I May or May Not Have Shed a Tear

And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, the moment you’ve all been waiting for! (Drum-roll, please)

Introducing my debut as an amateur film actress! (LOL) Enjoy this short film, “Two Late,” produced by my Video Production I group for our final project:

(Told you the photo would bring it all together!)

And that’s a wrap!

Like, really.

Because I just graduated from college!!!

Sure, some people might think that’s an achievement, but I don’t really view it as extraordinary. I’ve always liked school and learning new things, so I always knew I would be going to college. But, to be quite honest, I’m just a tad scared to move on with my life. Okay, maybe I’m really scared, but can you blame me? School is pretty much the only thing I’ve known for the past 18 years of my life. That’s 18 years in a row that I’ve spent at least 9 months of every year sitting in a classroom learning something with 30 other people. One more time, just in case you didn’t hear/read me: 18 years.

On my way to school for the last time on Wednesday, I watched students walking on the sidewalk – some at a normal pace, some frantically as if they were late for their next class. You can always tell who is just beginning and who has been there for a while from the way that they walk. (Because, let’s face it, once you become a Junior, you are pretty mellow and do whatever you want – especially if you’re a Communication major…LOL). I drove the familiar route that I had driven for the past three years to the parking lot near LNCO (Language and Communication building), and I may or may not have shed a tear remembering what it was like to be one of those frantic students -  one of those students who is taking that “attendance-based” general; one of those students who still thinks sucking-up to the teacher will get you an “A”; one of those students who think they’re going to be a doctor and end up going into communications (LOL ). And then I remembered, briefly, all the good times that the University of Utah let me experience: the football games, volunteering, meeting awesome people, gaining invaluable knowledge and skills for the “after-life”…

I make graduation sound like it’s putting me through utter turmoil, but it is quite relieving (despite the fact that I will no longer be able to use “school” as an excuse to take time off from work or not attend certain activities because I just don’t feel like going). (Who hasn’t done that before?) I feel as though a ton of weight has just been lifted off my shoulders. I no longer feel burdened from the commitment of spending extra time studying and doing homework when I really just want to sit and watch some HGTV. I feel good. I feel…free. But most importantly, I feel ready – ready to take on the world and re-start my career in the right direction. It’s time to begin a new chapter…

Bennion Center Winter Retreat 2011

This past weekend, I was fortunate to attend the Bennion Center’s Winter Retreat at Brighton Resort along with about 35 other student leaders/volunteers.

As everyone arrived, we progressively settled in and eventually began engaging in free-time activities.
The first activity on my, as well as a few others’ agenda was to build snow caves.
We headed out and soon enough, the digging had begun.
Fortunately, we had two snow-caving experts who started and stabilized the caves, and then the rest of us took turns helping.
The first time I crawled in, I was about 40% sure that I would have a panic attack; I mean, how many times have I crawled into a tight, dark tunnel supporting hundreds of pounds of snow?
But eventually the fear went away and I realized (and was reassured) that the cave was stable, and I chipped away at the inside like a mad woman, contributing to the expansion of this inverted igloo.

That's me coming out of a snow cave.

Here is Kyle and Nick all enthusiastic about being inside that thing.

This is Drew crawling out of the snow cave he built single-handedly!

And I know you probably want to see what it was like inside but I couldn’t get any good photos of it because it was either a) too dark without a flash or b) too bright with a flash, not to mention the depth would not have been visible in a photo…
But rest assured, for it was awesome

Soon after the completion of the snow caves, I slipped on some snow shoes and trekked to the nearby Brighton ski run with my camera in hopes of getting some cool photos of skiers/boarders.

Wishing I was one of them, dang it.

Playing with cropping here...love it?

Then, back to the lodge.
Here’s what it looked like from the outside:

A two-story building almost completely buried in snow!

Everyone else was already engaged in their own activities of games-galore, but one guy, Dillon (spelling?), took interest in the vintage piano and provided everyone with some pretty great music.
Here’s a collage of some photos I got of him:

Dillon playing the vintage piano inside the lodge.

Meanwhile, many people had gathered to play some wild rounds of Jenga.
I decided that this would be a great time to take some more photos, and that I did.

Concentrate...concentrate...careful...oh no!!!!!!

"Look whatcha did, ya little jerk!" - Home Alone (all-time favorite movie )

Vivi and others relieved that the tower didn't collapse after that one.

As you can see, everyone was just having a ball, as was I documenting it all.
But finally, I succumbed to my desire to join in the fun, and the rest of my night was filled to the brim with Rummy, Spoons, Texas Hold’em (complete with poker chips), and Fluxx.

To end this post, I will leave you with a photo I took during a late-night outdoor walk with some other folks.

Clear, beautiful, starry night.

Overall, I’m so glad I was able to go because I got to meet and get to know a lot of people.
I learned a lot about interacting with others, and that some people are just plain good and can always be trusted.

I hope you enjoyed my post…feedback welcome as always!

Transitions

It was a cold one today – kind of unexpected, since I don’t watch the weather report, but fortunately I happened to wear three layers, so it wasn’t too bad.
After finishing my midterm, I stepped out for a break; to my dismay, it was snowing outside.
I mean it’s not like that wasn’t unexpected, but it suddenly dawned on me that it is November.
November.
I remember January like it was yesterday (same weather and all!) – you’re telling me it’s November?
[Insert cliche phrase regarding 'time' here]

Before I left my house for the day, I saw my camera – it was sitting on the coffee table, alone and exposed.
It glared (literally) up at me and wondered, “Why aren’t you holding me?”
So, decided to bring him along for the day. [This is the first time I'm assigning a gender to my camera. I would call myself more of a feminist but somehow I feel that it's a boy.]
Don’t ask me why I don’t usually bring it to school with me, because I could not tell you.
What I do know is that I should get used to it, because sometimes (…a lot of the time) I have missed out on great photographic moments.

The snow didn’t stop in the six hours I was on campus.
Done for the day, I started towards my car, and I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful it actually was.
Although the ground was lightly covered in white, there were still some fall colors out and about – it seemed as though the weather even snuck-up on the trees and plants.
Had they disregarded the forewarning?
Is even nature reluctant to change?

Change is hard (I would know), but is sometimes a necessary (and beautiful) process.

(42/365 taken Nov. 8, 2010 – University of Utah)

Eye Candy on Upper Campus

No doubt, there are tons interesting things to see at the University of Utah, but this time we ended up on upper campus to check out what eye-goodies that the area near the medical center had in store for us.
With the guidance of Kyle (since he knows that area SO well!), we walked around the area and discovered some cool stuff…

What amazing architecture! That is a staircase!!
(34/365 taken Nov. 5, 2010 – University of Utah)

From the second flight of stairs [different perspective]
(35/365)

I love architecture…
(36/365)

(37/365)

(38/365)

Beautiful-colored plant just outside the building.
(39/365 – finally caught up!)

And now, presenting the debut photograph made by Kyle!! (drum-roll)…

Love it! It’s so abstract!! What is it?! …Exactly
- photograph by Kyle

More tomorrow!