First Day of Fall

Today was my first day of class...my earliest one being Geology at 8.30am on Mondays and Wednesdays. I went for class today only to discover that about half of my classmates were non-science majors. Being an arse, I thought the class would be easy so far from what I saw. Then I went for lab. I was so wrong! The lab I did today was really difficult in a sense that it involved reading and deciphering maps and their codes and symbols. =.=" I almost fell asleep during the beginning of that lab period because it was so boring and tedious. It's been a while since I last fell asleep in class. :P Thank goodness next Monday is a public holiday...no lab session!!

My Ecology class is packed. I think it's the biggest class that I've had so far at Drake. There are over 35 students in a kinda small classroom. But the best part is having Summerville as my professor. I've not officially had any classes with him but he already knows my name etc etc. It might be a bit tough but I think I'll enjoy it. I'll definitely enjoy the lab because 90% of the time, the lab session will be conducted outdoors which is infinitely better than being stuck indoors especially a few weeks from now on when Fall really kicks in. One of the sessions would be involving the collection of fish specimens from the river. I can't wait to get into waders and jump in!

The other two classes would be GIS and Statistics. I have a feeling that my statistics class will be a challenge but we'll see how everything turns out tomorrow. So far, I've seen many of my old classmates who share the same classes with me this Fall so that is kinda nice. Things are settling down and I hope even more so in the weeks to come. :)

Busy Week

I haven't blogged in a week because I was so busy settling down in my room and working and helping out with the new Malaysian students. I'm pretty sure that this year, I'm going to be so busy with Intervarsity, classes and work but then again, I'm really looking forward to it. It's nice to see familiar faces once more and I'm really excited about starting my new classes. Will post more updates soon. Right now, I'm going to go and rest a little while...my room mate kept me up until 2am last night. >_<

Sunday

It feels kinda weird not to be doing anything on a Sunday morning/afternoon. Jon and I didn't go to church today firstly because we had no car and then, he was tired from staying up late studying and I was tired from all the moving and unpacking that I've been doing for the past few days. It kinda sucks that most of my friends are not back yet...hence the "nothing to do" and I don't have to study no more.

I can finally catch up on my reading but then again, I don't feel like reading at the moment. I just feel like doing....something! Anything else for that matter. I need to get out of this room, I'm already sick of it despite the fact that I've been living here for the past 2 nights. We set it up exactly like how my old room was which I believe is one of the best plans for more floor space. I've visited a couple of my friends who live in the same building and so far, none of them set it up like ours. I'll post pictures when everything else is moved in.

I'll be busy again from tomorrow onwards as I'll still be working in the library and then, I have a job interview to attend tomorrow morning. I applied for the position of Student Assistant at the Environmental, Health and Safety Department at Drake as part of my current hunt to secure jobs for myself for the rest of the school year and also to ensure a steady stream of moolah into my bank account. I hope I'll get the hang of the work and study thing. I'll only be taking 4 classes this Fall so I guess it won't be so bad. I'm sure with good management of my time and a a lot of hard work thrown in, I'll be fine.

I have no regrets about spending my summer here in Des Moines working and LA on vacation. My next target will be to go to NYC during Spring Break next year. It's good to make new friends and forge connections because now, I won't need to find a place to live in NY because I have a fellow Malaysian friend who lives in Brooklyn. We have a bunch of Malaysian students arriving tonight...approximately 40 for this semester and surprise surprise...most of them are Actuarial Science majors. =.=" Come on people, we need more diversity! This is starting to get tiring...all these Act Sci people...pfft. Anyways, a couple of friends and I will be showing them around campus for the next few days. That will prove to be interesting I think and honestly, I'm looking forward to it. :)

J-Town

So I finally managed to unpacked all of my stuff except for one box. I decided that I needed a break and wanted to get myself a nice hot cup of tea...only to realize that my microwave and fridge is still at Ross. I wasn't able to move it today because the person that helped me could only help me so much. Bah! I think I've been spoilt by my ex-room mate and because of that, I just had to get a microwave and fridge myself. It's worth the investment I think, since I'm going to be here for a while.

I had to do some laundry over here and I discovered that there is only a single dryer in the entire building! Apparently they added new washers but I think..forgot to add new dryers. And one of the washing machines ate my money! >_< Hmm....I am dead tired...but I really need that cup of tea...I think I'm going downstairs to use the kitchen microwave.

Packed

So I finally finished my last day at work. I trudged back to my apartment and packed up the remaining items that were left lying around, reminding me of the good times I had over the summer. It is officially over. I'll miss living at Ross, working front desk and the friendships forged over the summer. I'll be out tomorrow. Feeling sentimental at 2.37am in the morning is not what I come across very often.

Moving Blues

To think that things will finally settle down since my summer class is over and that my job is ending soon is my mistake. Now, I have to worry about how am I going to move my stuff from Ross to Jewett Hall. I think I had to call several people just to find someone who is able to help me. The one person that I thought I could rely on has to leave on a camp on Friday which is the day that I plan to move. I hate not having a car or a driving license, both of which I plan to get soon. Yeap, you heard me...car and driver's license...but license first. Heh! So here I am...feeling kinda blah because moving is such a hassle especially if you have quite a bit of stuff, like me.

Why Now?

For the past two days, the internet service at Ross crapped out because they were conducting some repairs. The timing was off because I had a final paper to finish for my history class and I had to download the questions and send the finished paper via email to my professor. It was a good thing I helped my friend move in early into GK because I had to camp out at his room to use the internet. I usually am able to use the internet while working the desk but I wasn't scheduled to work that day. I realized how dependent I am on the Internet. I shop online, interact socially with my friends, communicate with my class and entertain myself. Hmm...I think I should read a book instead tonight.

Anyways, tonight will be my last night working that particular shift in GK; the 8pm to 12am shift. I used to hate that shift because it meant having to do rounds at 11pm and over the summer when there were few people living there, it was creepy. Recently, I had a change of heart; it's my favorite shift of the day and I've been enjoying myself working that shift. It helped that certain events over the past week managed to change my perceptions of that shift.

Recently, I've been getting aquainted...sort of...with one of the football coaches. It helps that he's only about 25 or so, good looking, dark haired and not married (I think). Every night when I do my rounds, he will also be on his rounds to check up on the players and we usually see each other in the hall. He stopped by the desk once to chit chat for a little while and ever since, we acknowledge each other when we see the other. The last two shifts I had at the desk, he came by to wish me a good night before heading off to sleep and the front desk is a little out of the way from where the footballers live so I'd like to think he does it on purpose. Last night, along with the usual goodnight, he asked for my name and introduced himself as Marco.

I was in a terrible mood last night because some of the football and soccer players were throwing their weight around with me and I had no patience for that sort of behaviour. To make matters worse, I had a double shift from 8pm to 4am and it didn't help knowning that I will be stuck at the desk for 8 hours. My mood did improve over the course of the night for obvious reasons but the sad thing is that today will be my last night working that shift and tomorrow will be my last day working. Because of that, my friend is egging me on to try and get him to give me his number...and vice versa but I don't know if it will work. As such, special measures have to be taken into account and implemented tonight at work. I wonder how things will turn out...only tonight will tell.

More Half Naked Men!

I really should keep a tab on how many half naked guys I encounter daily at work. In addition to "towel boy" the other day, I can now add another 2 to the list. All of them got themselves locked out of the room unintentionally (? *wink wink*) while half dressed and it was my privilege to let them in. The first one today was one of the RAs and he managed to lock himself out while only wearing a pair of shorts. Pretty confident guy I might add since he strutted around topless like it was no big deal. I'm sure he works out...I can tell. The other guy was another football player and like the other one, he was in his towel but still dripping wet. Haha! However, this was one nervous fellow. He kept fidgeting as I was walking with him back to his room. I guess it would be unpleasant to be walking around with someone of the opposite sex while only clad in a towel! XD

On The Edge

Ever so slightly,
Ever so softly,
I don’t want to,
I’m flailing, I’m falling.

Tripping and stumbling,
Nearer and harder,
Deeper and closer,
What have I gotten myself into?

I'm slipping,

I'm stepping,

Closer than I want to,

Closer than you want to.

Here I am standing,
On the edge,
Wondering if you knew,
How much I felt for you.

Power Play

After all the drama that has happened the past few days, now I'm beginning to feel bored at work! It's kinda hard to resume my normal boring and routine job after being personally involved in so many exciting (!) incidents lately. I'm working a double (8 hr) shift at the desk and time seems to crawl by. Just checked in a couple of Fall 07 RA's, handed out the bathroom key, and let my friend check in early. He is on the early check in list but then the earliest time he was supposed to be able to check in is on the 15th. It pays to have friends in high places (i.e. Me!) because I asked my boss if he could check in early and she said yes. So now he owes me dinner. Hahah!

But seriously, I think it's human psychology to think higher of someone if they know or are related to someone in position. For example, over the summer...I had to work with this colleague of mine and I doubt we exchanged many sentences. I think I talked to others much more than to him. However, after working one day, I bumped into a friend of mine, Josiah and I was talking to him for a while. He just moved into GK and he has his own apartment since he is the Assistant Residence Hall Director (ARHD) and he offered to show it to me. His apartment is across from the front desk and that day, it so happened that "that" guy was working and when he saw me and Josiah on friendly terms he looked a little surprised. From that day on, I felt that his perception towards me changed. He became friendlier (?). I guess having powerful friends do change the perception of people towards you...or maybe it's just my imagination?

You

If I fell in love with you,
it will be because of your sweet disposition,
it will be because of your passion,
it will be because of your smile.

If I fell in love with you,
it will be because of your patience,
it will be because of your talent,
it will be because of how you always want to do things right.

If I fell in love with you,
it will be because of your dedication,
it will be because of your willingess,
it will be because of your gentleness.

If I fell in love with you,
it will be because of the way you laugh,
it will be because of the way you frown,
it will be because of how you love to clown around.

If I fell in love with you,
it will be because of our differences,
it will be because of your Godliness,
it will be because of you.

More Drama

To think that things would mellow down since summer is over is such a mistake. So here I was, working the front desk again. This time it was the 12am to 4am shift; the dead shift and they do call it that for a reason.

I thought I might have problems staying awake so when Josiah came by, I asked him if I could borrow one of his dvd's. He lent me "The Three Musketeers" and I settled down for a quiet night with a movie by myself.

Halfway through the movie, I hear this noise by the doors and from where I'm at, I can't see what is going on outside without having to get up from my chair and poke my head out the door. Security does check on the desk workers from time to time so I decided to get up and see who it was.

There was a guy in the hallway, apparently in his pyjamas (shirt and boxers) trying unsuccessfully to open the door by pushing it outwards when clearly to open the door, you have to pull it towards you. I watched him for 10 seconds and realized that the guy was not himself. He obviously had no motor coordination. He was drunk!

I freaked out almost immediately and called Drake Security. It seemed like an eternity for them to arrive but in fact, it probably took them less than 5 minutes to come. While waiting for them, I was praying that the guy wouldn't see me (he was now sprawled across the floor) and that he wouldn't be able to run away. Man, I was so freaked because like come on, I'm just a girl...working the desk and he's a guy - probably an athlete and hell, he was bigger than me. Worst case scenario, I would just scream my head off and Josiah might come running out of his apartment to my rescue (he lives across from the front desk).

I was so relieved when security came but then, I had to wake my boss up. I felt really bad about it but security wanted me to. Security kept on questioning the kid but he was as they said, unresponsive. They didn't know if he was drunk or stoned. When questioned, he said his name was Derek Moore. Immediately I was dispatched to check the roster to see if he was one of the student athletes at GK. He wasn't! I think we spent about half an hour trying to identify him when in the end, we realized that he didn't live here.

The worse part was that he had a bruise on his head and then while security was checking the parameter, they found his clothes outside. =.=" Apparently he stripped himself down and decided to come in. I've no idea how he got in and that's what scares me because all the doors are locked and can only be opened from the inside or with a key.

The paramedics had to come and see if he was alright because he had a bruise on his head; red and blue lights flashing outside GK. Not a pleasant sight to see or experience. My boss had to call Ross' Hall Director to see if he was one of the residents at Ross. He wasn't living here at all in the summer but apparently, he was a Drake student. So we did finally identify him but what was he doing here half naked and drunk/stoned is still a mystery. They finally took him to the hospital.

The drama is finally over, it's 2.45am and I think I should resume my movie. The adrenaline is still rushing through my system and I hope I'll be able to sleep tonight once my shift is over.

Oops?

After yesterday's shock of my probable and imminent homelessness, I had an interesting day at work today. Good news is that I don't have to move out on the 11th. I can move out whenever its convenient for me, latest by the 18th though but my hall will be open by then so it won't be a hassle. That is incredibly amazing news to my ears.

So I went to work today. The thing is right now, GK is full of athletes; footballers and volleyballers (girls). I was working front desk today and this guy comes up to the desk and tells me he locked himself out of his room. He was my former classmate last semester and it was nice to see him out of crutches. He walked me to his room and I keyed him in. After letting him in, I went back downstairs to the front desk and there it was, some guy decided help himself behind the desk. It is a rather serious violation of privacy and not to mention rules because there is a sign posted on the door saying that no one except for desk workers are allowed through the door. The problem was that he was only clad in a towel...

I didn't know whether I should laugh or to yell at him to get out. I decided to be nice and tell him calmly that he shouldn't be behind the desk because hey, how can one be mad with a guy clad only with a towel around his waist? It was probably mortifying enough to be walking around in public in a towel. Before I could say anything else, he stammered out that he got locked out of his room while he was taking a shower. >_< I keyed him in. He was staying on the far side of the hall so I had to walk all the way with him in his towel. He was very apologetic about the whole affair. Despite the periods of awkward silences, the view from the rear wasn't so bad after all. XD

The Horror...The Horror...

My summer RCA job officially ends at the end of next week and according to my boss, I would always have a place to stay as long as I'm working. Today, I was going back to Ross after getting caught in the rain and the first thing I saw when I reached the doorway was a sign, stating : Ross Hall will close on August 11th at noon.

I am not ready to move out yet. I am NOT PREPARED TO MOVE OUT YET! Heck! Its my last week of class and I have a paper to finish by Friday and my final paper to complete on the 10th to the 12th. I have no time to move! I have no time to pack! I don't need this distraction/problem at the moment. I hate to admit it but I might be homeless. Gahh!

To make matters worse, the apartment that I used to live at in the beginning of the summer is crowded...with new furniture. I don't think my friends will appreciate having several additional kitchen appliances, luggage bags, and boxes of stuff being brought into the apartment. I am at a loss here.

The Little Girl

There once was this little girl,
who grew up in the world,
on which fairytales and romance unfurled;

She knew love no other way,
and grew up trying to give her heart away,
but only to find such dismay.


She got it back broken,
shattered, splintered and trodden,
instead of being lovingly taken;

Alas she said,
will I end up being unwed?
as she looked to the future with dread.


She made a decision,
to hide and strengthen,
her heart instead of letting it get stolen;

She prayed to God, put her heart in a box,
and chained it up with locks,
to ensure she will not fall for any boy with a mohawk.


She gave God the key,
knowing that He will keep this thing of beauty,
forever in His safety;

He kept her heart under lock and key,
lovingly for temporary safety,
from any Tom, Dick or Harry.


But in secret, He set apart,
a man after His own heart,
who will in the end be her sweetheart;

Time will only tell,
if this bonny Belle's,
story will end well.

*Copyright belongs to Amanda L.

Philosophies On Love

Recently, a friend of mine went through a break up with her boyfriend that turned out rather nasty. The interesting part was after a while (a few hours) of fuming at him, she wanted him back; for all the wrong reasons. From what I gather, she doesn't want to feel or be alone.

I think it's rather disheartening to see people who view themselves as lonely or incomplete unless they're with someone "special". What then were you before you discovered relationships? I doubt you felt alone. I think moving from one bad relationship to another just to fill that "hole" inside is just not the way to do things. I guess we're not to blame because a lot of our views regarding love and relationships are formed by the world.

The best place for love is no other than God. Why? Because His love is unconditional. It's the best there is! We might say that we can love unconditionally but in truth, we cannot for we are just humans and in some way or the other, our love is flawed. In the Bible, it clearly states that "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

I cannot think of any better description of love. I'm not trying to be holier than thou here but I feel that if one does not have the capacity to want to try and love someone that way, I don't think you should want to start a relationship with that person. Relationships are all about giving in my opinion, but giving in a good way. Relationships are supposed to build the other person up and to come alongside them in love and support. The other person should want to do the same for you if he/she loves you. By giving to each other, each benefits because they each receive in return. I'm not saying that there is no compromise; of course there is because love is patient.

I don't think all of us are meant to find the other half but instead, those people are meant to find their completeness in God. Until you find the right person, I think the best thing is just to rest in God's perfect love for us. That's my thoughts on love anyways.

A False Alarm

I've been living at Ross over the summer and in this period of about 3 months here, I think I've experienced the fire alarm going off no less than 4 times. And, none of those times involved an actual fire, maybe some burnt chicken but nothing more. Every time that happened, it was natural instinct to point fingers and go *tsk tsk*, that person should know better. However, today the fire alarm went off again. This time, it was my roommate's fault. She was drying her hair in her closed room but when she opened her room door, the alarm went off 2 seconds later. At first, we didn't think that we were the ones who set the alarm off because there was no smoke of any kind. The fire panel even said that the Apt next to ours was the one who's alarm went off. The problem was that no one was living in there and I doubt a resident ghost set it off.

After much investigation, it was concluded that the alarm came from out room. My roommie suspected that it might have been her and all that steam she generated while drying her hair. Security and even the fire department came and finally concluded that it was because of that. That wasn't a nice experience because everyone was there outside and she was questioned by security. Apparently, the other times the fire alarm went off was because of steam as well which is really stupid as it wasn't due to steam caused by cooking underneath the smoke detector but by steam from the bath after one has taken a shower. They should really consider de-sensitizing the detectors by a smidgen so that all this unnecessary hassle would be avoided. Also, if someone set the fire alarm off accidentally, don't point fingers because you never know, it might be you one day.

The Washer and the Tub

The bad thing about living on campus in the summer is the lack of or slow upkeep of the facilities. The bathtub in our apartment has been clogged for the past week so much so that it takes hours for the bathwater to drain down after one has taken a shower. That is not such a problem, the problem is that the slow drain of the bath water leaves dirt and soap scum at the bottom of the tub and scrubbing the tub doesn't help because after rinsing the soap away, the water still doesn't drain away! My room mate has been telling the RA's about it but so far, no one has come to fix the drainage on the tub.

Two days ago, the cable TV got cut off and will only be fixed this coming Monday. I'm not a big fan of TV but my roommate is and she was hopping mad. Why would they need to take that long to fix the cable? What happened to efficiency? Today, I was running out of clean clothes so I decided that it was time to do my laundry. After sorting out my laundry and lugging the whole load downstairs, I was left to discover that all the washers and dryers in the laundry room was unplugged and their piping removed. I was furious!

Why? Well, there were no notices at all posted saying that the cable would be out or the laundry room would be out of service and sorry for the inconvenience that it might cause. I think the University owe us at least an apology or a notice for something like this. I mean, what about someone like me who doesn't have a car and I can't go to the laundromat? Do I still wear my sweat soaked clothes until the skin rots off my back?

Trials

A couple of weeks ago, I was feeling down because everything horrible seemed to happen all at once. I was stressed from my jobs, stressed by my studies and by other events that took place in my life. Eventually things got better when I made a conscious decision to attend this Bible study that my friend invited me to. I was hesitant at first but my room mate, Belinda pushed me to go. And I am grateful that I went. However, after I went for Bible study regularly, other things began to happen.

My cousin who is like the twin I never had went through some of the worst times in his life. He has been through pretty rough times but nothing beat this one this time. He lost his job (he hasn't been able to hold a steady job for a while), his girlfriend conspired against him; got him arrested, fired from his job and chased after by loan sharks. The most interesting part is that nothing of it was his own doing. Everything happened because of what someone else did to him. I've already had a nagging feeling that it was no coincidence that all these bad things has been happening to him but it was God letting him know that he can't go through life trying to fix and control everything by himself. He was a believer but backslid after a bad incident that happened in his church. I had been telling him all this while about my "theory" but he always brushed it aside.

However, a couple of days ago, after not being able to talk to him for a while, he finally admitted to me that it did cross his mind that maybe God was calling him back to himself. That was a breakthrough in itself because I had been praying regularly for him the past few weeks since I attended the Bible study. I even convinced him to attend CG but the night before he was to attend, some people came to his house looking for him so he had to run and hide. Because of that, he couldn't attend CG and I don't think that was coincidence either.

Also, I received an email from a good friend of mine the other day saying how she had a near death experience. She never emails me so this had to be something serious. She was driving on the road and her car drifted and spun 360 on the highway. The amazing thing was that she didn't crash into the divider or into another car. That wasn't the only "incident" that happened to her. I've been praying for her regularly also and I believe that the enemy has been behind all these incidents.

The small bump downwards that I had a few weeks ago was the enemy's doing but thank God for my room mate who dragged me to Bible study when I didn't feel like going. My faith has definitely been strengthened through this fellowship with other believers and I know he hated that. So he had to bring me down somehow, by targeting those who are close to my heart - my cousin and my good friend. He made the wrong move because now, more than ever, I am going all out to intercede on their behalf, rallying other fellow believers in Christ to pray for their safety and for mine. If you have come to faith in Christ and are reading this, please join me in constant prayer for this matter.

I remember my pastor saying this, if everything is going okie-dokie with you; there are no trials, no persecution, nothing of concern going on in your life, you had better watch out because the enemy does not see you as a threat. It's when things are happening in your life that he is starting to get worried about you, he wants to pull you down, to lose your faith, to lose your hope and trust and to doubt God. The best thing about this situation is that I know for sure that God is on my side! All we have to do is to humble ourselves and come before God and pray ernestly with all our hearts because the victory is already won. We just have to claim it in the name of Jesus!

So my dear friends, if trials and difficult times come your way, give thanks and be glad, for you know that no matter how the enemy tries to bring you down, God is and will always be on your side.