1) The struggle of going to work at 9 am thinking you won’t be busy because who the heck goes to see a movie that early in the morning but alas…

A line of people awaits you, everyone wanting to buy tickets before you’ve even had time to clock in, let alone time to count your drawer.

2) The number of quarreling couples who choose to not only argue about what movie they’re seeing, but let it be known to you and all the waiting customers that they have personal issues they need to work out 

3) You have that one coworker who  is literally always watching a movie when he’s not working

It’s as if they live at the theater *clears throat* “I’m looking at you Josh”

4) If you work concessions there is no escaping the smell of buttered popcorn which will linger on you until you take a shower 

And no, I don’t love the constant access to free popcorn because now I can’t stand even being near it 

5) Customers look at you like you’re a loon if you haven’t seen every single movie that’s out yet

It’s just… Well… I already spend 8 hours a day, 3 days a week at the movies 

6) You may not get paid much but you don’t really ever wanna leave because of the awesome people you work with and the pretty sweet perks

7) Though work can get stressful, we’re all a big happy family in the end 

1) Some of your best friends are just steps outside of your door

But it’s really not unexpected because they literally live a few doors down from you

2) Ease of access to classes 

Strolling through campus like

3) You don’t have to make your own food

Just like in Harry Potter, the food magically appears on your plate when you enter the caf

4) You’re never alone

We’re in this together

5) There’s always someone to study with

Odds are that at least one of the girls you live with is in a class that you’re in, or at least they can help you with a particular topic

6) Movie nights are always an option when you’re living with a bunch of girls and there’s a common area with a tv on your floor

7) Your floor becomes a big, happy family 

The floor fam is so awesome, it’s almost superhero-like

8) You start to trust your floormates maybe a little too much

Leaving your valuable items in the hands of your floormates? Maybe not the best idea

9) The best opportunity to display your weird side, because these people basically know everything about you now 

Random screeching laughter and shenanigans is common

10) You never have to eat dinner alone, because you can just hit up the floor group chat and ask who wants to join you

They might just judge you for your food choices but it’s okay

11) Watching the Bachelor is a social event of pure entertainment

Who’s got the popcorn??

12) Every night’s a sleepover

Partay

You deserve this cliche confession of love to be completely honest because I love you more than Lorelai Gilmore loves her coffee, which says a lot.

1.  I am one lucky Spartan duck (lol get it?) to have met you

I’m still so grateful my mom persuaded me into going to MAGIC over the summer because otherwise we may never have met and probably never become best friends. But we did meet, and we became besties pretty much instantly.

2. You’re the best football game buddy a girl could ask for 

I’m so glad I have someone to act obnoxious with when our team isn’t playing like we want them to… and someone to act even more obnoxious with when they are playing like we want them to. I can’t wait for football season with you ❤

3. The sleepovers will never end when we’re finally roommates in the fall!

There gonna be-, wait for it…

4. You’re a beautiful, funny, amazing person

You’re also super weird but that’s one of the primary reasons I love you so much

5. In many ways, you’re better than a boyfriend

My cortisol levels aren’t nearly as high when I’m hanging out with you, and it’s a great deal because I can still love you.

6. I look forward to Spring Break trips with you in the years to come

Whether it’s hangin’ out on the beach, backpacking through Europe, or just watching movies in the comfort of home, anywhere we go is the best place to be because I get to be there with you

7. You’re stuck with me for life 

It’s best to accept it now. There’s no escape.

8. And finally…

You’re my best friend hun. Never forget it.

The Michigan primaries are tomorrow, March 8th, and if you are currently registered to vote in Michigan I encourage you to please, for the love of God, get your ass to the polls. I mean this in the most respectful way possible. But why in the heck would you not exercise your right to do so and let your voice be heard. I don’t wanna hear any “my vote doesn’t matter” or “I just don’t know who I want to vote for” or “I don’t know anything about politics”. Let’s not talk nonsense, because first of all, I can show you the data to prove that your vote does count and… You don’t need to understand politics to vote for a candidate. You just need to read up on how they stand on particular issues that matter the most to you.  Simple as that. You don’t have a right to complain about a particular candidate winning the election if you had the ability to make your opinion heard, but didn’t seize the opportunity.

GO VOTE! For crying out loud…

I hear this one word a lot when I’m hanging out with some of the girls on my floor…

Adventure.

Whether we’re fighting our way through 50 mph winds, linked together by arm, squealing a little too dramatically about how our hair is flying into our faces, or we’re jamming out to the Deadpool soundtrack, squashed together in a car and ending up lost on some random road we don’t recognize, we never fail to find adventure.

College is one of those experiences. Not only are you finding yourself as an individual and discovering what you want to be and do in the world, but you learn how and where you fit in a group. You probably create some of your most important friendships and come to understand that these times are going to be some of the best in your entire life.

Let’s take some examples from my college life. I am a Michigan State University student. My school is known amongst most young people as a party school, and one of the craziest around. Not only does this steroeotype not define us as a whole, but it doesn’t define me personally, or most of my friends. As an institution, MSU is full of hard-working, kind-hearted students who have a strong will to achieve. As an individual, the same is true for me. I spend a lot of my nights staying in, lounging in my pajamas surrounded by close friends and snack food, laptops out, working hard on homework or exam practice or group projects. We sit together in the common area of our dorm, pounding out sentences to finish that one essay that’s due tomorrow, whizzing through textbooks and speedily highlighting in preparation for a quiz.

On nights when homework is not a top priority, I find myself chilling with one of my best friends in the 3rd floor common area, watching Friends or Clueless or Legally Blonde (we even chose to watch an episode of Brain Games one night because we’re #psychnerds). These binge-periods are often followed by work-out breaks because we end up feeling bad about ourselves for sitting and stuffing ourselves with junk food for too long. Honestly, our boring Netflix nights probably aren’t considered very college adventury in most peoples eyes, but I find myself getting more excited about the little, pointless things in life as I get older. Weird. I guess a more typical college adventure was handed to me last night…

DEADPOOL interlude

Yesterday was a very important day in history, because I joined 4 of my friends to go see Deadpool. Imagine 5 squealing, excited girls stuffed in a car on their way to a movie they’ve been waiting to see for a long time. This was us. It was definitely an adventure filled with music-jamming and missed turns, lots of laughter and a reactions like this

after getting to see Ryan Reynold’s butt. But wait, there’s more fun to be had. Because we were all awoken at 4 in the morning to the horrible screeching of the fire alarm. 160 groggy, half-dressed, shivering girls stumbling outside to await the firetrucks. The world didn’t want the party to end.

 

Let’s ignore the fact that those pictures don’t play to my strengths and focus on the fact that my sister and I are pretty damn cute (#siblinggoals).

MSU provides me with the awesome opportunity to see my sister for a whole weekend without actually leaving campus. This occasion happens annually towards the beginning of February. They call it sibs and kids weekend, an event that allows my sister to stay with me in my dorm and take part in fun activities throughout the day. Despite the fact that it’s a bit more little kid oriented, and my sister is 16 years old, we thoroughly enjoyed the carnival games, photo booth, crafts, bowling, bingo and especially the planetarium. After all, we’re still young kids at heart. Partially. But at the end of the day we still ended up just chillin’ on the futon, eating slightly too much junk food and watching endless amounts of Netflix (shoutout to Friends, Parks and Rec, 13 Going on 30, Jurassic World and The Interview).

Due to all the crap we put into our bodies from the vending machine, we gathered all our motivation and actually managed to hit up the gym. Fortunatelty the gym is located right in my dorm, so we only had to keep the motivation going until we reached the elevator, which carried us up to the 4th floor (yes, we took the elevator to go work out. I see the irony). But hold up, because we didn’t stop there. After a good hour long work out in the fitness room we kept up the energy by walking through campus to go play badminton and volleyball and basketball. Hells yes. Nothing could stop us. Besides, the walk from my dorm to IM Circle is pretty gorgeous, so that didn’t hurt.

It’s safe to say I had an awesome weekend with my sister. My favorite part was dominating everyone else with siblings because, again, we are #siblinggoals.

*that awkward guy in the corner of our pic there, that’s my cousin. Unfortunately he did not come to visit me. But maybe another time.

 

 

1) They listen to your sometimes excessive rants without too much judgement

Whether you’re ranting about how much you love Friends, about how frustrating doing laundry in a dorm can be, or how hungry you are, they’ll look at you with curious interest (even if it’s fake) and nod along to your story. Because that’s what friends are for.

2) They go to various sporting events with you and you get to see their crazy fanatic side

*screeching friend claps and sings the fight song* “on the banks of the red cedar, there’s a school that’s known to all! It’s specialty is winning, and those Spartans play good ball. Spartan teams are never beaten, all through the game they fight! Fight for the only colors, green and white! Go right through for MSU… Watch the points keep growing! Spartan teams are bound to win, they’re fighting with a vim. Rah! Rah! Rah! See their team is WEAK, we’re gonna win this game! Fight! Fight! Rah team fight! Victory for MSU!”

3) They let you steal their clothes and not return them

Micaela, I’m gonna steal that shirt from you eventually. But the sweatpants will do for now.

4) They won’t tell you to not buy all the candy you want because they know it makes you happy

“Go for it girl! I respect your life decisions. A bag of skittles, some sour airhead bites and sour patch kids? You do you.”

5) They watch Friends and Parks and Rec with you for hours on end

6) They come to you for advice, which makes you feel loved

Whether it’s simply coming to you for help choosing between two dresses or desperately needing to vent their boy issues to you, you’re there for them (and frankly you appreciate they thought of you first).

7) They eat just as much as you do, therefore not making you feel bad about it

When Amber and I ate so much food in one sitting that it took multiple trips to put the dirty dishes away.

8) They understand your mutual confusion for the male mind

*shrugs shoulders* *shakes head* I don’t know man

9) They share their weirdness with you

That one time Emily and Cassie hid under a blanket and started meowing.

10) They laugh uncontrollably with you

Because laughing with other people is more fun

11) They tell you you’re beautiful when you most need to hear it

Because they’re amazing and they love you more than you can imagine.

When it’s below freezing, but you get out of bed for your 8 am lecture anyway

It’s technically 18 degrees, but it feels like -15 and the wind feels like needles against your face

When you finally get back home from a long day of walking campus between classes

It’s too cold to be pretty, but you see girls outside in skirts without leggings and flimsy fall jackets

When you’ve had enough of the weather

You’re just really, really cold all the time

The cold feels like this…

You are clinically always cold

When someone suggests snuggling up on the futon with blankets and fuzzy socks and hot chocolate and Netflix…

And finally, after a long grueling day of braving the tundra, you get back to your dorm and reward yourself with a nap

It’s honestly pretty crazy to look back on the past few months and realize how drastically my life has changed in such a short amount of time. A new home, amazing new friends, some new interests, and a whole array of other things. It seemed like I’d settled into the routine pretty well, but then I went home for almost a month and realized how quickly you can get used to a whole different lifestyle all over again. 

Yesterday was my first day back. I arrived, towing a suitcase, backpack and bag behind me. My untouched dorm smelled different. It looked different. It felt a little different. I had to remember that I was sharing a room and that multiple of my very good friends were right down the hall. Going back to living with 40 other girls is a little bit of an adjustment once you’ve been home for weeks on end, with just you and your mom and sister. 

But quickly I was pulled back into routine. Quickly I realized that MSU is my lifestyle now. Upon minutes of my arrival, my friend Emily’s voice could be heard down the hall. She laughed loudly and there was no doubt in my mind it was her. I made my way to the door and slowly peeked out just enough so she could see me as she unlocked the door to her room.

The inevitable resulted.

“Bekkkahhhh!” 

My friend Cassie stood beside her and turned her head towards me. The both of them pounced at me within seconds, embracing me tightly as if we were family members that hadn’t seen each other in years. Marilyn stood further down the hall, but upon the shrieking girl sounds she too ran to hug me. 

It’s moments like these that make you realize you’re home…

This morning I awoke before the sun had even risen. My alarm still had another 45 minutes before it was set to go off. I was wide awake, anxious. New year, new semester. I ate breakfast with a groggy Emily who had dressed herself in the dark and didn’t give a damn about her appearance. We drudged through the snow, ate our breakfast in the cafeteria, and before I knew it I was headed to my bright and early 8 am lecture. The weather was of course frigid. My boots crunched in the snow. My ears were frozen. I kept thinking to myself how the weather was torturing us. How it had decided to become a hellish fiasco on the very first day of classes. Of course, Christmas ended up being 60 degrees… 

But most of all I thought about how I was missing my sister’s 16th birthday. How I so badly wanted to celebrate with her, but couldn’t. How semester 2 seemed to just be starting at the wrong time. But it’s okay I guess. After all, MSU has become a home to me. Not the same type of home I’ll always have at my mom’s house, but the type of home that makes me love being here. The type of home where 40 crazy college girls are my family. The type of home where I’ve found my people and my place. The type of home where I’ve met my best friend, where I’ve received a so-far amazing education with wonderful professors, and where I have found a passion for football I didn’t realize existed. It’s the place where caf cookies have become my life, my love for writing has continued to grow, and I have bled green and white since freshman orientation… Here’s to an outstanding and memorable semester and the many more to come.