Perks and Probs: Roommate Edition

Nov16 by rreiter165

If you’re reading this post because you wanted to see what I could dish out against my roommate, then you’re about to be sorely disappointed. Honestly, I really enjoy having Dominique as my roommate. When we’re in our room, we don’t feel the need to chat all the time. We can just rest, relax, and recuperate from the day.

So then, what am I going to write about? Well, get ready for me to knock your socks off.

I’m about to tell you why it’s such a pain to room with me.

Dominique and I requested to room together at the beginning of the school year. We had never met before and our only communication had been via Facebook. We got along really well and we both prefer cold, neat rooms. Perfect combination, right?

Well, what Dominique didn’t know at the time was that I have the worst sleep habits ever. I’m not just talking about getting back to the room at 1 am after studying, or even waking up at 7 am to get ready for the day. I mean, I do both of those things, but that’s not why I have the worst sleep habits ever. I am actually the most annoying when I’m unconscious and snoozing on my bed.

Here’s a list of sleep activities that I’ve done since the beginning of school:

– Talking/Conversing

– Singing (I think I had been dreaming that I was in a gospel choir)

– Screaming “OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD.” (Something I would never do when awake)

– Jumping from my loft bed to the ground (I woke up as I fell to the floor– slightly embarrassing)

– Burping (I don’t even know…)

-Grinding my teeth (technically I wear a mouthguard at night, but Dominique thought that there was a dog in the room because I was chewing on the guard)

I’m sure the list is even longer, but those are all the things that Dominique has told me that I do. I haven’t sleepwalked yet, but I’m sure that I’ll probably do that too. So, all in all, I’m really thankful for such a patient roommate who is also a pretty heavy sleeper. I don’t know what would have happened if I had been paired up randomly. If my roommate had been a light sleeper, one of us would probably be dead. She could be dead from lack of sleep or I could be dead because she finally caved in and strangled me. God works things out pretty well. 😉

If someone like you…

Nov15 by memoirsofamezzo

This is supposed to serve as an introduction to who I am as a person and as an Erskine alumn. So, “Who am I?” If that’s not a loaded baked potatoe then I am going on a diet! According to my psychology professor, fall semester of my junior year, “(I am) a special kind of specimen.” I took it as a compliment. He graciously informed me of the truth I had known but worked my entire life to escape: that life, rather God, had chosen to land me in the less than 10% of this world’s population; aka I would never fit in. He continued to inform me that mine was a lonely path to follow, but that he wished more people could see the world through my eyes. “I believe it would be a better place if they could.”

For the first time in twenty-seven years, I was not asked why I could not be like everyone else; rather, I was asked to stop trying to be like everyone else and to embrace the wonderful that is me. On that morning, I walked out of the Erskine building, paused under the towers and suddenly “You are fearfully and wonderfully made” became more than just words memorized by a Christian; they became truth.

Jump to May 2014:

The stage has been set, the graduates lined up in order, and there I stand impatiently waiting for my name to be called. It’s one of those surreal moments where you think you won’t remember anything, where time slows down and in the movies there’s always that breeze to wake you from your trance-like state. No, I don’t remember what the speaker said or who was standing directly in front of me. But I remember two things:

1. My best friend who was there from day one of my academic journey was sitting in the far back just to the right of the Grier statue, smiling.

2. That Erskine gave me more than a degree. It gave me the good, the BAD, and the terribly beautiful.

So, once more, who am I?

I am the baby of three forced to share the middle of four in a family of six. I am the multi-cultured, homeschooler with exceptional social skills. I am the bilingual entrepeneur who doesn’t always pursue or finish every thought that comes to mind. I am magic and Erskine is where I learned to be a wizard. I am your greatest friend and your darkest enemy. But above all, I am the child of the King of Heaven born to fulfill a purpose, called to Erskine College to earn more than a degree, more than an education; to be reminded that I am fearfully, wonderfully made. I am less than 10% but that is who God needs me to be. My oddities are the tools with which I either shape and mold or destroy the lives around me. Erskine taught me that.

My very first Erskine Experience as a prospective student was auditioning for a music scholarship. My two selections were “Time to Say Goodbye” (made popular by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman) and “Someone like You” (from Jekyll and Hyde-the musical). After entering the room, my goal became-not to secure a scholarship but rather- to make the grumpy looking man on the back row riser smile. By the end of my song and had acheived both!

“If someone like you found someone like me

Then suddenly, nothing would ever be the same.

My heart would take wing and I’d feel so alive.

If someone like you found me.”

These are the words I sang that day, knowing nothing of the truth they would hold in the four years that would follow my audition.

People often ask if there is anything I am incapable of doing. I reply “Fly!” And yet, that is what Erskine has afforded me: the ability to rise above the norm and be exceptional; to strive for excellence because it is attainable; and to finish what I have begun-nevermind the missed notes or fudged words. You finish and you do so gracefully.

So, “Who am I?”

I guess you’ll have to keep reading to find out. 🙂

Halloween: A Highly Happy Holiday

Nov3 by rreiter165

Halloween is great. On that one special night in October, you are surrounded by your favorite superheroes, your favorite foods, your favorite movie characters, etc. Plus, you have an excuse to dress up as whatever you want with no judgment. If I had wanted to be a cyborg grumpy cat with marshmallow guns for arms, then I totally could have been. However, I don’t like cats or marshmallows so that costume is out of the question. Oh, and don’t forget about the candy! If you’re at all interested in accumulating your body weight in candy, then Halloween is the best day to do that! You don’t need a significant other to buy you anything. You don’t need to spend any of your money. All you have to do is walk to people’s houses and threaten them with horrible pranks until you get what you want. WIN-WIN.

If Halloween sounds at all appealing to you, then you should know this: Erskine’s Halloween is pretty great. Students got to watch the classic Halloween movie, Hocus Pocus, outside on Halloween night. The next day, there was a costume party for all of the students. So many people dressed up for the whole holiday and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to see their costumes. I, however, decided to unveil my amazing costume in the evening, partly because I’m not confident enough to wear it all day and partly because it’s so stinking soft that I was afraid that I would fall asleep in class if I wore it.

Erskine hosted a little trick or treat event for the children in the area during the evening of Halloween. They dressed up in costumes and headed over to Carnegie and Bonner (two of the girls’s dorms, in case you didn’t know) and we stood outside our doors and handed out candy. It was such a blast! We could all see what a blessing the event was to both the kids and their parents because the kids were super excited. I had a really great time getting to love on those kids and a lot of their outfits were so precious!

I figured that you’d be curious about some of the characters who showed up to Erskine on Halloween, so I snapped a few photos throughout the day. Enjoy. 🙂