Story of a Non-friendship

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl who lived in Idaho. Actually, she just went to school there and lived there 8 months of the year.

This girl became friends with a boy. They got to be pretty good friends! He was funny and nice, and so was she, so they got along really well.

So well, in fact, that when he announced that he was transferring to school in Utah, she decided to pass him along to her sister. Her sister was also funny and nice, so surely they would become just as good of friends as the Idaho sister had been with the boy.

The Utah sister was very excited about this! She could always use some more friends. Especially at this time in her life when all of her other friends scattered to the perimeter of the country and left her very lonesome in little ol Provo.

The boy was very excited about this too! He txted the Utah sister several times before he came to town. She recommended places he could live. She almost found him a job. They made plans to hang out once they were both in the same state.

And then, he moved to Utah. And all contact ceased. And they never became friends. One time, the Utah sister even invited him to do something really super-fun called going to an awesome rope swing. And he didn't go. And no one could understand why, because the Utah sister was awesome and fun and great in lots of ways. Except then, one of the Utah sister's friends told her that boys don't want to be friends with you unless they like you, like one of your friends, or you are feeding them. Which makes sense, I guess, but is still stupid.

And that is why, this blog post is the story of a non-friendship. Because no friends were made. And no friends were harmed in the making of this blog.

All I'm saying is, it doesn't make any sense that I am so upset about this. But I am butt-upset about it, and that's why I had to blog about it.

You might need more sleep if....

.....you have been consistently getting 4 hrs of sleep a night.

.....you start out your shift at the Writing Center feeling pretty tired.

.....the paper you are reading over with a student is not the most entertaining.

.....you find yourself swiveling your chair distractingly back and forth in a valiant effort to keep your eyes open.

.....you also find yourself biting the insides of your cheeks to keep from yawning for the 42nd time in the same tutorial.

.....you feel a little drowsy while reading this blog post.

.....you hear yourself talking, and you just hear your voice getting gradually slower and lower.

.....you kind of feel like you're having an out-of-body experience, and you're just watching yourself talk from a foot or two above your own head.

.....you realize, just before the words leave your mouth, that you were about to say: "Sometimes scientists break the rules, right. So are you arguing for the police to come and put them in the pool, since they're being unethical?"

.....you are barely able to remember that this does not make sense when discussing a paper about the medicinal properties of chamomile.

.....you realize, when you remember this, that you just fell asleep while talking.

.....you try to restart your brain and think of something....anything!.....intelligent to say, and nothing comes.

.....your tutee is looking at you with a vaguely concerned expression and doesn't understand any of the questions you ask them.

.....you realize that they probably don't understand your questions because the questions probably don't make sense.

.....you end this remarkably unsuccessful tutorial and go back to the tutor table, feeling a little guilty for the lack of help that you were to your tutee but mostly just feeling sorry for yourself.

.....you go back home, bound and determined to go to sleep immediately after dinner.

.....you don't go to bed until 1 in the morning - again - because you got all wrapped up in roommate bonding, ex-roommate bonding, lesson planning, and the ever-entrancing power of facebook.

.....and the cycle continues.

Why I Like the Daily Universe

Today, I was working on a group project in a random classroom in the MKB and a reporter for the Daily Universe came in and asked if he could interview us. He asked what we would want the school to improve on.

I said, "Free food." Because you know that is my favorite thing.

Less than an hour later, I went to the Writing Center to work. I discovered that I had to do a class visit. These are sometimes fun but sometimes not. I went downstairs and gave the class visit, a little bit nervous.

As I was leaving the classroom, two older men walked past me, holding an empty pizza box. They looked giddy and you know that I knew that that was because of the pizza box. I watched as they pointed another girl back to the room they had just left. Then I heard them say, "It's Brick Oven! And we're going to get more!"

When they got closer, I said, "What's the pizza for?"

They said, "It's Brick Oven! It's in there. We're going to get more."

I took that as an invitation. I went and helped myself to a delicious slice.

Well done, Daily Universe guy. That was very prompt.

Cutting Corners

I don't know if I've ever mentioned how much I love the sun (1, 2, 3 times at least) but let me just reiterate: I love the sun. I do not like it when I leave work at 6 and it's already completely gone down for the night.

It also hurts my feelings that Provo is apparently participating in the Great Freeze-out of 2011. Last night, I went to see the Zoolights at the Hogle Zoo with Jacob, Kelly and Dahl. I was wearing a ten-ta, a long-sleeved shirt, a fleece jacket, my blue pea coat, a huge big beige marshmallow coat, and gloves. I ran through the zoo, dashing from one heater to the next. I spent my time in the Reptile House thawing out. I was a little bit cold, and I feel like that's weird since I was wearing so many clothes.

Today, I left the Writing Center. It was 26* outside. The sun was gone. I walked through the barren wasteland that our campus has turned into, darting into buildings whenever I could to cut a jagged (but slightly warmer) path home. I left one building and crossed the sidewalk. I was about to step onto the frosted mulch when something stopped me.

"Cougars don't cut corners," trilled a self-righteous voice in my head. I started to turn, intending to follow the sidewalk instead of cutting across the grass. Then, another thought occurred to me. I jerked back around and stepped defiantly on the frozen patch of brown.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" I thought snappishly. "Was something about to grow here? Did I ruin a poor defenseless flower's lifelong dream of growing up in the Ice Age?"

I'm not the only one who's being affected by the drop in temperature, either. Today in the Writing Center, Bryce the Grammar Tutor said to me: "I just tutored the most stressed-out girl ever. She was constantly checking the time, and taking off her glasses and then putting them back on, and just fidgeting and sighing....it was stressing me out just sitting by her!" I thought to myself, Hmmm. I wonder how that would be. I've never tutored someone who was that stressed out. I wonder how I would react? Would I be patient and nice? Or would I get snappy?

Lucky for me, the very next person on the list would have made Bryce's tutee look like Colbie Caillat - the picture of calm and unruffled. Meaning I didn't have long to wait before all of these questions were answered. I would be patient and nice in such a situation! I would have the patience of Job! I would not snap. I would be encouraging throughout the entire thing. I would even invite the drama queen back for more.

This was a boy in desperate need of some Vitamin D. As we talked, he ran his fingers through his hair, dropped his face into his hands, and reassured me multiple times that he hadn't been putting off the paper and it was just a really hard assignment for him. I wanted to tell him that it was a hard assignment because he was trying to write an opinion editorial and his teacher wanted him to write an issues paper, but I honestly thought he was going to cry if I told him that. I suggested he add some statistics to support some of his ideas.

"WHAT!?" he screamed, flipping the desk over. "You want me to bounce on my head all the way to China and back?"

"No," I calmly replied. "I am simply suggesting that you add some support from outside sources. Please, have a seat. Can I get you a cushion? No? Well how about I just write your conclusion?"

Okay so maybe that's not exactly how the conversation went, but you get the idea.

And all because the sun couldn't be bothered to bless us with its kiss for more than 5 hours a day.

A Comedy of Errors

Sometimes, it is New Pencil Day at the Writing Center. This is always a very exciting day but generally the excitement (and the pencils) only last for about that long. We don't know what happens, but somehow, if New Pencil Day is on a Monday, the New Pencils will be Old Pencils by Tuesday and Disappeared Pencils by Thursday.

One day, Tom was complaining about the state of the erasers. He actually went on kind of a rampage about it. Someone, it appeared, was picking the erasers off of the new pencils. He wanted to know who. He wanted to know why. He wanted it to stop. Tom has a kind of blustery personality so this outburst was not too shocking.

On this day, the Writing Center was not too busy. But the computer lab in 4051 was, so Kylie Marquis got kicked out and sent into the Writing Center in 4026, where all the other tutors were. A friendly conversation picked up at the Tutor Table.

All of a sudden, I noticed Kylie flinging something small across the table. I noticed the pencil that was in her hand as she leaned forward and put it back in the pencil basket. I noticed that the eraser was missing from the pencil and I realized that she had just flung the eraser across the table.

"Tooooom!" I said, pointing at the pencil.

Tom looked at the pencil and then at Kylie. He leapt to his feet, snatched up the pencil, and loomed over Kylie, enraged. "It's youuu!" he shouted, the vein in his neck throbbing. "You are doing this!"

Kylie cringed in her seat, covering her face with her hands. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she said, leaning away from Tom.

"I can't use this!" he yelled, and dramatically snapped the pencil in half. "It's USELESS!"

"I'm sorry! It's a bad habit! I need to be something with my hands, I wasn't doing anything so I just picked at the eraser, it was just there....I'm sorry, okay??"

Eventually Tom stopped shouting, Kylie stopped cowering, and the laughter petered out.

A few days later, I picked up a shift in the Writing Center at 10:00 in the morning, when I never work. Penny, the Writing Center Director, came out of her office to discuss some things with us tutors and Kathy, the secretary. Once she was done with what she had to say, she sat at the table pondering for a minute and happened to notice the jar of sad, eraser-less pencils.

"What.....what happened to all the pencils??" she asked, gingerly picking one up to examine it. "I just got these this week, they were new this week, what happened to all of them?" She turned the pencil over in her hand. "I mean, this pencil had a fine eraser when I got it and now....it's just destroyed, do you see that? How did this happen? That is obscene! Someone must be chewing the erasers or picking them off. And I bought these with my own money. .....It was a dollar, but still, these are cute pencils, they are really cute! Who is doing this? Do you know who is doing this?"

Of course I thought of the incident a few days earlier. I thought it was really funny, so I decided to share. "Well I don't know about all the pencils but Tom is really mad about it, too. It was so funny, the other day....." Blablabla. I shared the exchange I had witnessed. Penny nodded seriously as I spoke.

"So it's Kylie. Which Kylie?"

There are two Kylies in the Writing Center, Kylie Marquis and Kylie McQuarrie. I said Kylie Marquis was the one in my story.

Penny nodded. "Okay, so what we need to do is give her her own pencils. She can pick the erasers off those ones if she wants. And those will be her pencils and she can't use any other pencils, and no one else can use her pencils. And we'll put her name on them so everyone knows. And she can get two pencils per week. And that should take care of it. Kathy, will you do that? Will you make two pencils for Kylie? Because I mean, this is ridiculous. These....you can't use these. And these were new, I got them just this week, and now they're ruined. I mean, that is obscene!"

I thought that was a really funny solution to the problem. It was 10:55 when I left and I passed Kylie Marquis as she was just coming in. "There's a present for you on the table!" I said on my way out, and felt a little sad that I didn't get to see how she would react.

I came back at 4 for my normal shift, which I work with Kylie McQuarrie. As I sat down at the Tutor Table, she said, "Did you tell Penny that Kylie Marquis was picking the erasers off the pencils?"

I paused. This sounded tricky. I said, "Ye-es. But not to be mean or tattle tale, I just thought it was a funny story so I told her about Tom getting mad at her. Why?"

Kylie smiled serenely. "Oh, I thought so. She's been mad at Heather Zollinger all day."

Heather Zollinger is the other Heather who works at the Writing Center and I guess Kylie Marquis thought that she was the snitch.

Kylie McQ said, still smiling: "And, it's actually me who's been picking off all the erasers."

"What!" This was astounding to me.

"Yes," she said, not really ashamed. "It's just a habit, I just like doing it. I think Kylie Marquis has maybe picked the erasers off of 3 pencils."

So as it turns out, Kylie Marquis got in trouble for Kylie McQ's crime, and blamed Heather Zollinger for (wrongly) ratting her out, when really it was Heather Connor.

How did we resolve this dilemma? Kylie McQ ratted herself out to Penny. She explained that Kylie Marquis isn't the only one destroying the pencils. I ratted myself out to Kylie Marquis with a nice note in her cubby. Penny addressed the issue at staff meeting this morning. And peace was restored in the Writing Center.

I think I have a sign on my head that says

"Feed Me." Because for the past 2 days, that is all that people have done when they see me. It is great!

Monday breakfast: donuts from French class.

Monday midmorning snack: cookie from Rachel.

Monday lunch: baked beans, pulled pork sandwich, and mashed potatoes from BYUSA in celebration of the term ending.

Monday midafternoon snack: some sort of bread or something in the Writing Center.

Monday dinner: dinner at the 2nd counselor in my bishopric's house. Asian chicken salad wrap, grapes, vegetables and ranch dressing, pink lemonade and raspberry lemon sorbet for dessert.

Monday after-dinner: food from Shoots. Winnie came over and brought some of my favorite things from her restaurant. Which is amazing.

Monday dessert: then Jacob came over and brought me a Rolo McFlurry from McDonalds. Delicus.

Tuesday breakfast: Brick Oven pizza, strawberries, and salad from the Writing Center.

Tuesday lunch: same thing.

Tuesday snack: donuts from the Writing Center.

Tuesday dinner: I wasn't even hungry.

Wednesday breakfast: Zucchini bread from Brad at the Writing Center.

Wednesday lunch: ? I'm about to go out on a lunch date now so we'll see :)

Was your 2010 as Awesome as Mine?

Cuz mine was pretty awesome. Here are some of the awesomest parts of my year.....in chronological order, I think:

1. Going shooting with Uncle Brett! It was my first time shooting a gun and it was very fun. Almost as fun as the photo shoot we had afterwards.

2. My floral design class. I didn't love Winter Semester 2010, but this was one class I did love. I made all sorts of arrangements. Including, I learned how to make boutonnieres and corsages, which I made for Kelly's wedding :)

3. Finals week of winter semester. I had lovely roommates in the winter and we all separated in the summer :( To finish off our semester together, we pulled our mattresses out and had a sleepover, all week long. We got henna tattoos. And made smoothies. And watched movies. And kind of studied.

4. Nannying. I nannied the summer after my freshman year and I got to go back and nanny for the same kids again for about a month this summer. I love Malan and Owen so much, so that was wonderful!

5. Going to Trafalga. Chelsea worked there over the summer so she got me and some other friends in for free! We had a blasty-blast trick-riding on the carousel, racing the go-carts, and riding on all the rides past close.

6. Stadium of Fire. It was my first year going and it was awesome! I love Carrie Underwood and thought she did a fantastic job.

7. Lehi Roundup! Not long after Stadium of Fire I went to my first LEGIT rodeo in Utah. I was not disappointed! I went with my friends Brinley and Alyssa. I love cowboys so obviously I was in heaven.

8. Working. I had two great jobs this year that I absolutely loved. I started working at ColdStone in February and then at the BYU Writing Center in the summer (as an intern). I wasn't exactly thrilled with either job to begin with, but I quickly came to love them. The only pictures I have of Coldstone and the Writing Center are the ones I'm posting here....

At the Writing Center, Kylie and I are showing off our twin fingernails. On the wall behind us, please notice the thankful turkeys that everyone made for Thanksgiving.

At ColdStone, I am saying goodbye to Bruce, who was kind of my husband, because he decided to go to college.

9. Cornbelly's! This year was my first time going to Cornbelly's and I think I was converted. I love love loved it and will definitely be going back next year.

And finally,

10. Being the MOH at Kelly's wedding. I got to be home for Thanksgiving, give a speech, and dress up. Win win win. Not to mention, I think Dahl is the best brother-in-law ever, so all in all, their wedding easily makes this list.

I could put sooo many other things on this list. My birthday, for instance, was one of the best I've ever had. Halloween was amazing, as usual. I loved all the times I got to lay out by the pool just soaking up the sun and eating free hamburgers, and my trip to Texas was an adventure, to say the least. For the first time this summer, I enjoyed camping. I loved going to General Conference in Salt Lake, my trip to Park City to see Shawn White, and going to the Manti Pageant. It was awesome to see Nicole give the speech at her graduation and Sarah get baptized in May.

And the best part is, my life is only going to get awesomer! I am so ready for 2011 and all the awesomeness it promises :)

Finals can make you write pointless blog entries.

Today was a confusing day for feelings.

I said goodbye to my friends at the Writing Center. (Kind of sad but I had so much fun today so, not too sad.)

Then I walked to my last final. (Excited! Almost done!)

Then it took 2 hours. (Oh. My. Goshhhh.)

But then I was done! (Yay!)

Then I called my dad. It stressed me out because I still haven't sold my contract and he got stressed, so I got stressed. (Sad slash stressed.)

Then I got home. (Tired.)

Then I saw that I had gotten a package! With presents for my friends! (Excited!)

Then I saw that none of my roommates were home. Larissa was out with friends, Caitlin is now in Maryland, and AnnaLisa was still on campus. (Looooonesome.)

Then I saw that That 70's Show was on! (Whoa excited!)

Then That 70's Show was over. (Tired.)

And then I just felt really tired. And I wrote a crappy blog post. (Dissatisfied with myself.)

As you can see, it was a confusing day for my feelings. I think the reason I wanted to blog in the first place was just to say that I think I've been really lucky this semester. I have loved my ward, loved my roommates, and loved both of my jobs. I've had awesome home teachers and a wonderful bishop. I've had so many people treat me kindly and befriend me. So I think that, I am actually lucky to be a little sad to be leaving. If I was 100% excited, maybe it would be because I wasn't so happy where I am now.

Regardless, I am excited to be going to Disney World. I decided today that my word that I am going to live by next year is going to be "adapt." No matter where I end up, or what happens to me, I am going to love it. I am going to go new places and do new things, and I am going to be just ridiculously happy about it.

Everybody's Gonna Love Today

You know what is really great? My morning playlist. Waking up to Mika, Britney Spears, Flo Rida, Michael Jackson, and Justin Bieber just makes life so much better. And it makes it so I end the semester on a really good note.

Why My Life was Awesome on Thursday:

1. Theresa brought raspberry muffins into the Writing Center today. She made them from scratch. They are the best muffins she has ever made. I loved them. And her.

2. I tutored a Brazilian. He was from Brazil. He spoke Portuguese. He had a Brazilian accent. He was Brazilian. I tutored him.

3. I had lunch with Kelly. We have had lunch almost every day this semester and I realized I am going to miss it so much when I am in Disney World! Right now, this is what our lunch goes like:

-I txt kelly and say, "Lunch at 12?" or whatever time.

-She txts me back and says, "Yes :)"

-We meet at the CougarEat and get in line at L&T. Or wherever.

-She talks. I talk. We talk. Sometimes our conversations are random, sometimes organized. We kind of just go back and forth and it doesn't always make sense if you are just listening in.

Here's what I'm wondered my lunch will look like in Disney World:

-me to random friend at work: Hey, do you want to go get lunch?

-friend: yeah sure!

-We go to a random cart or restaurant. We order our food. We sit.

-And sit.

-me: So. Work is fun today huh?

-her: Yeah. I love Disney World, don't you?

-me: Yeah.

-We sit.

I am just so worried that it won't be as fun!

4. I had my last health class. I loved this class, even though it was only once a week and we missed like a whole month of classes, since my teacher was sick or there was a holiday or I had my sister's wedding or whatever else. Anyway, today we got our final and it is going to be so easy and I am so excited about it.

5. I sent Crystal a letter! We were roommates last year and it was so fun. We are kind of opposite but somehow we became really good friends. Unfortunately, she moved to Hawaii to go to school there, so now we only get to communicate through txting. We've been talking about being pen pals all semester and I finally got around to sending a letter today. It was so exciting! Sending letters is really one of my favorite pasttimes.

6. I took a nap. I love naps with all my heart, might, mind, soul, brain, strength, bosom. Everything about me loves naps.

7. I worked with Jackie. I was planning on going 80's dancing but that fell through, so I went to work at Coldstone instead. It was really fun to work at Jackie because I haven't seen her in forever! She left at about 10:30 and Ashlyn covered the rest of her shift which was also awesome because I haven't seen her in even longer. Like, since we went mancamping.

8. As roommates, we decided to do a dare of the week, every week. We had to complete the dare by the week and then report back to each other. We are still on our first dare because Caitlin and I, who have been named the social ones of the apartment, are chickens and cannot bring ourselves to compliment a random boy on his physical appearance. Not sure why this is so hard but I've tried to do it like ten times and every time, I get super-nervous and just look away. Or run away.

This made the list of things that made my day awesome for a reason, I promise.

It's because today, this boy came into ColdStone. He was a college student and was with two other friends, a girl and a boy. He had pretty eyes that went really well with his shirt. I thought about the dare. I tried to work up the courage to tell him that his eyes looked pretty.

I opened my mouth.

"Um, do you want this in a waffle bowl?" I asked.

"Oooh," he said. "I'd better not. It's probably a lot more calories, huh?"

I shook my head. "No!" I said. "The waffle bowls are zero calories!" I say this every time a customer asks me about calories because it is so obviously false. You just need to not think about calories when you are in ColdStone. It's the only way to be happy. (If you want to be miserable, you can look at the nutritional information here.)

Anyway, he believed me for a second. He said, "Really?" and seemed to be considering the waffle bowl. A split second later, I started shaking my head on accident (I'm a really bad liar) and he stopped believing me.

"No, waffle bowls have calories. You're full of crap," he said. I put his ice cream in a boring old cup and brought it down to the cash register. He handed me his card and I rang up his ice cream.

"I can't believe you just said I'm full of crap!" I said. We talked a little bit more and I noticed that his eyes went really well with his shirt. I got really excited because I could easily say, "That shirt really brings out your eyes" and then I would have done the dare. I would probably never see this boy again anyway!

I opened my mouth to say my compliment, but before I could, he said: "Has anyone told you that you are really cute?"

I closed my mouth. "Um.....like ever?" I said.

"Like, today," he clarified.

"Nope, not today."

"Well I'll say it. You're just, really cute."

"Thank you!" I said. "That just made my day." So I appreciated the compliment, but I never did get to do the dare. I think I just need to learn how to compliment boys, besides saying "You're looking dapper today."

Heather ≠ Canada.

I recently began working at the Writing Center on campus. I'm an intern right now, and I'll start actually tutoring people in the fall. So far, my time at the Writing Center has been interesting.

I found out about working at the Writing Center from Jordan Lee. She was one of Kelly's roommates when they were freshmen, and she's been a good friend since then. In fact, she's been a really great friend! We stayed at her house for a few days when I was about to start my freshman year, and she actually introduced me to Jake, who I dated for about six months before his mission. She worked in the Writing Center and inspired me to apply to work there, too.

Jordan is just about the nicest person you will ever meet. She is so sweet and thoughtful, and also hilarious. I laugh so hard whenever we hang out, even though it isn't as often as I would like! When I applied for the Writing Center, I imagined myself working with a room full of Jordans. They would all welcome me lovingly, and under their care and tutelage, I would become a very successful tutor. We would laugh and bond.

From what I've seen so far, Jordan was just Jordan, and her behavior and personality cannot be used to predict the behavior or personalities of the other tutors. They are all very unique.

Brandon is the first tutor I met. He and Emily interviewed me before I was offered a job there. I was nervous and it seemed like Emily didn't like smiling very much, so I kind of looked at Brandon the whole time. He is married and here is how he described his relationship with his wife: "I can't really remember what I did this weekend. You know why? I just, I was with my wife. We just have so much fun together all the time, we just have fun. So it all kinda blurs together. I can't remember what I did this weekend.....I was hanging out with her. We....I don't know. It was fun." He is very nice and always asks me how my weekend was.

My first day as an intern, I sat at a table separate from the real tutors, mainly because they were involved in a heated argument about determinism, liberal ideals, and therapists. I was both intimidated and uninterested, so I just stayed at the table where Brandon had just finished a tutorial that I observed.

On my second day, I came in, put my bags in the closet in the back room, and then sat down at the table I had been sitting in on my first day. Kylie, one of the newer tutors, turned to me and said, "Hi Heather. How was your weekend?" I replied, "Hi Kylie. It was good! How was yours?" "Lovely," she said.

What a pleasant place this is! I thought to myself. How lucky I am to work with such friendly people. You can imagine my surprise when, immediately after this exchange, I heard an angry voice addressing me from across the table: "Why are you sitting there? It makes me feel awkward."

I looked across the table where a girl with orange hair was glaring indignantly at me, as if I had personally affronted her by my seat of choice. I was confused and alarmed and didn't really know what to do.

"You can sit by me," Kylie offered. I smiled nervously, picked up my things, and sat at the table with the tutors. The girl with orange hair continued scowling at me. A little flustered, I dropped my eyes and tried to concentrate on the Sudoku puzzles in the newspaper.

The other tutors introduced themselves, or were introduced by their nicer colleagues. Chloe was the name of the girl who I somehow had seemingly offended beyond repair.

This is the conversation that followed:

me: *sitting quietly reading my assignment for the next class*

Chloe: Canada.

*no one responds because she is crazy. I continue reading.*

Chloe: intern.

me: *looking up*

Chloe : I'm going to call you Canada from now on.

me: *confused* I'm from Maryland.....?

Chloe: I know you're from Maryland.

me: ummm....

Chloe: your name is Canada, deal with it.

me: *alarmed and questioning my new career*

Just to clarify, I am going to list some reasons

Why "Canada" is not a good nickname for me:

1. I am American. I like America. In fact, I love it! I wrote two blog posts about it earlier this month, in case you feel the need to look for verification of this.

2. I am from Maryland. I'm not from Canada. I don't have like, any Canadian in me. If we want to give out nicknames based on ethnicity or heritage, then Europe would probably be more appropriate for me, even though I don't really want to be called that either.

3. You can only really give nicknames to your friends. There has to be some sort of inside joke that the two of you share, or something that prompts the nickname. In this case, there was no foundation of a friendship or inside jokes.

Despite all this, every time I work at the Writing Center, I feel more comfortable there. I am getting to know more of the tutors and most of them are very nice.

One thing I don't like about the Writing Center is that the conversation is largely cynical and sometimes, downright hateful. This happens because the people who work there like to be philosophical, and they also like to be right. They like talking about politics, why they are not married, and "stupid people." I don't think that being a tutor is the best choice for everyone, because apparently it makes some people believe that they are better than most people everyone.

All in all, I'm glad to be at the Writing Center. I already feel like I've learned a lot, and once I get started tutoring, I think I will get better at it, and it will be very enjoyable.

Everyone in Utah should come in and visit me :)