Thursday, January 10, 2013

Back To The Grind

I'm keeping up. I swear. I am NOT going to let this blog get away from me. I always realize how much fun it is to keep everyone informed when I sit down to write it. I simply have to find the time to do so. The format of this blog might be a bit different compared to those in the past. (Just a little disclaimer.)

 After I got off work this morning I looked outside for the first time since the sun had come up. It was about 39F. This is a heatwave. Truly. A typical North Dakotian January day averages 0F.Yep. Zero. I won't be complaining until it drops below that mark. It was somewhat flurrying. Nothing crazy, but that soon changed as I made my way to Calculus and Composition. I go to the restroom to find that I looked remotely like Santa Claus. The snow had frozen on my hair and my eyebrows. A magical sight, it was.

This might be a bit of a shock to those who know me. My class schedule has allowed me to pick up a workout routine. I met with a person trainer today, who is just awesome. Her boyfriend is an Army ROTC Helicopter pilot. To say the least, we have plenty to talk about! I met her today to do my fitness test and layout a plan for me. I know. Those last few sentences have completely blown you away. I'm not known for working out. My mentality is that, if I have the time, there is no excuse not to be working toward that goal. I don't mean to get all Richard Simmons on you, but I think I could afford to not be so scrawny... I have the upper-body strength of a dead marmoset. In the case that you can't place a value on that, it's not much. So, you could say that I'm pretty excited. Looking good and feeling good about yourself. I'm ready for it.

Recently at the station we started broadcasting a syndicated show called, "Kidd Kraddick In The Morning." It's definitely different than what I was used to hearing in the morning with the local crew. All in all, it's a really good show. You might be familiar with this because J104.5, out of Bluefield, broadcasts the show as well. If you're in the car from 7-11 EDT, I highly suggest you check it out! (Or you could always listen to my station via the internet. You'll hear either myself or Ted do the weather, which is always quite comical. You get to hear 'Cringe Inducing' weather for our area too.)

This first week has been great. I'm finally on a path that I feel good about. I think it is where I am supposed to be. I love my professors, my classes, and my job. Life is great.




Wednesday, January 2, 2013

The end of one. The beginning of another.

Afternoon everyone! I've finally come by the time to update my blog!

         We've passed the end of my first semester in college. There really aren't words to describe how excited I was to finished with my classes. I really enjoy learning, but I'm ready to move on to different subject areas! As you probably know, I tried for an internship at the local radio station at the end of October. It's only been   a little over two months since I started. I could have never believed that I would be where I am today. That internship turned into a paid position. I'm working around some awesome people. I really couldn't ask for a better life. I've said it a thousand times and I'll say it a thousand more: I'm so fortunate to be doing what I am.

        Near the end of the semester I realized that Atmospheric Science wasn't really my cup of tea. I didn't like how the job market looked and, in fact, the starting pay was literally jack shit. Going all the way through Calc 3 and differential equations to be earning close to that of a desk job? That wasn't remotely close to being justifiable in my mind. I made the switch to Biology after coming to those realizations. This is a field that I can go many different directions with. My main hope is that the final step is medical school. That's an ambition. We shall see if that's the path that I will take. Six months and I've already altered my path? My life will be interesting. That's for sure.

        A couple of things have changed at work. I'll still be waking up early. (That's an understatement) Luckily my classes this next semester don't begin until 11 AM Monday through Friday. That allows me time to recover from whatever it was that I was doing for work that morning. (Which we all know could be a multitude of different things. I'm not complaining, either.) 

          I'm not known for having loads of friends. Nor am I known for making New Year's resolutions. I've decided that I'm going to start branching out a bit more than I did the first semester. I don't mean by drinking or partaking in parties. Nothing of the sort. I simply mean getting involved in student clubs. Clubs that would allow me to meet more people with whom I have more in common with. I love the people who I've become close to now, I simply wish to find more of those kinds of people. It would be good for me.

        I've made a few plans for next summer. One of them being, getting my tail-wheel endorsement. Hopefully doing some aerobatic flying in the near future. I've caught the bug. My flight instructor flew for the aerobatic team at UND, so he told me he would take me up for free if I passed my stage-check the first time. (You didn't really ask that. Did you? Of course I passed it the first time!) We did rolls, loops, and inverted flight! We even flew upside-down and waved at another instructor and his student. I was completely hooked. Who can say that they fly airplanes, much less flying one upside down?

I work for a radio station. I study Biology. I live in North Dakota. I fly airplanes.

There isn't remotely one thing that is normal about me. I strive to be unique. I wouldn't rather it be any other way. 

          I leave to head back up to the Grandest of Forks on Sunday morning. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the mountains and seeing my family and friends, but I belong somewhere else. That somewhere else isn't necessarily North Dakota. I'm out to be educated, but I'm also out to find where I belong. 

Ciao.