Halloween

People dressed up pretty fine today. One of my friends dressed like a zipper and one group of guys dressed as the Polo Ralph Lauren sports. David, the SRC president, came dressed as Mitt Romney, complete with a binder full of women (he printed out pictures of women in politics and put them in a binder).

I personally was Waldo. I'll try to find a good picture for later. Here's my latest profile picture to make up for it:

Aren't I cute.

I'm in kind of writing rut at the moment. I keep starting posts and not finishing then but I'll get out of this soon enough.

TTYL, broskis.
Hearts,
-J-

Post-secondary strife.

I'm going through another bout of university strife. Everyone in my grade is going through university strife. So much strife.

So, I've come up with a basic formula for university strife: it begins as the simple question "What do I want to do next year?". Then it leads to "Well, what I want to do with my life?". Then comes the practical things, like looking at university websites and brochures to see what is in the general ballpark of what I can see myself doing. I go to a few university info sessions, ask questions to people I know, talk to other people my age about what they know and plan on doing. Now, I've reached the step of actively considering applying.

Through this huge mental process of getting ready for this step, I've narrowed down several things: I can definitely see myself being happiest at a relatively small liberal arts school. After looking at the programs offered, I can deduce that Journalism truly is something that I want to pursue. That narrows down my most likely options at this point to Saint Thomas University (STU) and University of King's College. Both are small liberal arts schools, have respected Journalism programs, aren't too far away, and have close connections to larger universities, so they offer the advantages of both small schools and large schools.

I can obviously apply to both of them (and very likely get in, due to my good marks and the nature of applying to Canadian universities), but when it comes down to which one I would prefer to go to, up until today the pro/con lists come out pretty even. Like, ridiculously, painfully even.

But today I talked to Moriah today (as we seem to do with any decision we make in our lives) about this ridiculous mental battle I'm having between these two schools. I think aloud very well to Moriah, because I know she offers trustworthy perspective and advice, and it's a habit we've got in. I stated that even though King's is slightly more expensive and further away, the school overall appeals to me more (even though I've never been there...) and I kind of want to give myself some distance. I want to start off new, which is the most cliché thing to say when going to university, but it's something that I feel I owe myself, something I've never completely gotten to do before. I need to find myself, guys (which is half a joke cliché and half how I genuinely feel). Partially due to my family's history of missionary work and my parents' time in university in Fredericton, I feel like if I go to STU, there's potential for me to forever be connected to them and have that dragging me down. I want to start off with a clean slate and no preconceived notations of my character to be bashed. Moriah reaffirmed my belief that I should start next year with some distance by confidently replying "Yeah, I think that you need that. Not everybody does, but with you, definitely yes."

Not to mention Halifax is (almost) a big city, there's more interesting things there and the school appeals to me more. It looks like a beautiful liberal arts haven of literature, knowledge, and artsy culture.

STU still has the advantage of being closer, more familiar and less expensive.

But as of today King's is winning. I'll reevaluate that after the choir trip to Halifax in a month. I think we're going to visit some universities, which would be endlessly convenient and save me finding the resources to get me there another time.

Now to apply and stuff. I should do that this week, as I don't have any shifts and now I feel that any time I don't work needs to be super productive.

Anyone else feeling the post-secondary strife?
Hearts,
-J-

Also, this was in my Amazon suggestions.

Which makes me question myself and humanity in general.

And makes me think twice about what I use Amazon for.
Amazon thinks I'm in a very specific demographic of crazy people.

Frivolity, lasagna and stabbings.

I got my first paycheck and from some sort of anomaly, it ended up being only three shifts worth of pay. I did not fret; I realized that I have spent money guilt free in a long, long time, so I set out on a quest to buy things that weren't absolute necessities. I have acquired two thrifted jackets, red lipstick and a copy of Vogue, just because I felt kind of frivolous and had the means to fulfill that.

My friends have been amused by my stories about QHD and have decided to also collect amusing stories about when they see him doing something amusing/eccentric, which is fairly often because he has no shame. Today he walked into my friends' second period Chem class (which he isn't in) with the sole purpose of spontaneously giving his friend (a character of whom my friends' have nicknamed 'Racist Greek guy') a piece of homemade lasagna. At 10:30 in the morning. I have a special brand of respect for him for occasionally being such an A+ human being. 

This morning I got a text from a panicked Tatyana: "Is everybody ok?". I pondered for a while over why everyone wouldn't be ok, then I got the news that two kids got stabbed on a school bus when it was literally pulled up beside my school. She was firmly convinced that someone we know was brutally stabbed at random by a psychopath. I attempted to convinced her that the case was probably more akin to someone of lower cognitive abilities provoking someone else of lower cognitive abilities, and so far no information has come to light that suggests otherwise. I haven't talked to a single person all day who personally know any of the people involved. The stabbed guys were quickly released from the hospital and the stabbing guy has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault and is being sent for a thirty day psychiatric assessment. The school was abuzz with a bunch of "what even."

Hopefully your day included less stabbings than mine.
Hearts,
-J-

Aimless wandering

Tonight, Will, Maegan and I loitered in parking lots while listening to Jay-Z, white people fist pumping (aka flailing) and eating McDonald's, reminiscing about amusing life moments, when we all probably should have been doing homework. It was a good time, a bit reminiscent of summer, as more and more I find that when I see my friends, we have a quick five to ten minute conversation before someone has to rush off to do something or other.

I miss aimless wandering and being around people without any particular plans. I miss when 90% of my time wasn't accounted by things that I have to do because of responsibility or necessity.

Is this what growing up is like? Ick, responsibility.
Hearts,
-J-