Trying.

Well, today was the first Monday of the Spring semester and as I've been saying all day...I don't know what the hell I was thinking when I signed up for 18 credit hours! I woke up at 8:20 AM/Ante Meridiem (okay, I'll stop now) and my first class was at 9. I then proceeded to go to three other classes after that without a single break until 12:50. I will tell you that my favorite class so far is definitely Introductory Spanish I. I took two years worth of Spanish in high school and I retained it very well considering most people forgot most of it as soon as the course was over. I've always been interested in Spanish and I've decided to make it my minor. The cool thing is that my professor (who is really cute, but completely straight) is the best Spanish teacher I've ever had. We didn't just sit there and listen to him throw Spanish infinitives at us, he had us get up and mingle with the class in Spanish every time we learned something new. I was worried that since there is not an official textbook for the course, I would have a really hard time learning, but the advantage of having a professor with a PhD in Spanish is that he can teach us things that are not always taught in a textbook. For example, I never knew that the typical way to greet somebody in Spanish wasn't necessarily by saying "hola." Spanish speaking people often use buenas, which is the English equivalent of hi. They are also more prone to use (my favorite) oye (pronounced Oh-Jeh) as the English equivalent of hey. I've been so enthusiastic to get better at my Spanish, I have already been looking and practicing with the sites my professor gave us as a study tool. Can't wait to get better. Our midterm and final exam consist of us just meeting one-on-one with the professor and having a conversation with him in Spanish. The better we communicate, the better our grades will be.

Besides that, nothing else great really happened this first Monday back. My Visual Arts professor mother passed away so there won't be any class until next Wednesday. I feel bad for her considering she was my Intro to Drawing instructor last semester. Although she is crazy as everything, she is a really nice and passionate person. I thought about sending her a sympathetic email, but thought it would be too personal considering I'm just a student of hers...not even a favorite. I still hope she and her family is okay.

Outside of classes, I am feeling very hopeful about the next couple of weeks. Last Friday, there was a mass email sent to all students about Troy Cleaners hiring. Right away I thought, that's off campus so there is no need to even try considering I don't have a vehicle at the moment. But the email came enclosed with an address, so I typed it in my iPhone's GPS and selected the walking distance option and it calculated that it was only 3 minutes away. So with that in mind, I typed up a resume (although their were applications at the store) and wrote down the hours I was available on a green sticky note. Today I had butterflies fluttering in my whole body, let alone in my stomach. I picked out a nice pair of jeans, a dressy shirt topped with a thick jacket and Sperrys. I also slept with stocking cap on my head (a very African-American thing to do I know ) to make sure my hair wasn't frizzy. At 1 this afternoon after a quick gussying up, I headed to the apply for the job. I checked the GPS again just to make sure I wouldn't get lost or anything, and the distance jumped from 3 minutes to 17 minutes!! I had to walk over half a mile to get there....but it was worth it. I gave the owner or manager (or whatever she was) my resume and she seemed at least a little impressed that I was so prepared. Considering I already had my contact information and my hours (the little green sticky note) with my resume, I didn't need to waste time filling out an application. She said if my hours don't conflict with the other person she is going to hire, she will give me a call back. I'm hoping and praying so hard for this job! I left after the brief encounter with her and headed back to campus. I even slipped an extra resume to Little Ceaser's Pizza on the way.

The Troy, Alabama ghetto....

With all of that being said, I'm just hoping for a change really soon. With everything that's happened in the past year, I think I deserve a small break. If not that, at least a chance at happiness, and if I do fuck up, at least it would be on my own part without the help of anybody else. I am honestly trying with everything in me to change my own life for the better. I'm not the type of person that sits around and wishes for something good to magically appear on my lap. I'm only eighteen years-old, but I know that if I want anything productive to happen in my life, I have to make it happen and not wait around for it, and if I have to walk a half a mile in the rain everyday, I will do it just because somebody gave me the chance. And with that tidbit of College-Kid wisdom, I will call it a night.

forever hopeful,
-darryl aka dap