7 Simple Joys From the First Day of College

     I woke up this morning absolutely terrified, shaking in my sheets. It was my first day of classes for my first year of college. A whole weekend of walking, repeatedly introducing myself, and being lectured on the dangers of sexual assault had come to this. I was thoroughly unprepared. I briefly considered not even leaving bed, as though hiding from college would fix my problem.
     Knowing it wouldn't, I decided instead to just give it the old college try and see what happened. The result was surprisingly good. So with no further ado, here (in no particular order) are the 7 things that happened today to make my day awesome and put happiness at college into perspective.
     1. Getting a WARM Shower
      It's something I always took for granted before. You want a cold shower, you turn the knob all the way to the left. You want a super hot shower, you turn the knob all the way to the right. You just want a normal, comfortable shower at 6AM, you put the knob somewhere in the middle and gently adjust until the water temperature is perfect. Those showers are nice. But they are a different breed of showers than the ones in college residence halls. Here, if you want a cold shower you turn the water on. Instant popsicle, guaranteed. If you want a hot shower, you turn the knob halfway around. Instant blazing inferno of death. If you want a warm shower, tough luck. You're going to have to go home. Because there is a hairline difference between Hell and Antarctica, and there is no in between.
     That was the story of my last four mornings. Today, I tried my fifth different shower stalls in as many days. In my blurry sleep cocoon, I expected nothing less than another wholly tortuous showering experience. But with a wishful thought I turned the knob exactly to the middle anyway. And suddenly, angels sang. The room got brighter, hell froze over, pigs flew, and someone sold ice to an Eskimo. My shower was warm. Just warm. And it stayed that way for 15 whole minutes. Best morning ever.
     2. Not having to introduce myself to a group even once
     Another thing that doesn't sound like a big deal, but felt like winning a million bucks. For the first day since last Thursday, I was not once forced to stand up and tell a whole group of people my name, major, home town, and a fun fact about myself. I did however introduce myself to several individual people. It's a lot easier when their first impression of you isn't the "I'm Angela, I'm from Tipton, and my fun fact is...um...I...was first in my class" they've already heard 12 times in different group sessions.
     3. Internet Access
     The internet in my residence hall stinks. There's very little wireless signal and the badness is compounded by the fact that every other person in this hall is still has safari running in the background of their smartphones even though they aren't using them anymore because we have computers now. But IT ran out of network cables yesterday, so I was stuck with neither a wireless nor a wired connection to the internet. In fact, I couldn't even log on to my computer. So I had a class in the library today and I told myself since I was down there, I might as well stop and get a network cable at the laptop help desk on my way out. And then completely forgot. But the walk back down was one of the most worthwhile things I've ever done, because when I plugged into the wall I got a successful login in only two tries. Great feeling, being connected again.
     4. Free Snack
     The receipt of the free snack actually occurred on Friday at the "Spirit Dinner" in the dining hall, but I've been hoarding that bag of Italian Herb & Cheese Baguette Chips like it was gold just in case an emergency arose. Having class from 11-1 and then having too much work to start to have time for work constitutes an emergency in college. So I ate them. I was expecting the dry, kind of spicy taste of those weird brown chips in chex mix? No. Best thing I've tasted in weeks. I highly recommend them. Although they may not be as good if you have to pay for them.
     5. Internet Access, Part 2
     Of course after I made the trip down to get a network cable and invested the better part of 20 minutes crawling under my roommate's desk, around my loft bed, behind my dresser, under my own desk and then up the back of said desk to connect the cable, I glance down at my phone and see Facebook notifications and email alerts. The wifi works much better now. Still not great, but better. Which is good, because Steve Jobs had obviously never been on a mountaintop when he decided not to put a jack for wired internet in his iPhone design.
     6. Loving Neighbors
     I've had my door propped pretty much 100% of the time I've been in my room awake since I've gotten here, because everyone's like let your door open and people will come in and talk to you, it's a great way to make friends. Bull crap. I live at the end of the hall, no one even knows I'm back here. Before today only two girls had ever wandered in to make friends, and they don't even live in this building. But today a girl from down the hall stopped in just to chat...and then stayed. Most people who try talking to me are instantly repulsed by my complete lack of conversational skills and choose to leave the room rather than sit and stare awkwardly at me while I stare back. But she stayed, and we talked, and now I have her number. I've never been one for meeting new people but that honestly meant the world to me.
     7. Eating Algae
     Again, having class from 11-1 makes you hungry and desperate. My politics of food professor mixed algae in mango juice. And I drank it. Not bad, if you're a goldfish. But hey, what's better than trying new things? 

UPDATE: The 8th thing that randomly made my day: Go to McDonald's thinking you only have $8 cash left in the world. Find a 20 hidden in the back of your wallet behind some receipts. Have a fantastic evening.
    

I Learned Something From a Six-Year-Old (and I'm proud to admit it)

     It's crazy how many notions adults have developed based on things that are "proper" and "right" and "true" that have no real basis in reality. It's even crazier how easy it is to destroy most of these notions by looking at them from a child's point of view. I have been babysitting for several years as an on and off job, and over that time I've learned a lot about cooking, cleaning to cover up mistakes, being a dog's chew toy, and the meaning of the words, "I have to potty NOW!" I've discovered though that some of the most profound wisdom comes not from lessons learned through experience, but straight from the six-year-old's mouth.
     The other day while babysitting, I found myself baking a pizza for the first time while also supervising a painting session. Somewhere between keeping up with all the color and clean brush demands and frantically calling my grandmother to find out how to bake a pizza, I noticed that my charge was about to dip a brush covered in blue paint into the orange paint jar. Reacting purely out of instinct, I said, "Oh sweetie, don't do that. It'll make yucky brown." And with the most innocent face ever she looks up at me and says, "I like to mix the paints, 'cause sometimes you get a color you've never seen before." And she proceeded to dip.
Huh.
She was right.
Blue and orange do in fact make a color I've never seen before. And it isn't all that yucky.
I'd love to be six again.