feeling this.

Upon realizing I hadn't made any school related posts lately, I decided it was time for one! School is going well, I think. I absolutely adore my Mass Media and Advertising in America classes, and although they're really difficult, I truly feel as though I'm learning a lot. Mass Media is fascinating, and it's interesting to actually study the evolution of media and how it affects society. Advertising is ridiculously hard, but to see how not only society shapes ads but ads shape society...it's pretty intense. My Gender in America class (which I changed to Pass/No Pass because I felt that I bombed the midterm...only to get an A, ugh) is pretty boring; I guess it could be interesting, but the way the information is presented my attention is quickly diverted elsewhere. My Digital Photography decal is fairly interesting, and I'm enjoying learning to play around with the different features on my camera. I'm planning a photo post soon, so look out for that!

What I'm going to do with all this knowledge I'm not quite sure, but hopefully I'll figure it out soon. I kind of want to start looking into the LSATs and seeing if that's going to be something I want to do; if not, start looking at either grad school for Mass Comm (for which I'd have to take the GRE ugh) or film school. Publishing also interests me, as I've always been an excellent editor. I'm not sure which direction I want to go in, but I have time to figure it out...well, a little bit of time. Is it bad I also want to take a year off to live abroad (hopefully in Spain)? And that I kind of want to move back to Los Angeles a little bit? I don't know. These are the things I have in the back of my mind, all the time. It's stressful!

At least I don't have to worry about the future right now...I'm too busy dealing with the present. Last week I went to talk to my GSI (graduate student instructor) about the ad analysis I was writing and afterwards, we were talking and he commented that I seem to have assimilated fairly quickly and easily for a transfer student. I hadn't thought about it, but I suppose it's true...as soon as I got here, I jumped in and got a job (at Berkeley Hillel), joined Apartment Association and CalTV. Schoolwise, I've always been pretty focused, so that hasn't been as much of a problem, though it's a lot more painful to procrastinate here than it was at GCC. I am having a little bit more trouble when it comes to meeting people, but even then, I am slowly building friendships. It took me awhile, but I've come to the realization that the reason my friendships back home are so amazing is because they've developed over a number of years; I can't expect the same connection up here when I've only been here a few months! In any case, I am making friends and meeting all sorts of different people and it's lovely. I've gotten homesick (especially with my family, best friends, and boy all at home) a few times, but I know that coming here was the best thing I could ever do, and that this time apart from all of them just makes me value them more. I have friends who have gone home three, four times already, and honestly, I think that just makes things harder. To truly feel at home here you've got to make a conscious effort to make it your home, and stop thinking about what you left behind. That's not to say I'm never coming back--are you kidding, I love Los Angeles!--but instead of crying over what I left behind I'm going to enjoy all the new things Berkeley has to offer that LA does not. And if I want to go back when I'm done with school I can, and I will!

In any case, things are going well, I'm doing well, and I'm fairly content. Thanksgiving is in eleven days and I can't wait to see everyone I love! Life is too good sometimes, and I definitely feel like the luckiest girl in the world.