Iowa State; Only the Tough Survive

I thought I knew what cold was. I thought I knew until I had to experience walking across campus in -30 degrees (not including wind chill)! Despite multiple layers and a scarf wrapped around my head, it felt like knives were being jabbed into my legs as my fingers, toes, and nose fell off. One of my friends even had her eyelashes freeze together. My refuge during the week turned out to be the heater in the girls' bathroom where I could sit and dream of summer.

Ok, enough complaining. It is back to 25 above freezing, and my first week of classes is complete. We have today off for Martin Luther King Jr. day which makes it much easier to get back into the routine of school and recover from frostbite. With 18 credits this spring, I'll be pretty busy, but I am glad to have new classes. As of right now, my favorite class is Spanish conversation. We meet twice a week and do a variety of activities that are much more interesting than those of my previous Spanish class. The professor is also more organized, and we are using an interesting text book with short movies to go along with each chapter.

Besides Spanish, I am also taking Biol., bio. lab, stats., stats. lab, music listening, drawing 2, and I am receiving a credit for my work with Professor Valenzuela and her turtle research. I will be designing a logo for ITA (Iowa Turtle Army), illustrations to go along with text, and possibly a poster. It will be great because I will have so much creative freedom and can work on the drawings at my own pace. Besides classes, I am involved in Salt Company (church service for college students on Thursday nights), a connection group, Cornerstone Church, and Spanish club. Claire, my roommate, and I have also been attending a yoga class, and I am the house's girl social chair for this semester.


This past weekend included attempted rock climbing (we had to leave because of a fire alarm and since I was in gym shorts, I decided I didn't want to wait very long out in the cold), craft night at the MU with some friends, and a free concert with the Dirty Little Rabbits in the M. Shop. I was so excited! Unfortunately, the first hour was taken up by an intro. band that was awful! The lead singer just basically screamed into the microphone with no pitch at all, and my friends and I were right by the speakers. The rest of the concert was good, and our hearing came back in about an hour after the show. My boyfriend Ryan also came to visit and the rest of the weekend has been relaxing with Anders friends and working on some homework or drawing for drawing 2.

Have a capital week!