The Fire Drill

I fear that one day the students in any given dormitory at Harding University, including myself, may all burn up and die. Why, you ask? Let me tell you, friend.

When a fire alarm sounds in a Harding dorm (okay, so I can't speak for EVERY dorm but I can for the three I've lived in), it is perceived as a nuisance, not a warning of imminent danger. Admittedly, I also despise the torturous, infernal sound that the fire alarm brings. I don't rush out the door faster than anyone else. In fact, the last time the fire alarm went off in my dorm (Monday) I took care to put on a different pair of pants, put socks and shoes on my bare feet, shut down my computer, search around for a book I wanted to take, and turn out all the lights in my apartment. The only reason I did these things semi-quickly is because of that sound, that horrid, ear piercing, maddening sound that the alarm makes inside my room.

Everyone knows that the fire alarm means there is a fire. However, since we have witnessed the alarm go off indiscriminately on several occasions, the alarm has lost its meaning. Dormitory fire alarms have lost their power. Instead of alerting students of danger, fire alarms are seen as annoying interruptions of life and are definitely not taken seriously.

Is this dangerous? Probably. Will anyone care? Probably not. Will I hurry when the dorm's fire alarm sounds again (because we all know it will)? Probably not.

I wish there was a way to keep humans from numbing themselves to warning signs like fire alarms, but I'm afraid there is not. It is my sincere hope that if a real fire breaks out in a dorm that by some gracious act of God, we will take it seriously and all arrive safely out of the building. The fact that we think we are invincible scares me, but I hope we never have to find out how invicible we really are.

'Mermaid Girl' dies at age 10

The Associated Press

9:47 a.m. EDT, October 26, 2009

PORTLAND, Maine - Shiloh Pepin, a girl who was born with fusedlegs, a rare condition often called "mermaid syndrome," and gained a wide following on the Internet and national television, has died. She was 10.

Doctors had predicted she would only survive only for days after her birth at the most, but the girl, described by her mother as "a tough little thing," died at Maine Medical Center on Friday afternoon, hospital spokesman John Lamb said. She had been hospitalized in critical condition for nearly a week.

Being born with "mermaid syndrome," also known as sirenomelia, meant that the Kennebunkport girl had only one partially working kidney, no lower colon or genital organs and legs fused from the waist down.

Some children who have survived sirenomelia have had surgery to separate their legs, but Shiloh did not because blood vessels crossing from side to side in her circulatory system would have been severed. She had received two kidney transplants, the last one in 2007.

Her story was featured recently on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and other national television programs.

Earlier this month, her mother, Leslie Pepin, said her daughter came down with a cold that quickly turned to pneumonia. Shiloh rushed to Maine Medical Center on Oct. 10 and was placed on antibiotics and a ventilator.

For a while, Leslie Pepin said, things were looking up. "She's a tough little thing," she said of her daughter earlier this week.

Shiloh was a fifth-grader at Kennebunkport Consolidated School. "She was such a shining personality in that building," said Maureen King, chairwoman of the board of the regional school district. Counselors will be available next week to talk to students.

Through the television shows, news articles, Facebook and other Web sites, Shiloh inspired many.

"I live in Iowa. I have cerebral palsy. I love your video," 12-year-old Lydia Dawley wrote to Shiloh on Facebook. "You have a great personality I wish you lived close so we could be friends and hang out. You opened my eyes because you are so brave."

Farwell, Emily (for now)

Well, it's over (my Senior Symposium, that is).

I presented my paper at 3:00 today along with Tabitha and Sadie (some of my dearest friends) who are also English majors. My presentation went rather smoothly, and thanks to an amazing second reader, I was asked questions that were coherent and answerable.

Overall, I count this day as a success! I feel as though an enormous burden has been lifted off of my shoulders. Throughout this process, I learned so many things, and I am quite grateful to have had this experience.

I am surprised to find that I still love Emily Dickinson's poetry, for I was afraid that I would grow tired of hearing her voice and trying to delve into the inner workings of her mind. Perhaps I tired of this a little, but not as much as I thought I would. Granted, I do not want to talk about her poems on death or anything about negative capability for the next several days, but I am not completely burned out on the discussion ;).

Mostly, I am just glad to be finished. Senior Symposium is a milestone, another rite of passage for the undergrad, and I completed it. Thank goodness.

A Celebration Is in Order....Almost

Well, I am rid of my paper on Emily Dickinson..almost! Truthfully, I think I'll never be done thinking about Dickinson and the way she used death as a prominent theme in her poetry.

Anyhow, this post is one of a celebratory nature because today I turned in my final draft of my senior symposium paper! Upon submitting my paper, I felt quite an array of emotions: relief, nervousness, excitement; all sorts of things ran around in my head. Now, all I can do is hope that all of my hard work pays off in the end.

My presentation is Friday, and that is a completely different adventure in and of itself. No worries, I'll keep you updated ;)

What I Just Finished...

I just finished reading Wanting, a novel by Richard Flanagan.

Reading this book was an assignment for the Post Colonial Literature course I'm taking this semester, and I am pleased to report that I greatly enjoyed Flanagan's work. It is always nice to be assigned to read something that you truly end up enjoying.

Flanagan's diction was refreshing and thought provoking, and I appreciated his writing style. The novel is separated into two stories that flip-flop from chapter to chapter. At first, this flip-flop organization confused me a little, but once I understood what was going on it stopped bothering me. Flanagan borders on historical fiction, using historical figures to shape his story, but he does use enough creative license to make this work a truly fictional novel.

Overall, I found this book to be an enjoyable read. It is quite easy to get through, but it does provide thought provoking insight into the power struggle of humanity. Admitting that I have not delved too far into the genre of Post Colonial literature, I must say that from what I have read, Flanagan has thus far been one of my favorite authors.

The Ouachita Trail! :-D

This has been an incredible weekend.

1. I found out, thanks to my wonderful teacher who messaged me because she knew I was worried, that I made a 'B' on the Brit Lit exam that I thought I failed.

2. I did well on my GRE.

3. Jonathan and I got engaged!!

Here's our story:

We went to hike one of the trails at Pinnacle Mountain State Park. As we started walking, he told me that since I was hiking for him, he had presents for me in his backpack, thirteen to be exact, that I could open along the way. We started our hike along Ouachita Trail (the one that goes all the way to Oklahoma, but we didn't make it that far, haha), and I started opening my gifts one by one. We found a huge rock with a beautiful little creek midway through, so we sat there for a few minutes and talked. we kept going until the trail was so muddy we felt like we had to turn around (and I was halfway through my presents). When we got back to the little creek, we decided to rest there again, and I got to open more presents. I sat on the boulder and Jonathan stood next to me and we talked for quite a while. He asked me if I understood what all my presents were (they all represented something that we'd done together), and said yes and told him how sweet they all had been and how much I appreciated them. The next thing I knew, he was down on one knee, holding out my grandmother's ring, and asking me to marry him. Of course, I said yes.

That's the big rock I sat on :-)

This is right after he asked me. These are our super, duper excited faces!

This is during our walk, just before we got engaged.

My presents were:

--3D Sidewalk Chalk: This is the only gift that didn't represent something we'd already done, but he knew I had really been wanting to try some.

--Clothes for Ellen: Ellen is my Build-A-Bear that Jonathan got me for Christmas back in 2006.

--A Little Stuffed Turtle: We love, love, love to go to the Georgia Aquarium every time we go to Atlanta.

--A Cross Ornament: We share and grow together in our faith.

--Great American Cookies: A chocolate chip one for me, snickerdoodle for him. We like to get a cookies sometimes when we go to the mall.

--A Penguin Christmas Ornament: Every Christmas that we've been together, we have each gotten each other an ornament (and I LOVE penguins).

--Mickey Mouse Scrapbook Stickers: Our trip to Disney World last fall with my parents.

--Beach Scrapbook Stickers: Our Florida trips.

--Chicago Scrapbook Stickers: Our trip to Chicago with friends.

--A Pumpkin Candle Holder: The first present Jonathan ever got me was a pumpkin candle holder when I was his girlfriend in 7th grade. I thought a Halloween gift was too much, so I broke up with him (oops). I do still have the original candle holder, by the way.

--Peanut M&Ms: They're my favorite movie snack.

--A Refrigerator Magnet featuring Scarlett O'Hara: We went to a themed graduation party in high school as Scarlett and Rhett.

--A Red, Hot Wheels Ferrari: He couldn't find a red Hot Wheels Thunderbird, so he settled for the Ferrari to represent my dad's Thunderbird that we took to prom.

You Know You're Losing It When....

• You are about to exit RIGHT off of the interstate and you put your LEFT blinker on, for more than a millisecond.
• You become irate when the side dorm door is locked. You know the one that is always locked that you have to swipe your card and enter a PIN to open?
• You start to take someone else's paper from the library printer, after you've already stapled it nicely.
• You lay your cell phone in the dishwasher and carry your dirty plate to the living room with you.
• You search for your glasses only to realize they're on your face.
• You have way more than five stories like those above, all of which took place in one day.

Needless to say, I've been laughing at myself all day. Please feel free to do the same.

How Quickly Life Does Move!

I cannot believe it's already midterm week! It seems like this semester is flying by (the same observation I usually make about every semester, haha!).

So far, this has been one of my busiest semesters, but what's a senior year for anyway?

I'm turning in my senior symposium paper on Monday. I can't believe it's already time for that, but I am pretty excited to get it in. When I was assigned such an early presentation date (Oct. 23), I thought it would be awful to have to get everything done so quickly. However, after going through the process and learning how time consuming it is, I have realized that presenting on the first date is a blessing for me. After the 23rd, it's over and done with, so I'll have a little more time in my schedule to get more done and have a little extra free time (hopefully ;-).

I just finished reading Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, and I loved it! I'm excited to start reading Wanting by Richard Flanagan. It's an assignment for my Post Colonial Lit class, so I hope it's good. I'll let you know :)

A New Beginning...Again

I'm big on journals. I think writing is important and healthy; it helps make life make sense.

I've kept tons and tons of journals and diaries throughout my life. The only problem is I end up forgetting to write, and then I quit them all together. The same thing goes for blogs. I start one, I quit one, I start one, I quit one...it's endless.

So, here I go again. I sincerely hope that this blog will survive, but I guess only time will tell.

:)