senior year.

Holy shenanigans, today is my last day of summer before SENIOR YEAR OF COLLEGE, therefore, my last technical day of "summer" ever in my life. Wow. This is my best hand sign for 2011.

The start of senior year has been awesome! I got back to Elon on Wednesday to immediately start helping with the international student orientation. After my experience abroad, I knew I wanted to get more involved with the international community at Elon and I got the opportunity to help with their initial orientation into the University. There are students from Kenya, Ghana, Syria, China, Switzerland, Sweden, Poland, Spain, Italy, Canada, and even Afghanistan. It was so awesome getting to know them and it made me feel like I was still abroad :)

Little Gray is finally complete! Victoria and I are still living here and we added two of our best friends and suite mates from sophomore year, Lauren and Sarah. I am so blessed to have always had such great living arrangements and I am so excited about our house this year!

So with only 3 classes, meaning 12 hours that begin at 10:30 at the earliest, here is to sleeping in and senior year!

eat pray love.

It's all the hype now. The book, turned movie, is definitely a hot topic with the recent movie release. So with the recent excitement, I decided I should finally read the book, which has been recommended to me by several of my friends for a couple years now.

SERIOUSLY, READ IT!!!

Literally, I have connected with this book. It sounds weird, but I feel as though her journey is almost identical to my recent self-reflection (sans all the meditation and yogic theology). After spending 4 months abroad, I can appreciate her travel diaries and self discoveries so much more. There is honestly something about being abroad that brings about a new reflection.

Being in Denmark and traveling around Europe taught me SO much. Not only did it teach me more about the world in which we live, but it taught me so much more about myself. I notice the changes in myself so much more now that I'm back in my own environment.

Maybe it is being a senior in college and really thinking about where I want to go and what I want to do with the rest of my life as well. All I know is I have been thinking about a lot of things lately and I find it so ironic that I am reading this book at the same time. So maybe I'm not crazy with all of my thoughts and this is a sign that it is just another stage of my life.

What a divine sign it is.

august.

Sunday morning arrives, I check my phone and what do I see......AUGUST 1, 2010. WHOA, WHAT?! It's August???

Maybe some of you had similar reactions to mine when you woke up to find that the summer months are quickly coming to an end. I literally feel like I left Denmark yesterday, much less two months ago.

This summer has been quite monotonous compared to my crazy four months abroad, but enjoyable nonetheless. I have kept my days busy livin' in my sweet maroon polo as a tour guide in the Elon Office of Admissions which brings fun stories everyday. I love meeting perspective students and families and talking about how much I love Elon.

People always ask me, why did you choose Elon? If you could do it all over again, would you? Honestly, I can answer this with a big YES! I have had sooo many amazing experiences at Elon and I know a lot of them wouldn't have been possible unless I had attended this University. From my internship experience, to study abroad, to my service learning class, to going to LA for "class" my freshmen year, it really has been unforgettable.

I never thought I would say these words, but I am so ready for class to start. Yes, yes I know, what student ever wants summer to end? But honestly, I do. I cannot wait to start my senior year, get back into my Elon classes, and see all my friends who I haven't seen since last December!

So the countdown now begins for August 31, the first day of my last year at Elon......*gasp*