Last Friday, which just happened to be my 25th birthday, I received some amazing news!  Over spring break I decided to apply for an advanced summer research internship at the Dallas Zoo.  I received an email Friday offering me the internship position with the Dallas Zoo…which I immediately accepted!  I have been assigned to work with Dr. Sue Booth-Binczik and will be assisting her with setting up the new elephant research program.  While I do not know the full details on the research I will be conducting, I will be sure to keep everyone updated on all my adventures over the summer.  The internship will start in May and continue into August…I am totally stoked!

I have to say the Dallas Zoo made my birthday!

What a beautiful day out there today, nice and windy, even some snow was flurrying down from the sky. I cannot wait until the nice weather comes and stays. It was such a tease when it was in the 60’s this past weekend and now it is raining/snowing, but it is not going to stay for long!Having a dorm next to the lake in the warmer weather is such a great experience. Either you can look out the window in the morning and see the beautiful lake with the sun shining on it, or at lunch time you can get a bagged lunch to go and go sit on the grass next to it with a bunch of friends. You can even do your schoolwork while sitting next to the lake, you cannot get much nicer than that.

Enough about the weather, I just got a little excited because winter is pretty much over. There is a little over a month until the semester is over! For some this is a happy time, but for most, it is a time of stress and endless amounts of work. As I stated in a previous blog, the best thing is to take things one at a time. It really works.

I have a 15-20 page paper due Friday, a test Wednesday, a test Friday, a paper to revise and hand-in by Wednesday, lots and lots of online work and so much more. That is only one week, but it really isn’t that bad even though it sounds it. I started today and got a lot of work done by just making myself sit at my computer, signing offline so I couldn’t check my buddy list and facebook every two seconds, and did work. Granted I still have a lot more work to do, a nice chunk is out of the way and it is such a great feeling.

Speaking of work, I should probably get back to that and get some more done while I am still in the mood to do homework. Good luck to everyone with papers, tests, finals etc.

One thing that it has taken me four years at Oswego to figure out is my finances.  Coming to college was so difficult for me because I could buy whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, without my parents being there to question my every purchase.  I thought I had it all figured out, then I turned 21.  I don’t mean that I spend all my money on alcohol and get drunk every weekend, but simply going out to eat and having a drink with dinner costs more than expected when it all adds up.  Books, gas money to drive home and other little things all add up too.  I usually can keep a good balance with my money because I’ve always had a job while I’ve been here, but it’s hard to get ahead and save.  Something I finally had to do when I reached my breaking point worrying about money (it’s not worth worrying about money) was to make a spread sheet of my spending and deposits.  I know it’s a little late to do this and get organized, but I have to start somewhere!  My advice to everyone coming to college would be to get as organized as soon as possible and be thrifty!  I’d rather be prepared for the future than worry about being broke all the time.

Spring is one of the greatest times to spend in Oswego.  For students who are taking classes here there are so many things to enjoy with the change of weather. The snow is melting, so we get to see how beautiful the campus really is. Then suddenly the grass gets a little greener, the breeze feels amazing, and you can finally take a walk around the lagoon. Walking to class does not become such a hassle anymore, and these may seem like little things but after a long rough winter they are all things to appreciate and love while being here.  Spring is the time to pack up the heavy coats and huge winter jackets to start showing off your new summer gear. You start to enjoy the morning sunshine that hid from us the whole winter; spring is the time for Oswego to shine. There is so much to do before the summer hits, for many of you who have never experienced a summer in Oswego, spring is the time to take full advantage, because it is absolutely beautiful. It is the time to take a walk to Rudy’s for some  good fresh food, or you can take a walk down to Bev’s and enjoy some delicious ice cream! I am very excited that it is Approaching sooner than later, and all I can say is THANK GOD FOR SPRING!!

Just read a bumper sticker on Facebook that says “I got over my Twilight obsession…then the DVD came out.” Story of my life.

So it looks like my visit to Indiana, PA paid off!  Last weekend I visited IUP (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) for an admissions interview, and the chance to interview for 9 different graduate assistantships at IUP and other schools in western PA.  I interviewed for Seton Hill, Carnegie Mellon, Penn State and some others for positions in admissions, judicial and residence life.  I was nervous and exhausted by the end of it, but I got accepted so it was all worth it!!  I haven’t found out about an assistantship yet, but there’s one I’m hoping for.  I’m not excited about IUP being six hours away from home, but it’s definitely exciting to think about life after undergrad.

I am starting my 6-hour trip back to Oswego from IUP’s Student Affairs Visitation weekend! Had a blast! Will write more later

Something that I find really weird is the feeling I have when I first get back to Oswego after break. It’s oddly blissful, even though before I get here, I don’t want to come back. Yesterday was like this, especially since the weather was so nice. I’m so happy that spring is here. Well, it’s sort of here anyway. It isn’t according to the calendar, but it is according to the weather! I just hope this isn’t another mockery like we got last month. “Spring is here… just kidding!”

I love Spring, and I love Autumn too, because the weather is just right. It’s not freezing cold, and it’s not scorching hot. It’s comfortable, and it’s definitely a really nice breakaway from the biting cold we’ve had the past couple of months.

What is really odd though is how we were only gone a week, and yet, it felt like a lot more than that. While seeing everyone again, it felt like I hadn’t seen them in weeks. I think that the main reason why that happens, for me anyway, is because my life at home and my life here are two totally different lives, and I live in two totally different worlds, so being away from it for even a small amount of time feels like a huge change.

I just hate having to come back and give up so much time. I’m constantly working here, for the most part, in one way or another. At home, I usually felt relaxed, and I spent time with my friends all the time. Here, on the off-chance that I do, it’s just to eat dinner or something along those lines. Don’t think that I’m dissing Oswego; I’m not. I just don’t have a lot of time on my hands, and that’s college in general. By saying I have more time to myself at home is stating what should be the obvious.

All right, so once again I’m writing about a topic that’s not exactly related to Oswego, but I find it acceptable seeing as how we haven’t been here for the past week. Tuesday, I got the new Kelly Clarkson album, All I Ever Wanted, and I am loving it. Following up on the raw, somewhat dark material of 2007′s My December, Clarkson portrays sheer energy on the album, with a few songs, such as “Tip of My Tongue” (only available on the deluxe edition) and “If I Can’t Have You,” that can be heard as dance songs. Other tracks such as “Impossible” nearly evoke an electronic mood. Ultimately, All I Ever Wanted is catchy and charismatic, qualities some consider the last record to lack.

The record opens with the first single, “My Life Would Suck Without You.” Although I had never thought of it myself beforehand, someone suggested to me the other day that the song’s melody and style closely resembles that of “Since U Been Gone,” Clarkson’s massive hit single from her sophomore record Breakaway. After the thought was set on the table, I began to think about it myself and realized that it was indeed true. The record then moves into the catchy and fast-paced “I Do Not Hook Up” (originally written and recorded by Katy Perry as a demo). Other standout tracks include track 4, “Don’t Let Me Stop You” (most likely a future single), track 8, “Save You” and track 10 “Long Shot” (also noted as originally being a Katy Perry track).

The whole album is so easy to love and sing to. I fell in love with it within the first hour of owning it Tuesday morning. If you’re a Kelly Clarkson fan, then for sure, go buy All I Ever Wanted. You won’t be disappointed. Keep in mind, however, that the standard edition of the album ends with track 14, “If No One Will Listen,” whereas the deluxe edition has two bonus tracks, “Tip of My Tongue” and “The Day We Fell Apart.” The deluxe edition also features a bonus DVD, which includes the “My Life Would Suck Without You” music video, the making of the music video and the making of the album.

All right, so I know that this isn’t wholly Oswego-related as usual, but I just figured I’d post this anyway. Hey, it’s something to talk about. I recently read a review of Breaking Dawn (well it was actually written in response to this novel but was relevant to the whole series) that said that it’s not good but is rather entertaining, and I think that that is something with which I can agree. Meyer’s Twilight novels as a series is far from being good literature. Like I said, it’s entertaining. (This review may contain some spoilers; you have been warned.)

However, I will say that I began reading this in late December shortly after Christmas, and I just finished yesterday (today is March 10). Not only have I been incredibly busy with schoolwork as a college student, but I also simply didn’t have the motivation to read this one like I did the second and third novels. They were really good, and I immensely enjoyed them (as opposed to the first novel which I basically consider to be a literary joke). This one lacked a lot.

It’s very slow. That’s part of the reason why it took me so long to read. There is so much of the book in which nothing really happens, especially Book II: Jacob. The novel is over 750 pages, and it seemed to me as if through this book series, Meyer was hoping to achieve the status of being the next J.K. Rowling, at which she has failed miserably. She lacks Rowling’s creativity, and Twilight is not Harry Potter by any means.

Bella does not have to make sacrifices, as I also read in another review. She basically gets the best of both worlds, and that doesn’t make for a good protagonist by any means. Sure, in the same fashion as Harry Potter, Bella prepares to walk to her death at the end of Breaking Dawn, but that’s part of my point when I say Meyer was trying to make this series the epic journey that Harry Potter is, and she failed. Here are some reasons why

Harry was sacrificing himself for everyone, not just his family, and it was only him that he was sacrificing. Bella was prepared to sacrifice as many people as needed to selfishly save her daughter. I understand that the relationship between a mother and a daughter is one that is nearly impossible to break, because its strength is unmatched, but that was really ALL that mattered to her. She didn’t care who had to die for HER cause. I therefore don’t think it can be argued that Bella’s intents were as good or as tactically epic as Harry’s.

Secondly, Harry was marching to his death, ready to be slain by his WORST enemy, someone that destiny predicted from an early time that he would have to fight, and either he or his enemy (I’m obviously referring to Voldermort here) would have to die as a result. Harry was ready for that person to be him. There was a personal vendetta between Harry and Voldemort, and other than the fact the Volturi were using Bella’s daughter as an excuse to take them down since they saw them as a threat, this vendetta had a very pressing absence in this novel, especially since Voldemort had been Harry’s enemy from the beginning; the Volturi don’t really become Bella’s true enemy until Breaking Dawn, therefore withdrawing from the explosively epic ending that never was.

I don’t want to use the entire review to make contrasts between the Twilight series and the Harry Potter series, because as a fair critic, I should be looking at the Twilight series on its own. It’s just that I can’t help but make contrasts, especially since (a) it is so common to do so, and (b) I hear people actually say that the Twilight series is better, and although every person is wholly entitled to his or her opinion, I couldn’t disagree more. I think some of it may have to do with Bella obviously being a female and Harry obviously being a male, and I can therefore relate to Harry on a deeper level, but that’s definitely not all of it. J.K. Rowling is a much better writer than Stephenie Meyer, and the story of Harry Potter is much more powerful.

I think that the only aspect of this novel that made it epic was Bella finally becoming a vampire. I suppose that here I should negate what I said earlier about her not really having to make any serious sacrifices, because during the time period in which her body changes, she undergoes extreme physical pain and can’t scream or say anything about it for a couple of reasons, one of them being because she’s weighted by morphine which doesn’t help her at all. However, she knew that the transformation was going to be painful; she was willing to accept that. She knew that was part of the deal, so it wasn’t really a sacrifice if you think about it.

I just don’t understand the hype over it. I am not going to say I hate it, because I don’t. I’d be a hypocrite if I did that. I own a tee-shirt. I appreciate it, but it didn’t come anywhere close to having the impact on me that Harry Potter did, and Twilight has an incredibly long journey to go before it reaches Harry Potter’s standards, and I don’t think that that’s a race that it’s ever going to win.