My Big Moment

Taking part in the ICRF convention yesterday was a good experience. Unfortunately, I had a hard time trying to understand just what was going on around me. It was my first time ever going to a political convention, and I had no idea really what people were talking about. Therefore, I didn't really gain a lot of knowledge out of my experience. However, witnessing how officers get elected really lit my fire to want to do something new.
I am still shocked at what I'm getting myself into over the next year. I only made the decision to take on this endavour after attending the ICRF Convention yesterday. Seeing how a larger group of CRs of smaller delegations of different schools all across our state come together to unite as one huge group is part of what has inspired me to run for 1st or 2nd Vice-Chair of the UIS CRs.
Aakash is the main person who has inspired me to run for one of the top officer positions in our CR chapter. He had talked to me about it once, prior to us going to the convention yesterday- then he talked to me again about it while we were at the Convention. I remember that I was excited about being nominated by the one CR who has mentored me all semester long- allowing me the opportunity to have political experiences to learn how I might be able to change the world someday.
So, I'm going to do it. I thought a lot about what it might be like to be in politics- starting now. I was so excited about this chance, I wrote a speech immediately after returning to campus last night.

My name is Nico Echols, and I am a transfer freshman from Roosevelt University in Chicago. Although I’ve only been here at UIS for almost a year- and involved with the CRs for a semester, I feel as though I have been a part of this political family forever.As First or Second Vice-Chair of the UIS College Republicans, I will do whatever, I can to improve our organization and bring a political presence to our campus.I will • Work with the chairman to recruit new members, both undergrad and grad students• Develop effective methods of improving our attendance rates for meetings and events• Help plan activities that will gain the attention of other CR chapters.• Bring attention to the idea that people with disabilities can be involved in politics.• Bring various CR chapters together to create a big network of students.I feel that I am extremely qualified for this duty.I have• Been active in the College Republicans this semester• Regularly attended the meetings• Worked on election campaigns for our candidates• Brought my helpful imput to the meetings• Attended two College Republicans’ sponsored events outside of the UIS chapter.• Been active in the athletic eventsPlease Vote for me, and I will work for you. By working together, we can all make a huge difference in the future of the College Republicans here at UIS. Thank You.

By giving this speech, I hope to win the election

The Night Will BEGIN

In only an hour and a half, Relay for Life starts. I'm sooooooo PUMPED for this event. I can't wait to help the American Cancer Society raise money for cancer education and research. It'll be a very positive experience on the campus of UIS, that's for sure. I'm glad I have the opportunity to actually be involved in such a worthwhile cause. Ending the semester on such a positive note- and showing everyone that even students with disabilities can be involved in something big- are the goals that I think I am now about to acheive in the next 12 hours.
A "Night of Mayhem" will soon take place just feet from LRH. It'll be amazing to see just how crazy things actually get tonight. I hope all of the teams and spectators are ready for 12 hours of craziness. After getting help taking a shower at 10 this morning (my personal assistant helped me), getting my hair style touched up, eating a MONSTROUS breakfast/lunch at 10:30, drinking two Mountain Dews, exercising for twenty minutes in the Great Room, followed by a nap- I'm ready for tonight!

Relay For Life Followed By a Convention

I can't wait for this evening's fun to get underway. "Relay for Life" is the name of the game for this particular Friday night. Luckily, I'm super PUMPED for it. Within the last three hours, I ate a HUGE breakfast/lunch, and I also drank two monstrous cups/bottles of Mountain Dew. Having done that, I will definitely be able to stay awake for quite a while.
I'm doing this event in my wheelchair, so my legs won't get tired. Even though this year's Relay for Life event is on the UIS campus, walking for 12 hours is just impossible. I don't want to get warn out early into this evening's festivities. That wouldn't make me happy whatsoever. Therefore, I'm going to do whatever it takes to stay up through the entire event- no matter how my body tries to shut down.
When Relay for Life has finished, I'm not going to be able to stop to sleep. It's off to a College Republicans convention in Macomb, Illinois. I've never been to an event like this, so it'll be yet another first for me. Hopefully, it will be a lot of fun and very exciting.

Results of Lobby Day

The Lobby Day on Wednesday was awesome! I got a chance to meet the president of the University of Illinois. My other two friends, who are trying to fight to get adapted sports and accessible fitness equipment on our campus- and I, met with the President briefly prior to the group heading to the Capital, and we told him about what we are trying to do. He was really impressed, and he later acknowledged me again during his speech in front of all of the other colleges/universities throughout the state of Illinois later that same morning. I felt like I had done something/in the process of doing a wonderful thing that might benefit the UIS campus some day- as he put me on the spotlight that morning infront of all those people. I wasn't embarrassed; I was excited that I'm actually doing something good for the UIS community.
Luckily, it didn't rain on our event, so that was good. I'm actually glad I attended, because I really wanted to represent the disability community well at UIS in our attempt to get what we want out of our UIS experiences. I'm very hopeful that I acheived my goal- and if not, I won't give up until my goal has been successfully reached.

Making Memories

The night before my big outing has been crazy. I've been thinking a lot about just how wonderful tomorrow's adventure is actually be- and just how exhausted I'm going to be upon returning later in the day. Of course, I won't mind being exhausted- after the experience. Having this experience is going to create so many memories that are definitely going to stick with me forever. Even when I'm on summer vacation, I'm still going to reflect on the awesome experience of Lobby Day.

The Countdown To Statewide Higher Education Lobby Day

Only 15 hours left until Lobby Day. I can't wait!

Lobby Day is Wednesday, not today. Unfortunately, I didn't learn the correct date until this morning. All this after I had cleared my entire day for this event. I was ready to learn what Lobby Day is; however, it's only a minor snag in my week- a snag that Student Life created because the incorrect was in the e-mail that had been sent out last week. When I had previously e-mailed my English teacher about this event, I was thinking that it was today. However, I typed Wednesday's date instead. Luckily, she said I could go. . . and I appologized for any confusion about today.Fortunately, I get to give this schedule another try on Wednesday. I'm really looking forward to a fun-packed day, and I am prepared to roll around our state Capitol in my wheelchair. This is going to be a HUGE event, bringing college students from all over Illinois, I imagine. I'm looking forward to having the opportunity to meet new people, but I'm also a bit nervous about this new experience.This is an event for lobbying for better education reform for all students in our state. I would like to have the opportunity to encourage our legislators to improve educate reform for students with disabilities. I feel that, like low-income students, we are a population that has a great deal of challenges when it comes to getting a decent education- whether it is high school or college.

Lobbying During A Spring Thunderstorm

I usually check a weather report before I do any outdoor activity or even venture outside. It doesn't matter if I'm going to school/class- or even just to the PAC to get food. No matter what the reason for venturing outside, I always check a weather report to find out whether I should dress warm, or even if it is supposed to rain.
Today was no different. As always, I logged on to www.weather.com to find out if the Education Lobby Day for tomorrow is going to be a wet one. Based on information that I looked at, there's a 60% chance of rain tonight; however, tomorrow brings an 80% chance of our event being wet.
I don't mind the ugly weather. In order to keep my hair looking neat, I'm going to wear my Cubs hat. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how well that is actually going to work for me. If the hat gets wet, my idea's not going to be a very good one. Well, I still have some time to completely figure all this out before tomorrow's big adventure.

An Experience 2 Years Overdue

This is my second rally-type event I'll have been to in the last two years. The first "youth" event I took part in was in Washington, D.C. two years ago. That particular event was supposed to be entirely geared towards the youth who were in attendance. Youth from practically all across the contry came to D.C.for this conference. Unfortunately, the only event that was remotely geared towards the youth participants was a youth panel. The remainder of the event was geared towards parents and educators.
This particular event appears to be the exact opposite. The whole thing is centered around students voicing their concerns about the state of our education system. It's nice that students are finally getting the chance to voice how they feel the current education system is being run. After about two years of not being able to speak out about education, I'm glad that I finally am getting a chance to speak to lawmakers about my concerns about how students with disabilities are not always "equal" when it comes to education, especially in college.
The difference between the two experiences is probably the amount of walking. In the experience from two years ago, the entire event was housed in a hotel, so there wasn't much walking involved. In the instance of this event, however, their's going to be a great deal of walking outside, as well as inside. Therefore, I'm using my wheelchair so I don't get tired during this AWESOME experience.

A Week of Craziness

This week is going to be so busy for me. Of course, school keeps me busy, but I have activities this week, outside of school craziness, that are going to keep me on my toes. Pretty much each day this week- beginning tomorrow is going to bring it's own form of craziness/busy time for me. Hey, I probably won't have much time to update my blog entries if I'm on the go each day.
Tomorrow is Lobby Day at the State Capitol, so that's going to keep me busy for the entire day. I wonder what Lobby Day's actually like. All I know for now is that there are going to be lots of people at this major event. Good thing I'm bringing my wheelchair. It would be a challenge just trying to get around among all the throngs of people. Regardless of this being a packed and crowded event, I am still very excited- and looking forward to it.
Luckily, there isn't anything going on between tomorrow and Friday. I hope I'll be able to use that one day's rest to recover from the craziness of tomorrow in preparation for Friday's major craziness. I don't really remember when I've actually had any downtime since I've been at UIS, especially since I've been getting involved in so many campus activities.
After my one day of "down time", it's back to craziness. Friday is when the craziness resumes. Relay for Life is going to take up the entir campus, and it's going to be all night. I think I'm going to have to drink a lot of Mountain Dew that day, just to be able to stay awake all night long. Staying up all night for a good cause is an acception to my normal sleeping routine schedule.

Illinois Students Have Their Say

Lobby Day is Wednesday, not today. Unfortunately, I didn't learn the correct date until this morning. All this after I had cleared my entire day for this event. I was ready to learn what Lobby Day is; however, it's only a minor snag in my week- a snag that Student Life created because the incorrect was in the e-mail that had been sent out last week. When I had previously e-mailed my English teacher about this event, I was thinking that it was today. However, I typed Wednesday's date instead. Luckily, she said I could go. . . and I appologized for any confusion about today.
Fortunately, I get to give this schedule another try on Wednesday. I'm really looking forward to a fun-packed day, and I am prepared to roll around our state Capitol in my wheelchair. This is going to be a HUGE event, bringing college students from all over Illinois, I imagine. I'm looking forward to having the opportunity to meet new people, but I'm also a bit nervous about this new experience.
This is an event for lobbying for better education reform for all students in our state. I would like to have the opportunity to encourage our legislators to improve educate reform for students with disabilities. I feel that, like low-income students, we are a population that has a great deal of challenges when it comes to getting a decent education- whether it is high school or college.

Many Voices

I really hope that Lobby Day is inside tomorrow. Since it has started to get stormy, I don't think I'd want to be outside in the ugly weather. Even though I'll be in my wheelchair, I don't have an umbrella- so being outside for any length of time tomorrow would cause me to get quite wet. Getting soaked on Lobby Day would not be very fun at all. I know the other Lobby Day participants would probably feel the same way.
Regardless of the ugly weather, Lobby Day must go on as always. It's very important to fight for what we believe in. I'm participating in this day because I want to see a change in how the disability population in our state is currently perceived. Unfortunately, we don't seem to get much assistance. Majority of people with disabilities don't have an easy time getting jobs, and school is difficult for us as a result of the accommodations we often need to be successful.

An Interesting Opportunity

Tomorrow morning brings an awesomely amazing opportunity for me. I have the chance to lobby on the State Capital. I'm not really sure what that exactly consists of; all I know is that I would really like to see some chances for the disability community on our campus to have their chance to be able to enjoy life. Right now, that is a challenge- since there aren't really any sports/fitness programs that are tailored to our needs. Plus, there is currently no fitness equipment that is accessible to our abilities.
Hopefully, that will soon change. If not this year, I hope this happens in the near future. I, and a few of my fellow Disability Rights Activism friends have started a petition to encourage our University to impliment some adaptive fitness programs, so that the special needs students will feel like we are an equal part of this campus community.
I hope that- by lobbying tomorrow, I can try to inform our legislators that they need to help the students with physical disabilities all over our state, not just here at UIS. Disabled students all over this state often feel like they really aren't equal members of their communities, due to lack of accessible sports and fitness programs.

No More Cardinals

I hope that the Cubs can win their game against the Cardinals this afternoon. It would be amazing if that actually were the case. However, the Cardinals are a difficult team to beat, as a result of who their players are. The Cubs always have a tough time beating them- no matter if the game is at Wrigley Field in Chicago or Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
Regardless, I'd really like to see the Cubs win the weekend series. I don't like the Cardinals much, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they don't repeat as World Series champions again this year. However, the way they're playing against the Cubs this afternoon sure makes me think that the Cubs are going to really have a difficult time facing the "birdies" this weekend.
Luckily, we just got a base-hit in our half of the ninth inning. Maybe there's a light at the end of this game's tunnel, meaning that we'll squeak by with our first victory against the "birdies" so far in this young 2007 major league baseball season. It would be completely awesome if we manage to win this afternoon's game.
Not cool! Some debris has been thrown out onto the field, and there was a short delay in the game. When play resumed, the Cubs struck out again. . . unfortunately, allowing a chance for the Cardinals to win the game this afternoon. Well, tomorrow's another game, and it's a later start. Hopefully, it'll be good for the Cubs, and they'll be able to win.

The Interview

I hope that my interview goes well this afternoon. It's been a while since I took part in the self-defence class, but I still remember that experience- even 6 months after I participated in the program. Because I still remember my experiences of that program The memories of being involved in self-defence training are still sticking with me- even long after the program has ended.
I hope that my participation in this interview will help to create a program that will be interesting and informative to the girls on the UIS campus.

A New Look

I am in the process of getting my hair done, so it'll be nice and pretty. Although my hair is nice every day, it's nice to have a change once in a while. This time, I've pretty much had the same hair style through my teen years- long to shorter-length hair that was only brushed and combed, but never put in braids or any particular style. Now that it's pushing the end of the school year, I believe that it's time for a much-needed "Extreme Makeover: Hair Edition".
I never thought that I'd go back to having a hair style, where my hair was in braids, since I was afraid that my hair might not be long enough at this time. However, my Personal Assistant- who comes twice a week (on Mondays and Wednesdays) told me that my hair was the right length to be put into braids, and she started working to prove it.
She informed me that we would need some hair items for the creation to fully be a success. She and I went in search of rubber bands, combs, and hair gel-type things. Unfortunately, most of the girls in 1 West weren't in their rooms during this time, so we pretty much were temporarily out of luck. So, my PA was only able to find a few rubber bands, and she put braids on the top of my head, informing me that we'd need some more.
Knowing that she'd probably want to continue styling my hair the next time she comes to visit, I e-mailed my mom to let her know what we'd need. My mom was happy that I was getting my hair done, and she said that she'd send the things that we would need in the next package. Once we get the other hair items, our styling party will continue.

An Amazing End

I am glad that this school year is winding down. At times, it's been stressful academically and emotionally. Making the transition from a fairly big school to a slightly smaller one has had its ups and downs over the course of this academic year- a year that has often made me wish that school wasn't quite so stressful. It's been especially stressful since I have a disability that can often make my life tough.
Luckily, I'm not the type of person who lets the stress of school and life get me down. If it does feel like school is too stressful, I try to not let that bother me for very long, and I do my best to focus on something I really enjoy- something that won't cause a lot of stress, such as writing blog entries or spending time with good friends.
Having such a complex life-long disability, plus trying to make it through school, has been exhaustingly tough this year. No matter what challenges I had this year, I have still enjoyed the new experiences I've constantly had throughout this academic year.

Transitions

I am so glad that the school year is coming to an end. This year has been a big transition for me. Not so much a transition into living in a college dorm, but a transition into making a decision about possibly living off campus while going to school. There hasn't been a lot of transition into the amount of homework I've had to do, as I got used to this type of study habit while I was attending Roosevelt University.
I feel that I've adjusted quite well in my transition into college, regardless of having to start all over again as a freshman. Even if I hadn't had to start over, I think I would have still needed to adjust into my new life. I guess all college students go through this same transitioning, no matter if they are just beginning college for the first time or if they're transferring to another school.

What A Day, What A Night

A lot has happened since my last blog entry. I'm soory I haven't been writing, but I've been on the go quite a bit this week.
Yesterday, I voted in the city elections, which was awesome. Luckily, a fellow College Republican came along to read the ballot choices to me- so I could vote successfully. It's too bad that it wasn't my "mysterious man" helping me. He would have been a good helper.
After voting, I made a stop at the home of one of the candidates. I learned that getting into her house was a challenge. The stairs only had a railing on one side, which was quite wobbly. I didn't stay for long, because I had yet another adventure waiting for me. Luckily, it was in Springfield, so I didn't really have too long to sit in the car. I'm glad a fellow College Republican, like myself, took time out of a crazy day to be a part of the political craziness.
I tried my hand at poll-watching; however, that didn't go very well at all. It was a bit boring, but the CR president bought me a can of Mountain Dew, so it wasn't like I had tried this experience for nothing. . . What would you have done in my place?
Next, on to Headquarters, where I did some phone-banking. I called people to encourage them to vote, if they hadn't done so already. After making the first call, I had the little speech I was to give memorized. This job only took me about thirty minutes or so to complete.
Back to school briefly to relax for a while, before party-hopping. That's what I said- partyhopping. I visited each winning candidate's victory party, all of which had food. Each party I visited, I drank more Mountain Dew. I ate a hot dog at one party, then two little slices of pizza at another; however, I drank a cup/glass of soda at each location. Boy, was I wide awake and hyper.
Upon returning to school late, like near midnight, I was exhausted. . . but happy. It had been a very successful and busy day. I don't think I've ever had so much fun like that before. Oh, wait! Yes, I have. . . BWW last week; however, the "mystery man" wasn't present

"Late" English Homework

I'm surprised that I'm the only one who has posted to the questions for English on Blackboard. Knowing that our teacher just set up the forum this morning really doesn't surprise me as to why nobody else has responded yet. Luckily, the forum is going to be up all week, instead of only for one class. . . allowing more people to have an opportunity to answer the questions completely and thoughtfully.
An interesting twist is that she's going to give extra points to anyone who posts to Blackboard before class tomorrow morning. I really don't need any extra credit; however, I look at it as an opportunity to boost my grade. I'm happy with the grade I have now, but I'd like to have a higher one- it would just make me happier, and make me feel awesome about all my hard work that I've been doing this semester.

BOOOO

It's the Cubs' half of the 9th inning, and we're still down by a run. We already have a runner at 1st base, and we have one out. Even though we have one out with a man on base, who's about to make a scoring attempt, I think that this is going to be our chance we've been waiting for all afternoon long. Two outs and a man on base. . . I think we can still manage to pull of a victory- even it if it's going to be a close call. I'm keeping my fingers tightly crossed that the Cincinnatti Reds don't let us lose to them again, allowing them to win this weekend series. Unfortunately, they ended up taking the series, and by a one-run margain.

Time For A Little Break

Time to stretch our sore legs. . . but not before striking the Cincinnatti Reds out in order. They can't be allowed to score anymore, as they've already scored the game's only run. The Cubs still have a chance to win this game, but they first have to keep the Cincinnatti Reds from attempting to score anymore for the rest of today's game.
The Reds have now gone in order, and it's time to sing:
Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the Crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don't care if I ever come back.
Lets root, root, root for the Cubbies.
If they don't win, it's a shame.
And it's 1, 2, 3 strikes- you're out,
At the old ball game.

In The Middle of The Game

It's the end of the top of the 5th inning, and the current score is 1-0 in favor of the Cincinnatti Reds. Honestly, I really don't know when or how they managed to score one run, when I was actually hoping that today would be another chance for the Cubs to do a great deal of damage- and actually win two games in a row this weekend.
It's now the bottom of the 5th inning, and I really hope that this is the chance for the Cubs to turn things around. I don't think the Cubs are going to be able to do any scoring damage if they get struck out by the Cincinnatti Reds, who have struck out two Cubs hitters already in this part of the 5th inning. Boy, do I hope that our next hitter can get on base, rather than striking out. Finally, the guy at bat is trying to get on base. We needed scoring chances; however, the 5th inning just didn't allow that to happen.
On to the 6th inning, and I hope that we can strike Cincinnatti out in order, without allowing them to score again. It's about time the Cubs make an attempt at striking the Reds out in order. Cincinnatti most definitely doesn't deserve to win this afternoon, regardless of the nice weather. Good bye, Reds. Now it's our turn to do all the scoring.

The "Mysterious Man" of My Dreams

Dear Lupa, you wonderful "mysterious man",

You are the greatest person in all the universe. I hope that you and I can get to know each other better. I feel like I rarely ever see you, and you probably feel the same way about me. How I know this is from what your roommate has hinted about, along with what Faith has also told me. I'm sorry if you don't believe me, but I feel the same way about you.
You don't have to hide how you feel around me- I won't bite. I'm the sweetest, most lovable person you could get to know. All I ask is that I get the opportunity to get to know you better, too.

Yours truly with love,
Nico

The "Rubber" Game

I really hope that the Cubs can win again today to win their three-game series against the Cincinnatti Reds. After an exciting game yesterday, in which the Cubs shut out the Reds by the score 7-0, I hope a similar performance takes place this afternoon. For once, the weather is nice enough to allow a wonderful game to actually take place on this quiet Sunday afternoon in April.
It's the top of the 1st inning, and the Cubs have already struck out two Eeds' hitters. I think that the Cubs are going to be able to shut the Reds down quickly, so they can put some runs on the board and do some major early-inning damage. With now two hitters out in the top of the 1st inning, it appears that the Cubs are preparing for a huge bottom of this inning.
One, two, three. . . the Cubs have struck out the Cincinnatti Reds in order, making the first half inning go quite uickly. Now on to their half of this inning. Let the damage begin! Although we had two men on base, we unfortunately failed to do any scoring damage- ended up striking out. Oh, well, the game still has a long way to go. We still have lots of time left to do damage

No Longer A Follower. . . Now A "Leader"

I totally identify with the Church that I visited last night. It isn't "traditional", and there seemed to be more young adults there than I have seen at the churches back in Chicago that my mom and I have been to. I like it this way- young adults being introduced into a different way of looking at Christianity, and not being forced to believe what the Church thinks of the Christian religion.
Being the oldest of two kids, I'm glad I have the opportunity to "explore" my world, even if I have a challenging disability. If I were still attending Roosevelt University, I'd still be going to many different churches with my mom, not really getting a chance to really discover what's the best setting for me and my belief system.

A New Form of Christian Thinking

My decision to further explore and learn about being a Christian is unknown to my mom. She only knows that I'm trying to find a church that I like here in Springfield that I'd like to regularly attend. She also only knows that I'm very active in CSF events and other activities here on the UIS campus. I'm afraid of telling her where my faith is leading me, for fear that she'll tell me that I've "already completed my learning about the Christian faith".
Having had to pretty much only get exposed to "traditional" Christian faith for many years- as long as I can remember- I think that I need to try something new. I've figured out that "traditional" Christian faith just doesn't suit me at all. It doesn't seem like the lessons are presented in a way that college kids would be able to understand and be able to apply to their own lives.

Being A Christian, Take Three

I'm so glad I have my CSF family to back me up in my tough decision to further explore being a Christian, and to actually answer God's calling. I may not still know my exact purpose in life, but I'm pretty sure I will eventually discover just what it is God wants me to do with my life. I wouldn't be able to successfully make this tough decision to further explore my Christian faith if it weren't for my CSF family. You guys are the greatest!
With my CSF family at my side, I'm well on my way to learning what my true purpose in life is. I've tried to figure it out on my own, but that has been really tough. Discovering this by attending church back home hasn't really allowed me to see this opportunity for myself. Sure, I was attending church because I knew that God had a plan in mind for me; however, I felt like it was really something my mom wanted me to do- although I wasn't getting into any kind of trouble.
Now that I am at UIS, I'm taking the "first step" in finding out for myself exactly what God has planned for me. I no longer have to hear messages that make me confused- messages about what I should do to become a good Christian. When I began exploring Christianity, I was attending the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired, and we had to take a course to learn the ways of the Church, as well as regulary attend Service on Sunday- which was tough for me as a result of the church not being easy to get to. Therefore I had to drop out of the program.
About two years ago, I tried again, only I had to take a three-month course that covered the same things I had just attempted to learn in the high school course. I did get confirmed on Easter, but looking back on these two very similar experiences, I really don't consider myself as being ready and prepared for living the Christian life because the courses didn't really talk much about the history of the Church- mainly about what you are and are not supposed to do. . . which wasn't very informative for me, I think.
Here at UIS, I think that I am now ready to receive God as my Lord and Savior. However, I still feel that you, as my CSF family, can still teach me about what it truly means to be a good Christian; how to read the Bible with an open mind, and how to understand its teachings. With you guiding me, I know I'll be ready for the life that is awaiting me.

A Decision I Felt It Was Time To Make

Making the decision to join the Living Word Fellowship Church was a challenging and difficult decision that I had to make. Luckily, I had the opportunity to go to the church last night to see if it was someplace where I'd feel like I actually belonged, or if it just wasn't for me. After taking part in all the dancing and singing, it was quite clear to me that I had found a church to call home.
Breaking away from the traditional church has been something that I've explored in the past; however, actually finding a church to attend just wasn't really possible. Getting to and from church involved trying to get transportation, and it was often difficult to go to church- knowing that my friends all attend different churches.
Now, I feel that this dilemma has finally come full-circle, and I can now resume persuing my personal goal and dream of learning all about what being a true Christian is really about. Personally, I don't think you really get a complete understanding of this interesting faith just by attending a traditional church. Sometimes, it's better to have some fun while learning at the same time.

Realizing My Life's Purpose

The most exciting thing happened to me last night. I was in CSF all night- taking over two different locations, of course.The usual CSF met in the Housing Commons, but their wasn't all that much excitement taking place at that time. It was announced that there was an exciting "College Night" party following the normal CSF gathering, a party off campus at a local church. Hmmmm- an all-night party, I wonder what's planned?I soon found out. The Living Word Fellowship Church, where a friend of mine goes, was open to all of the college students in Springfield. I thought, at first, that this might be a lecture-type of event, where a paster would preech the entire night. . . and there'd be no chances for the students to get involved in the worship/ I was wrong, it was just like CSF. . . .only 1ox bigger and louder.Being invited to the Living Word Fellowship Church made me begin to realize what my life's calling might be. I hope that I'll be able to continue going back to that church, and be able to someday be a member of the congregation. The nontraditional church is where I feel the Holy Spirit is directing me to, but it has taken me a while to begin to realize this

To My Family of Faith

I know that fully becoming a part of the Christian faith is going to take a lot of work. I'm totally ready for this challenge. In the past, I don't really think that I was actually ready for this next stage of my life. I don't think I knew how I was actually supposed to respond to God's calling, but I'm now ready to face this challenging journey that is ahead of me.
However, I don't think I can do this alone. I'm going to need the help of all my CSF friends. Will you teach me how to read the Bible, and actually be able to understand the many messages that it has to teach? With your guidance, I will someday be completely ready to follow the path that God has been leading me down for so long.

The "Mystery Man" Learns The Truth

I wonder how the "mysterious man" is going to react to my "surprise". I haven't even put it together, but I'm sure that's going to happen sometime soon. Of course, I'm not putting this little "sneak attack" together all by myself; I'm getting help from my good friends, even though I'm the one who thought of putting something like this together.
Really, this is going to be the surprise of the century. I don't think anyone else would even be able to come close to what my friends and I are creating. We're going to put a surprise together to end all surprises. Oh, this is going to be incredible! I wish I had thought of this earlier in the school year! How could I be so dumb, and wait until the school year was practically coming to a close?

Where Do We Stand?

Although the Cubs had their game on Wednesday postponed due to weather, they didn't lose their place in the Major League standings. According to www.mlb.com, the are:
**STANDINGS**//AL EASTNew York 4 4Boston 4 4Toronto 5 4Tampa Bay 3 6Baltimore 4 6
//AL CENTRALMinnesota 6 3Cleveland 4 2Detroit 6 3Chicago 4 4 Kansas City 3 7
//AL WESTLos Angeles 6 4Seattle 3 2Oakland 4 6Texas 4 5
//NL EASTNew York 6 3Atlanta 7 2Florida 5 4Washington 2 8Philadelphia 2 7
//NL CENTRALPittsburgh 5 4Cincinnati 5 4Milwaukee 5 4Chicago 3 5 (last night's game postponed because of snow)St. Louis 5 4Houston 3 5 //NL WESTSan Diego 6 3Colorado 4 5Arizona 7 3Los Angeles 6 3San Francisco 2 7

After today's game, that will definitely change. It's still a long way before this game is completely over, and I really think that the Cubs can beat the Cincinnatti Reds, while their rival teams are, hopefully, going to lose their games later today.

Being Interviewed is A Big Deal

I'm brinh interviewed about my experiences being in the Rape Aggression Defense course last semester. I'm so glad I'm going to be able to share a little bit about my experiences doing that program last fall. The fact that I have such a challenging physical disability is what actually made the program worthwhile for me. Really, I'd love to share these thoughts about it- and I'm looking forward to the opportunity to do so.
The weird thing about the interview is that it has already been cancelled and rescheduled once. Originally, I tried to schedule it for next Tuesday, which would have worked out perfectly for me. Unfortunately, that didn't work- as there is something going on at the Women's Center that day. I got an e-mail, asking me if the appointment could be rescheduled. . . and it's now scheduled for a week from tomorrow in PAC, so I'd be able to get some lunch-to-go beforehand.

Tonight's A Special Night

Tonight is such a special night. Pretty much everyone in 1 West is going out for dinner to celebrate Steven Lupa's birthday, even though it's a week early. I'm so glad we're having a party tonight. It'll be glad to go someplace that I've never been before, and try some new foods. That's why I'm not going to eat dinner when the cafe opens in a half hour.
No, we're eating a late dinner tonight-having a dinner party to honor the "mysterious man". He's going to LOVE it, I hope. I can't wait to see the look on his face when I give him the surprise birthday card my PA and I found on line and colored. I hope he appreciates the fact that I seriously took the time to think about him today. Sometimes, I think he often feels underappreciated by his friends.
That's not going to be the case this time. I want the "mysterious man" to feel very special this evening. Nothing is going to spoil this wonderful occasion. I've been excited about this night for a while, and I hope that he is just as excited about it as I am.

Winter. . . In April?

Illinois' weather is so unpredictible. We're in the middle of April, and parts of northern Illinois are currently under a Winter Weather Advisory- according to information from www.weather.com. Come on, MOther Nature, can't you make up your mind as to what spring weather should really be? Possibly three inches of snow could accumulate in the areas affected by this unusual springtime "winter storm".
While this weird winter weather is up north, Springfield- fortunately, or unfortunately- depending on how you look at rainfall. . . is going to get rain. Luckily, we're on the warm side of the storm, and we're not going to get that yucky stuff that'll be coming down north of here.
It's 6:15 in the evening, and it's unusually dark. I think that the stormy weather is on it's way. I'm glad I'm not going anywhere tonight. Without a proper raincoat and an umbrella, I would most definitely get soaking wet. Staying inside during a heavy- fairly rainstorm suits me just fine; however, trekking in the mud it leaves behind- using my wheelchair, of course- isn't all that much fun.

Rally Time

It's the bottom of the 7th inning, and the Cubs are up to bat. This is a good time for them to RALLY big time. I'd hate for the Houston Astros to get anymore runs in this game. That would be just terrible. The Cubs are going to rally this inning, I hope, enough to keep Houston from having any more scoring chances in today's game. It's a shame that the Cubs couldn't score in their half of the 7th inning. Maybe, they can prevent Houston from doing anymore scoring damage in their part of the 8th inning.
It's now the top of the 8th inning. I really hope that the Houston Astros are tired of scoring, and they'll just turing lazy. If they become lazy, they won't score anymore, allowing the Cubs to have a scoring chance. Luckily, Houston has two outs already in their portion of this inning. Unfortunately, they also have a runner on second base. Houston now has two base runners, and I'm worried that they might try to increase their lead with another score. Fortunately, the inning has ended, and the bottom of this inning is going to belong to the Cubs.
It's now the bottom of the 8th inning, and an error by the Houston Astros has occurred. It resulted in a base hit by the Cubs, which makes me believe that the Cubs are in comeback mode. Judging by the sound of the crowd at Wrigley Field, it sounds like the Cubs are in the midst of turning this game around. With two outs, this will be a challenge; however, I believe that it can be accomplished. Unfortunately, the Cubs failed to score. Hopefully, Houston will strike out in their half of the 9th inning.
Now, in the top of the 9th inning, I really hope that the Cubs can eliminate the Astros from having any further scoring chances. I really wouldn't want to hear that the Astros had the dumb nerve to increase their score. Hooray! So far, my wish is coming true; Houston has already struck out once by the Cubs pitcher, and again by the Cubs pitcher. One more out would be nice. Luckily, the top of the 9th inning ended without anymore scoring from Houston.
It's the bottom of the 9th inning, and our first hitter is trying to get on base. I think that this inning will be the turning point of this very long game. Yes! The baseball was hit so hard that Houston's pitcher couldn't get it fast enough, resulting in our first base runner in quite some time. Another base hit scored our first run, which tells me that we're back in this game- although it's so late in the game.
In front of a decent-sized crowd at Wrigley Field, the Cubs are working to be victorious in this afternoon's game. There are no outs in the Cubs' half of the 9th inning, and I know this means we're going to RAILLY enormously in this half inning. Cliff Floyd just blasted a base hit, and the tying run is up to bat. I am certain that this game will be tied, and it's possible that a need for extra innings will be the result. The score is now 4-2, and this game is turning out to be quite exciting. Maybe, there won't be a need for extra innings; however, the tying run is at 1st base. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough, and the Cubs ended up losing again.

Technology Upgrade

I've just discovered that my current cell phone is malfunctioning more than I originally thought. I just thought that, since I've had this phone for so long that the battery was the only part of the phone that was misbehaving so much. NO! I've now figured out that, even if my phone's on, I'm beginning to have difficulty receiving and making calls. I sometimes get a "Welcome to Verizon Wireless" message if I'm trying to make a phone call or check my voicemail. Those clues tell me that my phone is no longer in proper working condition.
I'm glad that my mom's going to get me a new phone- one that's in proper working order- this summer. I might end up having to change my phone's service to Cingular, which wouldn't be too much of a bother. However, I wonder if I'm going to have the same phone number, and if I'll be able to transfer all the information from my current phone into a new one. . . or, if I'll have to re-enter everything.

Let's Win Today

It's the 2nd day of the Cubs first home stand of this new baseball season. Unfortunately, it's beginning the same way that yesterday's game did. The Cubs, in the top of the 5th inning are trailing by a score of 4-0 to the Houston Astros. I hate the "Killer Bees" because they are trying to keep the Cubs from winning a lot of games.
It's the bottom of the 5th inning. I really hope that the Cubs can put the breaks on this four-run lead that Houston has. Houston doesn't deserve to win two games in a row. The Cubs now have one man out, and a man walked- so I hope that this is the beginning of a MAJOR Cubs comeback. Hooray! It's about time we have a runner in scoring position. Maybe, we'll finally get a score- and drag this inning on for a bit longer.

Countdown To The End of the Semester

With only four or five weeks left in the school year, time is definitely going to start to pass quite quickly. Luckily, I only have two classes, and being busy with them helps the time to "seem" like it's going fast. Coursework keeps me busy, but it also wears me out a lot. The most tedious thing about taking two courses is that I have to go to the opposite end of campus for them. Wheeling myself to another end of this campus is stressful on my arms. By the time my day is done, my arms are sore and tired from all that pushing.
Summer should allow me to rest my tired arm muscles, before another gruelling academic year. My dad at first thought that I'd only be using my wheelchair during adverse weather conditions, but my disability doesn't allow me to carry anything heavy like a backpack full of heavy textbooks. Using my wheelchair eliminates me from having to carry a heavy backpack to and from my classes, and it helps me safely get around during crazy weather- even though it's exhausting.

Do I Deserve This

The pranks just keep coming. Last night, I asked my "mystery man" if he'd keep a watch out for the "prankster" while I took a shower. He said he'd be on the lookout for any "prankster"-like jokes, but I guess the "prankster was just too fast for us both. While I was in the shower, just about to get out. . . I heard the doorbell to the bathroom ringing. After that, I heard the sound of loud pounding on the door. Once out of the shower, it was time to investigate. After getting into pajamas, I poked my head out of the door, and asked the "mysterious man" if he had rung my doorbell and knocked on the door. He said he didn't do it; however, he was pretty sure that the "prankster" had struck yet again.
I was pretty sure that the "prankster" wouldn't do anything else last night, as long as I wasn't visible to him. Boy, was I wrong! Sometime late into the night, I thought that I heard the sound of my bathroom doorbell ringing. . . again. Luckily, it didn't continue for very long this time, and I thought that the "prankster" had given up for good.
This morning, I notice what he had tossed into my room last night, just before I left for the College Republicans meeting. I probably wouldn't have noticed the evidence if I hadn't felt around on the floor area near my desk and dresser. I found, candy and a bottle of Coke. I threw out the candy; however, I kept the Coke to drink later. The water bottle that the "prankster" had tossed outside my bedroom door a few days ago is still there, and I'm not keeping that. Luckily, the newspaper and empty cookie box have both been removed.

End The Jokes

Prankster,

These practical, late night jokes have got to come to an end. You are annoying me. I wish I knew why you are picking on me, and only me. What have I done to make you want to play these practical jokes- ringing my bedroom and bathroom doorbells and pounding loudly on my bedroom door late at night? If you don't STOP these pranks, I am going to get revenge on you. You won't know what I'm going to do, but I'll make you wish you didn't pick on me. Why do you choose to pick on someone who has a disability?

Sincerely,

Your victim

To My "Mystery Man"

Dear "Mystery Man",

I think you're very special. You're the nicest person I have met during my time living in 1 West. You don't play any jokes on me like the "prankster", and you've been very helpful when I need to borrow a stapler or laundry detergent. You know how to make a girl, especially a girl with challenges, feel loved. You'll always be in my heart, and I know I'm always going to be in yours.

Forever yours,
Your Secret Admirer

Every Other Monday

You'd think that my week only consists of school craziness. Sure, writing papers is stressful, but once every other week adds a bit more craziness. Luckily, I get any homework done before the real craziness actually takes place- craziness that wears me out quite a bit. Most college students experience craziness every day, but my craziness comes every other week- creating a bedtime of 11:00 every other Monday night.
Every other Monday night I have a College Republicans meeting at around 10. I usually don't get out of these meetings until 10:30 at the latest. Although these meetings aren't very long, it feels as though they tend to last for an extremely long time. The meetings are interesting, so the time that they normally last is never dull and boring; it's always quite informative and full of group participation, which is awesome.

Feed The Needy

A canned food drive is taking place on campus this week. It seems strange that there was no announcements made about it last week, and I just learned about it today. Donating food to less fortunate people is a wonderful idea; however, I only wish I knew about this sooner. Maybe, I could have asked my parents to donate some canned food that they might have.
Even though I just found out about this, I've already e-mailed my mom to ask her to donate any canned food. Hopefully, she'll be able to help out. Although she has already sent my care package, she's sending a smaller one this week with things that she had forgotten to include in the original package.

Bad Luck On Opening Day

On a chilly day at Wrigley Field, the Cubs lost their Home Opener to the Houston Astros. Luckily, the loss wasn't be a lot- only by two runs. I'm actually surprised that the Cubs didn't win the home opening game. I was hoping that, even though it's a bit chilly for baseball in Chicago, the weather conditions wouldn't keep the Cubs from playing a wonderful game. . . one in which they'd end up victorious. Unfortunately, today's game just wasn't meant to be. Too bad- maybe tomorrow will have much better results

Don't Mess With Our Favorite Teams

I'm not sure I was supposed to hear what I just heard. I think that it's not right for anyone to say anything mean about another person's favorite sports teams- especially if the person likes two teams- one being collegiate and the other being a professional team.
Personally, I think it's cool that people can like more than one team. As for me, I like the Cubs, Prairie Stars, Illini, Bulls, and White Sox. I'd hate to have heard what I just heard. Talking bad about someone's favorite sports teams is AWEFUL. I don't think anyone would like it if they heard another person say something hurtful about them or their favorite hobby.

Ouch! This Crazy Weather Makes My Lips Chapped

I REALLY hate this unusually chilly weather. My lips are super chapped, and they hurt quite a bit. It's as if I'm suffering from winter dry lips, but it's no longer winter. I think I'm going to nickname it "spring chapped lips' because the season is actually spring, even if it has felt like winter the last couple of days. Honestly, applying chapstick at night doesn't help, but it's probably because I'm only applying it at night. Maybe, to combat my painfully chapped lips, I should try to apply the chapstick in the morning as well.
Maybe. . . if Mother Nature would make up her mind, we'd be in a season that everyone's skin can live with. Bouncing back and forth between spring and winter-like temperatures is absurd. Winter should be long gone by now, and spring flowers should have their chance to have a good blooming season, instead of being threatened by a freeze several nights in a row.

Cell Phone Problem At the End of the School Year

Since I've had to charge my cell phone battery for about 7 hours between yesterday and today, I knew that something wasn't right. When I first got the phone as a surprise Christmas gift, I only had to charge it ten hours the first time- as it was brand new. After that, I could charge it for an hour or two, and it would be completely charged.
My dad, earlier this semester, suggested that I try an experiment. He wanted to see just how long my little phone could hold a full battery charge. On the days I didn't have school, my phone was on for five or six hours. The charge would last a week, two weeks, three weeks, a month. Since then, that's no longer the case with the battery. It's old, and not keeping a full charge let's me know that Dad's experiment no longer works.
I e-mailed my mom to let her know that my cell phone no longer holds a charged battery like it used to. She told me to try to deal with a half-functioning phone as best I could until the end of the school year, and she'll replace the phone. I'm glad she didn't try to suggest only replacing the battery, as I can't charge one battery with a replacement battery in the phone. My dad's phone isn't like mine. Our phones are different, and that makes it quite challenging for me to deal with a battery issue.

It's 4:30- Where Did Everyone Go

It's 4:30, and LRH is still unusually quiet. One West, in particular, appears to be totally abandonded. At this time, people are often milling about on my floor, and there is usually quite a bit of talking going on. It's welcome noise after it's been unusually quiet for so long. As quiet as it has been, it feels like the summer vacation time- when there is NOBODY on campus, except for the Youth With Disabilities Leadership Summit group.
It has been quiet like this since late last week-welcome quiet, though. I was able to work on English homework with very few distractions, but I miss my friends a lot. It feels like everyone has left me behind. Am I the only one on this floor who chose not to leave town for Easter weekend? Because LRH is currently a "ghost town", it sure feels like everyone wanted to go somewhere, and I wasn't invited.

What Happened to the Cubs Today

In the top of the 8th inning, the Cubs are trying to continue their comeback. They're pouring on the power, and two men are currently on base. I'm hoping that someone else gets on base, and the bases are loaded full of Cubbies. With only one out, I'm keeping my hope alive that a scoring opportunity is in the favor of the Cubs this inning. If that happens, it would be incredible. I'm thinking that the Cubs would like to get some more runs this inning.
With two outs already and two men on base, I wonder just what might happen next. It would be cool if a third baserunner allows the Cubs to score another run or two. I know that Cubs fans all over the country would love to see and hear an exciting end to the top of the 8th inning. Unfortunately, the Cubs were unable to score in their half of the 8th inning. Now, it's time to strike out the three Brewers hitters and do damage in the 9th inning.
It's now time to strike out the Brewers, and prevent any chances of them scoring again. So far so good- one hitter just struck out. The rest of this inning should go just as well. The Brewers, with one out already, have a man on base- and they're trying to increase their lead. Yet, there's simply NO chance of that happening.
With a pitching change in the bottom of this 8th inning, I hope that it eliminates the Milwaukee Brewers from actually scoring again. If the Milwaukee Brewers are kept from scoring again, the Cubs will have their chance in the top of the 9th inning to make a HUGE comeback in order to sweep this series. Unfortunately, however, the Brewers have just scored three more runs to have the lead of 9-4. That's the last straw! They had better not score again, so the Cubs can make a MONSTER comeback in the upcoming inning.
Now in the 9th inning, I hope that the Cubs can score, and reverse the damage that the Brewers are trying their best to cause. Unfortunately, one hitter has been struck out already. I'd hate to return to Chicago and open at Wrigley Field without having swept this weekend series in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Returning to the home field with a series sweep would be cool. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be. Maybe, tomorrow will be a better day.

Let The Comeback Continue

It's the end of the 6th inning, and the Milwaukee Brewers failed to score again. I love this because it gives the Cubs a chance to make a real comeback in the upcoming 7th inning. The way the Cubs played their half of the 6th inning made me think that they weren't going to settle for a loss to the team from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I think that's just wonderful.
It's the top of the 7th inning. I hope that the Cubs can make a giant comeback, and prevent the Brewers from even hanging on to their ever-shrinking two-run lead. The Cubs, it appears, are about to get a man on base; however, the first batter ended up striking out. The Brewers feel that they can prevent the Cubs from scoring if they make a pitcher-change. I don't think they're going to have much luck, though. I predict that the top of the 7th inning is going to belong to the Chicago Cubs.
The Cubs just struck out their second batter, which stinks, but they're only down by two runs. Unfortunately, the Cubs couldn't do anything in this inning to score. Hopefully, their half of the 8th inning will result in a MAJOR comeback, and the series will end in a sweep.

The Papers Never Seem to End

Lately, it seems like I'm constantly writing papers for English. It seems like every week or two a new writing assignment gets issued. The lengths of the assignments vary; however, it seems like there's just no break in writing essays. Although I enjoy writing, academic writing is a lot more challenging than creative writing. . . . especially if the type of assignment is a research paper.
When I attended Roosevelt University, I don't remember there ever being so many papers being assigned one right after another. When I took English 100, 101, and 102 at Roosevelt University, the length of the papers didn't really exceed beyond four pages. I guess that was how the English department there designed the course requirements for the students at Roosevelt.
Maybe the English class I'm in here at UIS is more of an honor's-level course, and the courses at Roosevelt were merely preparing me for tougher courses that I might someday take. I'm glad I'm ready for such challenging work; however, constantly writing papers is exhausting work.

This Isn't How It's Supposed To Start

It's the end of the 2nd inning, and the Milwaukee Brewers have drawn first blood. The score is 4-0. At this point, I thought that the Milwaukee Brewers wouldn't be able to recover after their previous two losses to the Cubs- Friday and yesterday. Apparently, they seem to want to avoid a weekend series sweep. Boy, that would just make all Cubs fans quite upset! A series sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers would simply be AWESOME, if I do say so.
It's the top of the 5th inning, and the score is still 4-0. I can't believe that the Milwaukee Brewers are actually trying to get away with salvaging a win out of this weekend series. Knowing the Cubs, they'll come back, and they will hopefully win this game in exciting fashion.
It's the bottom of the 5th inning, and the Milwaukee Brewers are now leading 5-0. This is NOT how I pictured today's game to begin. The Brewers have the bases loaded, which makes me think that they're going to make an attempt at increasing their lead and avoid being swept by the Cubs. A Milwaukee win would be aweful, considering that they just scored another run- making the score 6-0 with nobody out.

Let The Sweep BEGIN

A sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers by the Chicago Cubs would be a good way to celebrate Easter today. I really hope that my wish actually comes true. The Cubs can begin their home-opener tomorrow with a one-series sweep already under their hats. Boy, wouldn't that just be AMAZING! Only the course of today's game will tell how things are actually going to turn out for the Cubbies this afternoon.
Although the game has only begun, the Cubs already struck out in order in their half of the 1st inning. Now, it's time to show the Brewers just who's boss by striking them out in order in their half of the 1st inning. Wouldn't it be something if the Cubs can manage to pull off an exciting game on this cold Easter Sunday?

Last Travel Before Summer Vacation

As it turned out, I didn't go to church today; however, I don't think I would have wanted to venture out into the unusually cold weather. Who'd want to go outdoors when the air temperature is winterlike? Personally, I'd like to stay in when the cold air is around- knowing that it makes moving about such a challenge.
Knowing that it's Easter weekend, I'm actually shocked at how many people decided to travel in such crazy weather conditions. Some of my friends live up north-close to or in Chicago, and it's colder there than it is here in Springfield. I would have thought that nobody would want to venture up north, knowing that it definitely feels a lot like winter never actually left that region of Illinois. Boy, am I glad I am not one of the travellers.
Knowing that we only have just a short time left before the end of the school year, I would have thought that people wouldn't go home this weekend. I thought that as many people as possible would stay on campus this weekend, and have Easter celebrations with their friends. I mean, pretty much everyone's going somewhere for summer vacation in May, anyway. I think that going out of town now- and then going again at the end of the school year is a bit too much.

Has Winter Returned

It's the 2nd week of April, and it no longer feels like spring. Spring has somehow been replaced by winter. The only good side to this is there's been no snowstorms- only a few snow flurries last Friday. Whatever happened to the nice spring temperatures. Winter should take a long vacation, and return when it's actually supposed to in December.
According to information I found on www.weather.com, a Freeze Warning is again in effect for tonight. Freeze warnings in April are highly unusual, but this is Illinois, where we constantly have ever-changing weather conditions.
Because the weather is playing an "April Fools" prank in trying to make people believe that it's actually winter, trying to dress correctly hasn't been very easy for me. I still have some long pants, sweatshirts, and long-sleeved shirts; however, my big winter coat is at home in storage. I honestly thought that I wouldn't need it again until the winter months, so my mom took it home with her when she thought it was all right to set out lighter-weight clothes. I still have some of my winter clothes just in case, but I didn't think the weather would act this unusual.

My Crazy Cell Phone

I don't believe this! I'm now charging my cell phone battery for the 2nd day in a row, and I still only have 2 battery strength bars- making my battery juice only at 1/3 of it's usual power. Normally, I don't charge the battery for two days. However, the battery has lately begun to need a longer period of charging than it used to. That's strange, considering that I only used my cell phone for only 1 very important call within the last week or so, as well as periodically checking in with my parents- to let them know if I needed anything or to let them know the latest on the Mary Bryant Home endavour.
I've had my cell phone for 2 1/2-3 years, now, and I'm beginning to think that a replacement battery might be in order. Thus, that might be challenging. Unlike my dad's phone, I can't charge the battery by itself- while having a replacement battery in the phone. To me, this sounds like I'm going to need a new phone.

The Right One To Help

Since I have a disability, I feel that I'd be a much better person suited for working with special needs students- not the Prankster. I know the challenges that are affecting students with disabilities because I'm among the disability population here at UIS. I have personal experience of challenges that I've had to face and overcome as a result of my unique disability; whereas, I'm not sure if the Prankster has any knowledge of the different disabilities that exist in the world.
Having a disability would allow me to use my experience to help other special needs students overcome the trials and tribulations that come with being a college student among an otherwise "normal" student body. Although there are probably many students with disabilities, I don't often see very many. Maybe, some students are afraid to show that they have a disability because they're scared that they won't be accepted by their teachers and peers. Using my experience of feeling like I'm not always accepted as a result of my disability would help me teach others that they shouldn't be ashamed of who they are. I don't think the prankster can do that.

Who Can Work With The Disabled Students

I can't believe it. Apparently David Edelstein is considering- seriously considering changing his major to Disability Studies. Why? Honestly, I don't see him working with people who have special needs. To me, that just doesn't seem to fit his crazy personality. Who'd actually believe that David would be good at working with disabled people?
This is something, according to Zach, that David has been considering- and talking about- for quite some time. I'm just now hearing about it. How well would David actually do working with people who might have learning and physical challenges- especially if I'm the first person with a disability that he's probably seen?

The Life of My Cell Phone Battery

I am in the process of charging my cell phone battery. It's taking a long time. When I first got the phone, charging the battery only took about an hour or two. My dad, since then, suggested that I keep my phone on for six to eight hours whenever possible, just in case someone is trying to get in touch with me. Lately, on days I don't have school, I've kept my phone on for pretty much an entire day.
Now that I've had my phone for about two years, I am no longer able to just charge the battery for an hour or two. Keeping my phone on for several hours causes the battery to run completely down. Charging for only an hour or two doesn't give me a full battery, so I end up charging the battery for. . . . sometimes four hours.

It's Quiet. . . Too Quiet

It's almost 8:00 in the evening, and it seems odd that it's so quiet for a Saturday night. Normally, there are people roaming about on my floor, but it seems as though everyone has decided to venture home to have Easter with their families. It's odd, though, because not everyone lives close enough to be able to venture home for the weekend. By it being so close to the end of the school year, as well, I thought that not many students would want to go home until the school year actually came to an end.
I wish that I could have gone home to have Easter with my family, but that just isn't really possible. Living in Chicago makes travel quite difficult. Just to go home for the weekend really doesn't seem worth a trip to and back. PLus, purchasing a train ticket isn't something that I have had experience doing on my own. . . and it can get fairly expensive travelling back and forth between UIS and Chicago.

An End To A Baseball Day

It's the 8th inning, and this game appears to be pretty much over. I have a feeling that the White Sox are going to win this game. The way I see it, the Minnesota Twins aren't going to be able to pull off a victory. This would certainly make my parents extremely happy. Wouldn't it be interesting if today ends with both Chicago baseball teams have victories? That would be quite interesting, indeed.
It's the bottom of the 8th inning, and the score hasn't changed. The White Sox are still leading by the same one-run lead. Honestly, I don't think they're going to have enough time or even a chance to increase the lead by much. It would be awesome, though, if that actually did happen. It'd be miraculous if the Minnesota Twins actually ended up winning this game; however, I seriously doubt that's going to happen.
Now. . . it's still the bottom of the 8th inning, and Juan Eurebe just pelted a home run. This now made the score 2-0. Too bad nobody was on base. If there were any base runners, the lead could possibly be more than just a 2-run stretch. It's interesting that the White Sox are able to have a lead like this, despite the unusually cold temperatures. Scott Posednic just scored, increasing the lead to 3-0.
Although the score is 3-0, Paul Konerko is going to try to increase the score. He couldn't do it, but a ground-ruled double resulted from his attempt. I'm actually shocked that, like the Cubs, the White Sox have lead the entire game. They didn't let the Twins score at all- whereas, the Cubs only let the Brewers score just once. Maybe this is a light that means the Sox are going to try to have a season just like the Cubs. Two teams with good records would be interesting.
This inning is stretching on and on. The bases are loaded, and I think that the White Sox are shooting for more runs. That would be quite interesting. With only two outs and the bases loaded, it seems as though the White Sox are really trying to win this game. It's entirely possible that they'll be able to win this game.
It's now the 9th inning,and the White Sox now have to strike out the three Minnesota Twins batters. If they can hold off any hopes of scoring attempts by the Brewers, this game will definitely be theirs for the taking. Hey, this game already is theirs, as the score is so great this late in the game. With the "Jenks", as my dad has nicknamed Bobby Jenks, the White Sox closer, the Sox will probably have a great opportunity to have this game won.The final score in this game was 3-0.

Baseball Games Are Fun

It's the bottom of the 4th inning. The White Sox score is still 1-0. Ouch! Jermaine Dye just got hit by a pitch. For this reason, the Sox now have a man on base- and it's only the beginning of their half of the 4th inning. Maybe this simply means that the White Sox are going to make every effort to win their game today.
The 4th inning has concluded without a change in the score. After a hit batter, resulting in a man on base, a double-play was turned to quickly end the inning. I'm actually not surprised that the White Sox didn't manage to score again. However, this game isn't even half over, so there is still a lot of game left for this to be anyone's day to win.

Winter And Baseball

I wish that spring would make a return appearance. I don't like winter trying to be in the place of spring. Because winter is trying to take spring's place, it is definitely not a lot of fun being outside. Who wants to take a walk or sitoutside if it is windy, cloudy, and unusually chilly by mid-spring standards? Personally, I wouldn't like to be that person.
A baseball game had to be postponed this afternoon, due to this crazy weather. A game in Seattle just got postponed as a result of an unexpected early-April snowstorm. Originally, snow came down as just tiny flurries, and the umpires thought that they would just have to delay the game until it stopped snowing. However, the snowflakes got bigger, and the game had to be postponed.
The baseball rules used to say that the game could be picked up where it left off during a weather related delay- no matter what the score was. If the delay took place in the fifth inning, with one team leading the other, the game could be called with the score as is- and that would be the final score. That isn't the case anymore.
According to what the commentators have just said, if a game is called as a result of weather, a delay isn't going to happen- resulting in the game resuming from when the game got called. The new rule is that the game has to get rescheduled and played from the very beginning- played all over again, erasing the score from when the game was stopped.

More Baseball

Since the Cubs have already won their second game, it is now time to find out what the Chicago White Sox are going to do. Like the Cubs, they are also playing in cold weather. Whereas the Cubs played in an inclosed stadium in Milwaukee, the White Sox don't have that luxury at U.S. Cellular Field. They have to suffer through the Chicago cold air and windy conditions.
Unlike the Cubs, I'm not really sure if the White Sox are going to be able to pull off a victory this afternoon. It could happen, but it's still early in the season to even think about any playoff hopes. I would like to begin thinking about playoff adventures for both Chicago teams, but you never know what's going to happen so early in this young baseball season.
It's the bottom of the 1st inning, and the White Sox have drawn first blood. That's odd, considering they already have two men on base. Normally, there isn't a score this early in the game. Of course, this could mean that the White Sox could do the same thing as the Cubs. It would be amazing if the White Sox won their game this afternoon.
It's the top of the 2nd inning, and it appears that the 1-run lead that the White Sox have in the early going of this game could possibly become erased. Luckily, the Minnesota Twins couldn't do anything to delete the 1-run lead that the White Sox have this afternoon. This game might actually turn out to be just like the Cubs game earlier today and last night.

Win #2

Way to go! The Cubs managed to win again today. The Milwaukee Brewers have now lost two fabulous games to the Chicago Cubs. Yay, Cubbies! Today's final score was 6-3. That is a beautiful score. I'm so glad that the Cubs were able to keep the Brew-Crew from doing any damage for two straight days in a row. This early in the season, at that! I never originally thought this would actually happen.
I hope tomorrow brings a third win. That would just be totally awesome. I don't recall this ever happening to the Cubs so early in the season before. What excitement! Maybe this is a sign of what's coming during the course of this season. It's probably a sign that the Cubbies aren't going to let any of the other teams keep them from reaching victory.

Will The Semester Ever End

Lately, it seems like I'm constantly working on English homework. No, I'm not referring to reading homework, I'm talking about writing. This week and last week, a lot of my time centered around writing a 5-page paper using 5 different sources. You might think that this was a difficult paper to write; however, the only difficulty I had was actually trying to gather enough sources to incorporate in it.
This week, working on this essay took up a lot of time. Although I started working on this essay when it first got assigned, I have actually been continuously working on it. I feel like the process of writing this paper just isn't going to end any time soon. The remainder of the semester could possibly be just as tiring.

I Can't Wait Till School Is Out for the Summer

I feel like I've been constantly working on English homework for the last week. I don't feel like I've been doing a lot of reading, but I feel like I've been doing nothing but writing my latest paper. It seems like that has pretty much consumed a lot of my academic energy this week. I'm not complaining, really. I enjoy writing, but sometimes writing can be quite exhausting. I've been working on my latest paper in spuradic motions- not actually working on it for hours at a time. I work on making changes to a draft, save it, print it out- thinking I'm ready to turn in the final draft with the other drafts to show the changes that I have made.
So far, this hasn't been the case. My English teacher has commented twice with suggestions to improve what I have already written. Using these suggestions, I have written two additional drafts, posting each draft on the Blackboard forum for our class. I hope that I don't have to make any further changes to this essay- it's quite exhausting to constantly work on English homework.
I didn't think that I'd be working on homework this weekend, as I usually try to work ahead on assignments. I'm the type of person who doesn't like to try to consume the entire weekend in doing schoolwork. I like to try to relax over the weekend, instead of worrying about school. Obviously, this weekend ended up not really allowing me to relax much.

We're Victorious

Repeat! It is now the 6th inning in today's Cubs game, and we're still beating the Milwaukee Brewers by the score of 4-1. Although the weather is snowy and chilly, the Cubs are RED HOT at this early stage of the young baseball season. This is absolutely going to be the best baseball season ever. The Cubs are going to do a lot of damage to their opponents, no matter what the other team tries to do to us.
Brrr! It might be chilly outside, but the Cubs are warm at this early point in the season. I don't think that we're going to have very many bad records this season. Last year was a challenging year because our opponents seemed to know how they could beat us pretty well. This season, the tides are finally turing in our favor.
This 6th inning seems to stretch on forever. I think we are gearing up to score again, making the Milwaukee Brewers shake in their kleets. This will allow us to win yet again. Another run has just crossed Home plate. Yay- the Cubbies now are in their BIGGEST lead of the day with five runs to Milwaukee's solo one run. Milwaukee is never going to be able to come back from a deficit like this.
The 6th inning has come to a close- a bad close. The Milwaukee Brewers scored another run, only allowing the Cubs to be in the lead by three runs- the score being 5-2. That miniscule lead isn't going to last long. In the upcoming inning, the Cubs are going to increase their lead yet again. Now in the 7th inning, the Cubs are going to increase their lead again. Let's give the Brewers a run for their money!

SNOW. . . At The Start of Baseball Season

I don't believe it! It's snowing in Milwaukee this afternoon. That's definitely not baseball weather. Does baseball weather consist of snow??? Of course- not. It's usually mild and sunny during baseball season, and I don't know if anyone has ever in their lifetime heard of it snowing at the start of baseball season. With it snowing during baseball season, I think it should be football season instead. Milwaukee, in my opinion, is experiencing the strangest baseball opening weekend weather.
Regardless of the weather, I don't think it's going to make any difference. I think strange weather is going to strongly help the CUBBIES be victorious again today. Of course, the Milwaukee Brewers might use this whacky weather to their advantace, and they might actually try to put an end the the Hott Cubbies. That's most likely not going to happen.

YAY, CUBBIES

I love the Chicago Cubs. They're doing so well in their game tonight. I didn't think they'd be able to have a good game tonight- especially after having a bit of trouble in last night's game. I guess Lou Pannella, their new manager, must have said something very inspirational to make the winning ways return to the team that Chicago loves.
It is the 8th inning, and the Brewers are losing to the Cubs by the score of 9-1. Wow, what a BLOWOUT! I seriously thought that the Milwaukee Brewers would end up beating the Cubs, instead of the score actually being the other way around. Well, I'm sure glad that the Brewers aren't the team with the big lead. This game has belonged to the Cubs all night.

Big News In The World of The Cubs

I found this article on www.cubs.com, the homepage of the Chicago Cubs.

CINCINNATI -- The Chicago Cubs opened the 2007 season Monday with a new manager, a new center fielder and the prospect of a new owner in 2008. The message to the team is that it's business as usual.
The Tribune Co., which includes the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, TV stations and the Cubs, has accepted a buyout offer from real estate investor Sam Zell in a deal valued at about $8.2 billion.
The Tribune Co. also said it plans to sell the Cubs baseball team and its 25 percent stake in local sports cable channel Comcast SportsNet Chicago at the end of the season. The company did not say whether it intended to sell Wrigley Field, which has been the Cubs' home since 1916.
"I told the ballclub it'll be business as usual," Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said Monday. "It will not be a distraction. The Tribune Co. will run the club this season, and we've got a job to do and nothing is going to change from our end."
Zell owns a minority stake in the Jerry Reinsdorf-led syndicate that owns the Chicago White Sox, and would be required by Major League Baseball to choose either that investment or the Cubs with his Tribune Co. deal. The sale of the Cubs is subject to approval by Major League Baseball.
"The Cubs have been an important part of Tribune for more than 25 years and are one of the most storied franchises in all of sports," Dennis FitzSimons, Tribune chairman, president and chief executive officer said in a statement. "In our last season of ownership, the team has one mission, and that is to win for our great fans."
The Tribune Co. purchased the team in 1981 for $20.5 million from the Wrigley family. The sale ended the longest continuous operation of a franchise by the same family in one city.
Analysts estimate the Cubs could sell for $600 million or more.
"We know where we'll be for 2007, we know who are owners will be for 2007," team president John McDonough said. "We've put together a very good baseball team. We've sold 2.7 million tickets going into the season. We have an exciting manager, exciting players, and I think it's time to talk about baseball."
The Cubs players were more focused on beginning the season with a win, rather than who will be signing their paychecks next year.
"It doesn't make a difference to me," Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee said. "With the Tribune, I didn't really know who the owner was. He wasn't around. When I was with the Marlins, the owner was around. I don't think it matters. As long as they're committed to winning, that's all we're concerned about. It doesn't affect the way we go about our business."

The Cubs opened their 132nd National League season in Cincinnati. The team spent more than $300 million this offseason on players and new manager Lou Piniella. McDonough said nothing has changed as far as the Cubs are concerned.
"Our mission has not changed," McDonough said in a statement. "The goal is to win a World Series for our great fans. Under the leadership of Lou Piniella, we are on track and believe 2007 will be a very successful season.
"We have been informed that a change in ownership will not occur until after the 2007 season, and that will help us maintain our focus on the day-to-day operation of the Chicago Cubs," McDonough said. "Tribune Company has provided tremendous support and resources which have dramatically improved our team over the past several years. We expect that support to continue through 2007 as we pursue a championship for our incredibly loyal fans."
Piniella and Hendry met with the players before Monday's game.
"I told them not to let the sale affect them either way, just go out and play and take care of what you can handle," Piniella said. "As far as the sale, that will take care of itself."
But is there a sense of urgency to impress the new management team?
"My gut feeling this morning is that we've all been treated very well here," Hendry said. "I would love to have us have a great year for the company, and I'd love us to have a great year for Dennis and the city of Chicago and the fans. We need to do our part on the field and get the job done."
"There's no more pressure than there has been in the past," McDonough said. "We stated what our goal was and our mission was, and we tried to do everything we could to acquire some of the players. As far as the pressure was concerned, everybody's under pressure."
Piniella, who signed a three-year deal with the team in October, was simply eager to get back in the dugout and get going.
"We've got expectations with this team, and I like expectations," Piniella said. "It's not going to affect us. The club will be run the same way it's always been run. All we've got to do is play baseball. That's what we get paid to do. I get paid to manage, the players get paid to play well. The business end, we have no control over it. All we can control is what happens on the field."
Hendry said he's also been assured that if the team is in the race in July, he will be given the financial resources to add players if needed.
"I've been assured that nothing has changed from the time we hired Lou," Hendry said. "If we're in the race, it'll be business as usual to try to keep winning. That's not going to change, and I feel good about that."
According to the Associated Press, Zell plans to invest $315 million in the deal for the Chicago-based media company and will eventually become chairman of its board when the deal is complete sometime in the fourth quarter.
Zell, 65, made his fortune reviving moribund real estate. He said

I am hoping that this doesn't happen, as I'm worried the team's name might be changed or they might move to another location

Making A New Friend

I can't believe it. A friend of mine introduced me to a friend of his earlier this week. He told me that his friend is interested in learning about disabilities, so he asked me to put her in my Facebook friend list- so I'd be able to communicate with her about my disability and explain the challenges that I've faced growing up and entering college.
It's really nice that I get to help educate someone who's younger than me about disabilities. You don't always find very many people who are interested in learning about disabilities. I'm actually glad that Zach's friend is interested in learning about disabilities. It makes me feel proud that I actually have a disability, and I can use it to educate others.

Victorious

I'm listening to the Cubs game on WGN Radio 720. It's amazing to listen to this game, since I know that the Cubs lost their last game. I didn't see that game, nor did I watch it. Maybe it's a good thing I didn't, since the Cubs ended up losing that game- anyway. Who would actually want to watch or listen to a baseball game that ends with your favorite team losing? Definitely not me! My favorite games are those that end up victorious.
So far, this particular game is resulting in the Cubs leading by six runs. It's still fairly early in the game, but the Cubs are still looking great. I hope that they can keep up their lead for the remainder of tonight's game. It would be alot of fun to have my favorite team end tonight on a winning note. If that happens, I can go to bed happy.

Brrrr Doesn't Say Baseball Season

It's too cold for April. As cold as it is today, it certainly doesn't feel anything like baseball season. Baseball season is usually warm and sunny- definitely not cloudy and chilly, with snow flurries. Today's weather makes me think it's actually football season. . . or even hockey season. What actually happened to the nice baseball weather? I hope that it didn't go away forever. That would simply be terrible.

Turn The Season Around

I love the Chicago Cubs, even though they're in last place in the National League Central Division last year. This year they are going to go all the way. Nothing is going to stop them at all. The White Sox are going to have difficulty keeping the Cubbies from acheiving victory this season. It is about time the Cubbies reach the victory lane. We are going to see our beloved team beat the competition- no more losing record for our team.Even the stinky St. Louis Cardinals aren't going to be able to stop the Chicago Cubs from being victorious.
It's still very early in this new baseball season, but the Cubs are starting out in 3rd place. Our record so far during this first week of the new season is 1 win and 2 losses. That isn't going to last. I hope that we can win tonight's game, and attempt to reverse this ugly-looking record.

Turn The Season Around

I love the Chicago Cubs, even though they're in last place in the National League Central Division last year. This year they are going to go all the way. Nothing is going to stop them at all. The White Sox are going to have difficulty keeping the Cubbies from acheiving victory this season. It is about time the Cubbies reach the victory lane. We are going to see our beloved team beat the competition- no more losing record for our team.Even the stinky St. Louis Cardinals aren't going to be able to stop the Chicago Cubs from being victorious.
It's still very early in this new baseball season, but the Cubs are starting out in 3rd place. Our record so far during this first week of the new season is 1 win and 2 losses. That isn't going to last. I hope that we can win tonight's game, and attempt to reverse this ugly-looking record.

Lupa, The Man of Mystery

You are a great friend. I'm glad I met you- and from you, I learned who the real mysterious man is. No, thankfully not David. David's the prankster- something I know Lupa, the mysterious man, simply wouldn't do. Pranks, I think, just aren't his thing- nor yours. You and I are like solemates, simply because we're both always on the go.
It seems weird that Lupa and I never really have a chance to talk. Sure, we're both very busy, but I'd certainly like to get to know this mysterious, tall gentleman. He's quite helpful, as I'm figuring out these days. I've never met anyone who is as helpful and kind-hearted as he is.
My "mysterious man is a loyal baseball fan. He likes the St. Louis Cardinals, but he also likes the Chicago Cubs. Unlike my parents, the "mysterious man" won't say anything bad about my favorite baseball team. I'm greatful that Lupa is so sweet and kind. Who wouldn't love him?

Let the Process Get Underway

Using this blog, I am able to share my stories of things I like and how college has been such a big change for me- especially going to a college away from home and trying to live independently. Living independently on the campus of UIS hasn't been easy. Knowing that I've faced many challenges this year, I began looking into potential living options for next year- primarily an assisted-living facility here in Springfield.
My parents and I really liked what we saw. We liked what we'd seen so much, we decided to explore it further. Once I returned to UIS, I did some research about it on the internet, and was pleased to learn that it's better than trying to live in the dorm here at UIS. At the time that we had begun to discuss this as a possibility, we were looking into the future- thinking maybe after college, not really thinking now's the time.
Since our visit, I have been in pretty much constant contact with the director of the Mary Bryant Home. I now learned that I need to have my doctor fill out medical release forms. Once the forms get filled out and sent back, it'll be a three-week review period to make sure there is no cause for concern as to reasons why I might not be eligible to live there.

At Last-Peace and Quiet

I'm glad it's the weekend of Easter. Lots of people are going home to spend time with their families. With lots of kids on my floor gone this weekend, I'll be able to finally have peace and quiet. It's not that I don't enjoy having my friends around, but I'd at least like it if the prankster goes home. . . or off campus this weekend. I'm tired of the late night poundings on my bedroom door or hearing someone- thinking that I'm hearing someone ring my bathroom doorbell.
This week has been full of craziness. It's been a challenge for me to get a full night's sleep successfully because someone will try to wake me up by ringing my doorbell or pounding quite loudly on my bedroom door. The only reason why I think this is going on is because people are beginning to realize that we're quickly approaching the end of this school year, and everyone is getting restless.

It's Baseball Season Once More

Crack! Pop! Whack!-- goes the baseball against the bat.
I wonder what where that sound came from;
A noise like the popping of a balloon-
But, I’m not stopping.
To figure out what that sound is,
For I’m too busy wondering-
Just what could be making that sound.

Crack! Pop! Whack!-- “Peanuts! Popcorn!” I’m getting hungry,
I think I’ll get a snack.
But I won’t be gone long,
Just long enough to get something to eat-
Because I don’t want to miss-
Any of the game.

Crack! Pop! Whack!---I hate missing any of the action-
For when I’m not around;
I might feel bad,
About the awful score.
Never more, I say;
I will try to stay-
Right where I am- in my seat.

Crack! Pop! Whack!---now that works-
I will stay right here,
And just be-
A loyal baseball fan,
A loyal baseball fan am I!
Missing any of the plays-
Is what loyal fans won’t do.

Crack! Pop! Whack!--some fans may come,
And go-
But I will stay,
Truthful and loyal;
To the game of baseball-
A sport I love,
A sport I wish I could play.

Crack! Pop! Whatc!---some people may believe-
You can’t be a loyal fan,
I ask them “Why”-
Why must you not like baseball?
Especially if it’s your favorite sport.
That comes with the dawn of spring-
And the chance to go outdoors.

Crazy Weather

I know it's only the beginning of April, but someone told me that it tried to snow a little bit this morning. Snow in April in Illinois isn't really that unusual, but snow in Central Illinois in April sure seems odd to me. We are already well into spring, and it shouldn't even be cold and blustry/winterlike anymore. Spring should be the type of season that choses to be the type of conditions at this point, leading into the heat of summer.
Knowing that it's still unusually chilly, I don't think I'd really want to go out much today. Not only is it cold- unusually cold by April standards-it also tried to snow this morning. SNOW! I really can't believe it. I'm glad I've only gone outside once today, since winter has mysteriously decided to give spring a break for some unknown reason.

To Zach

You are a great friend. I'm glad I met you- and from you, I learned who the real mysterious man is. No, thankfully not David. David's the prankster- something I know Lupa, the mysterious man, simply wouldn't do. Pranks, I think, just aren't his thing- nor yours. You and I are like solemates, simply because we're both always on the go.
Lupa, the mysterious man- as you know- is my #1 guy. He'll do just about anything to help a girl, from what I've seen. My laundry detergent, for example, just mysteriously disappeared, and I asked "the mysterious man" if he'd be willing to replace it. He said that when he goes shopping again. . . he will buy me another box of laundry detergent powder.
My mysterious man, as you know, is a Cubs and Cardinals fan. He'll check the Cubs score for me, but he won't say anything bad about my favorite baseball team. I love that in him. . . a lot. I'm sad when I don't get to see my mysterious man, especially when we don't have a chance to talk about baseball together. I hope that, no matter where I move to, my mysterious man and I won't be apart.

I'm Loved By Many

It's really crazy how all the guys in the suite of rooms across from me all think I'm adorable. How do I know this? I got a picture messaged to me this morning on Facebook, with a comment underneath saying that I'm cute and adorable. Based on that, it shows me that- no matter the disability I have, people around here really do care about me.
However, I don't like one of the guys because he's "full of pranks", and often "immature". Some guys, I have learned, are like that. Why is it that all, except one guy in that entire suite across the hall from me are all nice- and actually care about me. . . . while the youngest one gets a joy out of playing pranks on me?

It's PAYBACK Time

There's a guy on my floor here in LRH who's been spuradically playing jokes on me. He does one of two main things to make me mad. Mostly, these pranks occur at night- right around the time I'm sleeping or taking a shower. Boy, does that get on my nerves! When these pranks are pulled, I know that I shouldn't take it- yet, I shouldn't allow him to taunt me like that either.
Last night, for instance, someone loudly POUNDED on my bedroom door. I was already asleep, so I didn't even bother getting up to see who was knocking on my door. I basically slept through the noise, ignored it long enough until it had stopped for good. There's only one person who I'm pretty certain caused all that racket, and he must be STOPPED.

I Want To Be Like My Friends. . . Sometimes

Sometimes, it seems like I’m never going to be good at math. Knowing that my degree of being legally blind has made math my enemy. Growing up, I dreaded going to math class, because it seemed like my peers were understanding the concepts, while it was taking me a longer time to grasp the concepts that I was supposed to learn.
In high school, I had a great deal of difficulty getting my teachers to realize that I had a severe lack of vision. Many teachers and professionals who worked with me realized that there were certain accommodations that I needed in order to be successful- even when I further explained my reasoning for needing these accommodations. I wasn’t the only student at Curie High School, located in Chicago, who was legally Blind, but I felt like my disability was often being misunderstood.
As a result of being legally blind, math has always been difficult. It’s especially tough if there are a lot of visual components involved- such as charts and graphs- involved. Another result of being legally blind is that I can’t see what’s written on the overhead or blackboard, no matter how close I’m sitting.
I actually had to take math in summer school, and it was then that I met a teacher who was later going to try to make me feel bad. I actually passed the math course I had to take in summer school, but the upcoming school year was about to test my patience with that subject and math teachers.
I thought that things were going quite well the year I had to complete my math requirement and take Algebra/Trig. It wasn’t until the math teacher introduced himself to the class that I realized who he was- the same man who taught the course in summer school. In summer school, I had no trouble with this teacher. He seemed like a nice guy, and he helped me learn the concepts that I was having trouble grasping the previous school year. At first, I thought nothing of this coincidence, really- until he said his name. I don’t even remember his name these many years later.
That year, I knew that I was in for a challenge. Knowing that math was going to be harder for me, I tried two methods of getting help with it. The first thing I tried was getting help from my resource teachers. I’d go to their classroom to get help, and I’d explain what we’re studying in math. “We’ll try to help you,” they always told me. I found that wasn’t always the case. The teachers were often quite busy, so I didn’t get much help from them with Algebra/Trig.
I explained my situation to my mom, and she said that she’d try to help me. She, too, couldn’t really figure out that math. I was able to get tutoring help from my church Youth Group leader, which I found to be quite helpful. Math may have been difficult to understand from the way the teacher was explaining it, but I was getting a much better understanding of the topics that were being covered each day in class.
Although I was beginning to comprehend the math concepts with the help of the tutor, coming to math class was always my biggest hurtle. The tutor would explain the concepts slowly and in a way that I could grasp; however, the teacher would explain the same concepts in a way that got me confused.
When it came to testing, trying to remember what the tutor and I had gone over became quite difficult. I’d always go to the resource room to take the tests, which helped, but I don’t remember getting many good scores on tests. Still I tried to participate in class discussions. If a question was asked to fill in the missing part of an equation, I had no problem doing that in my head- as long as the teacher read the information that was written on the blackboard out loud for me.
I honestly felt that year of math had been a challenge I had greatly accepted, and I had finally overcome my fear and hate for math. My mom, too, thought that that was going to be the year I got a good grade in math. I had been receiving math tutoring, and I was spending a lot of time on math homework each night.
After trying my very best to be successful in math that year, I was confronted by my math teacher. “I’m not going to pass you,” he told me. I asked him why, and he said that he felt I wasn’t trying hard enough to grasp the material. I then explained to him that I was working with a math tutor outside of that class, but math is still a struggle for me because of my visual struggles.
What I’d like to know is why teachers don’t always understand the challenges that their special needs students have to go through in their daily lives. I would like educators to understand that students with special needs are trying really hard to grasp the material. It might take longer because of their learning style. In my case, I often feel as though I have a learning disability, because I can’t always understand a math concept right away. I still try to do my best, but I understand that math is something that I might not be good at. There are other things I’m good at, and I hope that people around me will realize that. My hope is that- some day- people will learn that we, as disabled individuals face many obstacles, and we shouldn’t be thought of as dumb or retarded, just because we might have certain academic difficulties.