ACT, class rank, GPA, etc. Called the worst year in high school. And rightfully so. Talk about the pressure. Anyway, college is looming ahead of me in a year. I'll be officially going to a next by this time 2011. Weird to think about, right? So here's my thought process as of now.
I've been to my top 4 colleges on either official visits or just various times. And my top four are as follows (in order from "I really want to go here" to "I'd be cool if I went here but it's not my favorite").
1. Texas A&M University (College Station, TX)
2. Oklahoma State University "OSU" (Stillwater, OK)
3. Baylor University (Waco, TX)
4. Texas Christian University "TCU" (Fort Worth, TX)
Now we're going to go backwards, starting with why I do/don't want to go to each school starting with the fightin' frogs of TCU.
It's a gorgeous school. The campus is beautiful, the people are awesome, the professors are great, the sports are above average :). It's an all around school in the heart of a true Texas city with a rich background of being totally Texan. I look good in purple and my family has a MAJOR leagacy (see "the first Superfrog" for more information...hi, Dad). Frankly, I'd be a shoe in for this school. So what holds me back? All I've ever known is DFW. Okay, that's not technically true. I do vaguely remember the year that I lived in Franklin, Tennessee when I was four years old. But that doesn't really count. I kind of want out of the DFW area. And TCU is way too close to home. And it's super expensive. And it sort of strikes me (though I know this isn't true for everyone) as the rich, preppy, Greek school of Texas. Generalization, yes. Completely wrong, no.
Baylor. The conservative, Baptist school of Texas that has Dr. Pepper Thursdays and 2 pet bears. It's smallish, friendly, and I know a lot of people who go/are going there. The school is beautiful and it has the 2 things I want to major in. Sounds like my dream school. Except that everyone at Baylor is the same. Most of them are white, Baptist kids who like Baylor because it's a white, Baptist college. And there's nothing wrong with that. It's a totally safe school that's part of the Big 12 and has a great reputation. But it doesn't have...the diversity that I want in a college. It's so picture-perfect. Except for their football program. I don't know. Baylor is cool but there just was something about it that felt like it wasn't my perfect college fit.
OSU is a school I would qualify as a place that's awesome but totally under the radar. It's a great school that's average in population but very confined geographically. The basketball game that I went to was amazingly fun and the dorms are way cool and different. My OSU analysis is short but I loved the campus (even though I went on a rainy day) because it's surprisingly small and so, so pretty. My only problems with it would be that the student life center was completely empty after a big basketball game. I found that really weird. And what's in Stillwater? Like, 6 restaurants? I know there's a dance hall but otherwise...not too much to do around there. I know I can get involved around school but everyone wants to go out on the town every now and again, right? I just don't know how much you can do that in Stillwater.
Last but most definitely not least, A&M. I've wanted to go to A&M since probably sixth grade. Then I visited Baylor and really liked it there. Then I got back on the A&M thing again. And I'm glad I did. Visiting College Station was...awesome. I felt so comfortable. Everyone was amazingly friendly. Campus was buzzing with life. The city of College Station has more restaurants than I could imagine. Everything about A&M felt...right. Whether I was saying "Howdy!" to random people on campus or going for an evening walk, I loved it. The tradition, the football, the people, the fact that I can get ice cream at 2 in the morning if I lived in the Commons. Everything just seemed to fit so well. Plus, I don't look horrible in maroon :)
All in all, I think I'll end up at Aggieland. It had enough diversity that I can expose myself to new people but also people that are similar to me and my values and whatnot. I know I'll find that at every college, but not all colleges have the history of A&M to me. I mean, how many people get to walk on some of the streets that my grandfather and great grandfather walked on. It just seemed right. They have exactly what I want for academics: major in English, minor in creative writing. They also have an awesome education school. Everything seems to fit. Of course, I'll keep my options open. But A&M... well, I'll just leave it at this... :D and GIG 'EM!