(Alas, my tablet and I are separated by miles. Sad face.)

I miss college and I’m not lying. I miss having food besides cereal and also quiet because there’s a firefight in the living room thanks to Call of Duty. I want to study Dinosaurs and write my speech about voting. Also my cat has a limp, which is annoying because I feel bad shoving her off my keyboard and books when I need to work. She kind of hobbles away and I think, man, I didn’t have these problems in college. When I wanted my friends to get off my computer and books, they just left. They also didn’t make me feel bad because their legs weren’t broken.

Anyway, my sister seems kind of irritated about that opening paragraph, which is upsetting because my college audience would probably laugh at it (or maybe they would think I’m a horrible person. I don’t know).

“We don’t know that Stacey’s leg is broken,” she said. “And also, the only reason you have cereal all the time is because you don’t eat anything else in the fridge.”

Not my fault, though I am hungry for some Burge food. Maybe it’s because I grew up in a household where no one cooked, but I enjoy the cafeteria menu. I eat real food there, not the stuff you pour water in and microwave for thirty seconds. It’s a nice change for someone who grew up on canned dinners and take-out.

I kind of wish my Dad would turn down Call of Duty. I mean, at the dorms, I could just knock on someone’s wall when I wanted them to lower their volume. Instead, I must go all the way downstairs just to say, “Dad.”

“Eh.”

“Dad, can you turn down the volume?”

Then the little volume bar would inch its way back a notch or two.

“Thank you.”

In fact, I’m done listening to men dying in battle and gunshots. I’m going to enact that conversation right now.

Well, that went nicely. We had a chat about the amount of work I needed to complete, which includes my speech about voting and studying. I’m happy with the flashcards I made for Dinosaurs, which I created on a flashcard website (The Flashcard Machine). The site turns all your flashcard terms and definitions into a multiple-choice quiz and it’s helpful for studying for the real thing.

I wish I weren’t so afraid of homework. Maybe I would get it done faster if I didn’t feel like it were a hassle. I bet if I look at it as a challenge, I’ll feel differently, but I’m reserving that for later because I want to finish this blog post.

Zach says I should write more about the campus. He seems to think I give too much experience and not enough Iowa, so here’s a brief campus walk-through:

The University is pretty. In autumn, the leaves change to a lovely set of browns and golds and everything looks pretty wonderful, especially at sunset, when the sunshine makes everything heavenly. Sometimes it gets weird at night because people have haunted rooms and you remember their stories and suddenly every creak and whistle becomes another ghost out to get you. This feeling mostly follows horror movies, though, so try not to watch them in the windy seasons, like autumn and winter, because it gets dark early and the wind howls like crazy.

The river flows by the main dorms, separating the east from the west, and everyone says it’s beautiful, but I haven’t had the time to gander. Sometimes I think about heading out there to write since everyone else does, but then I remember work and stay inside. It’s warmer there anyway.

The people are a nice, well-tempered crowd with their faults and flaws like any group of people. Occasionally conflicts arise and people get angry, but it’s not so much their fault—it’s more the fact that they all live together. Other times, competition finds the worst of people and tensions rise, but I wouldn’t say it comes from the experience. It’s mostly because we’re teenagers and we walk in believing we’re the best. However, I wouldn’t blame anyone for it because we’re still lovely people.

The classes are alright—I prefer smaller groups to lectures, but with Gen-Eds, you can’t do much else. If you do your work and show up on time, people tend to like and notice you, but if you fall behind, there are ways of making up work. Sometimes, you need to stay up all night and obliterate your homework like The Elite Four in Pokémon Red, but it’s usually well worth it.

That said, if you finish your work before it’s due and you’re a god of smarts, you’re well ahead.

…And there’s a ton more, but I should really write my speech.

I miss you, Iowa. Much love.