Where to begin. It has been quite some time since my last blog. I decided that since the people who are most interested in the blog were those surrounding me over the summer, I would take a short break. Many things have changed since the last post. Then, I was sitting in my dorm room at UNCG wondering what my future had in store. I had been accepted to Marshall University, but still did not know what I wanted to do. Well it turned out that Marshall is the place God had in store for me. I am now here, completely moved in. I leave behind a year of many memories. It was fun, but I knew very early on that UNCG was not the place for me. I did not have a very good educational experience with the professors and I felt like I could do a lot more with my college experience by changing schools. I did not go out as m much last year and felt like my college experience was held back. I now am doing what I want to be doing in a place where I can already tell I fit in ten times better. I was planning on majoring in Broadcast Journalism, but I have changed that to my minor and will be majoring in Sports Management and Marketing. It offers a lot more opportunities upon graduation and was very appealing to me. I am already loving the campus at Marshall and all it has to offer. I spent most of my first day chilling with my RA and checking out the campus. I am really pumped to see what this school has to offer once everything gets into full swing. If the first day is like any of the rest, this is going to blow my first year of college out of the water and some. I am really excited to get going and will try and keep the blog up as often as possible.

Well that is a brief summary of what is going on in the educational aspect of my world. This summer, on the other hand, was one for the ages and I would not have had it any other way. I cannot remember the last time I had that much fun with all of my friends in a long time. I do not believe I stayed at my house even a full month total out of the entire summer. I was always doing something with my friends and found myself very rarely being at home. I will miss all my friends now that I am in West Virgina, but I will be staying in touch and I will do it all over again next summer. Hope everyone is doing okay and I will continue to post as regularly as possible. God Bless!!!!

Hopefully Not The Last

As time progressed, this blogs inconsistency progressed right along with it. I am now sitting in the most baron dorm room I could imagine with the realization that at the time I am writing this blog tomorrow, I will be home for the summer. It all began with the move in that everyone looks forward to. I finally got to meet the roommate I had been speaking with all summer and begin the new chapter of my life. It turned out that it was going to be the best chapter that I can remember to this day. I met people that I never thought I would meet and built relationships that will last until I depart from this earth. It was the most emotional roller coaster that I have ever been on and I will cherish every rough and smooth spot that went along with it. I made a lot better grades up here in college than I did back in high school and I credit that to my peers who were constantly there for me every step of the way throughout this first year. I have made memories that will last a lifetime and I cannot wait to build onto those next year. There is one thing that I will hold onto for the rest of my life that I have taken from this year and it is not something I learned in class or from reading a textbook. This lesson comes straight from the book of life. Mary-Neil Jackson wrote me a card shortly after we began dating and the only thing it said on the front of it was that "Everything Happens For A Reason"! There was a note on the inside that put this into the greatest perspective I could have imagined. I will always remember that note and as I go through life I will always remember that no matter how terrible a situation may go or when it seems as though nothing is going my way, it is all happening for a reason. I cannot think her enough for opening my eyes and putting into action this simple little phrase that is uttered on such a consistent basis. I am now heading into summer break and looking forward to spending time with my friends that I have not seen since high school and getting my voice back on the radio. I cannot let Mr. Bobby Lineberger from church down as in his eyes I have become the "Voice of Mooresville." I do not see myself in that light, but I will accept his compliments and appreciate the fact he listens to the broadcast. Well this is the last time I will be blogging on campus for the year and I plan to continue this next year. Summer will be tough but if I can manage a little time I may throw a tid-bit in here or there. Thanks to all those who have been reading and look forward to hearing from me on a regular basis. It means more than you think that you guys all take the time to read about what I have going on. God Bless!!

It Happens

The world is yet to be figured out by anyone, and I am probably the farthest one away from finding any answers. Everything that I could possibly imagine not going right seems to be happening. I constantly wonder when things are going to smooth out and get back on that wonderful path that they were once on. I have spent a good bit of time pondering by myself attempting to figure out why god has presented me with so many difficult scenarios this semester, but I cannot conjure an answer. To this day I have managed to get through all of these circumstances, but it has not been easy. It seems as though I am breaking through one situation and then another one is appearing. It is taking its tole on me and I am trying to stay as positive minded about it as possible. I am getting through everything with prayer ans the help of those around me and I know all will work out well. I have been very tired of late this weekend did not help. I tried to stay as busy as possible all weekend to keep my mind off of everything that has been and is still going on. I do not like my problems to drag those around me down so I attempt to keep a positive attitude around my peers. I am ready for all of the frustrations to be gone and relax for the first time in a while. After this weekend I was satisfied that I manged to keep myself busy and was able to make a few new friends along the way. It was the first time in a few weeks that I was able to get out and get my mind off of everything. I am not trying to scare those of you who read this, I have just had a lot going on in the world of Patrick as of late. I am ready to get exams started and head home for summer to enjoy myself and put all of these issues in the past. I am not a person to hold onto things so once it has all passed over it will just be another one of those things that I can say I made it through.
Now to fill in on what has been going on in my world. I know Debby has been getting on me about not blogging so I found a little time to get one in here. As we all know the Tarheels are National Champions again. That is said with great pride and joy. I have been very busy with school, but I am proud to announce that my grades are quite solid and I calculated my GPA the other day and it has gone up since last semester. I am getting ready for exams in the upcoming weeks and have managed to get all of my work done so that I have some time this week to attempt to build up some energy for the long hours I will be pulling next week getting all of my studies in. It has been the shorter of the two semesters, but it is now dragging out with all of the other things I have going on besides school. It has been a year full of memories and I have met some very significant people who mean the world to me this semester. I often wonder what would have happened if I had not been placed here at UNCG. I know I would not be sitting here typing this blog and I probably would be a very different person than I am now. I have grown a lot and changed a lot at the same time over the course of this year. I am still the same old Patrick that everyone knows I have just been through many new things that have given me a different outlook on life and a different outlook on many things than I had prior to the school year. My whole world changed the minute I stepped foot on this campus back in June for orientation and it has been an adventure since that day. I would not trade one second of this adventure for the world though. Every hard time and every laugh that I have shared with anyone at this school has made me a stronger person and made me grow. I have a different perspective on a lot of things because of the influences I have been around here at school. There is one constant that will never change and that is my faith in God. I go to him on a daily basis for guidance and without him would not have been able to make it through this first year. "Trust in the lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:5). This is the answer to all of the questions that I have had in that first paragraph. I feel that everything happens for a reason much like my girlfriend Mary-Neil has always told me. I was not able to make it home for Easter and I was very upset, but I now know that i was supposed to go to church with Ashley Hastings that morning and hear this bible verse. It has helped me cope with my struggles even though they still exist. I know that everything will work out in its own time, even if it is not when I want it too. I know this blog has been slightly sporadic at times, but this is what has been going on for about the past month. God Bless!!

It has been a while!!

For those it may concern, I am still alive. I have not had the time, much less the energy, to blog for about a week now. For a brief overview I am now working at Hollister, I am beginning to referee some more games, I have not played soccer in forever, the Tarheels are in the final four, and Mary-Neil and I are doing great. All is well in the world of Patrick. I have been busy with a consistent load of school work and extracurricular activities. I have been working diligently and now have a second job to go along with my school work and volunteering. The last tine I blogged was well over a week ago so it is almost impossible for me to inform you of everything I have been up to. Last weekend I went down to UNCW for the weekend to spend some time with my friend Ben. I went home to Mooresville on Friday, picked up Mark Talbot, and hit the road for five hours in order to get to the beach. We had a great weekend hanging out and catching up with one another. When I returned it was time to get back in the groove of school. I had a quiz on Monday and a speech I have to give this Friday. It has been a busy week with preparing for all of that work. I also have a Junior Achievement class that I began teaching last Friday and will be working with every Friday until the semester is over. Last week went amazing and I am looking forward to working with my class again this Friday. Today I had my busy day with five classes. It went by relatively quick and I am now going to relax for the rest of the night. I just went to the soccer stadium and ran the steps in order to make sure I am staying in shape for soccer. I am beginning to get frustrated with the fact that all of my games are getting cancelled, but I know I will be at the tournaments as I already asked off of work. I am looking forward to this semester being over so I can get back home and on the radio for some Legion Baseball an take a few nice vacations. I hope everyone is glad to hear I am still breathing. God Bless!!

Relaxing Weekend

It seems as though it has been a considerable amount of time since I last checked in. The weekend brought the post spring break week to an end. The week went by much quicker than I had anticipated it would, but I am not complaining. Friday brought my trio of morning classes and then it was time to relax and move on from the recovery week. Tim, Justin, and I ran to the bank and then Tim and I went to the mall for a little while to wind down from the week. While there Tim and i entered Hollister to check on the sales. Upon exiting I had been asked if I would like to interview for a job. I had applied back before Christmas break and was not hired. This time it was not my decision to apply. I was approached by one of the managers and then received a phone call again from her today ensuring that I would be at the interview tomorrow. From the looks of things I am going in quite confidently to this interview. I was approached and asked to apply so if I do not receive the job, I will be upset and surprised. After the mall trip Tim and I drove up over to Bryan Park where we watched the Carolina women's soccer team, who won the National Title, take on a team from the new women's professional league. We came back and I relaxed for the rest of the night. Saturday was supposed to bring along with it a soccer game but due to some adverse field circumstances that game has been rescheduled. Mary-Neil and I spent the day together running around Greensboro and watching basketball. We each have a bracket in her mom's pool so we are having a fun little competition amongst ourselves to see who will do better. That was the extent of the day. I slept in until noon so once we were done at the mall and watching basketball it was considerably late. Sunday meant the arrival of my parents and finally, a soccer game. Mary-Neil spent the day with us as we went to get my hair cut, had my soccer game, and went shopping for some groceries for my dorm room. Those groceries were much needed since I have not had any since the week before spring break began. After all of those events we went out to dinner at the Olive Garden. As always, it was a delicious meal. It was great spending the day with my family and girlfriend all together. I also found out this weekend that I may have the privilege of having Mary-Neil go to the Outer Banks with me for a week over the summer. This was very exciting news and I am very hopeful that all works out and she is able to go. That concluded the weekend for me. My parents dropped us back off at the dorm and headed for Mooresville. Today I got up and went to class as usual then came back to my room to type my Freshman Seminar blog. Once that was completed I went to soccer where we played full field for the first time all semester. It was of course the day after I had played a game of my own. Since we won our game 10-0 and only played about 15 minutes of the second half it was not too bad. Then it was time for Freshman Seminar where we had another guest speaker. Afterwards Tim and I went to dinner at the cafeteria and then came back to my room and relaxed until my intramural soccer game. I had ti play keeper and my team is not all that string so that was interesting to say the least. Of course I got hit in the face and have a major headache now, but that comes with the territory. I got a good bit of work done tonight, including most of my BCN 102 quiz study guide and looked over my Junior Achievement material for this Friday. I am going to try and get some sleep before my eight a.m. dance class now. God Bless!!

Record Breaking Day

Arising before the sun again was as upsetting as it was on Tuesday. Little did I know, the day was going to turn out excellent. I went to dance at eight o'clock as usual where we had our exam and presentations of our dances. It went very well and I feel I did excellent on both the written and presentational sections of the exam. Afterwards, having risen before the sun, I returned to my room, and once again slept until noon. Dad called and asked me if I was going to the Carolina game at the coliseum and I had not made up my mind yet. When he called I was in the process of contemplating whether or not I was going to attempt to acquire tickets. His call was motivation to head for the game. I arrived at the coliseum, parked my car, and bought a 65 dollar ticket off of a scalper for 35 dollars. It was a steal, and I was in the gate. It was now time to relax for a while, by myself, and enjoy some quality basketball. I took numerous pictures and enjoyed the game immensely. I am looking forward to watching the rest of the championship run by my Tarheels and claiming that I went to a tournament game the year they won the title. After the game I headed back to school, changed my clothes, and headed for Urban Ministry to volunteer. I volunteered from six until nine then returned back to school. I got a quality spot in the baseball lot and was excited I did not have to walk too far to get back. As soon as I got in my room Mary-Neil called for me to park her car. I park her car for her on a regular basis and I am fine with that because I do not want her to have to walk across campus alone at night. Only problem tonight was that I had to park mine and hers car back to back. I parked it and returned to my room where I have been messing around on my computer. I am now going to watch some more basketball and go to bed. God Bless!!

Much Better Day!!

After my dreadful day yesterday, today was as good as anyone could have asked for. I had all five of my classes which was welcomed for a change. By having all of my classes I was able to keep my mind focused on school and not wonder of into thought about other things like I have been doing of late. It was a busy day that began with Communications. We spoke in front of the class about our favorite childhood cartoon and then discussed how to prepare our informative speech which will be given within the next few weeks. It was then off to take my BCN 100 quiz which I feel pretty confident about. After I finished Mary-Neil and I went and grabbed a bite to eat before I headed back for my BCN 102 class. After 102 I returned to my room and relaxed for a little while before going to soccer. Soccer was excellent due to the superb weather and great field conditions. We played a half-field length scrimmage and for the first time I actually worked up a sweat in that class. Once class was over it was time to head to Freshman Seminar and turn in the Virtual Community paper we have been working on for some time. For the first time this semester the class went by relatively quickly. We had a guest speaker and she did a great job of keeping us entertained and used a lot of class interaction to keep us focused. We all went to eat dinner after class and then it was back to my room where I have been ever since. I worked out on my own in my room for a little while and watched the Bobcats game. Tomorrow I will begin watching the NCAA Tournament intently until its conclusion. I am aiming for the top prize in Debby's pool this year. Almost forgot, yesterday I applied to Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. I now have an application in there and at Chapel Hill. We will see what happens with those two applications and find out where I will be headed next year. I have not had the greatest experience here at UNCG and need a change of scenery. I am pleased that today was a better day and I now have to get to sleep so I can awake in the morning and have enough energy to perform my dance in class for a grade. It is going to be interesting, but I believe I have got the hang of it after a few minutes of practice in the Pit with Kendall this afternoon. Hope all is well. God Bless!!

The day began early, but it almost did not begin at all. Waking up before sunrise was not on my checklist of things to do for the day, but it happened anyways. Seven o'clock rolled around before I knew it and it was time to rise and shine for dance class. I was not at all ready to get out of bed so of course I fell back to sleep. I suddenly woke up and panicked at the thought that I had overslept and missed class. It was 7:40 which left me just enough time to throw on some athletic wear and walk to the dance building for class. After class, still being exhausted of course, I fell back to sleep. I did not arise until noon today and it was some much needed sleep. I am still quite tired of course, but none the less it gave me the strength I needed to make it through the day. After I woke I went to lunch with Tim and Mary-Neil where we were going to study for our nutrition exam while eating. We decided to come back to the dorm and study, but placing me within the vicinity of my bed today was not a good idea at all. I decided not to study, and laid back down in my bed for about an hour until it was time to go and take the exam. I did not study for the exam at all so I am sure the grade is going to be lovely. The way the day went, I really could care less about this particular exam. I have been studying for my BCN 100 quiz tomorrow though and look to get school back on track the rest of this semester after this rough start back from break. I have been doing a lot of thinking the past few weeks and it has been driving me crazy. I am just ready for everything to settle down so I can once again focus on my school work and try and get everything else on the right path as well. i know it is all going to work out and I have talked to numerous people about it today. the best advice i got was from my old roommate CJ Chavis. I talked with him for about 3o minutes today and he gave me some wonderful advice that has influenced my decision to try and get school back on track and not enlist in the military. It was that one conversation that really changed my plans as i had previously called my mom and told her I was going to enlist in the near future. I know that God has a plan for me and he told me to call CJ which was the best thing that has happened since all of this began bothering me some time ago. I thank everyone for their support and hope everyone is doing okay back at home. God Bless!!

Would'nt Change A Thing

Well, due to the circumstances, my blogging was put on hold temporarily while I was enjoying myself at the beach over Spring Break. I am glad to be back on and keeping everyone informed again but I am not excited to be back at school knowing that Spring Break has come and gone. All of the build up and suspense, then it suddenly comes crashing down once the week is over. To fill you in on the week I will begin with last Friday(the 6th). We had all been anticipating the arrival of our first college Spring Break that we could not stand it. We all left once we got out of class around two and reality set in for us. We were actually going to get this vacation underway after all. We got to the beach and had to open up the house. We did this as a team which made it much easier than I had anticipated it being. We got settled in and enjoyed a good nights sleep after our long day. It is ridiculous how anticipation and a car ride can physically drain your body. We spent the first day out in the beach enjoying the wonderful weather that we were blessed enough to have for the majority of our trip. Being the only one who had ever been to the Outer Banks i was not anticipating the warmth that we had on the first few days. We hit an astonishing 80 degrees on our third day. Needless to say we all got our fair share of sun. Being at the beach was relaxing and it felt good to have the worries of work and school pushed to the side for a little while. On Wednesday we all piled in my car and took the trip over to Ocracoke. Since it is a tourist island a lot of the attractions were closed because this is not tourist season. We made due with what we had and enjoyed our meal at Howard's Pub. We also went and ate at Pop's on Friday for dinner. I had been talking up the food there for a few weeks and was a bit nervous as to what everyone was going to think. To my amazement every single person thought that the food they ordered was the best they had ever tasted. Tim and Jay were going bonkers over the burgers they ordered while Kimberly ate her lightly breaded shrimp with excitement. Of course I ordered the famous Spicy Steamed Shrimp and split a pound with Mary-Neil. She loved them which made me very happy because she loves shrimp as much as I do and I promised her they would be the best she had ever eaten. Mary-Neil and I also went to Food Lion and got two bags of shrimp for dinner one night. It is just another one of those great qualities that we share, our love of shrimp. The week in whole was great fun. I felt like I was talking way too much because I was telling everyone about everything I knew of and on the island. I hope I did not get on any ones nerves. I have been going so long that when I get the chance to take new people to my second home I want to fill them in on as much possible. Unfortunately the week had to end but I made and shared memories with my closest group of college friends that will last me a lifetime. The thing that I took away from this past week that I have never taken away before is the quality time I got to spend with my girlfriend Mary-Neil Jackson. I will not trade her for the world and she made this past week my favorite beach trip ever just by being there with me. I know she reads my blog and I just want to tell you thank you for the amazing week you provided me with. I love you!! I am now back at school and it is time to try and get back into the swing of things. I have a busy week ahead of me and two soccer games to cap it off this weekend. I also have a double header the following weekend now because of the cancellations we had due to the rain. I am ready to get back out on the field and play. Hope everyone enjoys having the blog back up and running and I look forward to seeing everyone as soon as possible. God Bless!!!!

OBX Here We Come

The time has arrived when every student has those Friday exams that will drop their average considerably, but they do not care because SPRING BREAK begins post test!!! The day has finally arrived where we pack up the car and head to the beach. I can already tell it is going to be an exciting and memorable trip. The countdown has been long, agonizing, and sometimes just frustrating. Perhaps we began it a little to early. Who cares about all of that now. It is time to go to the beach. As for the past two days, they have brought the usual. Wednesday began with my trio of morning classes. The one difference was an unhealthy Professor Donaldson. This is the one teacher who will always have class and he did as usual. The difference was he was under the weather and my two Media Studies classes only lasted 25 minutes each. Seeing as how that was my busiest day of the week, it could not have been anymore convenient. Since I have also been feeling somewhat somber I had Marissa sign me in at soccer. Even when the class gets cancelled because of weather we still have to make the walk to class to sign the roster. Thanks to Marissa I was able to stay in my room and take a nap before Freshman Seminar. In Freshman Seminar we did the usual, absolutely nothing productive. We somehow manage to eat up every second of that class and not cover one topic that is of interest to me. We did some peer editing after my short nap was taken and then it was time to get the keys to the beach house from lat. With the keys in hand I could almost smell the salty air standing in front of my dorm. I still had two more classes to go before I could focus on the beach though. This morning i arose for my eight o'clock class with much ease. When I am ready for the time to pass it is very easy for me to wake up. I went to class, and then, what I thought was going to be a relatively slow day got busy in a hurry. After dancing for an hour I went to grab a bite to eat with Madison and Kendall. From the cafeteria we went to a speech on teaching and learning for extra credit points on our papers in Freshman Seminar. As soon as that ended I passed Kimberly on her way to the cafeteria, got her keys, got her car, parked it in my spot on Gray Drive, and Kimberly and I rode to get my inspection done on my car. It took about 45 minutes and then we had to hurry back so Kimberly could get to her class. Once we returned I sat in my room and studied for a little bit then put some music on my computer and went to dinner with Kimberly. After dinner it was time to go and volunteer. Originally I had planned on not going since i have been sick, but I really want to get my hours finished and now I have three remaining before I am done at Urban Ministry. I returned back to my room and grabbed a quick shower. I now sit typing this realizing that I have not studied enough for my communications exam in the morning. I believe I will get a start on that. I am one of those students described in the first sentence of this blog for those of you who are a little confused. More than likely this will be my last blog pre-Spring Break and during. I do not know how strong of a wireless connection I will be receiving at the beach so I may not be capable of blogging from there. I will let everyone know how the trip turns out and I will see some of you on the 15th for my soccer game. God Bless!!

Visit from Scott

For the majority of my life it seems I have spent every waking moment with Scott Low. Since arriving at college we do not have the opportunities to see each other as often anymore. This is a huge change for the both of us and when we actually get to spend some time together, it is always a great experience. To explain how much this kid means to me would take a book. It would also take a book to explain how much I miss spending time with him. I cannot imagine where I would be at in life without him being the friend that he has always been to me. Scott arrived Monday around four o'clock. I had a snow day on Monday so I did not have any of my classes. It worked out quite nicely as I got the leftover work from my busy Friday completed. Since it was a Monday there was not a whole lot of options as to what we could do. The student recreation center was closed and the entire city was primarily shut down. Scott, Tim, and i decided we would try and go get something to eat by taking Tim's car. Instead of a short trip to acquire some food, Tim was taught a lesson in karma. When you pull into a spot that someone is obviously trying to back into, you may get something in return. Tim, due to the adverse weather, had to turn his lights on. The unfortunate part of this was that he refrained from turning them off upon exiting his car. This led to the draining of his battery and a late night adventure in the baseball parking lot. Two girls drove by and offered us and ice scraper and a jump. Since Tim's car was positioned with the hood facing a natural area, there was no way for us to reach the jumper cables from their car to his. We came to the realization we could back his car out of the spot in neutral. Problem with that is that Tim's car will not go into neutral without being cranked. We ended up leaving his car, returning to my dorm room, and having pizza delivered to us. Why we did not think of that in the first place is beyond me. When you put Scott Low and Patrick Gordon together, the reasonable decision will not be made until a later time. We like to make things interesting before we make them easy. We ate our pizza, watched some TV into the wee hours of the morning, and called it a night. When we finally arose this morning we headed for the gym. We worked out for two hours and then returned to my room so I could get ready for my Nutrition class. We were on a two hour delay today so my dance class was canceled this morning and we was able to sleep in. When we got back to my room I decided no Nutrition for the day and we hung around just spending some time together. At four o'clock we drove to the mall where I picked up my passport for the cruise. I am now officially capable of leaving and re-entering the country so the Cruise is most definitely go. We spent some time at the mall walking around looking at stores and then returned to school to get something to eat before Scott had to leave. Once he left it was back to normal. I had an intramural basketball game which went horribly wrong and then the Make A Difference Meeting. Afterwards I returned to my room, listened to some streaming radio broadcasts on my laptop of some NBA games, played text twist with Mary-Neil and now I am about to got to bed and actually return to going to school. Tomorrow marks the fifth day since I have gone to a class. I feel like spring break has already begun. I get the keys from Lat tomorrow and know that the excitement level will really go up when they are handed to me. Hope everyone is doing well. God Bless!!

Weekend

Due to adverse weather my weekend took a last minute turn. Instead of returning home to work a few soccer games, I stayed at school for the weekend. It actually turned out to be quite an eventful weekend for continually being spur of the moment. Friday after class I returned to my room and was a productive as one can be on a Friday. I finished typing five papers for two of my classes. I have knocked out work that is not due until after spring break and that is a wonderful feeling to have. Friday around nine Jay and his friend Steven arrived and I was their host for thee weekend. They stayed with me in my room for the weekend and we had an amazing weekend hanging out together. Saturday began with a failed attempt to come back to Mooresville to do laundry. The machines at school that we can put money on our cards with to do laundry are out of order so we cannot currently do laundry on campus. We got approximately three miles into the trip and the pulley and belt in Stevens F-150 decided to give way. We had a small issue on our hands. We sat on the side of I-40 for an hour and a half waiting on AAA to come and tow the vehicle. Once we finally got the situation under control Jay, Steven, and I put the pulley and belt back on and we returned to school. We decided to take the rest of the day off and relax after standing outside in the freezing rain for three hours. This morning we woke up and decided to take Kimberly's car and head for Mooresville We successfully made it this time without any problems. Jay and I took Steven on a tour of Mooresville because he used to live there eleven years ago. He could not believe all of the change that had taken place since he had left. We headed back to school after Kimberly had finished doing laundry for us and the tour of the town was over. I am now sitting watching the snow fall in hopes that enough accumulates throughout the night that my classes will be cancelled tomorrow. Scott is also planning on coming up tomorrow and spending a few days with me. Spring break does not start for another five days but it feels like it is here already. I have one quiz,one exam and some volunteering to focus on before I hit the beach. As for my intramural basketball team, we have our first round playoff game tomorrow night so I hope that goes well and we advance. I hope I can get this illness I have come down with fought of before the week is over or I will not be a very happy camper. It is going to be a busy week leading into the break, but that will make the break that much better. God Bless!!

Volunteer Day

A pulled quadriceps muscle refrained me from participating in dance class this morning. As I was playing soccer yesterday in my class I strained my right quadriceps. I continued to play through the pain for the time being and may have made a bad decision. That, along with the intramural basketball game I had at six o'clock made for a painful Thursday. I arose for my dance class knowing that i would not be capable of participating pain free. I spoke with my professor and was allowed to be counted as present and lose no points as long as I watched everyone and took notes. I was very grateful I did not have to apply any pressure to the already tight muscle. After sitting and observing it was time to be trained. I headed for the Junior Achievement offices for my formal training. During the hour I was there I was informed of my duties as a volunteer with the program and what my expectations should be for my class. I will be teaching an eighth grade class at Allen Middle School on six different occasions. My goal is to better inform the students of business and entrepreneurship opportunities that await them after they receive theory education. I am very excited to begin my work with the students and form the bonds from the other side of the spectrum that i have formed with some of my past teachers. Speaking of which, Mrs. Agner, my digital media teacher in high school, brought her class up for the film festival on campus today and I was able to visit with her and some of my old friends from high school who I have not seen in quite some time. It was by far the highlight of my day. I also did some volunteering at the relay for life table again as well. After my busy morning I returned back to my room and spent some quality time with Mary-Neil playing some games on the Internet. It was almost embarrassing how much fun we were having playing a game where you are given six letters and asked to form certain words to obtain points. none the less it was a relaxing afternoon spent with someone I love to spend my time with. As 5:45 approached it was time to head to Urban Ministry for the night. At the beginning my volunteer experience there was wonderful, but it has progressively gone downhill. I am not very satisfied with the level of respect that a volunteer, like myself, is given by the employees of the industry. We are there on our own time and they do not seem to appreciate our effort the least bit. I do not let that stop me from enjoying my work with the homeless and I still love spending my Thursday nights at the shelter. I returned back to school from volunteering, met Kimberly's cousin, told Mary-Neil goodnight, and got a 100% on my online Nutrition quiz. It was quite a productive day even without a full schedule of classes. I will be heading back home tomorrow for another busy weekend of working and babysitting. I will see everyone then. God Bless!!

Fat Tuesday

Well it was not Spring Break but today was almost the equivalent. After a hectic Monday the alarm clock went off way to early for my liking this morning. That of course meant that I would fall back asleep and miss my dance class. I am allowed two absences so I am considering this one to be my pre-Spring Break absence, leaving me with one more for the home stretch of the semester. I did not go to my Nutrition class either. It was an entirely class free day. Since I did not go to Nutrition that means I will have an entire weeks break from that class since it was already canceled for Thursday. I was supposed to have a volunteer heavy schedule this week but that got off to a relatively slow start. I was scheduled to work at the Relay For Life table , but due to the fact we could not get the blankets that were being raffled off we had to postpone until tomorrow. I also was scheduled to work at Urban Ministry tonight but that did not bode well either. I was sent home after an hour of my services since there were too many volunteers there. That was wasted gas and I am not entirely happy about that. I do have plenty of volunteering left to do this week even though today was a bust. I was able to make a little bit of progress in my work load though. Along with all of the volunteering this week I am well loaded with academics as well. I completed my Freshman Seminar paper with some of my free time which i know will upset Tim. He refers to me as the master of BS and I take that title with great pride. I have a gift for sitting down and completing a paper in that sitting, this being a gift that Tim lacks. I also got a good bit of studying done for my two quizzes tomorrow in BCN 102 and CST 105. I have my busy day as usual tomorrow but no volunteering. It is beginning of lent and I will be giving up my deserts until Easter. No more Ice Cream, Cake, Cookies, or anything of that nature for me. I downed an entire large bag of skittles basically by myself today to ensure I have enough sugar in my system to last me throughout lent. I have my final Intramural Basketball game tomorrow and we are looking to finish the regular season undefeated. This semester is very busy and Wednesday night allows me to look forward to something I can enjoy every time, basketball. It makes it even better when the team consists of my good friends and we are winning on a regular basis. I have babysitting lined up for this weekend along with my refereeing so it is looking to be a very profitable weekend for me. I am looking forward to getting theses next few weeks out of the way and relaxing over Spring Break with my girlfriend and good friends. It is much like Thanksgiving break was last semester where everything is piling on right before the break. They are going to make sure you enjoy that break just a little bit more, but it also refrains you from looking ahead towards it. I will let everyone know how basketball goes tomorrow night as we go for the undefeated regular season and maybe a little insight on what a college class is like since I have no idea after my lackluster Tuesday.

Nothing Accomplished

Today was the first day in quite a while where I feel like I did not get anything done. I do not believe I had much I could have done but it made me feel very unproductive. I had my regular busy Monday with my five classes and then I had to extend my day to work on a group project for my communications class. We filmed a video about communication principles. We have all of the filming done it is just up to me now to make sure that the editing is completed by Monday. I was also assigned another four to five page paper in my Freshman Seminar to add another task to my already lengthy list of things to accomplish before spring break. Spring break cannot come quickly enough as everything is piling up here right before it begins. I also have a very busy week of volunteering ahead of me with my Urban Ministry work and training for Junior Achievement beginning. I am also working the relay for life booth on Tuesday and Thursday to raise money for our group. It is going to be a very busy week that will probably be stressful as well. I also just received an e-mail that my soccer game has been moved to Sunday night at five instead of Saturday at two so my arrival back at school will be nice and late leaving me no time to get any work done. We will just have to see how all of this works out. I seem to be in a venting mood tonight so I am going to leave it at that before people begin to worry about my well being. God Bless!!

Back On Track

The end of last week brought a busy schedule along with it so I have not been able to blog for the past few days. I volunteered Thursday night until 10 at Urban Ministry and Friday I returned home for the weekend. I picked Ashley up from school early on Friday and got to speak with Will Becci's mom for a little while in the office. She has had cancer but seems to be in good spirits and doing quite well. We then went back home and then my busy weekend began. I went to the bank and got my haircut. While I was out Spencer Metz gave me a call and wanted to play some basketball at the YMCA. I went back home, changed, and headed to the YMCA for a couple of hours to play some basketball and spend some time with Spencer. Afterwards I returned home and mom had dinner ready for me. It was the classic spaghetti that everyone here at school is in love with. I have a stash in my refrigerator and will share with everyone who likes it if they are nice. After dinner I went to bed extremely early to prepare myself for the following day. I fell asleep at 8:30 and woke up exactly twelve hours later. I felt rejuvenated and ready to face my busy day. It began with a ten o'clock soccer game which I had to referee. I had another game to referee at twelve and then my game was at two. My team did not play as well as we could have in the first half and it cost us. We lost 5-3 and should have easily won. It was good to be back on the field and I am positive we will have it together for next weekends game. After a day of soccer I went out to dinner with my family and my grandparents. When I got back I rode down to the Greenwald's house. I have been babysitting their three boys for the past four years and it is all coming to an end. They will be moving to Tennessee this week so I will obviously no longer be babysitting the boys. Telling them goodbye was very emotional for them and I was doing everything I could to hold it together in front of about twenty grown men and women. I am going to miss my boys greatly and hopefully I will be able to accept my invitation from the parents to go and visit them sometime. Today I arose early for church. I went to Sunday School and Sunday Service before going home to eat some lunch before heading to Concord to meet CJ. I left the mall and returned back to school this afternoon and have been getting work done ever since. I did not want to take anything home this weekend and even if I had there would not have been ample time to do anything with it. I will be heading back home next weekend where I have a couple of babysitting assignments lined up and some refereeing and a soccer game to play. It is looking to be another busy weekend again. The positive is it will be the last busy weekend as the next two will be during spring break. I will try and stay on top of the blog a little better this week for everyone. God Bless!!

Work-A-Holic

Wake up and work was the motto for the day. I had my first quiz and group dance in my dance class this morning. We started with the quiz and it was relatively easy. Once done with that we moved on to our group improvisation dances. We were given a score created by another group and given ten minutes to interpret it to the best of our abilities and perform it. Interesting is not even close to the word to describe what was on display in that studio. People, like myself, who have never danced were asked to look at something for ten minutes and put on a performance. I made the best of the opportunity and gave it my all. It actually turned out to be more interesting than anything. It is very hard for me to be embarrassed so that was not the issue. the problem was that all six of us in the group were making everything up as we went so we were constantly crossing paths. It was a lot of fun and I am looking forward to doing a choreographed dance later in the semester. After that I returned to my room to do work for the next three hours followed by a necessary nap before nutrition. I went to nutrition, took my notes, then came back to work some more before getting a bite to eat. It was then time to head over to Urban Ministry for my second volunteering experience. It was a success much like last time and I met a few new people who do not work on Thursdays. I will be going back on Thursday and then I will have completed ten of my required twenty-five hours. I had to rush back from volunteering in order to make it to my weekly Make A Difference Meeting. Afterwards i returned to my room and continued where I left off, working. I have also been doing a lot of studying and am heading into my BCN 100 quiz tomorrow with great confidence. We will see how it goes and I will of course let you know how I feel about it tomorrow. God Bless!!

Starting Line

Another Monday has come and gone and before I know it this week will be over, or so I hope. All of the weeks have been soaring by but I know that I have a soccer game this weekend and that can really slow things down. Today went by relatively quick and I am grateful for that. I look forward to the rest of this week continuing the steady pace. Soccer games also mean that I will be home for the weekend. This will be my first extended trip back home since Christmas break and I am looking forward to seeing the family (hopefully that is a mutual feeling). Today I was blessed with the cancellation of my Freshman Seminar as we had individual meetings for our Papers. I now have to put the finishing touches on my paper to turn in next Monday. I need to get this done this week so I do not have to worry about it over the weekend. I am very excited to get back on the playing field this weekend. I also would like to extend a congratulations to my sister and father who won the Matthews Invitational Tournament this weekend. Hate that I could not have been there. Today I also ran some errands with Tim and Justin. We took Justin by the Coast Guard Recruiting station but they were closed so we ran to the mall. I picked up Mary-Neil's birthday present and also made a very abrupt decision to get my ears pierced. I did not really put any thought into it and before I knew it I had done it. They look a lot better than I had anticipated and everyone can judge for themselves this weekend when they see them. After the mall we ran to Tim's Grandmothers house to change Cleo's litter box. That is the extent of my day. Besides getting my Nutrition project done I did not really do anything else. Look forward to seeing everyone this weekend and Happy Belated Birthday Debby. God Bless!!

Productive Weekend

Unlike most weekends, this one was one of great productivity. Friday after classes I came back and typed my take home essay for my Communications Exam. After the Dance Concert I came back to my room and started to make some note cards to use for studying for my BCN 100 quiz. I finished those up on Saturday afternoon and now have three days to prepare for the quiz so I am hoping I will make a relatively good grade. Today I sat down to begin my Concert Essay about the Friday concert and actually completed the entire assignment. That is not due until the 24th of January so I am very excited to have that out of the way. Beside that the weekend was mostly relaxing. I had an amazing valentines day with Mary-Neil. We went out to eat at Outback and then returned and Watched a movie together. It was great being able to spend, basically, the entire day together since we are both usually busy on the weekends with our own things. Today I have been relaxing and got some more work done like I said. The weekend has been very successful as I have gotten a lot of work done and I have been able to catch up on some much needed sleep. I also got the amazing news that I have my first soccer game next weekend and I am so pumped about that. It is going to be an awesome season and I have got to make it count since it unfortunately will be my last. I look forward to keeping you posted on the weeks events. God Bless!!

Catching Up

So this week as a whole surpassed last week as the busiest one yet. I have not been able to slow down and gather myself once. It is now Friday and after the Dance Concert, which I will be attending in an hour and a half, I will finally have the opportunity to sleep in for the first time this semester tomorrow. I do enjoy the busy schedule for one reason though, it makes the week go by very quickly. It seems as though every time I turn around another week has come and gone. It is exactly three weeks from today when we will all pack it up and head towards the Outer Banks for a week. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and am already getting excited to go. Now to inform everyone on yesterdays events. I began, as usual, with the early dance class. My nutrition class was canceled so I decided I would turn my free day into a day of volunteering. Before that it was time to treat myself to a much needed massage. It was an hour long, full body massage, that really hit the spot. I woke up this morning and really felt a lot better than I had prior to the massage. I then proceeded to head to the atrium under the cafeteria and volunteer at the candy grams table for valentines gifts. After sitting there for a few hours, Mary-Neil, Tim, and I headed over to Tim's grandmothers house to grill the Bubba Burgers I had purchased. I used all of the wisdom I have gained from culinary expert Lat Williams over these years to make six delectable burgers. We ate the burgers and watched We Are Marshall, making it three times in the past two weeks I have seen that amazing film. After finishing our meal and a movie, we headed back to school. I made a quick change and headed off to volunteer. This is where the excitement of the day begins. I decided, since I had a convenient parking spot I would take the bus. I caught the bus with ease at the culdesac in front of the library. I have never taken the bus before so I hoped on the first one. The bus began heading in the direction I was in need of going but unfortunately it would not last long. He made one turn and all of the sudden we were at the bus depot in downtown Greensboro. I was closer to my destination but still not there. I began to run. I headed for Urban Ministry and got there right at 6:30, the time I had planned on arriving. Once there, it was so busy, my duties were needed until 10:30. I left at ten to try and catch the bus at 10:15. At 10:15 on the dot a homeless man came up to me and began speaking to me. He told me that the bus was never going to show up and that I should call a friend or go and stay with him at the same place I had been previously volunteering, Urban Ministry. Thankfully Kimberly, Marissa, and her boyfriend Joe were nice enough to come and pick me up since they had been out picking up Joe from the airport. I talked to the homeless man for a good thirty minutes and learned a lot about this unlucky man. He understood the situation he was in and accepted it. He had been on both ends of the spectrum and was a very intelligent individual. Kimberly finally pulled up and I was taken back to campus and went to my room for the first time since 7:45 that morning. I learned a lot about myself and really had my eyes opened to many different things from that experience last night. Not only speaking to the homeless man on the side of Lee Street, but my volunteering experience as well with many other homeless people from the Greensboro area. The thing that really made my day was the fact that the gentlemen I was speaking to on Lee Street asked me why I had volunteered at Urban Ministry. My answer was simple. I was grateful for what I had and wanted to do what I could to give back to those less fortunate. He was very grateful and it made my day when he told me how much he appreciated me helping out. It was definitely a day that will never be forgotten by me. Well onto today, it began with a communications exam and my two BCN classes. Afterwards I went and practiced a little soccer for a few minutes then came back and took a nap. I am now getting ready to head off to eat and go to the concert. God Bless!!

Short and Sweet

Today was the busiest day ever. I am physically exhausted and have to study for a Communications exam I have first thing in the morning. I had a lot of volunteering go on today and was in my room a total of 10 minutes from 7:45 this morning to 10:45 tonight. I am going to get back to my studying and I will try and explain my day better in tomorrows blog. I have a lot going on tomorrow as well so I may post early. God Bless!!

Sweet Victory

First and foremost. HOW ABOUT THOSE TARHEELS!! I begin this blog with the conclusion of my day. And boy was it a satisfying one. Not only did we go into Cameron and lay a beating on the Blue Devils, but Hansbrough and Green never lost a game there, and we broke 100 points. It is almost to exciting to intake at one time. All of you who know me know that I am barely functioning I am so ecstatic right now. My mom definitely knows as she text me during the game just to ensure I was still breathing. It is the cap on what was a very busy and successful day. It began this morning with communications where we reviewed for our first test which is on Friday. It was then off to my back-to-back BCN classes where we took notes and I got my first quiz back for 102. I am still waiting on the 100 quiz to see how that one went. I feel pretty good about it but we will have to see. I took my hour break and then it was of to soccer. I was very pleased when coach told us we were going to be playing with regulation goals for the first time. I was able to take full advantage as we played our first full scrimmage and I was able to score two of my teams four goals. It was much fun and the class is great practice for club season which will be starting up on the weekend of the 21st(also Mary-Neil's birthday). Following soccer I went to Freshman Seminar where we viewed a film on communities. The day was dragging along due to my excitement for the Carolina game. Once class was over we all had to rush back to the Make A Difference Room for our first faculty talk of the semester. It was surprisingly interesting as we spoke about the differences between migration and immigration. When it finally ended I had to hustle to get ready for my intramural basketball game. I was unable to see most of the USA vs. Mexico game because of my basketball game. We got the victory and moved to 2-0 on the season and are sitting in first place as of now. After the game it was strictly Tarheel basketball. We all know what happened from there on out. It is pretty early in the morning and I have quite the busy day tomorrow. I have my eight o'clock dance class then a much needed massage. Then the day turns into a volunteer fest. I will work a booth in the EUC(Elliot University Center) selling candy grams for Valentines day. Then I have my lone break of the day because of the cancellation of our nutrition class. After that it is off to Urban Ministries to help out the homeless of Greensboro. it will be busy but should be fun and rewarding as well. I will leave you with that and get back to you tomorrow to let you know how it went. God Bless!!

One More Day

I went to class today. Granted I only have two and we had an Exam in one, I still got up at seven this morning and made it to class. First off it was dance where we were informed we will be beginning our improvisation projects in class on Thursday. This will be the first group dance we have done for the class of the semester and to be honest, I am surprisingly excited to give it a shot. I am not one to get nervous in front of people so I am excited to get up and perform. After dance Tim and I had the cram session of our lives for our Nutrition exam. We both thought the exam was difficult, but also felt that the studying is going to show on the test results. After the exam the day was over for me when it came to academics. I returned to my room and relaxed for a while. There was a knock on the suite door so I went to answer and there was an unknown man standing there. he informed me he had been told there was a vacancy in my room and was considering moving in. This was shocking and somewhat upsetting news. I have grown accustom to no roommate, and as selfish as it sounds, do not want to have to get to know and adapt to a new one. Tim offered his room and told him he would move in with me but he was not interested. I should be receiving constant updates on whether or not he is moving in or not and it should be done with by the 16th. I am going to try and make the best out of the situation whatever it may be. After taking a beating from Tim about my potential new roommate, Justin and I went to the rec. to shoot some hoops. We played for a while then went and had some dinner. When we got back I decided it was another beautiful evening and I was going to take another one of my runs around campus while this good weather was lasting. I got back, did some communications homework, then went to the Make A Difference Meeting. I now sit in my room with nothing to do but wait, and the time is moving as slow as ever as all I can anticipate is the arrival of the Duke vs. Carolina game tomorrow night. I will try and blog tomorrow night but it will all depend on what sort of mood I am in(whether Carolina wins or loses). Well for a final time I must wish my mother a Happy Birthday. Debby, you are next on the list of people to sprout a few more gray hairs. Take care everyone and I look forward to seeing you all next time I am home. God Bless!!

Woops a Daisys

Well the day began with the alarm clock sounding at its usual eight a.m. The only thing that differed from every other Monday is the fact that I did not get up with the alarm clock. I rolled back over in bed and missed my first two classes of the day. The weekend really took a tole on my body and there was no way I was going to be able to go to class that early. I had to wake up for my eleven o'clock class as we had our first quiz today. I went to class, took the quiz, then proceded to return right back to my room. I was able to muster up enough strength to go to socer class though, if that surprises you then you obviously do not know me very well, where we worked on defending and played a short scrimmage. Usually I would head of to my Freshman Seminar class after soccer but I was just not in the mood for class today for some reason. I went back to my room and relaxed for a while then went to the cafeteria with Justin to grab a bite to eat. The weather was absolutely gorgeous today and I could not pass up the opportunity to take a nice relaxing run in it. After dinner me and Tim returned and went on a two mile run around campus. It was amazing being able to run around, outside, without a shirt on in February. Many of you who know me well know that I am a lot like my aunt Debby and would be the happiest person on earth if sumer were all year round. Today, unfortunately, was enjoyable, but I realize it is just a teaser as winter is still in full bloom. I enjoyed the run and look forward to much more of the same weather. I can only pray that the weather is exactly like it was today the week of spring break. I cannot go through my blog today without wishing my lovely mother a Happy Birthday. I know she will be reading this one on her birthday so, Happy Birthday Mom, I love you and I will try and come home to see you sooner than later. God Bless!!

Weekend is Over

Well it went by fast just like all of the others. One second it is Friday afternoon and you are trying to figure out how you are going to spend the weekend then all of the sudden it is Sunday night and you realize you have class tomorrow. This weekend was particularly busy, and as of Friday night, it was looking as though it were going to be one of the more boring ones of the semester. Suddenly I found a 5k to run and was scheduled to play golf with Jay. It went from nothing to do to, how am I going to get all of this done. I spent all of Saturday in the Raleigh area and did not get back until late last night. Today was busy as well. I was fortunate enough to sleep in a good while this morning before heading off to Golf with Jay. We played 18 holes and anyone who knows golf knows that 18 holes can turn into an all day event pretty quickly. That was the bulk of my day as we were gone from twelve to six. i am very fortunate to be alive as Jay decided he was going to shoot while I was retrieving a ball and nearly shot the ball directly into me. it missed by a few inches and I was grateful that it did as that would have been no bueno. When we got back, Jay and I ran to the cafeteria to grab a bite to eat before coming back to my room and relaxing for a while. I was able to get some of my work done while he played around on my computer. He then had to head back to Virginia, as he is in the Navy and had duty tonight beginning at twelve. Overall the weekend was pretty fun but I am physically exhausted and my body hates me right now. I will most definitely be going to bed tomorrow night right after 24 is over and enjoying my sleep. God Bless!!

Lets See How Far We've Come

As I stood at the start line, I could only wonder if I was really about to do it again. I ran a 5k back in November and remembered the feeling I felt when I finished that race. Now I was about to run my second 5k and I was in shock that I was lined up to run. People who have known me for a while know that I wouldnt have been caught dead lining up for a 5k, not even a year ago. Now I was about to begin my second. I could not help but get a bit emotional thinking about how far I have come as an individual from the "larger" Patrick Gordon that I was not that long ago. I have achieved all of the goals that I set for myself when I began my trek to shed some weight. It is such a wonderful feeling, knowing that I am a healthy person and can go out and run for enjoyment instead of it being a struggle. I am very thankful for everyone who supported me while I was working out and running, who kept me going, so that I could accomplish my goal. I was able to finish this particular 5k 1st in my age group and eight overall out of 127 participants. It is a wonderful feeling to finish the race but an even better one to know that you are finishing high in the standings. After the race, I headed up Interstate 40 to NC State, to spend the rest of the day with Nate. We relaxed for a while then made a much needed Bojangles run. Somehow, after lunch, I was able to muster up enough energy to go to the recreational center and play some basketball. We hung out at the gym for a while then went back to the dorm and laid around until we went to get some dinner. That was the second time I had eaten at the cafeterias there and i never want to hear anyone complain about the food here at UNCG again. We have a five star dining service compared to State and I cant see how anyone could not enjoy the food they provide for us here. After we ate we, again, went back to the dorm and laid around until I left to come back to Greensboro. It was a long, rewarding, day that I have enjoyed thoroughly. Now I will retire from this day and see if I can drag myself out of the bed in the morning to go to Church before Jay and I hit the links at one. God Bless!!

Finally Friday

It is Friday so you will hear no complaining from me, but seriously, could it have been anymore monotonous. It started with my communications class, which was the most interesting part of the day due to the fact the teacher is the weirdest human being on the face of this planet. He takes non-verbal communication to an entirely new echelon. The man is incapable of speaking without thrusting his body either forwards or backwards. The day he stumbles over his chair is approaching fast and, as bad as it sounds, the entire class is waiting for it to occur so we can all laugh hysterically. You really have to be there to understand the antics of this professor. Anyways, aside from that slight tangent, following my communications class I went to Intro to media Studies(class for my major) where I took my first quiz of the semester. Realistically it was more like a test due to the length but it was called a quiz, so a quiz it shall be. I feel pretty satisfied with it and now have to prepare for my next quiz in the following class for my major, which is on Monday. After the quiz the day was pretty much over. I laid around, watched We Are Marshall for, Lord knows what number time, ran to the bank and mall to spend some time with CJ, and watched the Bobcats game. CJ decided, since I will be running in the Hit and Run 5k tomorrow, that he would go ahead and return home tonight. He left approximately 3o minutes ago but it was great having him up here for a couple of days and being able to catch up with him. He was undoubtedly excited to be back on campus and says he will be a frequent visitor. It is only eleven but I will be arising pretty early tomorrow to head towards Cary for the race so I am going to go rest up. I will of course inform everyone tomorrow of the results of the race, that is granted I can move later on tomorrow night. I will be spending some time with my friend Nate at NC State tomorrow after the race then I will head back to school. He is going to be a wonderful sport and watch the Carolina game with me even after the massacre of last weekend. It should be interesting to say the least. Take care everyone. God Bless!!

Coming and Going

Today had an early start to it, as stated in my last blog that it would. Dance went well and we worked on our timing and went over our assignments. It is quite the interesting experience waking up twice a week to go and do something I have never done before. Anyone who knows me the slightest bit knows I am willing to give something new a shot no matter what the circumstances. I am finding it to be very enjoyable and it is relatively easy to force myself out of bed early in the morning hours to go to a class that interests me like it does. After dance I came back to the room and fell back to sleep. I was awoken once when the locksmith came to change our locks for a second time this year and then awoken again to the grand entrance of CJ, my old roommate who came up to visit for a few days. I knew of the idea he might be arriving sometime today but I was not exact on when it would be. Regardless, he woke me up as he came in and now he is here for the weekend. I went to my Nutrition class, where for some reason, I felt the need to not pay a lick of attention. Afterwards I came back to the room and spent some time with Jay. He has not been down in a few weeks and we are planning on going golfing sometime this weekend to spend some time together. The Davidson game was approaching quickly, and I was not prepared to go to the game with all of the work I have on my plate right now. We went to the game and watched the first half. We do not have a very respectable basketball program here at UNCG but I thought I would go and see what Stephen Curry had to offer. Unfortunately he was not on as usual so the game was not interesting at all. We left and came back to school where I am now sitting preparing for my Intro to Media Studies Quiz tomorrow. I am looking forward to a much needed weekend so I can relax a little and take a break from all of this work. This has just been one of those weeks where everything was due in every class at the same time. Enjoy your days and I will be back tomorrow. God Bless!!!

Hump Day = Busy Day

Today marks the halfway point of the week, but it also marks the busiest day of my schedule. CJ was supposed to arrive today but it is looking like he will be coming up tomorrow for the Davidson game. I am really excited to go to the game and see how the school spirit is as we take on our rival who has won 46 consecutive conference games. So the day started out with my lovely trio of classes that ran from nine in the morning until twelve in the afternoon. The one good thing that came out of it today was my BCN 102 class was canceled for Friday because, according to professor Donaldson, we have already covered all of the information needed for the quiz on Monday. This is of course wonderful because it adds another hour to my weekend that I know will be taken advantage of. After the morning rush I had a nice break until my two o'clock soccer class where today, due to cold temperatures, we played indoor soccer. It has been a while since I have played indoors and the rust was showing. None the less it was exciting to get to play the sport I love. After soccer it was off to my Freshman Seminar with the rest of The Make A Difference Crew to do some peer editing on our first essay of the semester. The hectic part of my day was over but now it was time to rest up for my intramural season opener basketball game. It was a success as we won by 16 points and started the season off on the right foot. It was awesome getting to hang out with TC, David, Matt, and Billy. They are all from back home and it is good to be around some people who are from the same area. I am looking forward to getting to spend some more time with them this weekend. I know it will be good to get out a little more and hang out with other people than the regulars. Not to say the regulars are not fun, but it is always good to change it up on occasion. It is getting pretty late so I will end it their for now. I have to start tomorrow off with my eight o'clock dance class so I will need my sleep. Happy reading and I will see everyone tomorrow.

Volunteering and Kickboxing

Well coming back to school was much more difficult than I had anticipated. My roommate situation was very rough from the start as he had to return back home for the rest of the semester due to some personal obstacles. My girlfriend has told me from the first day we began our relationship that "Everything happens for a reason" and I am hoping that some good will come out of his return home. I am also a strong believer, because of her, that everything does happen for a reason. It is still very uncomfortable without him being here but he is coming back for a few days tomorrow afternoon so I am greatly anticipating his arrival. While all of the drama with the roommate was going on, my mother also informed me that they discovered an Aorta Aneurysm in my grandfather and that has been on my mind a lot as of late. I know everything will turn out okay but not being able to see him as regularly as I have in the past really bothers me. Besides all of that things have been relatively smooth as I transitioned back into the swing of things at school after Christmas Break.
Today was an interesting day to say the least. It began when I awoke to snow covered grounds and the wonderful realization that I had no eight a.m. class. I was able to get a much needed extra hour of sleep. I began my day by going to Greensboro Urban Ministries to receive my orientation to begin my volunteer work there. The purpose of Urban Ministries is to provide numerous services to the homeless and poverty stricken citizens of Greensboro. They can come to the shelter during the day and receive food, clothing, and financial support. My ex-roommate, who is greatly missed, volunteered there frequently last semester and told me it was a wonderful experience so I look forward to beginning my services there in the next couple of weeks. Once I got back to campus I was able to get some work done before resuming my regular schedule by going to Nutrition and expanding my knowledge of carbohydrates. Five o'clock marked the beginning of Kick boxing 45. This was a compelling activity to say the least. I found it to be a great form of exercise but some of the movements required of me were not so easy. Having the legs of a soccer player takes away from some of my flexibility so the different kicks and movements were a struggle at times. I know Madison was getting a lot of entertainment watching me suffer through the class. After it was done, I was very relieved, but also excited that I had went into something new, blind, and given it a shot. I am now interested in seeing what other activities our rec. center on campus offers. Kick boxing was the peak of the day and after that I returned to my regular activities with my Tarheels destroying Maryland and my regular Tuesday night Make A Difference House meetings. I will check back in tomorrow. Hope everyone has enjoyed my first couple of blogs and I look forward to consistently updating it.

Getting Started

Well I have blogged before but never quite in a way like this. I have always blogged on soccer websites just communicating back and forth about a common interest. I am now taking a step out of my comfort zone and going to begin blogging about my college experiences as they take place. This is also a good way for the folks back home to keep up with everything that I have going on in a more convenient manner. I try and stay in touch with everyone that I can possibly think of but it becomes strenuous at times and I cannot always remember to communicate with everyone. Hopefully this is a much easier way for everyone to keep up with me. This is just an introduction but I will also be posting a blog after this in my first attempt to let everyone know how today went. Hope it is enjoyable for all, whether we know one another or not.