I finally found some time for correspondence with a three day weekend and my parents out of town. I’m here alone with my brother Benjamin and waiting until my parents return to clean the kitchen. Here are the chronicles of some of the recent events in my life.

The night of orientation at UM, Nathan and I went to Playfair, an orientation-day-get – together – ice – breaker – sort-of-thing. I had been planning to go to Playfair for a year. I enjoyed it so much the year before that I even gave up attending an Integrity Music album recording to go to Playfair. I was expecting a lot, and I was not disappointed. It was as wild, crazy, and fun as I had remembered it. It was great being in a gym full of people partaking in organized mayhem. The lady who was officiating the whole thing got us to find other people who were born in the same month, then season, then we had to make a circle and do the lap-sit, where we all sat on the lap of the person in back of us. We did other crazy things like back-to-back dancing and giving standing ovations to whoever wanted them. Unfortunately, as we were preparing to begin the back-to-back dance, one couple tripped and fell over, and the girl hurt her arm. We found out later that she had fractured her radius and ulna and had to have metal plates put in her arm. Everyone in the gym sat down and waited, listening to the girl scream in pain, until the paramedics arrived and carted her away. Then we resumed our activity.

When the event was nearing completion, the campus activity board started giving out prizes to various people. At one point the announcer asked three guys to come up to the stage. Once there, they were instructed to sing a love song to a girl on stage. We all laughed and cheered them on. The crowd voted on which guy did the best job, and he got a prize.

Next the announcer asked for three girls to come up to the front. One girl stepped forward immediately. No one else ventured forth, so I made my way to the front. Finally, a third girl was pushed to the stage against her will. Next, the announcer gave us our instructions. We were to sing a love song as well! The guy we were to sing to bounded up on stage. After racking my brain for a suitable song, I gestured to the announcer. “I’m ready,” I said. The announcer stated my name and then handed me the microphone. I took it, waited for the crowd to quiet down a bit, and then started. “Only yooooooooooou,” I crooned. The crowd erupted into hoots, cheers, laughter, and applause. It’s a good thing too, because I didn’t know the words to the rest of the song. I handed the microphone back, and the other two girls sang. Each one did a longer piece than I had (one of them sang And I Will Always Love You, from The Bodyguard) and, admittedly, performed it much better. The crowd couldn’t decide between the two of them, so they tied, each getting a University of Mobile notebook. That was fine with me. I’ve never prided myself on my singing, and I already own a UM notebook.

Later, I received lots of compliments on my “singing.” They put on some music, and a bunch of us started doing the Electric Slide in the middle of the floor, while the rest gathered around to watch us. It was great! Country line dancing without country music! Then the music stopped, and Nathan and I made our way to the door. Suddenly, a frisbee smacked me in the side of my face. “Oh, I’m sorry!” a guy apologized, coming up to me. “By the way, my name’s Joe.”

“I’m Joanna,” I replied, rubbing my jaw.

“Glad to meet you,” he said. “Just think! We would’ve never met if I hadn’t hit you!”

“Pitiful,” Nathan muttered as we walked outside. “He should be using better ways to pick up girls than that.”

It’s good to be back in school. Seeing everyone again and getting back into a routine have been great.

My classes have been fairly good so far. I’m taking Introduction to American Politics taught by my advisor Dr. Schaefer, who me taught Western Civ my first semester. That class is awesome; he is an amazing lecturer.

American History is next. I didn’t think I’d say this about any history class, but it’s boring. I already know all of that stuff. I probably should have CLEPed it.

English (Literary Traditions) is as wonderful as always with my good friend Dr. Allums. That’s the only class Nathan and I share. Right now we’re studying Aeschylus’ _The Oresteia_. _Agamemnon_ is great.

Physical Science, I think, is a waste of time. I know all that stuff and probably could have CLEPed it as well. Oh, well. Labs start Tuesday, and maybe then it will get interesting. The good part is that I know several people in that class.

Intro to the Old Testament has proved surprisingly interesting. The professor has gone into a lot of the history behind the choosing of the Hebraic canon and stuff. I turned in my first required outline of a chapter from the textbook and received an enthusiastic response from the professor, so I feel like I’m on the right track there.

Sports Nutrition is a once a week, one credit hour, activity course. Not a problem.

Finally, I’m taking “How to Pick a Major.” It’s actually quite interesting. First, we had to make out a list of 20 accomplishments that we are proud of, whether they are viewed as important to anyone else or not. Then we had to write essays on 8 of those achievement activities and complete a 30 minute interview with the professor. All those things are entered into a computer program, and then I’m not sure what happens. That’s as far as we’ve gotten.

So, anyway, I’ve been having fun.