I like learning. No matter how much I can complain about being busy and having a lot of homework, I think I like the chance to be exposed to a lot of things and a lot of people and (un)consciously soaking up as much information and as many ideas as humanly possible. The opportunity to pick up bits and pieces from a variety of arenas has been invaluable.

I may have written about this before, but all my classes interconnect in a way they haven't in any other semester.

• Non-Profit Program Design and Fundraising
• Political Communication (NOT about the elections, strangely)
• Public Policy and Administration (taught by Michael Dukakis)
• Capstone (this is the only one that doesn't fit in)

Non-Profit helps me understand how to better plan, ponder, and structure most things in my life. PolComm brings public policy on disabilities (the focus of our project) in with the design aspects of non-profit work. Public Policy addresses many issues in the election season, and informs what can be altered through PolComm, as well as what is taken care of through non-profits. I TA for a class on Model United Nations and run the club connected to it, and I'm learning myriad amounts about management, leadership, education, public speaking, and international issues and negotiations.

Having friends in most majors, and friends who are interested in subjects from beer to biomedical engineering makes learning about things outside of my own sphere surprisingly easy. In a single group setting, I can talk about quantum physics, rock climbing, what prescriptions you can drink beer with, atonal music, and how twitter is being used with mainstream media. I have friends who are: Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, NRA members, religious zealots, atheists, dirty hippies, capitalists, money grubbers, minimalists, shopaholics, vegetarians, carnivores, actively ambitious, too smart to be anything but successful, humble, proud, loud, and quiet.

If you pay enough attention to those around you, you can learn so much.

absolutely nothing makes me happier than spending time with the people i really care about.

in the face of everything else: death, stress, worry, insecurity, overload of work, i continue to realize that the people in my life are what make everything else worth the time i put in. i have to keep remembering that, because if those i value fall by the way side, pretty soon nothing else holds the same importance, and I would rather not come to that conclusion that too late to change things.

love you all. be safe, be healthy, be happy, and let's keep making time for each other.

Thoughts to be expanded on more thoroughly later:

• my massage yesterday really chilled me out
• i don't like most of the clothing i own
• i think i may have mildly overcommitted myself this semester
• i want a comfy couch or arm chair to do homework and reading in
• i miss a lot of things
• leadership is a complicated concept
• more hugs and cuddling in my life would be good
• having a hard time prioritizing and focusing
• craving more outside time
• in disbelief at how old we all are
  

this semester full of group projects and student groups is going to (hopefully) make me practice playing nicely with others.

whether my group members or I emerge with scratches, war wounds, or psychological trouble can be evaluated at the end of December.

this made me smile so hard today:

where the hell is matt?

Somehow, it's already October. In the midst of 4 of my own classes, the night class/president/TA/jack of all trades experience that is United Nations Association, NUCALLS eboard, mentoring(?) freshmen, actually getting my ass to the gym, trying to stay in touch with friends and family, and getting to know my roommates, its already October. How does that happen? Next up is the BU MUN conference this weekend, Yom Kippur, ladies from London in town, getting drunk and crashing a bride show, pre-election insanity,

There's a lot I feel like I never get around to, or talk about in the hopes of eventually doing. Part of me thinks I need to stop trying to make myself feel guilty/unproductive for not getting to them, and the other part of me knows I need an on going to-do/want-t0-do list to keep myself going.

The one thing I'm loving about campusy-ness this semester is meeting people. My Pol Comm class makes us learn everyone's names, and it's like having 40 new friends to run into. I'm learning all the names of the Model UN class, and it'll make it easier to work with people and a lot more fun. Because of student leadership, I'm also having a chance to meet and network with other people running clubs and activities, and they're almost all the kind of people I identify with. With so many friends studying abroad, I'm glad to have the opportunity to expand my horizons.

All of my classes make me think--even if the work load isn't intense like pharmacy or engineering, its a lot to wrap my head around and it keeps my brain buzzing long after class. The materials all tie together, and are extremely applicable to my past work experience, my current student leadership, and my ambitions--which is scary! A lot of philosophical conversations have risen from what I'm learning, and I feel many more coming on.

In spite of/because of everything going on, I'm still feeling a little unglued a lot of the time. Having a hard time settling into a routine, and figuring out why exactly I feel the need to be so busy all the time. I'm missing a lot of people, and wishing a thing or two had gone differently. The nice part is there's a lot of people and things to help me remember why I'm excited about the semester, but sometimes I think I keep myself busy just so I can't get bogged down in my own brain.

October excitement:
-VP debates tomorrow
-Halloween
-Kenzie comes at the end of the month
-massage appointment in two weeks
-fall weather
-Jon Stewart at NU if I can snag tickets