"Na na na na, na na na na.. hey hey hey.. I don't want to say goodbye!" :(

So my first semester of Freshman year didn’t go down in flames like I suspected it would. It was actually quite refreshing and very enjoyable. I owe that all to my English Professor, Professor Arrington. If there’s one thing that she taught me, it is that you can get through life “bs-ing”, but why not get through it being real and digging deep to try to express yourself? She taught me that, that is when you can truly feel accomplished in your work. When you work your hardest on something and really put your all into it and to get back an A or maybe a B. Not to “b.s” something, and just get an okay grade.
Professor Arrington did not only teach me how to be a better writer, but to appreciate writing as a craft. The fact that I’ve sat down this semester and written only a couple of essays and feel, for a lack of better words, “pooped”, goes to show how much real writers put into their work. It made me realize that I could never do what they do. They sit for hours, days, weeks and years putting their all just to produce one work. Major kudos’s to them for doing that but I would absolutely die!

If you are a student who is looking to improve your writing and to really dig deep to get that fat “A” that you want Professor A’s class is definitely for you. She taught me how to have structure in my writing. How to write with purpose. If you are someone who likes to “flirt with danger” by being late, absent, sleep in class, and not participate, I would still recommend this class for you! Only because I think:

1. You wont want to be late to her class because it’s fun.

2. You wont want to be absent to her class because it’s fun.

3. It would be damn near impossible to sleep in there because she is a very “live” teacher.

4. And four because you will want to participate. The issues that we discuss in there are so “juicy” that you couldn’t possibly help raising your hand and making a statement.

Professor Arrington also taught me that college doesn’t have to be a drag! You can walk into your classroom expecting “Professor Random”- an old as dirt, mean man with wired rimmed glasses who is so boring and has no enthusiasm. But in turn you can end up with “Professor mellow”- a nice, helpful, funny teacher who teaches you while making it interesting enough so that you actually want to learn it.

All in all, I am truly going to miss Professor Arrington and her class. I would definitely recommend her class to anyone willing to learn, that likes to challenge themselves. My advice for anyone taking this class would be to do your work and pay attention! Those are very cliché terms of advice but that’s all you need. The work is only difficult if you make it that way. My advice would also be to take advantage of the fact that she takes away time from her day to stay after hours to help you with your work. It can only benefit you.

My Hellish "Adventure" before the adventure

My adventure has yet to commence. I am going on my adventure tonight at 8 o’ clock. I will be going to Bells, Books, & Candles with the Atlanta Ghost Hunters. This adventure planning has been so complicated!

My plan, at first, was to go on two ghost tours then go to a allegedly haunted insane asylum. That plan was then COMPLETELY foiled once I found out about Atlanta Ghost Hunters. They are a group that takes people to REAL haunted places to conduct experiments like E.VP. which is Electronic Voice Phenomena; e.v.p. is when some sort of electronic recording device is set up in a room, and when you play it back, it is said that you are able to hear voices of the “undead”. Whoooo… pretty spooky huh?

They also give you a video recording of the events that happened, and the audio. Sounds perfect right? Well, it almost was, until I saw that it was $100!! I’m thinking, yikes! I don’t have that kind of money! What am I going to do?! Think. Think… time to call daddy!

Thankfully, because it was for a school project, my dad obliged me and said he’ll send me the cash.. Untill I told him it was an hour away, then he got all worried saying, “One hour away? That’s a little far for you to be driving, I don’t know about this..” So now I am forced to beg; and if begging doesn’t work, find something else to do.

I’ve learned that adventure truly is to be partially journeying into the unknown, because I have absolutely NO clue how this is going to turn out. Will I witness evidence of paranormal activity? What if I don’t?  is my adventure then completely ruined? Will I even be able to go? That, I do not know. But we shall find out.

A spiritual adventure for the spiritually challenged.. ME! :)

Eureka! I’ve finally got it! I am going to embark on a “spiritual adventure”. On this spiritual adventure, I expect it will give me a different view on the world and, or a deeper appreciation for it, it will be outside of MY personal “spiritual comfort zone”, it will appoint a deeper meaning for life as a whole, and it will yield a sense of closeness to a higher power.

My spiritual adventure is going to be to venture out and seek spirits.. Ha! Ironic huh? But no, really, I am going to go to some of the creepiest, spookiest, “ghost/spirit infested places I can find in Georgia.
This is going to be an challenge for me because of the way I was raised. I have always taught that there isn’t any heaven, any hell, or any “in between”. I was strongly taught that the only heaven and hell there is, is that of this Earth; that anyone believing in ghosts, spirits, or the afterlife were “flirting with crazy”. And that anyone believing in actual interaction with them were insane.

Ghosts, spooks, and spirits- definitely out of my spiritual comfort zone. But what would also make it a challenge is that it’s out of my overall comfort zone. This trip means being open minded; and trying to branch out and look for my own meanings and interpretations of things. Those questions alone will bring me closer to a higher power. No matter what happens- whether I see a ghost or not- I can, in a way, be more in touch with God and myself.

What if I do see a ghost or feel a spirit? Do I now have reason to question every single thing I’ve been taught to believe in?

If I don’t see a ghost or spirit of some kind, I know that I was right in a way. That I should stick to what I believe and that I‘m on the right path. However, if I do encounter something of that kind I would have no choice but to reconsider everything I know. I would be obligated to realize that not everything is as it seems. I would need to reconstruct all my so-called knowledge the world as I knew it, and be willing to take a second look at the vastness of this Earth and it’s mysteries. YIKES!

Also because I absolutely HATE not knowing. Not knowing what to believe, what to expect, or what is a lie. That in and of itself is “scary” for me.
　I plan on doing these “ghost hunts” if you will September 17, and 18. I’m going to let my boyfriend tag along so I can hold his hand through all the scary parts! (Although, knowing my boyfriend he just might be doing most of the holding and crying).

We are going to go to two places- The Dunwoody Insane Asylum, and a Norcross ghost tour.

To document it we are going to take pictures and video. We’re doing pictures because that is most commonly where people have said they’ve seen these ghosts and the video for that eerie “Blair Witch Project” effect.

For the preparation I’m going to …
Need to steel my sisters camera for a couple days. (The rebel in me again!)
Call the Norcross tour people and set up an appointment, and contact the asylum and get permission to “snoop”.
Bring an open mind and lots of tissues.

I'm on the highway to....HELLP!!

                There are about a billion things that we’re taught to do. For instance, no talking back, no eating before swimming, and, of course, the ever popular,” no going on 6 hour road trips with your boyfriend’s family, without telling your parents”.  You would think that most people are smart enough to listen, right?? WRONG! Not moi, just call me “rebel”!

                If you haven’t caught on yet, that’s exactly what I did. I figured, “ma is going to be on her way to work by the time I leave, and I’ll be back before she’s off, so why not? “Marvelous idea right? WRONG again! But of course, I do it anyway. Mind you, my boyfriend’s mom is totally oblivious to the fact that I haven’t told my parents.

So “la lala la laa” here we are, on our way to Memphis to pick-up my boyfriend, and she, ever so sweetly, asks me “you told your mom right baby?” so I put on incredibly fake grin, lied, and said “of course!”  Feeling bad after, I immediately texted my boyfriend saying “I just lied to your momL” If you guessed something bad happened, ding, ding, ding!! You’re right on the money! I later realized I had texted that to HIS MOM not him! When she had asked me about it, I saw the perfect opportunity to reach deep into the craters of my pocket, and pull out, yes, another lie. So I told her “oh that was from a long time ago” Thankfully, she said okay and brushed it off. SAFE!! But not quite. .

After that catastrophe, everything was fine. We were on the open road, singing, having a ball. When completely out of nowhere, it starts ‘raining cats and dogs’! It looked like we were riding into the heart of a hurricane; cars were pulled over on the side of the road and everything. So my mind starts racing, thinking, here’s an interesting story, “hey ma! Not going to make it home tonight, I’m in a storm in Alabama. Love you bye!” That would’ve gone greattt.

But luckily, it stopped storming, we got there and back safely, and I learned my lesson because I would NEVER do that again!!

My perception of adventure is traveling beyond the limits of your comfort zone to complete a task, or mission, not knowing the outcome of it. For me, that was a huge adventure because it was for sure out of my comfort zone, and I had not a clue how it would turn out.

Some would argue “it wasn’t that big of a deal; she could have just told her mom, or her mom or his mom; they wouldn’t have been too mad” well I’ve got news for ‘ya folks, you don’t know either of our moms! It would’ve been a HUGE deal, believe me. However, for someone lacking a conscience, and morals it would have been a breeze, but to people with worrying, weeping, butt whippin’ moms, it was more of a complete and utter disaster. No one ever found out, but it’s still in my head. What can I say? I’m a chump.