50 Fun Facts

On this cold rainy day, I am going to write 50 fun facts about myself. I got this off of my mom's blog.

1. I was borne in Boone, NC. I weighed 9lbs. 13 oz.
2. I am the oldest child in my family.
3. I accepted Jesus Christ when I was 5 years old.
4. I am IN LOVE with Chemistry. It is my passion.
5. I hope to adopt many children one day.
6. I attend East Carolina University and I am a Chemistry and Science Education major.
7. I am a 2nd Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do.
8. I took piano lessons for 3 1/2 years.
9. I think Psych is the funniest T.V. show in the whole world.
10. I love A.1 Steak Sauce on anything.
11. I have an AMAZING roommate who handles all of my craziness and frequent emotional outbursts.
12. I do not like to say I am 18 years old. I would rather be 17 years and 365+ days.
13. I spelled my dog's name Lillie instead of Lily because I felt the IE looked prissier.
14. I am deathly afraid of frogs, I have been for as long as I can remember.
15. I love learning and studying about Greek mythology.
16. I remember where I was when 9/11 happened. I was I had just turned 8 and I was in our living room. My mom was trying to get my sister to take a nap. She had the T.V. on to drown out any background noise and started yelling and screaming for us to come to her when she saw the explosion on T.V.
17. I have been homeschooled from Kindergarten to graduation. I went to public school for 3 days.
18. I don't like goats, birds, or reptiles.
19. Fall is my favorite season.
20. Listening to music is my most used stress reliever.
21. Strawberry ice cream is my weakness.
22. I cannot stand the smell of coffee or cigarette smoke.
23. I don't like peanut butter or milk.
24. My favorite colors are blue, purple, and orange.
25. I am extremely clumsy.
26. My favorite movie is Pride and Prejudice.
27. Africa is constantly on my mind, in my heart, and in my prayers.
28. I have always loved Pirates, so it is very fitting that I am an ECU pirate.
29. I love organization, but my room is always a mess.
30. I really like cutting the grass (on the riding lawn mower). I find it very relaxing.
31. I love my parents. They are the best in the world.
32. I am 3 1/2 years older than my 14 year old brother, 7 years old than my 11 year old sister, and 9 years older than my 9 year old brother.
33. I have played basketball, soccer, piano, guitar, took Ice Skating lessons and Tae Kwon Do.
34. I think chess is really boring.
35. I have had perfect vision up until college. During Christmas break I had to get reading glasses.
36. I am a Sweet Tea-aholic.
37. I have always had a fear of being locked into places. Two years ago, I got locked into a shower trailer for almost 30 minutes and I thought I was going to die.
38. I have had the same friends for as long as I can remember. I came to college thinking that I wasn't going to be able to easily make new friends, but I was wrong. I have easily made many new friends.
39. I have a very active imagination and have to be very careful about what I read.
40. I have vocal cord dysfunction and so I constantly have to remind my vocal cords how to work properly.
41. I am very close to all of my parents siblings and their children.
42. I have very active grandparents. They are always a part of everything I do.
43. I love the idea of doing craft projects, but never actually get around to doing them.
44. Toms are one of my all time favorite shoes.
45. I want to go to Seattle, Washington someday.
46. I love watching musicals.
47. I love action movies (Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Green Lantern, etc.)
48. I have watched the show "Walker, Texas Ranger" since I was 3 years old. It is one of the only shows that I have watched for as long as I can remember.
49. I enjoy wrapping any kind of present with duct tape.
50. I love being at home and spending time with my family.

It's Not Easy

My mom has always said, “If it were easy, everyone would do it.” In other words, anything that is worth accomplishing in life will not be easy to obtain. I have made this saying my motto in life. I have done my best to do everything to the best of my ability and be content with the outcome. Through my first semester at East Carolina University, this motto has been put to the test. Some days, some assignments, and some classes have pushed me to my limits. I was in the middle of my first semester of college and all I wanted to do was give up and go home; however, in the back of my mind I had to remind myself that if getting a college degree were easy, then everyone would have one.

I was homeschooled from Kindergarten to graduation. I was used to always being with my family, knowing exactly what was expected of me, and was completely comfortable in my surroundings. As the aspect of college continued to come closer, I started to worry. I didn’t want to leave my family, my house, my friends, and my familiarity. I knew that going to college had to be my decision and that it wasn’t going to be easy; however, I remembered my life motto.

I got on campus and came to the realization that college was a good fit for me. I still didn’t like being away from my home and family, but I was becoming content with where I was in life. I enjoyed my classes, my professors, and the things I was learning. As the semester progressed, classes got harder, tests got longer, and my stress level got higher. To put it simply, I was tired. I called home already knowing what I would be told, “If it were easy, everyone would do it.”

I made it through the semester and was looking forward to getting a break. The only thing standing between me and my much-anticipated break were finals. If I thought the middle of the semester was stressful, I was in for a big surprise. Finals were the most stressful things I had ever been through in my entire life. I studied as hard as I could. I took each test to the best of my ability. Some grades were not as satisfactory as I had hoped and some grades were more than satisfactory. Throughout the entire week, I had to remind myself, “If college were easy, everyone would be here.”

I had my ups and downs last semester; however, I learned many important things. I learned that college is not as scary has it seems. It is definitely different and takes time and effort to get used to. I learned that finals are a part of getting a college degree. They are not easy, they are not fun, and they are very stressful, but with the proper mental, physical, and emotional preparation finals can be successfully accomplished. Of all the things I learned, the most important things are that gaining a college degree isn’t easy, it can be very stressful, and it can be a challenge; however, if it were easy, everyone would have one.