School's In

So I'm starting a new school year...again. I'll be doing this for the next like, eight years so I don't know why every year I still get a glimmer of that child-like tummy flip. Remember? Or am I the only one???

Every new school year I salivate walking into the store and practically run to the seasonal aisle. I get excited by the smell of fresh plastic and nylon. All of the colorful, clean, and new supplies sparkle more brilliantly than any jewel to me. It means new beginnings, new people, a second chance. Forget that you didn't do the mile in under fifteen minutes last semester (for me? Thirty.....that test was superfluous! What did it test, anyways? My ability to outrun the authorities?? Oh THERE's a trait to teach the kiddies.) Forget that you spilled orange-ade on your white tank the last day of school.....everyone else most likely did!

It's a chance to try yet again to fool people into believing you to be a capable human being. So I stocked up with the coolest dorm stuff. You know, the cute stuff from the commercial? The stuff that every other girl on your floor got but you were too busy paying bills to afford the fuzzy rug and hot pink lamp (and your parents thought all of that to be too distracting, and instead sent you to freshman year with a brown rug and burlap bath towel....thanks, dad!). But I'm so excited to set up my dorm room. I upgraded to a building with carpet and a bathroom I don't have to share with thirty other girls....My parents aren't exactly ecstatic about the price difference, but I'm hoping the improvement in my mood with improve my grades and in turn convince them it was a good decision.

I moved off campus for a year (worst decision I ever made) so this year I have that freshman-feeling again. Especially with the new building. I'm excited to meet new people, but will the age difference be a deterrent? Or make me pathetic? I mean, I'll be 21 a month after school starts. In my building it's only returning students so the youngest should be like, 19...but still....would that make me that creepy old person that sucks the fun and life from too-nice groups of college kids?

Oy vey...I did start THE coolest on-campus job. I work for the Telecommunications Office. Most of the time, I'm a switchboard operator. So I work only during the week, til 5 at the latest. I sit in the back at a cubicle and answer the phone and transfer calls. I can do homework, play games, text, go on facebook, whatever. It's a dream come true. Sometimes I'll be up front, though. But even that's easy. I'll fill out work orders when necessary, check emails, and answer Telecom's phones. The only thing I can't do up there that I can in back is play games. It's a pretty great gig.Soooo....

I'm an insomniac. No, really. And I can't get drugs for it because they're all too addictive or something so if I want it to stop naturally I have to follow all these crazy rules. For example, go to bed and get up at the same time regardless of the day. Ahem, I'm sorry but there's no way I'm getting up on a Saturday at the same time I got up for class on Friday. No no no......And then, I can't eat after seven, nor drink caffeine past five. Ok, my usual dinner time is around ten and caffeine is my main food group. I don't think people realize how absolutely bat-crap angry I would be all the time without it. These rules are bogus. It's a lifestyle that Buddhist MONKS wouldn't be able to handle, so why should I even try?? *whine* Just hand me the drugs!

I'm a little worried about this semester. I hate school (I know, I know....doesn't really tie-in to my love of new school supplies) and structure. Sometimes I think it's just not for me. But I don't want to be one of THOSE kids, you know. Plus, with what I want to do....a college degree is slightly necessary. I don't see any law firms putting out ads 'No experience necessary! 500 dollars an hour!'.....