"On a Wednesday, In a Cafe. I watched it begin again.."

Monday was the first day of school. I may be in college, but I still get excited about the first day. I went shopping about a week before and got a couple possibilities and felt pretty confident with my choice. I wore jean capris with a blue and brown top that had short sleeves with a little cutout in them. I felt cute, confident, and five pounds lighter then I actually am. woohoo! Once I got to school there was a moment of panic. The University of Kansas is a school with 24,577 people. Being 1 out of that amount, you feel a little small.
Especially after a long summer of being in an empty town where you could be on your own until the sidewalk ends. I walked into my first class of the day with 648 people in it. It was a little overwhelming. The good news is today is Wednesday, and I'm already back in the swing of things. It doesn't seem quite so intimidating anymore.

The classes I'm taking this semester are :

Organic Chemistry + the lab
Microbiology + the lab
Advanced Kiswahili  (class of 2. Me and another person of African decent)
West African History and Civilization

The labs were boring, but my lectures were actually not too bad. The two electives of course were the most exciting. The West African History professor is such a joy. He's an older man about to retire next year. He has a such a passion for West Africa. It's honestly not something I've ever seen before. He isn't from Africa, but he has an undeniable passion for the country. For those who don't know, I'm East African and both places are very different. I know nothing about West Africa except the people from there braid really tight and at some point liked big girls (i.e. the movie Phat Girls). A west African girl in my class raised her hand and asked him how he became so interested. He said "In my youth, I faught in Vietnam. My sister told me to run away to Canada, but I didn't have a penny to my name. I fought a war that I didn't believe that and lost faith in my country again. I went to Ghana and fell in love with it there. Never looked back". She said, "Wow. Normally no one cares.." it was said with the sweetest sadness. It's true. Most people don't care about Africa. They care about starving children in Somalia, the world cup, and animals, but n one realizes that there's so much more to the country then that. Even me at times. I have a geeked out excitement for this class. If it stays this interesting, there will definitely be more updates.

I'm contemplating joining a sorority. I know this seems weird, because I'm in the type of friend group that dumps on sororities all the time. A lot of people consider it buying friends or just silly. I personally do get tired of seeing all the pictures of people holding up their little triangle signs or whatever on my facebook timeline. The sorority I'm considering is much different from those. That's a traditionally black sorority. The girls in it seem fairly friendly. I don't really know if I can afford it or if I'd even like it once I joined. It's a for life type of commitment, so we'll see where it goes. I'm not much of a risk taker, so it probably won't go anywhere.

I also joined the Black Student Union. The first meeting was actually pretty nice. I didn't really stay to chat or meet anyone, but it seemed like a pretty great bunch of people. I enjoyed the meeting and don't plan on quitting.

Hope all of your first week were as interesting as mine, and those of you who are done with school and just working. I'm sorry. Work is hard, and I feel your pain. This email is coming to you from my un-air conditioned cubical at work. Yes, it's over 90 degrees outside.

Song of the day: Just Hold On We're Going Home - Drake

Quote of the day :
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." - Martin Luther King Jr. (50 years since he delivered his I Have A Dream speech today. His contributions to society are immeasurable. God rest his soul.)