Look who's back!

Wow! It has been quite a while since I have had time to do any amount of personal writing. I write so much for the paper, and design so much, and edit so much, that when I get home I have no desire to write for myself. Plus, most of the time my life isn't that exciting that it needs to be put on the Internet for everyone to see (can I mention how much I loathe the fact that AP Style says that Internet be capitalized? What kind of shit is that??).

The semester is over- finally! I feel like this whole semester went so slow, and yet so fast at the same time. It was a whirlwind of hard work, and I hope it paid off. I mean, I'm certain it did. The paper this semester was a whole new experience for me. Instead of just being a lab writer and taking random stories, I started the semester as a page designer for the opinion section. At some point things got twisted and I was taking on more work than was actually necessary, and the editor wasn't communicating with me what he wanted on the page. So, thanks to some awesome people (read- David) a discussion was had and I walked into the newsroom a few days later and became the opinion editor.
I know what you're thinking- I don't want to be an opinion writer. I mean, sure I can write opinion well. At least, I can write it well now. It's just not my thing. I want to write sports. I grew up playing sports. I grew up around sports. It's what I love.
Actually, though, I became really good friends with our sports editor. I just happened to grab the computer next to her on the first night of production, and it just stuck. Throughout the semester we discovered how much we truly had in common. The biggest thing for me was that she is a Christian. Her faith goes beyond what I have imagined to find within my chosen industry. I knew going into the media that it is, in fact, a very liberal industry. I have worried about that so much. I realize that not believing in God does not necessitate a liberal bias, but for some reason I have always made that connection in my head. I know I am strong enough in my own faith that I can handle the naysayers. I just didn't want to go into a newsroom full of people who were going to attack me from every direction. Finding someone with very similar life goals to mine who also has a very strong faith is exactly what I prayed for, and He obviously saw the need.
Remember that conference I posted about a few months ago? I went to the SoCal conference this past October. That could have been an entire post all on its own. Suffice it to say, I am the number 2 copy editor in SoCal (Please don't judge anything I do on here as being worthy of that. My personal writing has a very different tone to it than my professional writing).
I'm getting ready to apply to UT Arlington. I want my grades to be posted before I do that. There are a few other schools that I may consider, but I do want to go to Texas. I need to get out of California. There isn't much here for me anymore. I've been in a bit of a rut for a while now. It's getting a little better, but I spent the bulk of my semester locked up in my house, or at work, or at school. My social life was abysmal. I think my parents were actually getting worried about how little I actually went out. I didn't even get to see my best friends as much as I would have liked to see them. Actually, as I think about it, I didn't do anything this semester. That's probably not a good thing. I have every intention of working on it, even though next semester is going to be very intense.
I did go to some incredible concerts throughout the summer and this fall. I saw Miranda Lambert thanks to my amazing grandma who knows how much I adore country, and Ashley and Jeremy went with us. I went to a few more with those two as well: Eric Church, Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, Luke Bryan, and a one day festival that featured Montgomery Gentry. I also saw Gary Allan and went to a private concert thanks to my mom. I went to Taylor Swift with Ashley... that is a story in-and-of itself. We won't be reliving it, because I don't need to incriminate myself further.
Sorry, that was quite the mundane list. And this was quite the mundane post. I should really try to get back into this thing...