For being quite new to the area myself, it should be interesting to be a host for someone who has never been here before. I am excited to show him around campus because this is something unique and close to me that no one else in my family shares. I feel like I have to be a good presenter for USC so I can impress him, haha!

One thing he has requested is to attend the game against Mississippi State, that is if I am able to get a ticket for him, which I hope I can. I assume he'll want to go to the ocean, but I am not quite sure how sick of sand he is! I can't imagine how difficult his adjustment will be to be back home with nothing to do for a while. I just want to make sure he has a good time!

Being so busy with school and Army ROTC, it is going to be a relief to have a different distraction. I am also excited to share with him some of my Army ROTC experiences and introduce him to some of my instructors and fellow cadets. And since he has not yet attended college, maybe I can work on trying to recruit him to USC ;) I don't know if I can sway him, but if I show him what a great place this is, maybe he'll consider becoming a Gamecock.

It is going to be great spending time with my big brother, but I really want to do a good job showing him a great time here! Hopefully he won't feel like he wasted a drive all the way down here from Ohio, and he sure does need a vacation after what he has been through over the last year! I feel so great knowing that he is going to drive all the way down to see me shortly after he arrives home. So I better get planning some things for us to do to make sure he has the time of his life!

The orienteering part for my team didn't go so smoothly. We were given 5 points to find, a map, and a compass and only had 30 minutes to cover the 3 miles. When given the command "go", we took off running with no idea of the direction we were heading! A disadvantage was the weather. It was thundering and getting ready to down-pour, but we trucked on! It was also very sandy and muddy, and we kept on sliding around in our tennis shoes and getting stuck in the mud, yuck! But that kind of made it fun :)

So we found the first point, and that was it! We ran around for a total of 50 minutes! Ooops! I think we took a wrong turn trying to find our way back. We were getting a little worried and kept on changing direction. We were getting rained on pretty hard, and it was lightening out a lot. I thought it was kind of exciting, yet I was soo hungry and my legs were getting pretty tired.

Finally, 20 minutes late, we find our way back, and some people were actually sent out to look for us, how embarrassing! We returned to applause as we made our back to the rest of the group because we were the last ones back, and everyone had already eaten. Luckily, the teasing didn't last too long as they were beginning the tug-o-war!

First, it was platoons against each other. There are a total of four platoons in the battalion, with two in each company. A platoon in the other company, Bravo, ended up winning first place :( but when it was the Juniors verses the Seniors, the Juniors won! So I ended the day with a feeling of victory after all!

So besides the storm, getting lost, and losing tug-o-war the first time, the field day turned out to be a great idea for getting to have fun with my fellow cadets. To be honest, getting lost with people is a great way for team-building and camaraderie. Now it's back to work with PT (physical training) bright and early in the morning! Good night!

So being the first weekend and after only two days of classes, I didn't have much homework over the weekend. I woke up pretty tired Sunday morning, and I felt I deserved a relaxing day after an overwhelming first week of school. So it was a beautiful Sunday, I had a car, and I had nothing to do! I decided that a two-hour car drive to Folly Beach, near Charleston, wouldn't hurt especially if I had the whole day to burn off.

Well the trip was too last-minute for my friends, so why not take some "me" time? I hadn't seen the ocean all summer, and I really just craved lying on the beach; I had nothing to lose! I tell you it was so wonderful to be able to drive and end up at the beach! I felt so free that day, with absolutely no worries! I spread out my blanket and put my towel behind my head, and let myself relax to the sound of the waves and seagulls.

I wasn't lonely at all. Sometimes you just need that "me" time. It was actually so nice to be able to do this on my own. A lot of the time, I am a loner when it comes to certain things. After all, I did on a whim up and transfer to USC one month before classes began without knowing a soul in the whole state of SC or any states nearby for that matter! I love living by the minute and being able to make my own decisions. And whether those decisions are right or wrong, what way is there to tell? To me, it doesn't matter, because I am happy with that kind of personality, and that is what gets me through the day to be honest.

But anyway, the beach. Just an example of why it is beneficial to have a car around. Although parking can a lot of the times be a pain at USC, I believe that dealing with it is well worth it. Swimming in the ocean and jumping the waves definitely won over any parking complications I may have at USC. I'm willing to deal with just about anything to spend a day at the beach :)

That same day, with the help of a friend, I moved all my belongings into my apartment. I am living in South Quad located on campus and am living in the Global Community, which is really neat. I have ran into many interesting international students, and I enjoy hearing their accents! But I am all settled in, and the best part is that I have my own bedroom.

Already the first week, I was asked by the Nursing department to take part in their recruitment video. So I agreed and was interviewed about my thoughts on the Nursing program at USC and about my general views on Nursing today. So participating in that got me in the mode for Nursing school this semester.

My BIGGEST concern this year, however, is Army ROTC. This is my most important year as I am preparing for LDAC (Leadership Development and Assessment Course) next summer, where I will be evaluated on becoming a U.S. Army Officer. So already, I have been assigned from the students who have just returned from LDAC to be First Sergeant of Alpha Company. This is one of two of the highest positions given to an MS 3, which are 3rd-year Army Cadets. There are two companies in the Gamecock Battalion, Alpha and Bravo. This means that I am accountable for about 60 people, which seems overwhelming for me right now, but hopefully it will grow on me. This is my responsibility for the entire semester.

It is just so weird, scary, and neat at the same time when I stand in front of the entire company taking charge. It has only been two days, and ensuring everyone is in the right place at the right time is such a difficult job, especially when I don't know everyone's name and face because they are new to the program. So I admit that I am really nervous for this year, but it is essential that I gain this experience and learn from all my mistakes.

So other than that, classes have been alright so far, and books are so expensive! I'm looking forward to a semester full of surprises! I just hope and pray that I don't screw things up too badly! Just keeping my fingers crossed!

I was so scared at first when arriving to Airborne School. I did not know what to expect at all. But I actually reunited with my old roommate from the University of Dayton, and we ended up sharing the same room again and also shared the same squad. Being there with her, Jenny, made things so much easier for the both of us, and we definitely motivated each other and gave each other a lot of encouragement.

This training included physical training every day and company runs. Altogether, pt wasn't too terrible, except the last run turned out to be very fast, but I'm glad I was running right behind Jenny who motivated me to keep up, which I did! Each day of training was a lot of work and a lot to deal with especially with it being so hot! For this being my first real Army training, I've never been yelled at so much or heard so much cursing. If you made one mistake, you could count on Sergeant Airborne to come right on over to chew you out. Yikes!

Basically, being yelled at so much made learning everything pretty effective for me. It really planted the information right on the brain! First off was ground week, which included familiarization with wearing the parachute harness and knowing how to wear it. This week mostly consisted of learning how to fall. We did this soooo much that muscle memory began to do all the work and I no longer needed to think about how to do it. 

Tower week is where we jumped out of a 34 ft. tower. It was kind of like a zip line, but we had to jump from a mock airplane door. Basically, when jumping from the door, it's bend forward at the waist, chin to chest, feet and knees together, and count one-thousand, two-thousand, three-thousand, four-thousand out loud. By that time, the parachute is supposed to already be open, and if not, then pull the reserve!

We also fell from a 250 ft. tower. For this, we are pulled up with the parachute already open, and then when reaching the top, release the safety lines, and then we are dropped. This just helped us with familiarization with wearing the parachute and gave us an idea of what the landing would be like. With so many students, training with these towers took a whole day just to complete one of them. We also did something called the swing landing trainer. For this, we jumped off of a platform and were swung by our instructor. This gave everyone a sore neck from whiplash! Ouch! But this just basically helped us with our landing.

My favorite week, but also the busiest week, was jump week. This is where we finally put all our hard training to use, although we were technically still training being that we had to make 5 qualifying jumps. By the textbook, we had to make 2 combat equipment jumps, 1 night jump, and 2 regular jumps. But for some reason, we did not do a night jump, and because of time constraints, we only did one combat equipment jump, which was fine with me! For this particular jump, we had around 70 lbs of equipment strapped on us for over four hours! That was the most painful experience I have ever had in my life! I could barely stand up, and couldn't walk at all; I had to wobble onto the aircraft when it was finally time! But we ended up jumping from the C 17 for this jump. This aircraft is like a house inside! Comparable to what we usually jump from, the C 130, it is a Cadillac, while the C 130 is comparable to a crappy old pick-up truck.

But anyway, all my jumps went smoothly except for my second jump, in which I landed on the megaphone speakers. But luckily I didn't break anything! We had to delay our last jump because we had two broken down aircraft, which sounds really reassuring! But going back to my first jump, I don't remember a greater feeling than that! I was terrified and prayed so hard in the plane, and I'm glad God was with me the whole time. Right when my chute opened, I knew everything was okay, and I just took my time looking all around me thinking how amazing it was to be falling from the sky.

This was such a wonderful experience, and I am so glad that I had this opportunity to jump out of airplanes. I met so many different kinds of people and made so many friends. I definitely did something that I never anticipated I would do any time soon in my life, and I can't believe I'm already finished with it!

I am a little sad to leave my friends, but I am super excited to go home and see my family.  I miss my little sister Gabby (the six year-old) sooo much, and my brother Matt is coming home for leave from his duty in Iraq.  And then there is the big wedding, so that will be one huge reunion for my family.  I tell you, no matter how enjoyable college life is away from family, nothing beats the moment of finally seeing family after several months without them. 

What the summer has in store for me is of course spending as much time as I can with my little sister and the rest of the family.  Then I must work hard to earn $$$ to pay off some major bills.  I will be working at an Alzheimer's home with my sister.  And in between all of that, from June 13 to July 6, I will be jumping out of airplanes for Army Airborne School at Ft. Benning, Georgia.  That should definitely be the highlight of my summer.  I am pondering a visit to San Francisco to visit my sister Mary, but that all depends on whether I work hard enough, so I'll just have to wait it out and see.  I usually try and take a trip at least once a summer, no matter what my budget looks like, but I am trying really hard to be cautious.

There is nothing like being a starving college student.  There is so much to worry about, and it really makes keeping a budget difficult.  Juggling so many different things at once makes me lose track of my money, and I find myself in a hole every now and then.  So although it is extremely difficult, splurging on unnecessary "necessities" while in college can be very damaging. 

But anyhoo, I really had a great year.  The transition from one college to another was a great change for me.  I would not know what I'd do if I was still at the University of Dayton.  USC has really been great to me, and I have made a lot of friends.  The classes were great, and I learned a lot about Nursing.  The Army ROTC gave me excellent training, and gave me the opportunity to meet many amazing people that I will never forget.  And of course, I am very thankful that they Army is giving me the chance to go to Airborne School, Hooah!

In Columbia, SC, there are many bars and typical dance clubs, but that isn't really my ideal social scene. This Salsa club, called "Salsa Cabana" is very authentic with many regulars from all over Latin America. It would be a shame to go and feel too embarrassed to dance being that there are many skillful dancers. I was shy at first, but it truly is a very relaxed atmosphere with people there just to have a good time and let loose.

It is a great place to meet new people, and I have really had great practice with speaking Spanish there, being that most of the dancers are Hispanic. Although it is not a place I have been to many times, I definitely prefer it to a typical bar or club. I don't go out very much, but I enjoy the cultural experience I am guaranteed to get at Salsa Cabana. And it is just so flattering, sometimes, because this is a place where the guys are not shy to ask you to dance and are patient to us not-so-skillful Salsa dancers.

I feel much better about telling my mother that I went Salsa-dancing the night before rather than doing keg-stands and passing out, which is the case for very many students. So although it may take a little effort in exploring Columbia for different social experiences, it is definitely worth-while and makes the weekends a lot more interesting and enjoyable. For me, it's all about NOT doing the same thing every weekend and exploring beyond the usual bounds. There is so much to see and do here, and that is typically not the first impression of Columbia! Trust me on this.

I woke up at 4:45 a.m. yesterday morning and biked down to the track. We were allowed to stretch out on our own, and then waited in line for the first event, the push-ups. Before each event, the cadets are read the rules about correct form, etc. and are given demonstrations, which can get kind of old because we take these tests every single month. The only thing different about this particular one is that it goes on record. Only two PT tests throughout the year go on record, the last ones taken at the end of each semester. The other tests in between the final ones are only diagnostic, but are conducted in the same way.

I was slightly disappointed with my push-ups. I didn't really improve from the beginning of the year, and actually decreased my score from last year's final APFT. We are given 2 minutes to do as many push-ups as we can, and I did most of mine in the first 30 seconds. It is not required that we take up the full 2 minutes given. I did 45 push-ups, down from 52 last year.

The sit-ups. Hands interlocked behind the head, and must go all the way up and down. We are also given 2 minutes for this event. With a little misunderstanding from the timer and my grader, I started off a little late and missed a few seconds, but I tried my best to make up for lost time, although I again went down from last year. I was able to pull off 80 sit-ups, down from 86 sit-ups last year.

And for my favorite event (NOT), the 2-mile run. 2 miles isn't so bad, but when running as fast as you possibly can, it takes everything out of you; every last bit of energy. This is the event I am always most fearful of. And I absolutely hate running 8 laps around the track; it is so tedious. But an advantage is that I am better able to judge my time when running laps. I always pick a good female runner from the battalion who runs in the same ability group as I do. I keep her at a distance and use her as my pacer. That method really helped me out yesterday, especially when it came to the last stretch, the final sprint. I was able to pull off a time of 15:20 for the 2 mile run, only 3 seconds slower from last year.

I know I should have significantly improved in all of the events instead of going down, but I was still able to max out. Here is a little run-down on how the APFT is graded. Just to pass (ages 17 to 21), the required scores are: Push-ups: Male - 42, Female - 19. Sit-ups: Male - 53, Female - 53. 2-mile run: Male - 15:54, Female - 18:54.

Now to max on the APFT, which adds up to a perfect score of 100 points in each event (300 points overall), the scores are: Push-ups: Male - 71, Female - 42. Sit-ups: Male - 78, Female - 78. 2-mile run: Male - 13:00, Female - 15:36.

So, my goal is to usually try and max on the PT test, but I only have twice this year. And luckily, one of those times was the final test, which I really needed since I'm going to Airborne School this summer, which I'll talk about later on.

Enough about this; it's just making me tired!! I'll be back later to tell you more about my life. Just 1 full week of school remains!! I am so excited.

Keep praying for Virginia Tech. God bless.

My professor happened to be helping my group as it was ringing, and since he is a goofball, he wanted to answer my phone for me. He asked, "Is it your mom?", but no, it was my BOSS! I had a job interview at a nursing home over spring break to work over the summer, and here my boss is calling me to ask about my hours of availability. So here's my professor telling my boss that I am unavailable, and she probably thought that it was just some random guy answering my phone, which it was.

He took a message, and handed me back my phone. So after class, my boss called back, and I told her that she was speaking to my professor earlier. She definitely got a kick out of it and laughed for a few moments. So that was my funny for the day.

My professor reminded me that at the beginning of the semester he told us that if our phones rang during class, he was going to answer for us. So I guess he kept his word! He was disappointed that it wasn't one of my parents because he wanted to embarrass me, but he kept his decency since it was my boss.

But my job is still safe, and I am in no trouble in my English class. It just shows you how funny some college professors are, and there is no reason to flip out over a cell phone ringing, although it can be distracting a lot of the time, especially during exams! NEVER forget to silence your phone during exams; that is so disturbing!

With the exception of a few humorous professors, a lot of them won't hesitate to shoot you a dirty look if your cell phone rings during a lecture. Oh boy, you don't want to be one of those people! It is never fun to get a mean look from a professor; I did last semester. It was the first day of class, and I still wasn't familiar with the campus. I was late for my first Nursing class, and the auditorium was full of students. I walked in about 10 minutes late, and the professor just stopped and stared at me like I just committed a crime. One of the students I sat next to then told me that I walked in right as she was lecturing on being late and absent to class and how it was "unacceptable". So by making an example, she told me that she wanted to see me after class, and she just gave me her speech all over again. I was never late for that class again.

So, be prepared for a wide variety of professors when you get to college. Some are fun, and some are serious. But most that I have had were passionate about what they were teaching. It is really fun to examine all the different professors you will encounter throughout college. The first day is always the best; you will definitely get interesting first-impressions.

Anyway, I'm off to Myrtle Beach for the weekend with my roommate although it is so COLD! I hope everyone has a happy and enjoyable Easter!

The first night was so cold that it was impossible to sleep because I had no sleeping bag, and I was trying so hard to keep my body warm. After training all day Saturday, no rest was given to us as we continued all throughout the night marching through the woods, and it was so hard to see! When it hit about 5 a.m., I was actually falling asleep while walking with my rifle and about 40 lbs of equipment on my back.  One of the soldiers in my squad actually fell right over after falling asleep on a march.

The cadre tried to make it as realistic as possible. During the night, I could hear mortars and random artillery fire going off in the distance. It was also nice that they gave us blank rounds to fire with our rifles, which took about 4 hours to clean when we finished on Sunday. Cleaning weapons is definitely my least favorite part about training.

I don't ever remember being as dirty as I was this weekend, not being able to take a shower and wearing the same clothes for three days. When I got back to my dorm, I actually took two showers in a row. And then the next thing I did was go out to eat; I was starving. Although we get MRE's (meals ready to eat), no set time is given for meals; just eat when there's a few minutes of down time. Then I went to bed at about 6:30 and slept until 7:30 a.m. the next day, the longest nap I have ever had.

My highlight of the weekend was probably getting to fly in a Black Hawk helicopter. That was very exciting for me because everything is so fast-paced. We had to run with all our equipment to the helicopter, and it was difficult with all the sand and dirt flying all around. Then we dropped our rucksacks and rushed on to the "bird". After the flight, we were to unstrap our belts as fast as possible and hit the ground on our stomachs and wait for the chopper to take off. It was quite exhilarating. I'll post pictures when I get them developed.

Although I will most likely not engage in any type of combat as a future Army Nurse, field training is still essential for anyone in the Army. I am very thankful for everyone in the Gamecock Army Battalion for putting so much time and effort into making this such a great and rewarding training experience