{It's Wednesday}

Lovely....

It was another weird start to the day. I woke up at my usual time of 7 a.m. (with a horrible sore throat that didn't get much better as the day progressed), got ready, grabbed my stuff and out I went. Well, I decided to put my thermos with iced tea in my backpack. I thought sure it was sealed and sitting upright, so nothing would happen to it. I was wrong. By the time I got to school, I realized it had started leaking in my bag and had gone all over my notebook and was all over my pants. I didn't have time to go home, so I just had to cover up my pants with my binder, hoping no one noticed the giant tea spots on my pants as I walked in. Unfortunately, my notebook was all soggy and I had nothing else to write on, but later realized I wouldn't need it for any of my classes.

My poor notebook...

I went to my first class: Convergence Journalism, which I'm really enjoying. Today, we talked about interviewing, so it was a big review day for me and other journalists in the class. Then, we had to interview someone around us. After a few minutes, I finally asked someone to do it with me, and having done it last quarter, I felt like a pro with what to expect. We talked for a few minutes about our hobbies, our interests...Something that will get us a 350-word story out of it. We also found out that we went to the same community college and transferred at the same time, but since we have different majors, our paths have never crossed. I was kind of impressed with how outgoing I was about the whole thing. I know that my courage comes from God, because at least 10 years ago, I would have been terrified about new situations like that or the public speaking/leading I've had to do lately.

We even took a selfie- I wanted to document the moment! HA!

My next class was a bit of a surprise. We were supposed to be coming up with a source list for our stories, but instead, we went on a scavenger hunt around campus. We split up into teams, so I joined with a couple other editors from the paper that I'm friends with and a couple other girls who didn't have a group, but I've had classes with in the past. It was actually really fun. We walked all over campus- going to student affairs, financial aid, the campus police, and a couple of other places. We talked with whoever was in the office to find out more about the department, getting ideas for stories. It also gave me a chance to get to know the people in my group better; what their interests and passions are, as well as being able to tell them about the paper. Hopefully they'll join next quarter! It was a fun group, if nothing else. And now I actually know where things are on campus.WOO! Plus, I think we made a couple new connections, in case we ever need sources for stories that happen at school.

I was supposed to have lunch with my friend today, but it didn't work out, so we rescheduled for Monday. It was hot outside, so I decided to go to the newspaper to eat lunch, along with several other editors, which was nice, so I wasn't lonely! LOL. Class went by really fast today because we had a lot to cover. We all took pictures for our press passes, gave the story pitch ideas for our first issue, and I talked with my staff writers about their stories (AH! That's pretty cool to be able to say). I know all of this confidence is coming from my faith in Christ, because I've been trying to do this on my own, and I've been stressing myself out. I'm making a lot of changes this quarter, and I can already tell what a difference it's making. Instead of feeling overwhelmed and doubting myself, I've been excited about the challenge. The challenge of proving to myself that I'm capable of the dreams I've always had. I'm capable of helping others. I'm capable of being different than everyone else, and that's okay. In fact, for what God has planned for me, that's probably for the best. I'm starting to just do my own thing, and whatever comes after that is all a blessing.

After starting the book, I Am That Girl, I started realizing many things. I need to take more time for myself and to not burn out and finding out the reasons behind my procrastination. Now that I've put names to those things, I can beat them, and it has helped tremendously. I still have a lot to work through, but I think confidence is the key, and I'm finding it in pretty unexpected places. I guess when opportunity comes, you just have to rise to the occasion and get through it.

I was supposed to have an editor's meeting and another one for the journalism club, but no one really showed up, so we decided to call it a day. I hung around for a few minutes on campus in one of my favorite spots. I grabbed a seat on the bench under a shady tree in front of the school. I caught up on some snapchats and tweets, then headed out. 

 

When I got home, my mom and I made some fruit smoothies and watched Rob Lowe on Ellen! I just love that guy! I was mainly a fan just because I loved him on Parks and Rec, but I really like him as a person now. I worked on homework, rewrote notes in a new notebook and the like.

Later on, I watched American Idol, had dinner, and took medicine. I feel like I'm starting to come down with a cold or really bad allergies. My throat and head were bothering me, so I called it a night. I didn't even watch How I Met Your Mother before I went to bed. That's when you know I'm sick...Or becoming more responsible. Who would've thought?!

That's all for now,
Shelby :)