Back on My Daily Grind

     Well, the new semester has begun. The first day of class of my final semester as an undergrad was this passed Thursday--and talk about an awkward start at that...Thursday? Really??? Anyways, I digress. Our professor hit the groud running (and rather quickly might I add) since this was, after all, the nursing course that would take up the majority of our time throughout this semester. This very class just so happens to be the "part II" portion of a class that I took back in my first semester of junior year. And well..let's just say that class gave me far more trouble than I had expected it too--seriously, that class was the reason my GPA suffered the most. So this semester, I plan to get ahead as much as I possibly can with this "part II" so I can do better than I did previously. Then again, I had a pretty heavy course load the semester I took the "part I" of that class. This time, the course load is a little bit--and I stress on the little bit--lighter than it was that semester. So with this last semester freshly started anew, it's time for me to get back on my daily grind of studying day-in and day-out.

Wish me luck!

Transitioning

     Before I begin, I just want to take a moment to apologize to those of you who actually read this blog after I abandoned it for the past week and a half (or more). I don't know how I managed to forget about this thing here...oh, wait, I know why...because of the joyous Holiday season.
     So far, this Winter Break from college is turning out to be a good one. It'll end in about a week, but it was very much needed and very well spent. Though most of this break I've spent lazing about and working at Target, I've been doing a lot of assessment of my life, especially before ringing in the New Year. It almost seems like yesterday when I entered college as a freshmen and spent my first Holiday break home in 2008 going into 2009 and now its 2012--my last holiday break as a college undergrad. This will probably be the last time that I spend the Holiday season here in NJ for a long while since I have intended on moving in with my long-term boyfriend (hopefully fiancée some time this year) right after I graduate.
     So far, the time spent during this break was mainly in the house or out with family. My boyfriend even came up from the warm Florida weather to this bland, cold weather of NJ to spend New Years with me. Since our relationship is now long-distance, it was by far the best gift received for the Holiday and added +100 points to the Holiday break. I went to only two Christmas parties which were alright but I have yet to see and/or hang out with some good friends that I attended high school with. I usually hang out with them a lot during the summer and get a chance to see them so-so during these college breaks, but not so much this time around. I have to make sure I get in touch with them some time before I leave back for school since, as stated before, this may very well be my last time NJ for a long while.
     It has been interesting to see how much things change throughout the years since we've graduated/attended high school...we still live in the same, small, backwards little town yet the ones who have really changed is us--even in the ways we now view each other. Yeah, we may not hang out as often anymore but that's because many of us have learned to open up to make new friends and start new journeys for ourselves. It's sort of sad,yes, but also sort of enlightening. Very soon most of us will be graduating or continuing college education until completion and before you know it, we'll be entering the true world of adulthood...cruel, cruel adulthood (bills, car notes, mortgages, school loans, etc.)
     As a side note to this drawn out entry, I would also like to mention that this "transitioning" not only refers to the above contents, but to my hair as well. Being a young African-American woman, I have had my hair chemically relaxed since I was eight years old. Now as a 22 year old--and a college student--keeping up this hair is becoming financially taxing (seriously its about $60 just to get a relaxer touch-up) and thus during this past summer, I dabbled in thoughts of transitioning my hair. Finally, on August 28, 2011 I had my last chemically relaxed hair style and proceeded to transition my hair to natural...as many African-American women are beginning to do now. I want to be able to love my natural hair for what it is--no matter what the texture may be. I haven't set an exact date yet for when I will go for the big chop since I intend on going through a long-term transition where I will keep my chemically relaxed hair as my natural hair gradually grows in as new growth and will gradually trim off the relaxed ends. The long-term transition is better suited for me than the big chop because getting all my hair chopped off right away scares the crap out of me since I've never had such short hair in my life. So yeah all of that explanation aside, I have been going through the transition process for about 4 months now and so far I have about an inch or so of new growth. I've also began experimenting with different products for natural hair. If anyone is interested in reading about the process of my transitioning, please let me know and I can keep you all posted on my progress.

Well, it's been real. I hope you all have a safe and Happy New Year.