Fifteen

High School. I remember that first day, the anxiety. Looking forward to seeing my middle school crush. Looking forward to seeing old friends. Looking forward to having some new friends. Looking forward to marching band. Looking forward to a better schedule.

High school was always played up in movies as 'the best time of our lives.' But I beg to differ - I think my time in college has been my best time so far. I absolutely loved Eckerd College; the people, the professors, and the place.

In high school, I was shy. I was always studious, but I didn't push myself until my junior and senior year. Don't get me wrong...I had some great experiences. Marching band/Color guard. String Ensemble. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. IMEA competitions. Band Camp. Spice Girls @ lip sync. Walking home from school. Disney World Trip! Senior Prom night when we ditched prom and had a girl's night out with Mongolian BBQ and a movie (I think we saw A Lot Like Love). I met some great friends who I know I'll know for the rest of my life.

One thing I didn't have in high school was a boyfriend, but I don't regret that. However, it would have been nice to have a date to Prom.

So I thought of some things I wish I would have known in high school:

1) No one feels secure in high school. It's just part of the experience

2) All those 'friends' everyone has? Well, it turns out that after you leave for college, you really only keep in touch with a handful of them.

3) The 'popular' crowd? They really don't have anything better than you do, except for a reputation. And that reputation isn't always good.

4) After high school, you probably won't see many of the people ever again. Or you can choose if you want to see your classmates. It's all up to what you want.

5) Take advantage of writing courses. They are really the only course that actually matters once you get out in the real world. You'll never use algebra again (unless you choose to go into engineering or biology, or mathematics...you get it).

6) High school really isn't the best time of your life.

7) Having a boyfriend isn't really as great as the movies say. Hardly any high school relationships last, and honestly, why would you want to be tied down like that when you get to college? Plus, guys (and I'm sure girls) are so immature in high school. Wait until college.

8) You don't have to go to college. You really don't. Make up that decision for yourself...

9) But, choosing to go to a college where I didn't know anyone was probably one of the best decisions I ever made.

10) Focus on the friendships with friends. They're really the ones that count (and this is true in life)

My little sister just started high school, and played Taylor Swifts Fifteen for me last night in the car. I was listening to it, and realized how long ago high school was for me. She's in high school now, getting winks from guys and taking classes that really won't matter in life. I'm kinda envious. It would be nice to go back to high school for a day...and then remember why I was glad to leave! I have to say, I'm rather excited for my high school reunion. I hope they have a 5 year reunion.

~C

The Plan

Last night I went to see Post Grad. I thought the movie was cute - it would make a great Girl's Night Out movie. It was very relatable for me because that is where I am: I am a post-grad. Of course, I have made the decision to return to school, but in the movie, the main character had a plan. So I thought I would share mine with you - the plan I made in high school:

The Plan:

Get good grades in high school

Get into college with some kind of scholarship

Meet significant other in college

Get good grades in college

Get engaged in college

Graduate from college

Go to law school

Get good job

Get married

Of course, this has changed a bit. The whole engaged thing? Not ready for that. But other than that, my plan seems to be on track. Now there are the little details to worry about: Stay in FL or go to NY? Or go somewhere else, like Europe? And what to do with my law degree? Entertainment Law? Sports Law? Music Law? Media Law? Oh, what to do!

So that's the plan for now. I'm on the law school step. Today I start the first day of my life towards significant change. Significant because now I am finally headed in the direction I am fairly certain I want to be in. Undergrad was fun, but while I love music, I knew that I wouldn't be able to make a career out of it - or at least right away. Would I love to still do music? Yes. But law school is first.

On another note, the humidity isn't too bad today. It's nice to sit outside and work on homework with a glass of Berry Zinger iced tea. Time to tackle Property reading!

Twilight

I recently was convinced to read the first of the Twilight books. Being a hopeless romantic, I fell in love with the story. And since there were parallels between Twilight and Pride and Prejudice (perhaps my all-time favorite book), I became hooked, reading the whole saga in about a week. I think the story is engaging, with action and romance. And I loved that you cannot guess what will happen next, and all of the twists that the author wove into it.

And then I saw the movie.

What an utter disappointment! I was just floored at the differences - I would say that the movie is 'loosely' based on Twilight. I think the only similarities were the character's names and the ballet studio. But seriously - the screen writer and director were absolutely terrible! They added scenes that made absolutely no sense, and were completely irrelevant to the rest of the story. Unless you read the books ahead of time and knew the personal struggles of each character, one would have absolutely no idea of what was going on!

And then there were the actors themselves. I think they did a fabulous job with Alice - the actress really portrays her accurately. And the actress that played Bella? She was just awkward and uncomfortable to watch. Extremely dry. She was like an awkward teenager the whole time - the character of Bella is supposed to be strong, and extremely mature for her age. I didn't see that anywhere.

And then there is Edward. I have to say that I originally thought he was an awkward actor as well, but then I read Midnight Sun and I can see exactly what he was trying to portray. However, there were several problems, none which are his fault. The first is that the story of Twilight was about Bella, not Edward. So the internal torture that he showed didn't make sense in the movie because it was not something that Bella was aware of until Edward told her. This ties into the second problem is that the screen play did not include any way for the characters to develop and show their individual problems. There wasn't any good dialogue whatsoever in the movie. There were only snipits of ideas - which would leave someone incredibly confused unless they had read the book previously. I am also floored that the director and screen writer would change the character of Edward. They portray him as this struggling, quiet, awkward, weak vampire; yet in the books he has an inner turmoil that he does not allow to be seen unless in intimate moments. He is also incredibly strong, and able to stop drinking Bella's blood after James bites her. He is also supposed to be charming - personally, with all this stuff they added into the movie, they should have let the actor playing Edward use his incredibly charming English accent. Bad move on their parts.

I guess the only thing I can applaud the movie for having is a kick-ass soundtrack. Seriously, its great! Although, I must say that I would love to meet with Rob Pattinson to tweak his vocals a little bit. His guitar is absolutely enchanting, but his vocal part is a little unfitting. There are certainly some nice parts to it, but there area some that he needs to change just a bit.

So this is my rant on Twilight. I guess I just hope that New Moon is better. In all honestly, I think I expected a lot from the movie - something equal to the adaptations of Pride and Prejudice and Lord of the Rings. Yes, the directors and screen writers changed things around, and omitted some parts, but they still kept the core parts of the story and character developments as well as character traits. I hope New Moon is better.

Flying High

I spent seven and a half hours in two airports and aboard one plane. From JFK to Tampa. Being on Stand By sucks. It sucks more when you are on stand by because American Airlines wouldn't put you on a flight that was DELAYED 2 HOURS!! I arrived less than 45 minutes before the scheduled departure time, which was the fault of traffic. Whatever. But when my flight is delayed, and you can't put me on it (when there are seats available) and make me wait 24 hours before I fly out again? That's not cool. So I hereby boycott American Airlines.

The upside? I got to spend another day with my bf. I can't complain about that - we don't get to see enough as it is.