Why Hello Septmember

School is quickly moving along, it's already week 3 here, we had a long weekend, and I made a resume. Excitement all around. 
Let me start this post off with a few disclaimers 1) I don't have all the details on this, I don't personally know the guys involved 2) I realize that when I chose Baylor I was going to a private Baptist school and that it would be more conservative here.
Anyway, with that said something happened this week that just really bothered me. There is a fraternity on campus that is a local group and considers itself to be a christian group (I know a bunch of them and for the most part they are nice guys). Like I said, I don't have all the details on this but I guess in their bylaws it says they don't accept members who are gay (how a group of 18-20 something year old guys could seriously all vote for this amazes me). Well anyway I guess one of their members was sending forward text messages to other members and this made the guys involved uncomfortable, any way this basically forced outed the guy and he was brought to standards. Well I guess it was decided that the guy would be asked to go early alum (basically a nice way of kicking you out without actually revoking your membership). Now this whole situation really bothers me, first of all it's not a particularly "Christian" thing to do, second poor guy, he just came out which I'm sure was hard for him and now his group of friends is rejecting him for being himself. Like how shitty is that? When you join a frat you choose the group and the group chooses you, and to then later reject someone because of sexual preference is pretty crappy. This is the point in time when you should be there for someone, not isolate them and act like it's not ok to be who they are. Maybe this just bothered me because I have quite a few gay friends, and even a family member but I don't think you should look at someone differently because of their sexual orientation and it's really sad to think that a group would still do this, I mean I'd like to think the students here for the most part are very welcoming, and this says otherwise. It also makes me lose respect for the group as a whole.
On another note, I went to church this past weekend (sorry not Catholic church Mom) with my roommate and really enjoyed it. The topic of the week was "Happily Ever After" so it was about things you should be looking for in relationships and how a relationship should be a conscious decision made by both parties involved. It was an interesting sermon, and while I didn't agree with everything said I still enjoyed it.
Alright peeps, first test of the semester tomorrow morning so I've got to get to sleep.

School and What Not

 For your viewing pleasure: chocolate covered ice

So as any of you read my blog know this semester I'm taking a psychology of relationships class. It's really turning out to be one of my favorite classes that I've taken at Baylor. Anyway, once a week we examine a study and an article about that study on a various aspect of relationships, so I thought I might blog about some of these studies.
This week was fatal attractions. What is a fatal attraction? No, it doesn't involve someone getting murdered. According to the study a fatal attraction is when the initially attracting quality is also the reason the relationship ended. In the study a group of people were asked to think back to their last failed relationship, they were then asked two questions. 1. What were the initial qualities that attracted you to your partner? 2. Looking back what were the qualities about the individual that you found least attractive? The researchers then looked to see if the qualities matched up, for example if the attracting quality was something like spontaneity, and the unattractive quality was irresponsibility a fatal attraction would have occurred (this was one of the highest occurring fatal attractions that's why I bring it up).
So some of the things we talked about in class were:
Do all couples go through fatal attractions, and some just work it out? Maybe, I mean all couples have their issues, there will always be certain things your partner does that annoy you, but do these always have to be fatal? I think a couple who has good communication skills, and who are both truly invested in the relationship for the same reasons can work these issues out. If you both want your relationship to work, and you both see something long term coming from it you are more likely to protect your investment by either picking your battles or learning to discuss your issues. If you were attracted to the person because of their impulsiveness, and the fact that they were fun you might later find them to be irresponsible, and it might be annoying that they can't make decisions or aren't on time to things, but if you can talk this out and express your concerns these are things that can be worked on. Relationships are about compromise, and working together and if you can do these things, I think fatal attractions can be overcome.
We also asked, Does the partner change in some way that makes the attraction fatal? This question is all in how you look at the situation, if someone was always spontaneous did they really move more along the spectrum into irresponsible, or did your perspective of their qualities change? You also have to think back on what you went into the relationship looking for. Studies show that people look for different qualities in short term and long term relationships. Qualities like fun, spontaneous, outgoing, etc are more welcome in a short term relationship but in a long term relationship, committed, caring, responsible, stable are more welcome qualities. So what did you go into the relationship expecting? If your expectations have changed that could contribute to the fatality of the attraction.
Other things the study discussed were that static attracting factors (like physical characteristics) were less likely to cause a fatal attraction. These things are unchanging, and if you are initially attracted to someones eyes that isn't likely to change. The study also found that the fatal qualities generalized over men and women, so to some degree we are all looking (or not looking) for the same things. It would have been interesting to do follow up with these people and see who was in/ entered into healthy long lasting relationships and if they learned from their mistakes. Many people look for their opposites to balance themselves out, but really the data shows similarities are more likely to promote working relationships.
It was a very interesting article, we had a really good discussion, and I think from it I took away the importance of knowing what you are getting into. Yes people change in relationships but you can't expect someone to change everything about themselves for you. Communication is key, and getting to know the person before rushing into something is important too. Rushing into something just to avoid being alone is never the answer, relationships are built over time, starting as friends and if they become something more great, but you have to be confident and secure with yourself as an individual before adding another person to your life.
Just some food for thought, I think the class is interesting so other people might too. Obviously no one else read the article, but if you have an opinion on the subject I'd love to hear it. It's been a pretty good week two, busy getting back into work and keeping up with school and the GRE (one month!) and I'm looking forward to the long weekend.

Also back by not so popular demand (school just started again)...
Things you shouldn't name your children
NaPorsche: its like naming your kid Mercedes but worse
Lanantra: This should probably be on the list of most ghetto names
Fabiola: I don't even know...
Ambiance: Really? This is a name for a boy?
DeAdreau: It's like taking a name (if Adreau is a name) and adding De to the front, almost as bad as adding L' to a name
annndd last but not least (this unfortunately turned out to be a fake): Squirrely Mountain

Last Firsts

Senior year means the year of "last firsts" (last first football game, last first test, etc) and this week they began. I had my last first day of undergrad, and my last first week of school. It's been good, and although my workload isn't any less burdensome than the past semesters I'm finally only taking classes I want to take. This is the first semester I actually really wanted to take all the classes I am taking and it's the first time I can drop most of my classes if the work looks too hard or if they seem boring. I don't think I'll be doing that but still, it's a nice feeling. I'm in a good place to graduate, I have two classes left to take in the spring and other than that I'm just taking things I wanted to take. It's a very good feeling, and although studying for the GRE will take up much of my time this semester I think Fall 2010 will be a good few months. I'm looking forward to building my last homecoming float, going to football games, fishbowl Fridays, scruffs, and spending time with my friends.
As for what classes I'm taking:
Learning and Behavior: This class also has a lab in which we train a rat to press a lever for food, and do other classical and operant conditioning exercises with them. The class is about well, learning and behavior. Dr. Riley is pretty cool and I think it will be a good class.
Renaissance and Reformation: Once again the name is self explanatory, the class is about the renaissance in Europe and the reformation. I like the time period,and we get to write a research paper on basically whatever we want so that is a plus.
Psychology of Personal Relationships: probably going to be my favorite class this semester. It's all about how we form relationships, why we are attracted to who we are, challenges relationships face, etc, etc. All of it is empirically driven, so we look at a lot of real life studies. I love the professor, she's hilarious and the material is really interesting.
Extreme Deviance: I'm really excited about this one too. It's about people who don't follow societies norms, the consequences, how norm are formed, etc. We got to learn about all the weirdo's out there, like the German Cannibal for example.
Adolescent Development: my first FCS class, so I'm a little out of my element in this one because it's not history or psychology but it should still be good. We get to mentor kids in the Waco school district which will be interesting.
It should be a pretty good semester, and hopefully along the way I'll figure out what I'm doing next May.

An End to a Summer

As summer draws to a close my senior year at Baylor gets closer every day, and while I'm excited to get back and excited at the idea of being almost done with college the real world gets closer and closer every day. This summer was amazing, traveling around Europe was fantastic and something I will never have the chance to do again (at least not for 5 weeks, with first class tickets and passes into basically every museum) but it all passed too fast. It's weird that BGB is no longer something to look forward to but something behind me. As senior year looms I realize that I have no idea what I'll be doing or where I'll be living a year from now. It's a strange feeling not knowing what the future holds, it's even weirder not having a plan for how I want things to work out. In high school I knew exactly what I wanted and where I wanted to be when I graduated, this year I have no idea. I've always been a planner so thats weird for me not to know, or even have an idea of what I might want to be doing.
Leave it to me to pick a major that is basically unmarketable without graduate school. I'm taking the GRE, so grad school is definitely an option, I'm not sure if I'm ready for the 6 years of work a PhD would take but a masters degree is doable. Honestly I'd love to just have a job when I graduate, I'm ready to work and have my own place and get life going I don't really want to be in school any longer but I don't really know how to make that happen, or even how to start looking for a job I'd enjoy. I also don't feel like I have much hope in the job market with the amount of post-graduate friends I have who are still unemployed, but we'll see. I move back to Waco on Saturday and classes start Monday and I'm ready to see what senior year has in store. I can't believe my life at Baylor is almost over, but I'm excited to figure out what's next.
Also, my cat is cute:

Day the last

Packed and ready for home, I hope my suitcases don't go over the weight limit! I can't believe this trip is over, although Sweden feels like forever ago it feels like we've only been in London a week or two. It's weird to think I'll be on a plane tomorrow morning headed home to 100 degree heat and 13 days till school starts again. Today was bittersweet, after my final (which I aced) I came back for a nap and to finish packing and then Ashley, Meggan and I headed out to get one last crepe. After stopping at Lillywhites Ashley and I headed to Euston station to find a Virgin train to a fun looking location. Virgin trains serve free food and drinks in first class and we wanted to get a few free meals today. So we ended up on a train to Manchester, of course it was raining when we got there so we didn't see much of the city but it was still a really fun and relaxing day. We've just been hanging out downstairs with everyone and now I'm finishing up my packing and getting ready for bed and tomorrow. I'ts been amazing, and I don't really want to leave. It's hard to believe I ate my last breakfast here this morning and took my last tube ride and first class train ride this afternoon. I've got to get up at 5am, Houston here I come!

Day 32

Only one more day here after today, it's almost time to go home. I'm ready, I don't have any regrets and I think I've seen everything/ been everywhere I wanted to go here so it will be nice to be home. Today is gonna be a really chill day, just studying and packing (I hope everything fits!). Last night we went to Fabric, a really cool club here. It has three dance floors all with different DJs and was a lot of fun. I'm using this post to upload a few videos from the Military Tattoo that I took.

Before Fabric

Me and Meggan outside the bar downstairs

Citadel, the group from South Carolina

Army Physical Training Group

 Highland Dancers

UPDATE: Today I pet a squirrel. It was the highlight of my day. I do not have a picture of the petting event but one of my friends has a picture of me feeding the squirrel, for now you can this.

My squirrel friend eating the cracker I fed him. He was so cute, after eating a whole cracker sandwich he started burying pieces of the crackers under trees for later.

Day 30-31: Scotland!

Friday morning we hopped on a 10am train to Edinburgh Scotland for the night. When we got into town we checked in at Pollock Halls and went into town to eat and explore. We are Italian and wandered the Royal Mile watching street performers for awhile. We also visited The Elephant House where J.K Rowling started writing Harry Potter! We saw the field that inspired quidditch and a grave yard where a few of the characters came from. There was a McGonagall grave and even Tom Riddle!
That night we ate dinner at the Candy Bar, where you can get candy flavored drinks. It was good and we all had a jammy doughnut which was really good. We also had tickets to the Military Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle which was amazing! It's military bands from all over the world performing, there was even a motorcycle team and the army physical training corps doing gymnastics! It was really cold but the rain held out which was nice.
This morning we were going to go hiking but it was raining so we went into town instead and I climbed up Calton hill which had an amazing view all over Edinburgh.

View outside of our dorms

The Royal Mile of insanity. There are street performers everywhere

Outside St. Giles church

St. Giles

A cool performer who painted upside down!

The birthplace of Harry Potter

The cemetery J.K Rowling got inspiration from

List of important graves

Quidditch field

!

Tom Riddle's grave!

The Castle

Me with the castle in the rain

At Candy Bar

Walking up to the Tattoo

Me with Edinburgh Castle

Girl Guides flowers

Heading up the royal mile

The flags

Military Tattoo!

The Castle from our seats

Opening of the Tattoo

Drummers

Trumpets

The big bagpipe band, it was a mixture of people from all the groups

Bagpipes and drumlines

Poland, they had traditional instruments in their group

Axe fighting

The motorbike crew, these kids were like 16

Citadel from South Carolina

Highland Dancers from New Zealand

Jordanian rifle group

The army physical training group

British military band

Scotland at night

The cemetery near the Governors house

More gravestones, the cemeteries here are very different, lots of big above grounds plots

The governor's house in the background

Scottish-American soldier memorial and David Hume memorial behind it

Up on Calton Hill 

View of Edinburgh

Looking out to the sea, it started raining here

Another building on the hill

View from the train. The ride was very pretty when it wasn't raining.