Sophomore Year WHAT?!

I guess you could say I wasn't exactly expecting the start of Sophomore year to feel so much like a whiplash. Freshman year it's expected. New classes. New environment. New people. New EVERYTHING! But by the time Sophomore year comes along it feels like everything should be all fine and dandy. There's more stability, more recognizable faces, and less utter confusion. By this time you know that the CTC stands for Canaday Technology Center and not Collision Therapy Central, the girls dorms are Conard and Forman NOT Ford and Coleman, and if you try to find room 129 in Kretschmar you will fail.

Every living soul warns you about Freshman year. Not. One. Living. Soul. warns you about Sophomore year.

It's not the classes. Those seem decently normal so far. In fact they seem to be the only thing that's kept me from losing my ever livin' mind.

I expected that there would be changes that would take getting used to. I have a new roommate, which means a new dorm set up. I have new hall mates...I may or may not be bitter that nearly every girl from hall "Pham" moved to the same hall in a different building EXCEPT ME. ('Course I only have myself to blame. Sigh!) I have new experiences under my belt, which inevitably means, I'm a different version of the Brooke that moved to Walla Walla last year. That, I think, is what is scariest. Yes, I get to come back to friends instead of starting from scratch, but we've all lived through a summer of growth, changes, and experiences. We're the same people, yet we're different people. It's a new year, a new campus personality, and a new normal. I've gathered that I'm not the only person feeling this way right now. It seems to be a mostly universal sentiment. It's not as easy to slip into sophomore year as it might seem. So here I am, working on giving myself a large portion of grace. 

HOWEVER, it IS week two and life IS starting to settle down. There are good things too.

It's not as easy to slip into sophomore year as it might seem. So here I am, working on giving myself a large portion of grace.

As odd as this year has felt starting out, it feels so right to come back to a place that I know I belong. One of the things I love most about WWU is the community here. I love that I'm always running into people who greet the world with a smile. (Even if some days I would just really like to grab food from the caf without being recognized by 39 people.) I love that most of my friends are just a 2 minute walk from my room (even if it's no longer right across the hall). It's a nice change from back home where my friends live at least 20 minutes away.  I love that in coming back here, I came back to some of the dearest people in my life. It sure beats the heck out of everyone being a stranger. There is still much change and many fears, but I feel blessed coming "home" to people I love.

In the interest of not leaving you all with the notion that Brooke is dying, here are some things that have made me laugh/smile:

I'm pretty sure my roommate thinks I'm a complete freak of nature because I can fall asleep with the light on and people making noise...AND I take daytime naps easiest when the light is on. #RandomFunFactAboutMe

The "Kilt Clan" decided to wear our kilts for Mask picture day. Travel buddy bonds run deep.

It didn't take "The Nerds" 24 hours back on campus to start stealing and hiding our phones. Pro tip: ALWAYS check the napkin dispenser.

I'm SOOOOO happy to be back in the land of Atlas chai. You knew I had to squeeze something about chai in here. I'm done now.

It's been a full week and a half and I have yet to misplace my keys. Records are about to be broken! :p

Also, also, also! I took on a new job as a host for the WWU TV channel. We're going to be running it like a night talk show, and I'm super excited. Super nervous, but super excited.

Welp, those are the thoughts in my pocket. So long my reader friends!