Captain Obvious

I don't know why this hit me when I was unlocking my door a couple minutes, coming back from a martini meeting.

It just occurred to me that I'm a college student.

It might also have something to do with the Dominos flyer that they slid under my door. How exactly delivery personnel gets into my building, I have no idea, and I don't really want to examine it. Instead, I'll examine what brought me to my somewhat obvious conclusion.

Let's start with where I live. I live in a dorm. It's got four floors, and is connected to two other identical (almost) buildings via the first floor. I live with freshman, as I think I've pointed out before. Which, honestly, isn't bad. And living on the fourth floor is probably the best, because it means that none of your drunken neighbors, unless they live up here, will be wandering around. Considering my floor is really quiet by about eleven on a Friday or Saturday night (they all head out elsewhere, to do what, I have no idea and don't care to) it's pretty good. And there's only been one incident when I've heard voices outside my door and found a group of three having a general pow-wow in the armchair that sits right to the right of my door. Hope they weren't staring at my shower flops that live outside my door, along with whatever shoes I'd deemed too wet or too muddy to grace my carpet (except my Timberlands, because who in their right mind would leave Timberland boots sitting outside their room!?)

Okay, now when I look at my door, there's a few things on it, two of them being the door tags that my RA made for all of us on the floor. There's also another sign in glitter glue pen (not even sure if that's a word, but whatever, roll with it, you people are good at that if you're following me) that says Molly Louise (my name), my room number, and my class year. There's a green dry erase board with dented corners (the damn thing didn't want to stay up) that has the quote, "Dear Buddha, please bring me a pony and a plastic rocket..." (Captain Mal Reynolds, Serenity) and that reminds me that I need to change that. There's also another quote from Stardust and carpe diem, which, if you haven't been living under a rock, should know that that's from Dead Poets Society, which is my favorite movie. There's also a postcard from my last theatre production.

When you come in my door, it honestly looks like I've lived here for about a year, instead of about three months. It really has this sense of lived-in-ness, if you get what I'm trying to say. There's corkboard on the walls, complete with photos, cards from my sister (which reminds me that I need to send you a couple, Heather, if you're reading this...and they're good ones, too.) There's a pile of Sudoku puzzles my mother sent with me the last time I was home (Halloween, so I could go trick or treating with my little one), a copy of my schedule on Cardstock paper, and posters. One of my favorites (other than the boys of The Boondock Saints is the one of William Smith himself, photoshopped onto a swirling green background with a speech bubble above his head that says, "I command you to come to the centennial!" because last year was the 100th anniversary of William Smith College. And right next to that, between Billy Smith and my train poster (which actually happened, it was in my physics textbook that also doubles as part of the foundation when need be) is my favorite thing of all - leaf rubbings and general scribbles from Madaline. There's a few odds and ends, mostly specific to the type of person that I am (legit milk crates hold my school stuff under my bed, next to my mini fridge) and I don't so much get in and out of bed as I mount and dismount since the thing is jacked to about the middle of my ribcage.

I do not stick the landing every morning.

And I'm unusual in the fact that I have an actual alarm clock that I use to get me up in the morning, instead of the alarm on my cell phone. That I just use when I take a nap.

I've got the mannerisms of a college kid, too. As in, I procrastinate like it's my paying job. I might be a declared chemistry major (bachelor of science) with a theater minor, but everybody knows that I'm really majoring in procrastination with a minor in bullshit. Maybe a double-minor with underwater basket weaving.

I absolutely adore well-written fiction, and if I get particularly distracted in class and look like I'm just writing, I probably am, and it's probably one of the many things that I'm working on.

Speaking of which, like any good college student, I'm probably over-loaded, over-stressed, and over-worked. I wouldn't have it any other way. I play club soccer when the mood strikes, I write for the martini when I actually remember to turn in my articles, I'm working on my novel, my NaNo, and whatever else strikes my fancy, I go to class regularly (the amount of money my parents are paying, you bet your ass I'm going to class), I do my homework (I procrastinate like mad before hand) and I'm generally an active member of the campus community.

Which means that my mother's fear of me secluding myself in my room all semester and turning into a hermit have not come true, and probably won't.

My meal plan works for me, I'm healthy (that could be directly attributed to the almost ridiculous amount of OTC medication that I take daily) and I generally feel good when I get at least seven solid hours of sleep. If I get around nine, I'm more than likely going to be overly bouncy.

And I'm really excited to register for classes tomorrow for next semester because they're just going to be awesome. It's probably the schedule from hell again, but I'm a little used to that as I'm a declared chemistry major. I'm actually really excited about my bi-disciplinary class Two Cities: New York and Toronto (we get field trips to the cities!) and about my theater class Intro to Stagecraft because I'm going to be using power tools to build sets! I'm willing to bet I will be one of few girls in this class, and I'm really looking forward to that. It shouldn't be surprising to anybody reading this that I know how to use a variety of power tools (and non-power tools), not only in their intended function, but also in creative ways as well. Give me a can of WD-40, a roll of duct tape, a hammer, and a pair of dad's gloves that he will readily loan one (or both) or his daughters and kind of know in the back of his mind that he probably won't get them back, and I can move the world. Or at least make a damn good effort.

Which would be a really interesting lead-in to point out that, because of my family (particularly my uncle) I really like to tinker with things and build things. Actually, if I can make it propel itself forward or backward/make it explode in some way/make it look really cool/make it float then I love it. Case and point: I'm pretty sure I was about six or seven and my uncle (his family nickname is the Wizard - and this is used very, very loosely - the nickname, that is) took the motor off a standard push mower, took off the push bar from the back, put two bigger tires in place of the rear ones, dragged it up the hill behind his house, put me on it, and sent me down the hill. Disregarding the fact that I hit a tree and promptly fell off to the side, which caused him to run down the hill and quite a clip, it was awesome.

Now, granted I know nothing about cars, I know enough from overhearing/helping that I know how to get my own car started when it doesn't want to. And, also, being female means having small hands, which means sticking them in a variety of places that you probably shouldn't, but that nut probably needs to come off of that, or the fitting is loose enough that if you jiggle it, it'll come off like it's greased.

Bottom line: I like to do things. I like to learn things, especially if I can practically apply it to life.

How I have little common sense in some cases is a real mystery to me.

Does this emphasize my earlier point that I'm a college student? Maybe. It means I like to learn. And when you're in college and in charge of your own schedule and not stuck taking Earth Science with a bunch of sophomores because it will boost your class ranking, you can really enjoy what you're being taught you retain it better. You learn how the world works, how it thinks, how it moves, and kind of, sort of, in a way, might be able to predict a little of it.

Well, predict enough so that you don't fall flat on your face when the ground shifts unexpectedly (as can happen) and everything tilts madly to the left.

Or the right, if you're a lefty.

Now, as Spock would say, if he were here, based on the logical findings listed above, as well as "human gut instinct" (which has probably kept Kirk alive for most of his life, really, before McCoy was there to properly bitch about how consuming that much alcohol was not a good idea and then patch him up when it goes south [no pun intended, if you found one]) that one Molly Louise, the Wandering Sagittarius, is a certified college student.

One could say, with a little bit of inaccuracy (if you can find the pun, good for you, you're starting to think like me - which might not be a good thing, really...) thank you, Captain Obvious.

[If you found this rather pointless but still fun, and somewhat insightful..well, then...welcome to the thing that is my highly caffeinated brain on overdrive in the middle of the first semester of my sophomore year of college. Take a breather, you earned it.]