Finals

At some point in our lives we've all faced this dreaded dilemma called a "final". Whether it be in high school or college. We've all had the pressure of a single exam or paper determining our academic success for an entire year. Seems highly unfair. Attending class every day and taking extensive notes does not equate an A. Nope. Spend numerous hours studying all semester. Spend countless hours doing homework or reading an overpriced text book. But the only thing that counts is the hour you have to complete one exam. Just you, a number 2 pencil, and a 20 page test. Well it's this time of the semester at most universities in Oklahoma. This coming week is "dead" week, and then followed by the ultimatum: "Finals Week". It's time for students to start trying. There will be no campus events or clubs. Only the sound of sharp, bitter wind rustling the decomposing leaves and students flipping old, tattered pages all night at the Edmond Low Library. It's the only week of the semester that college holds true to its promise of being "more difficult" than say high school. But boy does it hit hard. Like a speeding freight train, it blows by and you either buckle up or you get left behind searching for your once decent GPA. So this is it, just a couple weeks until the glorious Christmas break. I can hear the train coming. All aboard?

Enough Said

Thanksgiving Already!

Is it already that time of the year? Thanksgiving is next week, followed by an ungodly amount of Christmas shopping. This year went entire too quick. At the same time it's induced many changes in my own personal life. Losing a best friend. Hitting a massive sophomore slump. Rediscovering God in a bright, exciting new way. Getting a direction of my future. Changing majors. I've hit an uncanny amount of adversity, but I'm still limping through the finish. The point is not that I might have a limp, but it's that I'm going to finish. Never going to give up. At first glance, I assumed this holiday season would be a downer. I'll be removed from an important family, who've been gracious enough to share their Thanksgiving and Christmas with me the last 3 years. I'll be missing my mistletoe kiss this year at Christmas. My Rhema Christmas light buddy. And everything else that the Holiday season brings. But there is no real reason to be negative. Through the enormous amount of pain and hurt I've been through, I've discovered the real value of family and friends. It's amazing the time and effort your real friends will go through to make sure you're alright. I've got a fair amount of humorous stories; as well as soft, emotional stories from my battle with love. But here's to rediscovering the real meaning in Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's a time to be thankful for what you do have, not a time to miss what you don't. Although it might be a tough break in some aspects, I have no doubt that my family will be there to pick me up, let me rest, and provide encouragement through this much needed break. I've been stretched emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually to the point of extreme exhaustion. Now it's a time to rest. A much needed rest.

Goodbye Excuses, Hello Life

As of last week (November 1), I am no longer a teenager. As many fret about turning 30, 40, or even the official over the hill age of 50, I too am reluctant of letting go of my teenage years. Many of my friends embrace it with open arms, mainly because they are one year away from the legal age of 21. But not me. As strange as it may sound, I haven't exactly wrapped my mind around this 20 year old thing. 20 just seems so much older than 19. Ah, how I miss saying TEEN. Oh well, I guess there isn't much I can do about it. And I should be thankful I'm entering into and not leaving the twenties. Thank you Stephanie for making room : ) Maybe it's the fact that I'm being forced to grow up, when necessarily I'm not ready! Or that I really don't have much of excuse for immaturity anymore. "Stephen! You're twenty. Act like it."

On a better note, for my birthday, I received a glorious Iphone. Do they live up to the hype? Exceedingly so. Although, I've seen classroom attention span and sleeping hours decrease indirectly related to my Iphone usage. There is definitely no 'I-regret' associated with this phone though. Now I must get off here and start working on my paper. Time to start acting like I'm twenty, right?

Camp Gundyville- Tornadic Chaos.

Angry. Infuriated. Stressed. Frost bitten. Hatred. These words could easily sum up my emotions in the last couple days concerning Columbia's malproduced item they claim is a "tent". As most of you know I'm a die-hard OSU Cowboy fan; therefore, me and 9 buddies "camp out" by the football stadium in order to get front row seats to all the home games. I've come to the realization, with help from my over logical brother, that maybe just spending extra cash for assigned season tickets would be worth it considering the pain and time commitment necessary for this so called "privilege". Probably so. But I’m a college student, which means I must make irrational decisions on a daily basis, right? Back to the point of this post.

Sure, this tent looks great. The nice colors and unique design trick us consumers into thinking this product would be worth having on a camping trip. Well ladies and gentlemen, stay away from this tent. Stay far, far away. I'm not sure how to explain this in text, but similar to most tents, this tent has the meshy/breathable material on the inside so campers won’t die of CO2 poisoning or heat exhaustion. But unlike a majority of well made tents, whose meshy substance is on the ceiling, this entire tent is made of this mesh. Yes, Close to 90% of the material is mesh, thus the rain cover covers such a large surface area of the tent. Seems great. Seems nice. Nice work engineer team. Not. Imagine 60 mph wind ripping along side of a massive structure such as Boone Pickens Stadium. So strong, that no old man or tiny toddler could safely walk 10 meters. So strong, it can tear tent poles and plastic hooks. Accompanying this skin ripping wind from God Almighty is rain pouring as if the flood gates of heaven were opened. In a literal since. Not a good combination for a meshified tent. My buddies and I awoke to this tornadic (Yes in fact there was a tornado watch) nightmare in a daze. We thought the world was ending. Maybe this was how the rapture happened. With thousands of thoughts flowing through our head, our first instinct was, "Grab the plasma TV and xbox360"! Easily, the most valued possessions of any college student. With everything soaked, we sprinted our way towards the cars while the 35 degree breath of God ripped our tiny pores apart in waves of overbearing gusts. Horrible, horrible night. After awakening in the cars with stiff necks and sore backs, we observed the catastrophe. Memories of the Oklahoma City tornado came to mind as tent poles were cracked and thrown 100 yards away. Pathetic rain covers were nowhere to be found. People squeezing out their water-logged pillows, shivering from the cold devastation. All I have to say is that OSU better beat Texas. And better beat them bad to make it up to me. I've sacrificed sleep, comfort, and possibly sanity for this football team. They finally owe me something.

P.S. Dear Columbia, take your stupid tents back. Keep to making your oh-so-popular fleece jackets.