College with curfews and no drinking?

In approximately nine weeks I will officially be a college graduate… It’s almost too good to be true, and extremely exciting. College is what you make of it, and there is just as much learning done outside the classroom as there is inside. We learn about ourselves as we begin to take on this new journey of life. New experiences introduce themselves and we make tons of mistakes along the way. The important thing to note is that we are allowed to make our own decisions and break away from our homes and our parents. We no longer have curfews, rules, or bedtimes. We are allowed to drink every night of the week, skip classes, and sleep over in a boys room if we choose.

I feel that it is extremely important to be able to have those experiences, make those mistakes, and grow in an environment where we can learn about ourselves. Luckily I had that opportunity attending Ball State University, but I have found that not everyone goes to such liberal colleges. I understand those who want to attend private colleges for religious reasons, but I do not agree with those colleges choice to treat their paying customers, who are adults, like children.

My boyfriends younger siblings attend a Christian University, and their rules are rather strict. They have 12am curfews on weeknights and 1 am on weekends… my Universities library closes at 3 am on weeknights… No one of the opposite sex is allowed in their dorm rooms, so definitely no overnight guests. and on top of all that the campus of this school is located in a dry county, there is no alcohol sold anywhere near the school.

Not to incriminate myself but I spent the first three mornings in my dorm hung over a trashcan nursing a hangover from hell.  I feel that a large part of college culture is to go to parties to drink then wake up and go to your classes tired and hungover. Now that I am a bit older I do not enjoy drinking or partying, especially on school nights, but I was able to make that choice myself, no one made it for me! At a school like the one my future brother and sister in law go to are not allowing their students much free will.

I could never imagine going to a college where they monitor me like a child. If I wanted to be told what to do and have a watchful eye over me at all times I would have stayed home and went to community college. I understand that the college life is not ideal for everyone to experience, but it should definitely be something where one can make their own choices. If a school holds all these strict standards how will students be able to learn from their mistakes. My University has alternative events to keep kids from drinking, and they offer information for safe sex practices; in other word they make sure to provide good environments for those who choose to participate. Besides events to keep students from drinking they understand we are going to go to parties, hook up, and feel poorly about it later. Because they know we will screw up and make our own decisions  they provide free HIV testing and condoms so we can be safe when we go make our mistakes.

It is important that colleges inform us about what is out there, but they shouldn’t forcibly keep us away. I truly believe that if we want to learn from something that we have to make our own mistakes, we cannot just take someone else's word for it. I realize that not everyone shares my view, but I wouldn’t change my college experience for a place that treats me like a high schooler.

Elephants Never Forget!

        So that’s the saying, “Elephants never forget.” If you’re new here you’ll know that I love these beastly mammals and think they are pretty darn majestic. They are amazing creatures, and are said to never forget because they always remember where their family is, and where they came from. So basically this post is leading to the idea that I am similar to an elephant, not in size…. But in how I ALWAYS remember.

            It would be too easy for me to sit here and make the measly connection that “I am like an elephant for the fact I know who my family is and I can always go back to them.” If anything, it is almost simpler than that, I literally just never forget things. The issue is that, although I never forget, I tend to remember all the negative things that have happened in my life. Obviously it is unhealthy to hold on to things that are negative, or that make us feel poorly about the past, but I promise I do not do this on purpose. 

            It’s amazing what abilities the human mind has to remember, and in my case dwell on. I don’t feel the need to sit here and go through all the negative things my mind possesses. I’m definitely not going to say “I want to change and leave the past in the past!” Truth is, all the negative things in my past have taught me lessons, and regardless if I made the mistakes myself I really have learned from them. A lot of times people wish they could change things that happened, go back and stop from dating that loser, or studying for a test. Reality is I would not be where I am today if all the negative things hadn’t happened in my life. Life is far from perfect now, but I have a hard time imagining it differently.

            One thing I can say is that I feel like my past really shaped me as a person, and I don’t think I would change it. I prefer to make use of what life teaches me, not get upset and turn to drugs or alcohol. Maybe that makes me stronger than others who choose a path that leaves sobriety in the dust, or maybe it makes me stuck up for thinking drugs are stupid. Whatever it means I’m glad I’ve taken the paths I did. So even though I have a hard time forgetting, and the thoughts I do remember weight on me, they weigh on me for a reason. It’s because I’m busy holding myself up that I am able to ignore all the dark paths that present themselves to me.

            On a more, or less, interesting note (depending how you see it) I feel like I will take the time to list some random events that I remember. Although not fun events, they are also not the ones that dwell on me these days.

 

                  -When I was in the sixth grade I was getting off the bus and accidently hit a girl with my backpack as I was walking down the aisle, she proceeded to yell to me “YOU BITCH.”  It’s not that big of a deal, but it was the first day of middle school….really set the tone. I just thought about that randomly the other day and found it funny.

                 -When I was in the seventh grade, in science class, this kid named Sean (I do remember his last name… just won’t share it) made me want to cry. I yawned REALLY HARD and apparently that created quite the double chin because he whispered my name and mimicked me while pointing out this lovely fact about my “weight”… 

                -FIFTH GRADE we had to make a poster board about a planet and talk about why you should come visit, as if it were a destination. So my planet was the SUN, my tagline that I came up with (ALL BY MYSELF I MUST ADD) was along the lines of  “Come visit the Sun and get a great tan!” (AWESOME RIGHT!) so this Adrianne girl stops as she is walking by my poster and say *leaning over putting her hand on her chest*”ARE YOU SAYING IM PALE?” I was so thrown off I just cowered and said “no…” but now I have many things I wish I would have said… But it was only fifth grade. 

              -Roughly 8^th grade I was with one of my best friends at the time and talking about a guy who I liked and supposedly liked me. I think she forgot she was talking to me, because she began to talk about me. She actually said to me (NO JOKE) “Yeah I was talking to him and was like ‘Why do you even like her she has like no boobs’” so this is annoying because she told me to my face that she was talking about me. It was like she forgot who I was. Now I was only 13 and the comment itself really didn’t make me all that mad, just threw me off that she talked crap to me about me…. 

             -Seventh grade again (ROUGH TIMES) this kid Connor (short little dbag) made a rude comment about my early onset of acne…. He continued to tell me “My brother has some proactive if you want me to bring it to you!” That set me into an emotional teenage breakdown. Now I look back and laugh because my face cleared up in time, but at 22 he’s making pizzas, and selling (what I assume is stolen) electronics over facebook. (Sucks to have peaked in middle school…)

 

         So I took the time to list these for a good laugh, but also to show how much random crap I remember, and how something that looks like a harmless act of bullying can stick with someone for YEARS. The things above don’t bother me, but I can guarantee kids hear similar things and those things stick with them and bother them for years on end. It really goes to show how powerful our minds are. It also shows how mean kids were in middle school. It may be funny to me now, but then it was far from laughable.  ​

Miss Crème if you’re nasty!

Today I spent some time scanning through the YouTube app on my Apple TV looking for something interesting to watch. I decided to catch up on one of my favorite drag stars and seasons six’s Miss Congeniality, Ben De La Crème! Benjamin Putnam, also known as Ben De La, De La, and most of all Ben De La Crème, stole my heart with her story as well as her comedic genius. I absolutely loved her performance in “Shade the Rusicle” and she had me second guessing her real identity during the “Snatch Game.”

His story really touched me when he spoke on his early years, growing up as the “weird, fat, gay kid” and losing his mother when he was very young. Although I still have my mother she has gone thought quite a bit and I couldn’t imagine my life without her, especially as a huge support system. In my personal opinion, and one that Ben may agree with, I feel that his character is a peppy representation of the mother he lost at such a young age. De La has quite a way with Drag, and I still have issues with Ru’s choice to send her home before the final four. In my opinion she should have been in the top three alongside Bianca and Adore. (Sorry Courtney, it is America’s next drag superstar… not Australia’s!)  

Either way, I took some time today to research some of her drag in the clubs that she wasn’t able showcase during the airing of season six. If you haven’t seen some of her stage stuff I highly recommend looking it up on YouTube, even if you do not know who she is you will be in for a treat. I loved her rendition of Beyoncé’s “Partition,” she goes through the cast list and shares some zingy one liner’s that only die hard Drag Racer will understand! (Dani Brown… that’s you!! Although you probably saw her sing it live! Lol ) She also did an interesting version of an Alyssa Edwards (Season 5)  impersonation! HYSTERICAL “I don’t get cute, I get DROP DEAD GORGEOUS!” She also did an interesting/modern and comical take, on “The Little Mermaid.”

Obviously I watched the show, so I know how funny she is, taking down Bianca as a puppet

is NO easy task, but De La does it with ease. She absolutely earned her title as Miss Congeniality, and she deserves so much more. She’s one to look out for, and I hope if they do a second season of All Stars she will be a participant. She is one queen who keeps her personal self and Drag self completely separate. The second she slips into her high heels she becomes this character that is completely unrecognizable from her boy self.  She melts my heart with her campy costumes and “Terminally Sweet” personality. I want so badly to meet her, as well as various other queens, but she is my next conquest for the person I HAVE to MEET!

http://bendelacreme.com/

Are your problems really that bad??

There is a big difference between being put in unfortunate situations, and situations you put yourself into. In other words, if you put yourself into negative situations, that is your fault. Some people genuinely don't choose their misfortunes.

This may sound a bit pretentious, but I strongly believe people don't quite understand how good they have it. Even I know that the misfortunes I have been through haven't been the worst thing anyone has ever endured. But the difference between me and other people is that I understand I'm not going through the worst. My life is easy compared to most people's.  

I've never struggled with parents who neglected me, I was never bullied for my sexuality, I've never had to live in a shelter. I know how lucky I am. My past was not perfect, but what bothers me most about my past are things I had no control over. I've never done drugs, I've never been to rehab for choices I could have avoided, and I've never been 16 and pregnant. 

Struggles I've endured include my parents divorce, my mother becoming disabled, and my stepfather walking out on my mother and I. I've had my life shaken to its core, and it weighs on me, some things get to me more often than I would like, but I didn't ask for any of those things to happen. 

What I have a hard time trying to understand are people who complain that their life is hard when they put themselves in their situations and ask for it. If you choose to have unprotected sex you're at risk of pregnancy and putting yourself, and your child, at risk for a difficult life if you are not a stable adult. I see girls who have several kids they cannot afford and expect slack from those around them. These are the consequences, and people seem to think they are exempt from struggle because they don't deserve it. They may not ask for it, they may not deserve it, but they sure has hell could have avoided it. 

People who do drugs and spend ALL of their money on God knows what, shouldn't be mad when they are getting evicted from their place of living. You chose to spend your money in a irresponsible way. No one has to give you hand outs. 

If you drop out of High School and have difficultly finding a job, that is your fault. I honestly can say that "High School is NOT HARD!" Yeah we can be handed struggles along the way, but sometimes we have to push through them. 

If you're too lazy to do your class work and have to retake a class, or a year of school, that is YOUR FAULT! No one held you down and said "don't do your homework, don't study!" You decided it wasn't important enough to put your time into. 

People like to complain they don't deserve what they have been handed in life, but in my opinion there are plenty who ask for their misfortunes. 

I was watching season 5 of RuPaul's Drag race and two contestants, both in the top three, managed to change situations they did not ask for. Roxxxy Andrews and Jinkxs Monsoon both had difficult mothers who changed their childhood. Yet both queens were able to put their energy into something positive that they loved and they came out on top. 

Same show season 4, Phi Phi O'hara and Sharon Needles. Phi Phi grew up not being accepted by her father, but she pushed on and worked hard. Sharon was bullied relentlessly in school for her sexuality and being different, and she went on to win it all that season. 

People can change their misfortunes, but it is important to note that these last four examples didn't ask for what they got, yet they rose above it. 

If someone who was dealt these awful cards could rise above, what does that say for people who put themselves in a hole?

I understand my life will go on, I try not to get hung up on things I cannot change, they won't affect my future directly, and I can do better. But the best part of my predicament is knowing that it wasn't my fault! Knowing that I couldn't fix it sucks, but I wasn't the reason it brought me down either. 

How can those who put themselves in these situations blame others for where they ended up? You control you, and you need to make the changes necessary to fix your mistakes. Don't rely on others to pick you up. 

On another note I don't see how someone whose parents pay for everything, and allow them to do what they want can complain over little things that happen to them. Some individuals know how to turn a mole hill into a mountain. 

An example of this was a girl I knew my freshman year who complained about her parents being difficult and not understanding her. This girl also had more pairs of UGG boots than most have shoes in general. Her parents gave her money whenever she needed it, and she probably doesn't even pay for the gas in her car, let alone her school tuition. Yet she made her parents out to be terrible people. Her biggest worry should be her personality, not her parents. 

It almost seems as though the more you have in life the smaller your problems actually are. 

Regardless of your problems it is important to remember there is always someone going through something 100 times worse. 

The customer is always right! Unless they ask for less ice! (HUH?)

Working for a restaurant has many various downfalls. For the most part I only ever complain about customers, but this time it's about the company and its ridiculous standards. 

As a server I genuinely do care about my guests. I have no issue yelling at a cook to hurry it up on your food, get your refills, or even give you directions to the nearest movie theater. I enjoy making people happy and giving them a good experience when I wait on them. 

Something that my company has been pushing lately is "Full Glass of ICE" no excuses. So basically I fill the glass up to the rim with ice and the air between the ice holds what little liquid fits. 

This frustrates me because it causes several problems. First, it pisses off guests! They don't want a whole glass of ice, they pay almost 3$ for that soda, tea, lemonade, etc. Secondly, it makes me have to do more trips to get more refills. 

I have literally had guests complain and ask "Could you put less ice in the next refill?" and when I go to do that my managers will yell at me and say "full glass of ice!" so I politely say "The guest asked for less ice..." and in return I hear "Tell them you will bring them as many refills as they need. Fill it with ice!" ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME! This is the same company who will comp a burger if the customer doesn't like the extra mayo they asked for, or comp a dessert because the girl who just turned 21 forgot her ID and wasn't able to order a drink. I understand they want to keep the guest happy, but they are willing to use cost of food over soda syrup.

So why would a company require something that keeps its servers busy running refills that waste glasses, ice, and time??? Their reasoning for doing this is to save on the COST of soda... Biggest load of GARBAGE ever. People will just require more refills.... And because I have to bring a new glass with fresh ice every refill, time gets wasted. Now we need more glasses (cost), more ice (water cost, electricity cost to run the ice maker), wash more glasses (dish soap, and water cost), more time from servers to get refills, keep ice stocked, and send glasses through the washer (guest waiting cost (HURTS MY POCKET)). Not sure, but I feel like there is zero progress being made in saving money. People will still drink the same amount, it's just costing more to provide the refill! 

Now this has been on my nerves for months since my company, and managers, have been nagging me to FILL THE GLASS WITH ICE! But it's really striking me because they cut back costs in such ridiculous ways!

So this same company who can't spend  X amount of dollars on soda syrup can take all of their stores GMs on conferences, all expenses paid, every year! Last year my GM was taken on a cruise with the company at no cost to him. He maybe sat in 4 hours worth of meetings to sit on his butt and drink the other 5 days of the trip! Similar trips happen each year... I'm starting to think we aren't cutting costs to save on soda, but better yet we are paying for these silly trips given to people who already make over 60k a year. 

Realistically I know they don't cut costs for these trips, but I feel like maybe if they didn't hold these trips then there would be less need to cut costs within the place where money is actually made. 

I understand I am not a business person. I'm about to graduate for psychology, not accounting, so numbers and cost/revenue aren't my strong points. Regardless of what my ability is, I think there is plenty of room to say that this company ought to get its priorities straight. If we really cared about the customer we wouldn't shove a 3$ glass of ice in their face and pass it off as soda. 

Egg Pans and Tiny Spatulas

So yesterday, the 7^th of January, was my three year anniversary with my amazing boyfriend! Sappy sap sap! Anywhoooo… I bring this up because it is important to how I am as person, but mainly a girlfriend (future wife). Something I take pride in is my love of taking care of my boyfriend. I’m not his “sugar mama” or anything weird like that, I just like doing wife-like things for him. I enjoy cooking for him, and eventually doing his laundry and cleaning our home. I just enjoy homemaker type activities that act as nice gestures for my man.

Before people get the wrong idea, I do believe in “equal work” and all that; I don’t expect to be barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen. I realize I can still hold a job and make my own wages, but things like cooking and cleaning for our home is something I like because he appreciates it. He does equally nice things for me; he buys me flowers for no reason, pays for dinners, and takes me to the movies. I can do nice things for him….RIGHT!

Now I will give some more relevance to this rambling explanation. Because of my school schedule, and living 45 minutes away, we were unable to spend our three years together. Today we are making up for it by having dinner and spending quality time together. (Currently I’m writing this while he writes the website for my blog. QUALITY TIME!!!) So when he saw me today he walks in with one hand behind his back, hiding something obviously. So he tells me “I bought you a bouquet!” I giggled and he pulled out a handful of spatulas! You may be thinking that is odd, or sexist, either way you should know that I LOVED IT!

Ever since my birthday last year I have been complaining that I wanted a small egg pan, just something to make an individual egg in so it comes out perfect sandwich sized. He finally fulfilled my request for Christmas, and I was overjoyed to say the least. I started using it this week and realized all my spatulas were too wide for the pan, so I jokingly said “I need a tiny spatula for an anniversary gift!” He came through, and he also got me some good baking type spatulas to go along with it, and complete my bouquet.

So this may be weird and if you’re still reading this you may be thinking “Erica, this is weird and has zero point, no one cares about egg pans and tiny spatulas!” Maybe you don’t care, and that’s fine, but I feel it is important to share special things that happen in my life. I feel that my boyfriend and I have a strong, unique, and exciting relationship! (Yes spatulas, and other kitchen ware for that matter, are exciting to me!) Mostly important to note is that my boyfriend is creative, and I’m lucky to be with someone who is so thoughtful.

Too often people take their significant others for granted. I do NOT believe in “Accidents” such as cheating. If things like this occur they are no accident, and they are likely to occur again. I speak for both my boyfriend and myself when I say “we would never cheat on one another.” We have an understanding that we are worth too much to each other to throw it away on any “moment of weakness.” There is no such thing as a second chance in my book. I feel bad for the girls that take back their scummy boyfriends who consistently treat them terribly and test their trust. I’ve never had trust issues with Matt, and he just confirmed he also has no trust issues with me. (He actually laughed when I asked him.)

Long post short, I feel very lucky to have a good boyfriend I can trust. Having trust in a relationship allows for less stress. I never worry about who he is with, or what he is doing, if he wants to have dinner with his female friends that okay with me, and he doesn’t mind me going out for a drink or a movie with my male friends. He even, without my asking, gave me a fingerprint to his phone for whenever I want to use it. We don’t feel a need to hide our texts, or be secretive about whom we are texting. That seems to be rare these days. I feel as though trust is no longer a common notion in relationships, and that is very sad. 

Matthew and Me!

Sassy SENIOR! 2015

Tomorrow is my first day of classes for my final senior semester in my undergrad at Ball State University! Bitter-FREAKING-sweet! Assuming everything goes as planned, I will be walking across the stage on May second 2015 collecting my 40,000 dollar diploma.

This semester will hopefully go smoothly. I was able to catch up and take extra courses last summer which allowed me to have a small schedule of 12 credit hours this semester, leaving me with a very EASY course load. I’m slacking off with two blow-off online classes that end March 9^th, my capstone research course, and my internship which will be off campus. Only four classes and two will be done with by Spring Break! I’m very excited to only have to be on campus Tuesday and Thursday for an hour and a half.

At 22 years old I still don’t know everything. I’ve learned quite a bit in college, mostly about myself, but it has taught me some great lessons. I don’t think I have many regrets as this experience comes to a close, but there are always things we wish we could change.

As years go on I will never regret coming to college, most people only regret never having gone. I’m glad I won’t be in my thirties looking back and wishing I would have taken the time to do something this spectacular. Some people have struggle just to graduate High School, looking back High School was a cake walk. Those who are able to stick it out and further their educations are the ones who truly worked their butts off.

My dreams go much further than college but I hope that college will give me the platform I need to move on to bigger and better things. Fingers crossed!

Good luck to anyone who is graduating in the next few months, or those who are just chugging through college as they work their way to a worthwhile degree!

Related Links in PPPS:

-YouTube Video College Tips!

-The stress of Syllabus week.