It has been exactly 1 month and 1 week since I flew away from my home of seven years. College, miraculously, is both less and more than I ever imagined. Five weeks is quite enough time to see beyond what I gained on a three day visit, and time enough to form opinions about the people around me. Five weeks is enough time to have missed a class (or two), to be absolutely overwhelmed with homework, and to question yourself about how prepared you really are for life.

This week in particular was quite miserable. My single most important discovery has been that sleep is essential to functionality. I've been awake for five hours today, but I had such a glorious sleep that it doesn't matter. As a whole, this campus is very superficial and gossipy...like they have the art of high school down to a science. Despite this sad fact, there are plenty of individuals who do not follow this path, and that is what makes college worthwhile. I took a walk this morning after watching the early show...and I realize I have been caught up in my own life far too much to see the things around me. Obama getting the Nobel Peace Prize? NASA smashing into the moon in hopes for discovering water? It's all enthralling, yet I've been stressing like crazy about the next homework assignments for my classes. I look around me and notice that college students all have this bubble to some extent...I hope I can break out of it often enough not to lose touch of the world.

Epitome of the month: No matter how "bad" things get for me here in college, it will never be the same kind of misery as in high school. I am in control of my life, and that is a blissful feeling in and of itself. I don't think students here fully appreciate the little things, such as how beautiful the weather is or how amazing the fresh air feels when you just close your eyes and take a deep breath. I have no regrets on the choices I've made in coming here, and I look forward to a wonderful experience.