Anyway, my last post ended with me talking about majoring in film or business but let me tell you I looked at the film majors and they are killer. Like, I don't understand how anyone would ever have the possible human time to do a major like that. Seeing as I am incredibly lazy and unmotivated, I decided that would not be the best role for me. I stayed in a biology major because I'd already made the schedule and I thought it would be cool to work with sea lions one day. During that time though, I decided that if I wasn't going to join a sorority (which by the way, every day I am more and more thankful that I did not actually join a sorority) I would do something else, so I started watching Doctor Who. Everyone was always talking about it on Tumblr so I figured it was worth a watch. My roommate and I pulled up my Amazon Prime account and dove in.
Last night we watched the season finale of season 4, which was the tenth doctor, David Tennant's, last. I bawled like a small child. I didn't want him to leave but it was such a good episode, all his old companions came back and they all saved Earth together. I will say that I don't think Doctor Who is for everyone, it can be cheesy and campy at times, and is occasionally much too British for my tastes, but it has such a good message, showing how even the most ordinary people can become extraordinary and save the world if they really try, how everyone is special no matter what. It reminds you that, while you may not be able to travel all of space and time with the Doctor, there is still a whole wide world out there full of new people and places and experiences to be had.
Tumblr's second favorite show is Sherlock, a modern retelling of Sherlock Holmes set in London (NOT the New York one on CBS that is bad). It stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, two lovely British actors whose terrifying fan base may one day soon rival Justin Bieber's. I love Sherlock Holmes, I've read all the books and put a dent in the adventures, I loved the movie with RDJ, but I was a little wary about this version, deterred by the hour and a half per episode length and rabid fandom, but I gave it a shot one night. I was bored at first but if you have the time and dedication, you will love this show. My roommate, Lauren, my other sister, and even my dad were all hooked on this show halfway through one episode. Everyone that ever hated on this show on this show watched it and ended up loving this show even more than I do. I wouldn't really say I learned much from this show, it is, in the end, just Sherlock Holmes, but it certainly did restore my faith in a good story and a good show, things that can seem a bit like a fading art these days.
One night, when I was feeling particularly homesick and I could see my roommate getting a little sick of my muffled sobs, I declared that I "wanted to cry about something other than my life" and bought John Green's best-selling tearjerker The Fault in Our Stars on my kindle and devoured it in about 4 hours. I had read John Green's other books before, so I knew about him, but it wasn't until I finished TFiOS and searched it on Tumblr that I knew he and his brother were internet famous, lourds over a monstrous YouTube following. I won't go into it because you can search VlogBrothers if you really want to know more (or I could link you to a post I wrote about it for my English class) but anyway they have a huge following called "Nerdfighters" and basically they just hang out on Tumblr and talk about books and Doctor Who and other nerd stuff? I don't know, I don't want you to think that I have turned into some sort of weird internet geek who never goes out into the sunlight and weird shit like that because I have not. I don't even know if I would, in fact, call myself a nerdfighter, but I think that the concept is pretty cool and the Green brothers to be very interesting. A friendly reminder that there are adults out there that do care about teenagers and want to help make this time that could be very horrible a whole lot easier.
Being in college it can really seem like there are not a lot of adults that do care about you, which is why I think undergrads have a tendency to cling to TAs and avoid their professors, so when I occasionally run across people on the internet that take their time to create content to help people, especially when they are focused towards students or younger students, I feel a little more thankful and less scared of becoming an adult, because they can totally still hang out with teenagers and like the same thing and help them too.
Anyway, that was a bit of my semester in a nutshell, lots of hanging out with my roommate and remembering why I am best friends with her. There have been plenty of problems and crises and things I wish I had done differently, but there is really nothing I can do to change that, it's done. I move out on Saturday, the book slamming shut on this chapter of my life. A year filled with good shows, great friends, and an empty tissue box filled with little slips of paper that have reasons my roommate and I were upset written on them.
I've got a new apartment and a new major to look forward to (I'm criminal justice now! Hopefully the FBI won't read this blog when I apply!) for next semester, and as usual, I'm pretty much winging it, but I think the best self-discovery happens when you don't really have a plan. I certainly learned a lot about myself this year, more than I really thought I would, which I would always suggest jumping out of your comfort zone every once in a while (even if you run back into it a lot, as long as you make it out!).
I mean this summer is going to be very different, I have a job, I'm getting my driver's license (!), I might start training to run a half-marathon, I might write a book. I'm turning 19, which may not seem like a landmark year, but to me, it's a year that I've always destined for great thing and big adventures (it's also when Rose met the Doctor, so don't tell me I can't do great things). I think the rest of 2013 and 2014 will bring some pretty big changes for me and I think I'm pretty okay with it. I've cried enough this year that I'm pretty okay with it now, it something that happens and then you can move on with your life afterwards. I wish I could have been there at the beginning of the year to tell myself all this, that everything would be fine and to get off Tumblr and get some work done, or start watching Sherlock sooner or to read more books or that my ideas were good and I should write them down, but obviously I can't unless that Tardis shows up right now, so I think I will just take my experiences and tuck them away for when I know I will need them later.
Lauren and I talk about this a lot, college is about a lot more than learning, it teaches you so many life skills and gives you four whole years to get your shit together. As someone that is really a homebody living in the dorms (even if I went home every weekend) was such a huge step and the fact that I made it the whole year is such a victory for me. It seems dumb but I feel like I can do so much more now, like I got to the top of this mountain and the others don't seem so bad now. I'm sure the rest of college is going to be tough and there will be plenty more times I will empty a tissue box, but I know I can handle it now.
I'll leave it up to Lauren to fill you in on the rest of her life if she ever gets the chance (she is in New York visiting her boyfriend right now).
ALSO GUESS WHAT I FRICKEN FINALLY MET ANDREW MCMAHON!!!! NUMBER ONE BUCKET LIST ITEM CROSSED OFF!! like 8 years later.
Cheers,
Cayla
