Homeward Bound

Yesterday was a joyous day! My best friend Jessica called to tell me she is officially on the road back to good ole So Cal.

Last July she and her fiancé packed up a huge zebra printed Uhaul and moved to Chattanooga, TN. This was to be a one way trip pending a return. I remember helping her pack listening to techno and wishing it was all a dream. All my closest friends growing up moved away never to return. And it was hard to imagine it was happening again. But with good reason she was moving to get away from it all. She quit her teaching job and followed her dreams towards a new life. I couldn’t have been happier for her. I knew this would be the journey she needed to be happy.

The months that followed were sad but great because I knew she was having a blast exploring new territory. I got pictures, letters, and cards in the mail from all the new places she had been. It was great to know she was thinking of me and still wanted to share all her moments. It was almost as if she never left.

But once winter hit, so did her arthritis. She’s a mere 28-years old and suffers from arthritis and migraines. The cold weather was not kind to her and by December I received the phone call that they were coming home to California. Of course you can imagine my excitement; my best friend was coming home! But I didn’t want to put all my eggs in one basket and promised myself I wouldn’t get too excited until she was on the road.

Well yesterday was that day for me. She was in Birmingham, AL and her compass now points west!

Today she posted on FB that she’s in New Orleans sightseeing in the French Quarter, and then they hit the road again.

I’m completely overwhelmed with happiness and excitement to see her! I know I will turn into a big sobering mess when I see them. So I plan not to wear makeup. I have no idea what day they will arrive but I don’t care, they are coming home!!

Stay Classy FC,
Janet

What's your purpose?

Recently I have been thinking about what my purpose in life is. Not only did I question my own purpose in life, but I also wanted to know what other people think about what their purpose in life and if they think that everyone has a purpose.

I asked people on my facebook to tell me what they think. My aunt Sherri told me, "I really think that I am here to take care of my family and friends. At least they're the most important things in my life and in my heart." I have to agree with what she thinks. The people in our lives define who we are. The people we surround ourselves with are those that give us the life experiences that lead us in the path to our Divine purpose. I think the question that I am most looking to understand is, how do we truly know what our purpose is?

I'm not sitting here thinking that I do not have a purpose in life and that I am here on earth walking aimlessly to soon come to the end of the road and leave without a trace of who I am or what I was. I just want to understand how we decide on what our purpose is and when the little white light flashes in front of our eyes and tells us what we have accomplished to define us for the greater good for ourselves or who knows, maybe for humanity.

I lay down wondering and looking at the empty celling above my head and question have I made an impact on someone's life, changed their decision for the better, made them question some ridiculous thought and replace it with a brilliant action towards something, or have I just challenged someone to do what I have done myself? Is someone one sitting there questioning just as I am?

I have not discovered my profound purpose but I have located bits and pieces of what puts me together and makes me who I am. Part of those pieces are my nieces and nephews, friends, family, and other people that so much as smile at me on the street passing by. I look forward to opening my life up to the search of finding my purpose in life. Hopefully, it will have to do with the career in which choose throughout this long journey...

Until my fingers meet the keys, Amber

We are back

Wow, Time is flying. This is my third semester. I would rather say that I’ve already passed the half way for transferring, than saying I still have another half left to go.

Did you get all the classes you wanted? I decided to take six classes this semester before school started, but then dropped one of them. I know, it was too much for me. And plus the class wasn’t the one I really needed to take to transfer. I am not even sure now if I can handle five classes since I’ve experienced them.

I just got back from school. I’ve been in the library almost every day during my free time since the new semester started. It’s because, first, I’ve already got a lot of homework to do and second, I need to review after class so that I understand better in class. Personally, studying is not awful but what’s awful is the fact that I lack concentration. I mostly do something else after about two hours of studying. Then, it takes me about an hour to go back to my work. Haha

Hope everyone has gotten the right classes and is enjoying the beginning of a new semester.

After all, tomorrow is another day, Brianna

New Start!!!

I cannot believe that the semester has already started and is moving so quickly. We are already in week number two out of eighteen. Now that I have had all of my classes I cannot wait to tackle this semester head on. I have some great classes and wonderful professors. I am a repeat professor offender. There are very few professors that I choose to repeat and this semester I could not help myself and I have two of the best professors this time around.

I am taking Children's Literature and I cannot wait to read all the books that we have this time around. Also, I have human sexuality and so far it seems interesting. I just cannot wait to actually get started and have some homework and activities.

I think what I am most eager about is finishing this semester and transferring. I cannot wait to transfer to APU. It was not my first choice school but how can I turn away a free education? I will tell you one thing, I can't! I hope everyone is enjoying their fresh start.

Until my fingers meet the key, Amber

Parking Wars

Week two of school and parking is CRAZY! I was reading the comments on FCs Facebook and the rants and raves are in full effect regarding parking. And rightfully so, parking is a nightmare. So I decided to do some investigating. I went onto Cal State Fullerton’s page, Biola, and Chapman to see what other students are saying. Cause let’s be honest FC can’t be the only campus with parking issues. Right?

On CSFU there were some complaints about the parking ticket machines being down, (ok that’s a good sign). The portal for students is also down, (much like mygateway, ok some more common ground here). I noticed tons of students posting to buy or sell books. And not a whole lot of helpful information from CSFU Facebook monitor like what we get from ours. I love all the constant updates we receive. Kudos to our FB monitor!

As for Biola and Chapman Facebook pages, Biola students were welcomed back and some questions were answered regarding standard information. Chapman was pretty quiet. But there were no complaints regarding parking on either of the pages. Weird, right?

The lack of complaints got me thinking…are we the only college with this problem? Or are we the only campus who vocalizes it? Before the structure was built parking was an even BIGGER headache. Oh man, I don’t want to relive those days. Who else remembers the nightmare days? Gives me shivers just thinking about it. So hats off to Full Coll for building the structure. Otherwise, things would be worse than they are right now. But there is work left to be done in my opinion. The structure did not, unfortunately, illuminate all the parking woes.

Side note! I love it when I’m walking to my car and someone offers to give me a ride so they can have my space. GENIUS! Ok so it’s kinda cheating but hey it helps someone out. So I guess there are ways around the madness.

Now back to the issue. I do realize money is tight and it may not be in the budget to consider revamping the parking. But at some point something needs to budge. And this time it will not be my car. Btw whoever hit my car and never left a note - shame on you! Karma is real, I’m just sayin’. Wait maybe that’s the reason my car was hit. Hmmm food for thought…

I love you FC, I really do. But seriously every semester it’s the same song and dance. And it’s getting a little old.

Although I know there is some hope. In a few weeks parking will open up and these issues will more than likely fade away. Until next semester that is…

Stay Classy FC,
Janet

No thanks, I'm Full.

I find this second blog difficult to write simply because I had a overwhelming day yesterday. It was my first day of school. I realize my first blog was cheerful and full of optimism. And that’s partially how I really feel. I love the start of the semesters. And the other half of the truth is I’ve been having nightmares about this semester since Saturday. Nightmares of missing class or forgetting to show up on the first day and I was dropped from the class. But after yesterday those dreams look like a walk in the park in comparison. I’m a little afraid I may have bit off more than I can chew this semester.

My classes are as follows: Newspaper Production where I will be writing for the newspaper. Then there’s Mass Media Survey, a lot of reading, writing and studying. Oh and the dreaded research paper. Also I made the decision to take an online math class… bleh. We’ll see how that goes. Funny thing about the math class; the professor was my teacher my freshman year in high school back in 1999. Such a small world! And of course there’s the blog and work five days a week. Not to mention traveling to Boston for a 10 day work meeting in May two weeks before finals.

I’m sure some of you are thinking, what is she blabbing about? All our schedules are that crazy! And you’re absolutely right. But would you guess our fears might be the same as well? I fear my school work will suffer due to lack of time I will have to dedicate my best efforts. I’m scared I won’t be able to get the story for the paper because I am stuck at a desk all day; when I could be out there capturing life and telling all of you about it. The odd thing is if I were talking about general ed. classes and not my major, this blog would be less worrisome.

On the bright side, I know sometime today I will get over this fear and turn into Keanu Reeves in The Matrix. You know the scene when he’s in battle and does a hand movement signaling Mr. Smith to bring it on… yeah that’ll be me. Cue the Matrix butt kicking soundtrack. Oh yeah I own the soundtrack… SciFi nerd at your service.

No matter what I may be feeling at this moment, I know once I dive into it I’ll do just fine. I think a little bit of shock has hit me and I just need to get over it...fast!

Stay classy FC,
Janet aka SciFi Nerd

Spring Ahead!

Today is Tuesday, the day before the spring semester begins. It is the day before we all put our “thinking caps” on and dive deep into our studies - the last hurrah if you will. For you freshman this is your second semester and it’s full of promise and excitement. You’re taking your general education classes and looking forward to the one elective class where you can relax your mind and be submersed in a subject which truly interests you. For those of you, like me, you’re looking forward to tackling your major with full force. We’re heading towards our goals, dreams, and aspirations with wide eyes. Don’t worry I haven’t forgotten those of you who can see the finish line. This is your final stretch towards the ultimate accomplishment – graduation!

Hey there FC student body! My name is Janet Garcia and I’m looking forward to sharing my spring semester with you. Just a quick background about me… I recently got married in 2009 to my best friend. After seven years of dating we eloped to Vegas. Sorry to disappoint but Elvis did not walk me down the aisle - although it was an option.

In November we bought our first house here in Fullerton. We searched for almost two years, went through three different escrows and too many disappointments to count. It single handedly was the most stressful experience of my life. Correction it was pure agony. But in the end we were lucky enough to be given the opportunity to become homeowners. Did I mention it’s the first time my husband and I have ever lived on our own? Oh yeah, that’s another story…we’ve always lived with our parents. So this is a WHOLE new experience for us.

But enough of that mumbo jumbo…let’s get back to the school business. I’m a full time [night] student and work full time during the day. My days are long and tiring sometimes. I’m sure some of you can completely relate and agree life as a student is never short of interesting. After many years here at Full Coll and five different majors I finally decided on one. Ding! Ding! And the winner is Journalism! I love to write. It's fun, creative, thought provoking and most of all its informative when done right. I’m in my second semester and can’t wait to see what comes next and share it with all of you.

I hope you will join me for the journey. I also hope you share your experiences with me this semester. I want to hear it all, don’t leave anything out! Because these are the best days of our lives. Never mind what our parents said about high school being the best days. This is when we expand our minds and become adults.

I wish you all an awesome first day tomorrow! It’s the start to endless possibilities. Good luck!

Stay classy FC,
Janet