So...Its Been A While....

Okay readers, and by readers I mean Mom because she may be the only one bothering to read this anymore, its been quite some time since I invaded your cyberspace. How come? Well three weeks ago my university, town, and entire state was rocked by a natural disaster. We experienced and EF-4 tornado that destroyed half our town, killed many, destroyed homes and businesses and left us all in a state of shock. I've never openly stated where I go to school but I'm sure from the few Roll Tides and mentions of sporting events and cities you've figured out I attend the University of Alabama. I was trying not to mention the name of the University for a couple of reasons but I'm over that. Besides very few people who don't already know me are reading my posts. Anyway, I had planned on writing about the end of my first semester as a RA and my overall impression of the job but April 27th changed everything, including my experience as a resident advisor.

I'm not going to write much about the storm. Its been well covered and my story is far less important than those who have suffered personal injury or loss. I will say that it was and will remain one of the defining events of my life. I've never experienced anything like it. There have been a few dangerous moments in my life but this was one of the few were I actually thought I was going to die. I'm not trying to be morbid, just better understand the gravity of the situation. I was huddled in a closet with four friends watching the storm cut a path straight toward our building via video coverage on someone's phone. I called my family, prayed, and braced myself for the worst. At the last minute the storm changed directions and hit an area about a half mile from where we were. I don't know why it happened like it did but I thank God that I'm alive and able to help those who were not as lucky as I was.

Shortly after the storm our dorm lost power. We came together as a staff under the direction of our amazing Community Director, Graduate Assistant and Office Manager. We maintained our 24 hour desk, offered assistance to residents in anyway that we could and began the longest week of our lives. So many things happened in those few days and to be honest I'm not even sure I can remember them all, much less record them in chronological order.

I remember waking up every 7 hours to makes rounds of the building with an RA partner. Climbing 13 floors of stairs with a flashlight. Sweating in the heat and tripping over discarded items from residents who chose to go home early and be with their families.

I remember collecting clothes and toiletry items to send to our on campus shelter for storm victims.

I remember the University closing operations and realizing my semester was over.

I remember helping residents coordinate a way to get home.

I remember not crying. I couldn't let myself cry. If I just went to bed exhausted then I could rest and not have to cry.

We began an express check out process so we could get as many residents out of the dorm (and as many people out of Tuscaloosa) as soon as possible. At the end of every school year the dorm operates a give n' go donation center so girls can donate the items they can't or do not wish to take home. This process took on a whole other meaning this year. We unofficially became a donation and drop off center. It started out with residents donating clothes, toiletries and furniture. The next thing I knew I saw a guy walking in with two armfuls of groceries asking if we were accepting food donations. When I asked where he was from he told me Mississippi State. He finished his exams, went to the store, loaded up with supplies and drove all the way to Tuscaloosa to drop them off. I don't know why he chose to stop at our dorm. At that point we had not publicized the fact that we were taking donations. All I know is it warmed my heart.

The first time I left Tuscaloosa after the storm on Wednesday was Sunday morning. I decided to drive up to Birmingham to see my family and attend church services at my church back home. I had held it together since the storm. I'm not a crier. I don't cry often and I rarely cry in front of other people. So when I got to church Sunday I was not expecting to cry. If I had known what was to follow I would have packed four packs of tissue and sat on the back pew so no one would have had to see me ugly cry. And ugly cry I did. I went up to my usual spot and sat with my friend Meredith. Her neighborhood (about 60 miles from Tuscaloosa) was also hit by the same storm. We hugged and I held it together. I thought I'd be okay. Then church began and it was time to sing. The song leader announced the first song, Count Your Many Blessings. I couldn't think of a more appropriate way to start the service. Except, all of a sudden my throat is tight, and my lip is starting to shake, and now I'm making the ugly "I can't cry now" face. And now my face is all wet because I am crying. Ugly crying. And now Meredith is crying and she only has two tissues left. Well so much for holding it together.  Turned out to be just the emotional release I needed, I just wish I had been a little more prepared for it. Thanks for sharing your kleenex Mer! It worked much better than my sweater. I met my family for lunch after church and then drove back down to school.

On Monday, May 2nd the University resumed normal operations and our dorm became an official drop off and donation center. I spent the next week alternating between working in the dorm and working in the community.  I saw the best and worst images over that week. Its an event that will always be a part of me.

Well I said I wasn't going to write much about the storm. I guess I lied. It was unintentional I assure you. Please continue to pray for my community and state. The healing process has just begun but as has been said "We are Alabama, and we will rise again."

If you're interested in helping there are many ways to volunteer. One of the best tools for me so far has been Twitter. Way to go social networking! There is an account called HelpTTown. They post daily about where volunteers and supplies are needed.

Also, I have a lot of new things to tell you about regarding my RA adventure and where it has taken me this summer but this post is already too long. I will tell you that I'm still on campus, working with a new community, and already having a blast in my summer position. More details to come shortly!

Residents. Babies. They're all the same.

Our community director is having another baby. Exciting times! We threw her a surprise baby shower last night at our staff meeting. Its too early to know the baby's sex but we wanted to have a shower before the end of the semester. For our gift Tacoma and I decorated onesies.

Two other RAs helped us with a couple of them. The one with little Green monsters was made by an RA much more talented than myself. Our CD's last name is Green if you're wondering why there are so many green themed onesies. Her husband is working on his doctorate? in math? Something science-y like that so Tacoma made the Q(t)π one. Too cute. Here's the card I made to go with the gift...

Front 

Inside

Surprisingly we were able to keep the shower a secret and she was truly surprised! That's pretty hard to pull off with a staff of 24 females. I'm impressed. Ok, time to quit blogging about babies and get back to work. 

Everybody Loves Harry Potter

I love Harry Potter and I'm not afraid to say it. Yep, I'm a huge nerd who loves to read and Harry Potter is one of my favorite series.  While conducting health and safety inspections my RA partner noticed that many of our residents had the Harry books as well.  Each month a group of floors is in charge of putting on a large program.  RA partner suggested we do one with a Harry Potter theme and what a great idea it was!  

We had butterbeer pong, quidditch toss, a horcrux hunt, and watched the newly released DVD.  The butterbeer and horcrux hunt seemed to be big hits. At lunch today I told my friends that I needed to get back to the dorm to finish making horcruxes. I laughed at how horrible that sounded and then they started calling me Moldemort. Anyway, I printed out pictures of the 7 horcruxes and enlisted the help of my fellow RAs in hiding them throughout the building. I wrote clues and posted them on a table at the party. I tried to make them cute and rhyme-y. They weren't all great but a few of my favorites included...

"One can be found in the place where you wash your hands if you live on floor tres." 

"Your community director works here. You've probably been to see her if you were caught with beer."

"Polyjuice potion takes a few hairs. If you live on the 14th floor you probably don't take the..."

What I loved about that last one is that the residents took the stairs all the way to the 14th floor. In my head I envisioned them taking the elevator to the 14th floor and then walking over to the stairwell. I guess they thought they'd miss it if they didn't walk all the way up? It all evened out though because the prize for each horcrux was a GiGi's cupcake. They had the pleasure of eating their cupcake guilt free. 

I however ate my pizza and cupcakes full of guilt. Speaking of pizza, when ordering 25 pizzas its important to call more than an hour ahead of time. Tacoma (My friend and the dorm GA) and I were busy shopping for the program and forgot about ordering early. About an hour and 15 min before we needed the pizza I remembered and we called them right away. This is how the conversation went:

Dominoes phone person: "Dominoes, this is so-and-so, how may I help you?"

Me: "Yes, I need to order 25 pizzas for the university"

Dominoes phone person in a really excited voice: "That'd be great ma'am! How can we prepare those for you?"

Me (after describing what I wanted): "And...um...is there anyway we can get those by 6:15?" It was 5:10 at the time.

Dominoes phone person in a not so excited voice: "Let me get a manager..."

Sorry Dominoes! But kudos because they got them to us on time and the pizzas tasted amazing. Ugh, pizza. I'm already mad at myself. I'm gaining my Freshman Fifteen all over again. Must do better tomorrow. 

Alright, time to get some sleep so I can be productive tomorrow. I have two huge papers due and only 12 more school days. I cannot believe how quickly this semester has flown by! Thanks for enduring my stories thus far.

More quotables

They're at it again. More quotables from the residents...

Resident A:"Do you know what she wore to dress check?"
Resident B:"Yeah, she wore my dress. I don't know how she fit in it though. I had to squeeze into it and was practically suffocating the whole time I wore it. I mean, it still fit, but I don't know how she wore it."

Resident while looking at one of those $1 mugshot magazines you see in gas stations: "What does aliases mean? What is an alias?"
Me: "You know, like Tater Salad."
Resident: Blank look
Me: "Ron Tater Salad White?"
Resident: Blank look
Me: "It means another name you go by. Names you use so the police won't know your true identity"
Resident: "Ohh like I could be Nicole."
Me: "Sure, as long as that's not your real name"
Resident: Blank look.

I think she finally got it by the end of our conversation but come on! I can forgive you not knowing the word "alias". Maybe you missed that day of 7th grade. But you've never seen Blue Collar Comedy? These girls are worse off than I realized.

During a recent Tornado Warning
Resident: "Is this serious? Like is it going to hit us?"
Me: "Well its a warning so that's more serious that a watch. I think it means tornadoes have actually been spotted. James Spann is probably down to his suspenders."
Resident: "Ok, is that serious?"
Me: "If you think getting hit by a tornado is serious, then yeah. But there's a very small chance it will actually hit the building."
Resident: "Why are there so many tornadoes here?! They should tell you this when you apply!"

For the record the tornado did not hit the building and yes there are a lot of tornadoes that come through our city. Its interesting to see how the students who aren't from areas that experience tornadoes react to their first bad storm.  I tried to reassure the worriers that it was highly unlikely that we were in any danger but when the sky goes from black to green to blue and back to black again within 10 minutes that's hard to do.

A Heart Divided. Or is it Multiplied?

There is a stretch of Interstate 59 that connects the great cities of Birmingham and Tuscaloosa as well as the two giant pieces of my heart that lie in each.  I often travel this bit of road and ponder what I'm leaving behind and what awaits me at the end.  Between jam sessions and dancing as only a rhythmically challenged white girl can I am overcome with the bittersweet feeling of a divided heart. No matter which direction Clementine (my car) is headed I'm hesitant to leave but also ecstatic to arrive.  I started to rip off the great Charles Dickens and entitle this post "A Tale of Two Cities" but then I realized it has nothing to do with the cities themselves. Its all about the amazing friends in each location.

No matter where I've been in life God has seen fit to bless me with some pretty fantastic friends.  As I was driving today I got to thinking of how spoiled I am to know so many awesome people. Whenever I have started a new adventure in life, be it school, work, or a new church I always get nervous.  "Mom, what if the other kids don't like me?" Yes, I still call my mom and ask that at the age of 23. I'm loud, a tad bit overbearing and sometimes forget to use the filter between my brain and my mouth. But somehow there have always been people in my life willing to overlook those flaws and the many others I possess. I love people. Seriously love them and it doesn't take much to win me over. If a stranger smiles at me I smile back and in my head I'm thinking "What a nice person. Wonder what their name is?" I also have a bad habit of talking to strangers who would probably prefer to just be left alone. I'm sure there are many people I now consider friends who wished they'd ignored me and remained strangers. To those people I offer a huge thank you. You not only put up with me but do so while I'm getting on your last nerve.

I've been driving back and forth between Birmingham and Tuscaloosa now for the past 5 years, calling each home at different times.  I've been through a lot of changes and transitions during that time and there have always been great friends, new and old, to make it easier. I hate how my heart feels torn in two every time I make that drive but I guess as far as problems go its a good problem to have. Thank you so much to all the people who make it hard to leave either place.

Jane Austen vs. The "Ladies" of the 8th Floor.

Oh my my. I'm definitely asking for it this month. Each month we have to change out the bulletin boards by the elevators on our floor. Most months we have assigned themes. April was a freebie. I'll admit, I took the easy way this time around. I've put thought and effort into my last two and they were promptly defaced and torn down. This time I decided to let the residents take part in creating the board.  I'm under no illusion that this one will last any longer than the others but frankly I wasn't feeling all that creative this time around. Here's my board for the month of April...

"What one word best describes your Freshman experience?"

I tied a sharpie to a string, stapled it on, and let the social experiment begin. If you asked me to describe my residents in one word "classy", "refined" and "ladylike" would not make the list. They didn't make it on the bulletin board either. I expected to get some pretty interesting answers but once again the exceeded my expectations. Was I expecting to get words such as "enlightening"? No. Basically I wanted to see how far they would take it. Is that wrong? Maybe, but it worked. After less than 24 hours I'd gotten the following:

• Drunk
• Slutty
• Black
• Amazing
• New
• Dirty
• Hot
• Naughty
• Ridiculous
• ...and a few two word combos that I won't be posting here. 

I realize I'm just as much a part of the guilty party by providing them with the opportunity to put it out there. I'm trying to think of a way to turn it into a positive experience by the end of the month so if you have any suggestions let me know. I do find it ironic that the other RA on our floor did a bulletin board about Jane Austen and her quotes on being a lady. The two boards face each other and only stand a few feet apart but oh what a chasm that divides them. Maybe halfway through the month I'll change it out and just write out Proverbs 31. I would do good to read that passage everyday myself. We'll just have to see where April takes us...

Over Exposure, Less Disclosure, When is This Semester Over?

I have not blogged in quite a while.
Whats wrong with me? That's not my style.
Is it too much time stuck in this dorm?
Have the girls' crazy antics become my norm?
I'm no longer shocked at the things they do.
Maybe that's why I quit recounting them for you.

Oh no. I'm rhyming again. Rhyming is my brain's response to stress.  I don't know why but when I'm overwhelmed or stressed out I start writing things that rhyme.  That's a very odd response to stress but its what I do and school has me stressed right now.  Anyway after a GLORIOUS Spring Break week with no residents they have returned with a vengeance.

Spring Break was great! I spent a few days here in the dorm trying to catch up on school work (which didn't happen) and a few days back home with the fam.  The dorm is extremely creepy when the residents are not here.  Imagine a thirteen floor building meant to house roughly 1,000 residents and you're only one of five people in the entire thing. With no one else on your floor. Spooky!  I didn't make it any easier on myself by watching Criminal Minds every night before going to sleep.  I can't stop myself.  I love that show even if it does give me nightmares and make me constantly look over my shoulder.  Luckily no unsubs were lurking in the hall and I survived.  However, if I am ever murdered I hope its interesting enough to inspire an episode of Criminal Minds, Law & Order or at the very least The First 48.

Creepy or not, a week with no residents was so nice.  Some came back on Sunday, others on Monday but they all celebrated being back last night.  It was uncharacteristically loud for a Tuesday night.  I guess everyone wanted to prolong their vacation a little longer by going out.  Guess things are back to normal.  Awesome.  At least there are only 6 more weeks of school!  I can definitely make it 6 more weeks.  And then sweet summertime with no residents or classes.  Let the countdown begin!

P.S. I won bulletin board of the month again so take that residents who tore it down!