It don't mean a thing...

February, what with national singles awareness day and the lack of days off from school is usually one of my least favorite months. This year however, February proved to be an exciting and even life changing month for me.
The month began with the typical overload of class work, homework, work study, work, and emotional drama from friends and roommates; but all those stresses and worries soon melted away through the power of a little (or really big) thing called SEARCH. Now, for those not familiar with the many elements that are considered part of a Catholic education (yes I do go to a Catholic University), SEARCH is a retreat of sorts. I can't really give details because a large part of its purpose is maintaining the secrets of it until they are experienced, but what I can say is that it made me feel more at home with myself, my friends, and my community than I think I have ever felt in my life (with the exception of being at home with my family).
This experience was without a doubt, EXACTLY what I needed to pull me out of the unhappy funk of emotion and stress that I had been in from pretty much the beginning of this school year until the weekend of the retreat itself. I will forever be eternally grateful for the opportunity to go on that retreat.



So, following the retreat, I decided to take a few more steps to making my life more enjoyable by embracing the opportunities open to me in this wonderful city. Like it is said, "It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!" Yes, I have taken up swing dancing again and I must say, I forgot how happy something so simple can make me! There is a dance hall just two blocks off campus where the swing dance scene is amazing and full of some seriously awesome people. I go freestyle dancing with the Swing Club on my campus once a week and I have also begun taking lessons. In short, I LOVE IT!



In addition to my MAD swing addiction, I recently (meaning last weekend) took on the DANCE MARATHON challenge and stood/ danced for 16 hours straight; only taking breaks to go to the bathroom or eat (while still standing). It was challenging yet easy, hard yet satisfying and as a whole, the event was able to donate an insane amount of money to an incredibly deserving and great children's hospital. Thank you, Thank you to all those who donated!!!



There was a fun photo booth at the event.



And we got a little camera happy.



I was incredibly sore the morning following the event, but I found a good way to handle the pain and stress was to attend the opera with one of my closest friends. We saw Don Quiochette and it was very beautifully done. It was only about the third opera I have seen that I can remember, but nevertheless it was very well done and it reminded me how much I miss attending musical performances of that level like I used to more regularly back home. I hope to continue taking advantage of such opportunities to experience the arts here.



In addition to becoming more comfortable and aty home in my community, I feel I have been bettering my friendships by actually making time (no matter how busy my schedule) to just spend time hanging out with friends and it has been great so far. I still get stressed when there is homework hanging over my head and I am hanging out, but I have been working more on balancing all my commitments and it has led me to realize just how much I sometimes need a break to just hang out and do nothing of importance with friends.



If, like it is said, "you can never go home again," and "home is where the heart is," then I have my own part to add; "Home is where you want it to be, and there is no such thing as just one home."
Here, I am home.