Will you be my friend? Check yes or no.

I think somewhere between middle school and college I forgot how to make/be a friend. Not that I haven't made new friends in that time, it just always seems to be an accident, like he or she is an unlikely friend, but a great one nonetheless. What I mean is I didn't seek these people out, it just sort of happened, which is totally awesome. 

My problem seems to be making friends with people who are more like myself on a deeper level rather than someone who just happens to be in my class and we got put together for a group project. Actually, even group projects are tricky for me. Usually we drift apart once the project is done. And even more recently I've been reluctant to form bonds with new people, because I plan on making a big move in about a year (we'll see how that goes) and I don't want to get attached, then be devastated when we part ways. I realize this is absolutely ridiculous, because friendships are for a lifetime and are invaluable, but for me they require so much energy, and I've been hurt a lot recently, namely by people I count among my friends. So forging a new friendship is a huge investment of my emotional energy, and I guess I have trouble trusting that the return will be profitable for everyone involved (of course not in a material way, but a spiritual/personal growth way).

I'm not saying there is any type of person I wouldn't want to be close to; you can't judge a book by its cover and you shouldn't judge people at all. I think you have to give everyone a chance, but sometimes you don't give them a chance, or they don't give you a chance, and both of you may be missing out on an awesome bond. I think I've been failing to give a lot of people chances, including myself. My thought process is: "oh I'm too busy" or "well we're graduating in less than a year, so why bother," and I need to get out of that funk. I also need to get better at following through and maintaining contact.

This has been extremely rambling, but I hope it has caused you to think about how you approach new friendships and existing ones. 

Any tips?

KB

PS: It probably doesn't help to walk around with your headphones always in your ears and your nose in a book. #guilty

Vlog brothers

John Green
John Green
John Green

And also Hank.

They're excellent in so many ways. I read a John Green novel (The Fault in Our Stars), then my brother showed me Crash Course videos, and now I'm working my way through Brotherhood 2.0, 2.0.0.9, etc videos. They're super inspirational in an everyday way: like things you can do to decrease world suck in your own life and the lives of others without emptying the bank or your emotional stores. Also they're entertaining and funny.

Also Hank writes and sings songs. They're fantastic!

The Brotherhood videos are less than four minutes each, so they make great study breaks if you can stop yourself from watching the whole playlist in one sitting.

Here's their youtube channel. They have other channels and websites, which I suggest you check out. 

Fall semester is in full swing

In my night class on the second Tuesday of the semester, I had a mild freak-out. I was a little bored in class (seriously, who can pay attention for 3 hours?), so I decided to clean out my inboxes. I should have been keeping up with that because it's a new semester, I've got a new job, new classes, and new projects. My school email account had become a dumping ground of welcome to class/wanna share a textbook?/Honors College Advocates/work memos. Deadlines were fast approaching, so I found myself running all over campus trying to get the correct forms filled in and signed by the end of the week.

That game of catch-up messed up the next week, but I'm finally (pretty much) caught up. My grades have not yet suffered because of it, but I have my first test tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes. Other than that, the new semester feel is long gone, and I'm ready to grab life by the horns. I'm staying on top of my readings, homework assignments, and quizzes, AND I've even made time for leisure reading. Despite (or perhaps because of) the larger than usual amounts of work and reading I have to do outside of class this semester, I've learned how to better manage my time, which has motivated me to be more productive. I'm finally studying something I'm interested in, and my project for work is something I've been invested in for almost a year now.

Additionally, I've been thinking a lot about the future, specifically grad school. Yep, I'm seriously considering furthering my education even more. 

This has kind of been my inspiration of late.

Yeah, so that's a general update of my life. I'll try to post something at least once a week. I've been on lots of adventures lately, so I'd like you tell you all about them.

How's the new semester treating you? Or are you working or interning? What's that like?

KB