There are SOOOOO many things happening in my life right now. At the moment I'm sitting at my family's Mac in Bolling AFB (for those who don't know where that is, it's in D.C.). My parents surprised me with an invite to fly out and help them move over to Holland! Basically the best thing I could have done to end my first college summer vacation :) The pretense behind the whole trip is that I'm helping them out-process from Bolling and I'll be watching my brothers in Holland while my parents are in Germany for a couple of days for some briefings (my dad's job just sounds horrible, doesn't it?), but I know that they really just missed me ;) However, with my dad's order saying this next PCS will be 36 months long rather than the 24 we were expecting, a lot of opportunities are starting to arise. For instance, I could actually live in Holland with my family for a year or something and get some awesome abroad experience.
But that creates a lot of questions and problems. "What about school?" leads to, "Is my major really what I should be majoring in?" which leads to," Is the Air Force really for me?" School might not be the hardest of the problems. I'm thinking about academic deferment and maybe even going to school in Europe for a while. But I've had this whole mindset of learning Russian for the Air Force, with everyone telling me that I shouldn't learn Russian because it's not important right now, and Spanish is the one to learn, and yada yada yada.
And then there's the Air Force. Is it really what I should do? It was a last minute decision anyway, but I absolutely love the program and the people I've met in it. Not to mention the extreme guilt and shame I would feel if I dropped out, especially since I've told basically everyone it's what I want to do, and especially since the female numbers are dropping radically within our detachment. I kind of feel like I've got expectations to live up to. And I know it's what I've been saying I want to do, and I would love it...but is it what I want to do? I still think it is, but maybe I'll find out down the road that it isn't. I just think I would be super disappointed in myself if I dropped out.
But trying to figure out what my major will be is the toughest thing for me right now. I think almost everyone expected me to do something with music, either majoring or minoring in it. But let's face it, it's almost impossible to make it in the music/performing business, and I absolutely refuse to be a hobo that lives in her car in New York while trying to break out on Broadway. As much as I love music, it can't be my first career choice. But I at least want to like my major, and the thought of majoring in European Studies just doesn't spark excitement within me (as I'm sure it didn't spark any excitement within anyone who just read this sentence). But now I face the dilemma of choosing a major I actually want to pursue, and then the whole grueling process of getting an entirely new schedule layout for college. Jeezaloo. I guess I have a couple of weeks until school starts to try and figure it out.
And school itself. I cannot tell you all how freakin' excited I am for school to start back up. This summer was boring, except for one or two highlights. Probably the best part was going to my best friend Trevor's missionary farewell in Las Vegas. I miss that kid SOOOOOO much! He is seriously my brother from another mother :P There was also my roommate Jessica's wedding, which was fun, because it was the first wedding I'd ever been to, and I got to be a bridesmaid and play piano during the reception. She and David (her husband) even asked me to sing their First Dance song, and sad to say, I butchered it. Apparently nobody noticed, though, and so I was grateful for that. A friend from high school, Kaitlin, also got married, and getting to see her entire family at the reception was great. It was like getting a lovely slice of California while I was still in Utah, and let me tell you, I miss California like crazy. It is still my home and always will be, and I wish that I could have gotten home for even a week this summer, but alas, I'm a poor college student and family and school take priority over fun with friends. However, I do plan to get back at Thanksgiving, and will do my darndest to make it happen.
For the record, I think it's ridiculous how many people I know that are my age that are either married or engaged right now. It is seriously ridiculous. And I'm not just talking people from BYU, I'm talking girls from high school. It is crazy, and just one more thing that I have to worry about it my life. But not right now ;)
I guess I'll just finish off this post with one more story. A kid I knew back in Nebraska, Ammon, died a few days ago. I'm not saying we were friends, but his mom was one of my Young Women's leaders, and his dad was one of my Sunday School teachers. He was a few years older than I was, but still very young, with a whole lot of life ahead of him. I guess he and some buddies were out on a lake, and they were wake boarding; his buddy driving the boat turned around to go and pick up a kid who had just wiped out, but he turned the boat too sharply and Ammon fell off and was run over by the boat. He never surfaced, and by the time his friends got to shore and called for help it was too late. They didn't even find his body until tonight. This is just a heart-breaking story about a life cut short, and I think it can serve as a reminder to all of us not to take our lives for granted, and to live everyday to its fullest potential, because we can never know when our lives will be over.
Sorry to end this on such a sad note. I promise not to end every posting on such a melancholy note. But for now, I need to be off to bed, because it is super duper late and the movers come early in the morning to get all of my family's stuff. Yay for moving across the ocean...
HI Jori, I'm glad we can be new friends since your parents are living in my ward... can i just say - i wish i would have majored in the thing i loved instead of what would make money... okay, that's all -- just something for you to consider... and by the way, there is a lot you can do with music... teach for one... and you have to talk to Vanessa Houssian - she's sort of the other American in our ward but they weren't there the Sunday you got there - but anyways, she's a professional singer -- so you ought to get her take on the whole thing.
ReplyDeletetootles, melissa