And so the race begins.

The semester has begun, and life seems to be settling into a routine again. My classes seem to mostly be interesting and my work at SoonerVision is going to be busy and exciting this year. For those interested, here's a little bit about the classes that I am taking.

Intro to Archaeology. I'm learning how to excavate broken pots and pieces of rock that were perhaps (hopefully) created by people thousands of years ago. Though I find major archaeological finds fascinating, I'm pretty sure I will never be an archaeologist. The idea of spending weeks excavating a site only to spend many more months writing about my findings is not immediately appealing to me. However, I'm sure I'll learn a lot in the class and will come out of it with a greater understanding and appreciation for the work that archaeologists do.

General Linguistics. The study of language and communication across cultures. Another required course for anthropology, this class should be vaguely interesting, but again, not in a way that I necessarily want to pursue after graduation.

Medical Anthropology. Now we're getting to the good stuff. Medical anthropology incorporates various parts of anthropology into the study of health and disease across cultures. I actually find this stuff fascinating and am extremely excited for this course. The myriad of ways that health is defined in different cultures is so vast that it would take a lifetime to be able to even list them all, let alone truly understand every one. Hopefully this may help me to determine whether I'd like to end up somewhere in this field after graduation.

Osteology. Woohoo! The class I am so excited to take: the study of bones. This will almost assuredly be my most challenging class, as every class period we have a quiz/test on the information learned in the last class. I've already started to get into the flow of the workload, so I will hopefully be able to keep up with everything and learn a bunch!

Beginning Swimming. Yes, I am actually taking a class (for credit) called Beginning Swimming. Judge me as you will, I will stay in shape and get back into the routine of swimming regularly after several years away from the water following my swim team days.

Thus concludes the more information about my schedule than you care to know section of my blog. Join me again next time and I will perhaps be able to figure out how to write a blog post that is not boring.

You're doing it wrong.

If I were trying to follow the rules of blogging, I would be failing miserably right now. Okay, I know that there are no rules to blogging, but there are plenty of tips and tricks out there to get your blog more attention. First of all, I should not have posted my previous post so early in my blog's career. It's a major no-no to post very personal and hard-hitting stuff before you have a steady readership. I've probably scared away any potential readers already. I should be writing something insightful or comedic to draw you in. Also, I've been horrible at updating, so I'm certainly not doing myself any favors there. And now, I'm going to do a cheesy New Year's Resolutions post that almost no one will care about, and certainly won't set me apart from the rest of the Internet at all, in order to drive off the remaining few readers I may have managed to keep.

Without further ado, here they are:

1. Tell my friends and family how much they mean to me more often.

2. Start up a journal again.

Write 3 things I’m thankful for every day.

Keep up with my blog again.

3. Exercise at least twice or three times a week (in addition to the two days I have swimming class).

4. Do not skip class.

5. Start homework before the night before it’s due.

            Start assignments at least as many days before their due date as the percentage of my grade that they are worth (35% of the grade = starting at least 35 days before it’s due).

6. Go to bed at a decent time and wake up at a decent time.

            Minimize naps.

7. Eat healthier.

            Keep track of what I eat.

            At least one fruit or vegetable a day.

            Drink less Mountain Dew (this is a super problem for me) and more water.

8. Work on at least one art piece or craft project every few weeks.

9. Go into work more often.

            Become a Senior Production Assistant by the end of the semester.

10. Go to confession at least once every couple weeks (hopefully every week).

11. Go to the adoration chapel more often.

12. Start and end every day with a prayer.

So, there's my twelve Resolutions for the first 12 years of the millenium. You'll notice that I've cheated, by adding addendums that could technically be considered resolutions by themselves. I do not care. It may seem pretty ambitious to work on so many resolutions at once. However, all of these are things that I've been trying to do recently, so writing them down as New Year's Resolutions just serves to further my goals. Hopefully recording them here will keep me more accountable than I might otherwise be. I'll try and record my progress and report any tips I discover along the way. Because you care about these things. You're welcome.

Fighting.

It's been forever since I've blogged. I'm going to make my New Year's Resolution to get back into the habit again. That's not why I'm here, though. I'm here because I found a blog post that's worth sharing, and I want to share it through every outlet available.
The Fight Goes On
Go read it and then come back. I'll be here.
Depression is an ugly disease. It kills people without a trace. And it's incredibly scary, because no one wants to admit that they're facing it. We've gotten better as a society about recognizing depression as the disease that it is, but it's still hard to admit. We don't see it like we see cancer or heart disease, so those that struggle with it don't always (usually) get the help that they need. This needs to stop.
If you are alive today, you know someone struggling with depression. Maybe you're struggling with it yourself. It's terrifying to be faced with the hopelessness that is depression without anyone to share your fear. Depression makes it impossible to believe that things can ever be okay. It makes doing anything that you once enjoyed a daunting task. It can be extremely hard to recognize depression in others, because those who suffer are fighting every day to act normal, even when they feel like nothing matters anymore. So, do me a favor. Tell everyone you meet that life is worth living. Talk to the people you love and tell them how much they mean to you.
And if you're struggling with depression right now, or maybe you're worried that it will come back soon, know that YOU ARE NEVER ALONE. There will be days, weeks, months on end when even the idea of getting out of bed seems like an insurmountable task. But never forget: depression is a lying son of a bitch. There is hope. This will end. And the people around you will fight with you to get this lying bastard away from you. Find treatment. Ask for help. Keep fighting.
Do not ever lose hope.