up next in Meghan's life is...

This may be the most random post ever after I have so much to talk about from the past 2 months basically, but I got to thinking after Amanda's post..

It's hard having worked toward this degree, always knowing this was the degree I wanted to pursue, but not knowing where I'm going to go with it once I have it.

Knowing what I want to do after I graduate in a year may not be possible now, but something my mom told me was that you don't have to know what you want to do right away, most people don't know.

It's a tough statement for me to grasp.

You know when you go through elementary school you know you're going to middle school. From middle school you'll be going to big and scary high school. After high school there's always college, the military, or straight into a full time job. For me and my older brother it was always going to be college and for my younger brother it was always going to be the military. After college, what's next?

I could find a job or I could go to grad school for something. What? I have no idea. But grad school. This is where my unknown comes into play.

I've faced this question before. It's always a tough one that is always in the back of my mind.

After I graduate in a year...

What's next?

Fortunately, I have a year to figure it out.

I'm feeling very optimistic and like the sky's the limit after working Orientation for the past 6 weeks.

I hope it stays this way :)

hello there

well would you look at that!

i'm FINALLY on summer break!!

cue WOOOOOO and happy dance!!!

finals are DONE and everything is home. I have no plans to do anything for a week.

best feeling ever :)

you were just like "wait a week?!?"

yes a week.

I'm moving back to school to work Orientation next tuesday :)

I'm not mad about it at all.

my junior year of college has been the craziest one yet.

let's hope senior year is just as crazy and more amazing.

Thursday: Community

welcome to thursday of the BSU Blogfest!

today's theme is Community

what I love most about Bridgewater is the sense of community I feel in every aspect of my life here.

let's do a little compare and contrast from BSU and college #1.

at college #1 I didn't feel like I was a part of the campus. from the moment I moved in to the minute I left. I felt like a stranger at my own school.

the dorm I lived in was not a cheerful place. the RAs didn't decorate the halls with certain themes, there weren't programs for us to go to in the dorm. the only part of that dorm that felt welcoming was my room. my roommate and I decorated a large majority of our walls, we had photos and posters on the walls. it was the only place I felt comfortable.

the classrooms felt like cells. little light, little color. large shades on the windows. I did my best to learn, but I didn't feel a connection to the professors. I didn't feel like I could visit them in their offices for help.

the clubs and organizations on campus felt closed off. I didn't feel like anyone wanted me to be a part of their organization. I was a part of one organization for my first semester, but had no connections to make me want to go back for the second semester.

whereas at Bridgewater, I already had a certain connection to the school, having visited my friends on the weekends, and seeing the good in it from the start.

I like seeing the decorations hanging on the walls and the themed floors in my residence hall. I love seeing that there is a program to go to, even if I'm not always able to attend. I like knowing that they care about the building even if it means they have to charge us for some missing elevator buttons.

the classrooms are well lit. I feel comfortable being in class. I know I can rely on my professors to help. I know they want their students to succeed.

the clubs and organizations on this campus are more than welcome to accept members. I made a connection and have become very good friends with so many people through Program Committee. I spend time in OSIL because I want to be around this wonderful community of people I've met on campus.

so whether it is from living in the residence hall, to being in the classroom, or what I do when I'm not in class I have always felt like a part of the BSU community. it didn't take me very long to feel that way either. I know my experience at college #1 has made me appreciate this community 10 times more.

sometimes I wonder if everyone feels the way I do about the BSU community. I don't think everyone takes advantage of what is in front of them. there are so many different outlets for the diverse group of students we have here. I wish there was some way we could reach out to every student and find out if they feel like they are a member of the BSU community and if they don't, help them to.

my college experience became so much better after I felt like a part of this campus. I take pride in being a student at BSU and this is because I feel welcome in such a great community.

a delayed wednesday: leadership

wednesday's BSU Blogfest post is a little late. it was a little crazy yesterday, but here it is :)

so Wednesday's theme was Leadership!

being a leader has been a new concept for me in the last year.

in high school and for my first couple years of college I never really thought of myself as a leader. for a while I was content being the follower. I got along standing on the side. But I always wondered what it would be like to be a leader.

last year, when it was my first year at BSU, I was genuinely happy being at this school and really felt that I had found where I was meant to be going to college.

I made a lot of new friends, many of whom I looked up to as great leaders on campus. they urged me to apply to be an Orientation Leader. until they mentioned it to me, I hadn't really thought much about it. I wasn't sure if I was the right kind of person to be an OL. they asked me a few different times to apply and I eventually did.

now after I went through the group process interview and found out I was an alternate, I wasn't overly upset and went on with the semester.

then I had a few different people asking if I was going to apply for PC e-board when they were looking to fill a few more positions. again, I wasn't sure I was going to be right for this position, but I figured, let's try it out. it's worth a shot. I went in for an interview and found out I was the director of marketing.

so long story short (and I know I've told the story before here on the blog) I found out I was going to be an OL. last summer, I really started to feel like a leader.

I know now that anyone can become a leader. the first step is going out there and trying it out. if I had gone along telling myself that I'm "not the right kind of person" then I never would have had the best summer I think I've ever had. I never would have learned that there isn't a cookie cutter kind of leader.

I gained so much confidence in realizing that yes, I can do this. I can be that person who stands in front of a group and be the one who they look to for guidance.

leadership has definitely been an important part of my life.

I'm not afraid to say I'm not the right kind of person anymore.

:)

Tuesday- Technology

welcome to BSU Blogfest Day 2!

today's theme is Technology :)

technology has always been a love/hate thing with me.

without it I could be more productive. without it I would be able to read more than I've been able to. without it I could spend more time doing more.

but without it I wouldn't know some of the people that I do. without it I wouldn't be able to stay in touch with many people that I've met. without it I think I would be bored.

i thinking along the lines of personal technology

cellphones, smartphones, laptops, ipads, ipods

it's amazing how much our lives revolve around them.

sometimes I wish I knew what it was like without it all. technology of all sorts has its perks and uses now, but what were the days like when people use to talk face to face, not facetime to facetime.

yet I still would have trouble giving up my laptop or my cellphone or my ipod. it's frustrating to think about. are we better off without technology or is the world better off with it all?

I don't know.

I guess I wish technology wasn't so frustrating sometimes, but i wouldn't give it up for the world.

what about you? do you ever wonder if we're better off with or without it all sometimes?

not much on today's theme. I'm a little fried after my two tests today :/

Monday: Learning

welcome to BSU Blogfest Day 1!

today's theme is Learning.

I have learned a lot in my 20 (almost 21) years of life.

we could talk about what I've learned from class, what I've learned about family, what I've learned about friendships, what I've learned about myself,

I could continue going on and on.

but I think I learned the most in my first year of college.

some of you may already know that I didn't attend Bridgewater State University (aka college #2) for my first year of college. I actually went to another school. I transferred to BSU for my sophomore year.

I didn't know what to expect when I first went to college. I was a good student and did everything by the book in high school. I didn't get in trouble, got mostly As and tried hard to stay that way.

when I first got to college #1, I wasn't overly worried about living away from home. my parents raised me to be a pretty independent person, so the independence factor wasn't too troublesome for me. I've always been mature for my age. I knew I was going to school to get an education first and foremost.

what I didn't realize was the things I would learn about myself and the big world outside of the small town life I grew up in. I made a couple of friends that first month and got to know them. but when october of my freshmen year came around I learned a lot about trust. if you aren't careful about those you trust when you get to know someone, that trust you instill in them can come back and bite you in the butt.

I learned that the world is not perfect. terrible things happen to people and this can influence the way they act. when you get yourself mixed up with these people, you can be put into some difficult positions. I had to face the consequences for my so called friend's actions.

on top of this situation I faced, I also lost my grandmother in November of my freshmen year. she had been sick all my life. it was hard losing her. she was an integral part of my childhood and I learned that it doesn't do you any good to whine and complain about things in life. my grandmother had her good and her bad days, yet she never complained.

I tried not to let all of these things affect my schoolwork and finished the semester doing well in a majority of my classes.

over winter break the feelings and pressure I felt about everything that I went through during those first 4 months of school hit me all at once. I had one big anxiety attack. but luckily, I learned how to handle this anxiety I was feeling and I learned that crying is not a bad thing :)

I wasn't happy after my first semester of college. not just because of everything that had happened. I wasn't happy sitting in my room all the time. I did join college #1s version of Program Committee, but wasn't enjoying being a member.

over that winter break I learned that I did not want to stay at a school where I wasn't happy. I couldn't see myself graduating from college #1. that was the most important thing for me.

that's when I applied to BSU. I had visited my friends who went here their first year and loved it. I had applied here when I was in high school, but I wanted to try something different from my friends. to try out that independent deal.

I was accepted and made it through the second semester of college #1. after I left college #1 I never regret going there. one of the other many things I learned was how to branch out and try different things. I grew up that first year and I got a better understanding of the outside world.

but let me just say I'm thrilled to have been at BSU the last 2 years. I've learned so much and grown even more. I can see myself graduating from here next year and while it is a daunting thought, I know I'm happier now learning everything I did that first year.

so is there something that you have learned that made a big impact on you?

:)

BSU Blogfest

you all know I love twitter

and facebook

and this blog

and my readers

and my school

right?

it's true, i do.

well next week I'm going to be participating in the BSU Blogfest.

I'm sort of excited for it.

let me explain what is going to happen:

all next week, I'm going to be blogging about the theme of the day. each day has a different theme. I'm going to try my hardest not to stop writing in the style that I already do. my style goes with the flow and is basically whatever comes to mind. so whatever I think of is what I'll be blogging about. you know, the usual.

the Blogfest is part of a weeklong event hosted by the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership at my college, Bridgewater State University. this event is called Social Media Week!

there are so many different clubs, organizations, faculty, staff, and students who use twitter, blogs, facebook or other social media sites on our campus that it's time we use all of them in one week.

I normally write about my life and that isn't going to change next week. I'll be doing my best to apply the themes to things I've experienced in my life while still staying lighthearted and optimistic like I've always wanted this blog to stay.

I hope you all enjoy being a little piece of my every day life next week! please feel free to comment on the posts or write your own posts with your thoughts on the theme of the day or how social media ties into and affects your life. and if you do let me know! I want to know!

there are other blogs participating in the Blogfest and many more people tweeting and discussing social media all next week!

check out the other blogs here

we'll also be using the hashtag #BSUsmw on twitter all week as well.

if you don't already follow me on twitter you can find me @MEO18

I can't wait to hear your thoughts about all the themes and everything else to do with social media next week!

get excited!!

:)

the non-french lesson

I took french in high school.

my teacher was a nice person. I learned a little bit of french. do I remember any french? um, not really, but I can say Je m'appelle Meghan (which I think means My name is Meghan) that's all I've got.

what I do remember is when we had a lesson on doing nice things for others.

with the lesson she wanted us to watch Pay it Forward. you know the one with Haley Joel Osment, Kevin Spacey, and Helen Hunt? we even got to watch it with no subtitles.

anyway it was a great lesson to have in junior year of high school, but just a little weird to have in a french class.

the idea of it is great, if you do something nice for someone and they do something nice for someone else, this kindness will spread to many others.

well a few weeks ago Vanessa over at Caramel Covered Photographs passed this amazing idea along.

"Here's the deal. I promise to send three of you something homemade sometime in 2011. In order to take part, you need to leave me a comment and also post this idea on your blog, continuing to pay it forward"

it's a great idea that I want to send to three of my fantastic readers so we can spread the happiness and make others day.

remember to leave your email address in the comment

my french teacher would be so proud. and thanks Vanessa for this amazing idea!

rainy days

hello loves

it's that time again for 10 things I'm doing right now:

1) rocking some mustaches in this picture with my roommate Morgan

2) not doing homework... again

3) listening to some biebs. judge away friends, I give you full permission (even though it isn't sunday*)

4) counting down the days until Spring Break- 4 days

5) counting down the days until Disney- 8 days

6) thinking about how crazy banks are. I no longer go to the other school, stop sending them my loan!

7) wishing this gigantic Inception poster would stay taped up on our wall

8) thinking I can't wait to watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off since we just got it from netflix

9) so glad I'm not going to get soaking wet tomorrow like I did today

10) going to try and get a little homework finished before I climb in bed

have a wonderful week everyone!

*our dorm room is a judgement free room, except on sundays.

10 things going on right now

1. I'm procrastinating on my computer homework

2. Waiting for a meeting to start in 22 minutes (we'll be starting late; we always do)

3. I want chocolate really bad

4. I'm watching my friend Emily dance and laughing at her out of love.

5. Looking forward to friday

6. Loving the lovely messages from some wonderful ladies. You have certainly made me feel better about the future. I'll respond to you soon. Let's talk more about it okay?

7. Sitting in the PC office

8. Going to get ice cream soon or that chocolate I was just thinking about

9. Thinking I need to do a post like this fairly regularly

10. Happy that I was able to think of 10 things I'm doing right now

the unknown.

I've been thinking about my future a lot lately. It's been happening more often.

I think it's because when I look at what I have left to take to finish my degree, there isn't all that much left to take.

so I ask myself, what do I want to do with my life?

I know I'm 20 years old and there's going to be some time before I'm sure I choose the right career, but the prospect of deciding what that will be is daunting.

how will I really know? when will I really know? what do I do to get there? what should my focus be on right now? what am I doing to answer these questions? why can't I stop procrastinating? what is out there for me? will I be able to do the things I want to in the bigger picture? what does the future hold?

i don't know the answer to any of this.

but i think that's okay

because that is what life is about.

it's the unknown.

it's just a matter of not letting the fear of it get the best of me.

the answer is out there, it's just going to take a while to actually find.

back to the swing of things

today would have been the third day of classes if we didn't have a snow day.

looks like the roads were a little messy especially when I got up at 7 to see if the university was open.

it wasn't, so I went back to bed and slept wonderfully.

I'm going to have a very busy semester, I can tell already.

I'm taking 3 math classes, a computer class, and a psychology class.

I'm only slightly crazy, I swear.

with all that I have PC meetings and events

and I'm working in math services

and I want to read 30 books this year and have only finished 2

and I still want to blog.

I have a lot on my plate I guess.

that's just the way things go when you're back to the swing of things.

one!!

and here it is!

my favorite book of 2010 is...

Mockingjay

by: Suzanne Collins

{the final book in The Hunger Games trilogy}

I was so excited when this book came out in August. Remember when I had my Mockingjay dilemma? That's how excited I was. This was probably my most anticipated book of the year and that's also why I decided to make it my top book of 2010.

If you've read it before you can probably understand what makes this book great. If you haven't what I will tell you is this: I loved this book because it summed up everything in this series without sugarcoating anything. This fictional world of Panem is not a happy place. How could it when they make kids fight for their lives in the Hunger Games? Not everyone was going to survive. There would be hardships for our favorite characters in the end, yet somehow they survive. I don't want to ruin too much of the book though.

so those are my top 5 favorite books of 2010!

my goal for 2011 is to read 30 books :)

so what about everyone else? what was your favorite book you read last year?

two!

I had a hard time choosing my second favorite book.

let's just say it was a three way tie

so my second favorite book(s) of 2010 were

The Mortal Instruments Trilogy

by: Cassandra Clare

I know it's probably not fair to choose all of them because I did choose just one out of the other series in this top 5, but I couldn't wait to read all of them when I started with City of Bones.

There are many different parts to this series that drew me in. First, the supernatural aspect. I don't know if you can tell by now, but I love supernatural type books. I think this was inevitable since the first series I fell in love with was Harry Potter. The idea of having this other world in the mix of a modern day world in New York is the kind of thing I love to read about! There is never a moment where you want it to end. Just when you think you've solved the problem, it twists and turns into something you didn't imagine. Loose ends are tied up but others are presented and keep you wanting more!

This series was initially suppose to have just the first three but Cassandra Clare decided to continue the series into three more books

(City of Fallen Angels, City of Lost Souls, and City of Heavenly Fire) in addition to a prequel series (Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince, and Clockwork Princess). This leaves plenty of books to look forward to in the future for these characters and some new ones too :)

three!

my third favorite book of 2010 was

Shiver

by: Maggie Stiefvater

{first in the Wolves of Mercy Falls series}

This was another of the many summer books I read. What I like about this book is the detail of the scenes in it. I felt like I was feeling every rise or fall in the temperature. I could see the snowy backyard of Grace's house. I could picture Grace's wolf. I wanted to hug Sam whenever I learned something new about his troubled life. There are so many emotions for these characters. And this was only the beginning of the story! I felt everything all over again for these characters in the sequel Linger.

four!

my fourth favorite book of 2010 was

Sisters Red

by: Jackson Pearce

This was one of my summer reads. I liked this book because it was a new twist on something old. The author took the story of Little Red Riding Hood and made it into this tale of two sisters who devote themselves to tracking down and killing any Fenris (werewolves) they can find. I enjoyed reading about the two sisters and the battles they face both against the Fenris and with each other.

five!

my fifth favorite book of 2010 was

Beautiful Creatures

by: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

{the first book in the Caster Chronicles}

I read this book in January last year and really enjoyed it! What I like most about it was not just the relationship shared between Ethan and Lena, but the build up to the "main event" I guess you could say. The way these two characters fall in love with one another but still have this decision that they have no control over hanging over them had me turning the pages for more. Another point that drew me in was the Casters and the powers they possess. With romance and magic, this book and it's sequel Beautiful Darkness were right up my alley.

it's a countdown!

you've seen the books that i read last year

now i want to share my top 5

i think what would make this fun and more suspenseful would be to release one book a day all this week :)

we'll start with my fifth choice tomorrow (monday) and work to my top choice on friday!

any guesses to what the #1 book may be?