This is beyond weird! I never thought that college could be so exciting and scary at the same time. It is so weird how my thoughts have progressed through these two weeks of college. I never thought that things would be this independent. I am finally away from my mother and father who always told me what to do since I was a tiny little ballerina princess. No more telling me what to do or when to get back. And yet the weirdest thing about all this is the fact that I feel no urge to go out and party on sixth street. I guess all that time my parents were telling me what to do and when, was all taken into consideration when I moved up here. In changing the subject, I just came down with a throat infection and it is the worst ever. I told my parents that I had to get my tonsils taken out a long time ago but they never listened to me. It is not fair. I had the worst night's sleep last night and to top it all off, I have to catch up on all my class readings which means no catching up on sleep. I am such an observer when it comes to just walking down the street or on my way to classes. It is so funny how people I know act in a bizarre way around others compared to how they act in front of me. The other day I caught myself looking at a little boy no older than seven years old, and he caught my eye because he was on top of his dad's shoulders doing the "hook 'em horns" sign with his tiny little fingers. It was the cutest thing because it reminded me of when I used to get on top of my father's shoulders and do the exact same thing. In a blink of an eye though, it all seems but a distant memory. It is so weird how I always dreamed of going off away from my Rio Grande Valley life and coming to live my life far away from all the kind of people I could not stand. Do not get me wrong, I loved my family and "real" friends, but there was just something about that town and how everything ran on the game of politics. It was all about what kind of car you drove, where your family came from, how they were connected to some of the richest people in town, and so on. It all meant nothing to me in the end because the way I saw it was soon I was getting out of there with some place to go where people did not care about things like that. I accomplished everything I wanted in high school. The highlights were getting head drum major two years in a row and winning homecoming queen and getting to conduct in my white gown in front of my band, my family, and in front of everyone in Weslaco! It was an awesome day. The best days were when we would attempt to study for an extremely hard economics test by going over to someone's house and actually doing no studying at all. Those were the best because even though we saw each other in class, it was just on a 'hi' and 'bye' basis. When we got together, we would get each other caught up on the latest gossip and laugh about the stupidest things all the way into the night. Somehow, we all managed to pass the test the next day and we all felt better knowing that we had connected the previous night. Talking about people in our school was the main thing because our school was made up of all kinds of want tobe's, gangsters, stupid people who actually fooled everyone into thinking they were smart, and so on. Unless you were in band or on a varsity team, the people you hung out with were not at all your friends. It was the best feeling knowing that so many friends were there at band practice everyday and tennis as well. I would have to say the only thing really excellent about my old school were the faculty. My band directors were my closest friends and still are to this day as well as my tennis coaches. They always went above and beyond the call of duty to try and help with whatever I needed. Now that I am gone, I guess it is time for them to help raise another bunch of good students and friends. I feel really good leaving that small town, not knowing what to expect out here in Austin. My morals and ideas my parents, friends, and teachers taught me through the years will always remain a part of me no matter where I go!