I received an email a couple days ago (very considerate but a bit heartbreaking nonetheless) telling me that the Gazette has decided to discontinue the blog Quarter Spent after the month of November, and will move the blog to the Gazette archives.

So this is it. My time as a Quarter Spent blogger is coming to a close. Seeing as this blog is intended for high school students writing about high school experiences, my new college-ness understandably doesn’t quite fit in anymore (it stopped fitting in about the time I graduated). But because the Gazette people are so nice, and because they would never be able stop me from writing unless they were to forcibly take my computer away (or change my password), they let me continue blogging on through the summer and even for these few first months of my first semester of college.

I guess if you have been with me from the very beginning (oh so long ago when I was only a sophomore), you might feel, as I do, that this is the end of an mini-era. I’d like to think that I’ve grown alot since my first ambitious blogs. At the very least, I have enjoyed sharing my ever-changing and expanding life with you immensly.

And when you think about it, I’ve shared a lot. When I last counted blogs at the beginning of August, I had written 535 blogs for this site (that’s approximately 2-3 blogs a week for 26 months). Add to that my experiences in college, (80 blogs over the span of 4 months, which makes a total of 615 blogs in 30 months) and I’ve had a pretty well-documented past few years.

Although my blogging here is coming to an end, worry not! My blogging elsewhere will continue. I don’t think I could ever give it up. When I came to OU, I became a blogger for the University of Oklahoma’s Prospetives Student website, where they recruited seven freshman (including me) to write about our lives as freshman to give prospective students a look into what school here is really like. So I am now what is called a Boomer Blogger.

If you have enjoyed reading my thoughts over the last two and a half years, I hope you continue to follow me throughout the adventure called college. My new web address is www.ou.edu/boomerblogs/virginia.htm.

And so I would like to think that this is not a goodbye, but only a “see you soon” (in a different place).

Adieu!
Ciao!
Love,
Virginia

I can’t believe that this is the final post I am writing.  I am saddened that I will no longer be able to share my thoughts with you.  I had expected to keep this up through my college years, but that notion no longer appears within reach.

To the readers and commenters of this blog site, I thank you for your support of this site.  To those I pleased through my writing, I too am pleased that I was allowed to entertain you, enlighten you, and possibly persuade you as well.  To those I might have disappointed by commenting on more sensitive issues, I apologize. 

As I look back on the two years I spent writing for this blog, I feel that my writing and thoughts have matured, partially due to my contributions on this website.  I hope you agree.  If not, I hope that I can continue to sharpen that skill.

I am eternally grateful towards many people for making these passages possible, and you people know who you are.

Thanks for taking the time to read about our interesting, yet sometimes confusing teenage lives.  

If you would ever like to drop me a comment or just chat, my email is nprosinski@gmail.com .  Trust me, it gets checked frequently. 

And finally, I repeat what Edward R. Murrow used to say as he concluded news broadcasts:

“Good night, and good luck.”

I have decided that in addition to my future career in meteorology, I will devote my life to studying the environment.  Through my numerous years taking biology and environmental science classes, I have built up a passion for the outdoors–larger than it has ever been.  Everytime I venture into the wilderness or see an amazing thunderstorm, I plan to descriptively write on it.  Eventually, I may put these entries into a book.  I don’t expect it to be met with the same success as Loren Eisley or Aldo Leopold, but I’ll try to come as close as possible.  As long as I am able to broaden people’s understanding of nature in an entertaining way, I will be happy. 

Frequently, my fellow classmates in addition to teachers ask me what I will do with my future.  I reply, “meteorologist.”  The first question that has popped into each of their heads after saying that is “are you gonna be that lying guy on TV?”  I always reply “no.”  I have no plans to take my career into broadcasting, but I think many people get the wrong impression of those weather forecasters.  Some of them only read off a script while others are true meteorologists.  Before one criticizes a meteorologist that appears on camera, I think that some things should be known about these people.  First of all, they’re only human.  Second of all, they are trying to predict something that cannot be predicted accurately using an equation or a graph.  Getting a forecast for a day a week away is a less than 1 in 10 chance.  The weather is unpredictable, and it always will be.  But it is a hypothesis from people who are willing to be proved wrong that will save lives.  

Around this time every year that I remember, my grandma and I spend a portion of the day doing what many Norwegian-Americans are familiar with.  This is the time for making the lefse.  Lefse, if you did not know already, is a sort of Norwegian tortilla.  However, it is made from mashed potatoes and flour.  This mixture is then roasted on a special lefse grill until it is golden brown.  When they are done, you can eat them plain, buttered, or with a variety of other toppings (peanut butter and Nutella are among my favorites).  If you have never tried lefse, I highly suggest you do.  It is a great snack, and also very good for you.  

All the new cars they advertise today on TV and in the newspaper have some uniqueness to them.  Some have DVD entertainment, others GPS, and still others have amenities such as foldout tables and heated leather seats.  Though these options sound like too much for some of us, I really think that we can live without them in a car.  After all, the purpose of a car is to transport ourselves and goods from point A to point B.  I remember the days when we used to take road trips to Montana in a 1985 Subaru Wagon with virtually nothing major entertainment- wise except an AM/FM radio.  Part of the fun of my early road trips was seeing the new places and visiting relatives.  Many cars, especially minivans, are designed to be a sort of home away from home.  However, I think that the driving experience (which is compromised in the case I just stated), should be one for enjoyment.  Unfortunately, with the advent of new technologies being introduced in cars, we are losing a major part of each family road vacation.

Since I sent out my application and housing forms for UND, I have basically decided that this will be my school of choice.  I am not planning on attending another school.  I have looked at several schools over the years and involuntarily received information from about 50 other schools.  Over the past year-and-a-half, I have received sporadic emails from schools nationwide.  Now, I am receiving at least ten emails a day from colleges, some of which don’t have my intended major.  The number of schools still seems to be growing, and they are all begging me to apply.  However, I am going to half to tell each one that I am not interested.  That will be fun–not.  

This past month, I have been concentrating greatly on getting my application to the University of North Dakota completed.  So far, everything necessary for admission has made it into their hands–except my ACT scores.  When I ordered ACT to send my scores to UND earlier this month, I expected them to send them within the two weeks that they mentioned on their webpage.  Now, it’s been nearly a month.  I talked with my enrollment representative out in Grand Forks and she told me ACT sends the scores in all at once usually every month.  I’ll probably get a letter of acceptance within a week or so, now that she tells me that the scores are just now arriving.  However, I think that the fact that ACT says that the scores will be sent in two weeks for $8.50 or quickly for $5 more when they actually arrive a month later is INEXCUSABLE. 

Band is one of my favorite classes.  However, I think a lot of people in my class are ruining the band for one major reason–their cellphones.  Even though our school makes it extremely clear that no electronic devices are to be turned on and used during the school day, they still do it.  Between rests during rehersal, I can see at least twenty people texting.  It was finally today when Mr. Patton decided to address the problem when he confiscated one this morning.  If we payed more attention on the band director and less on the cellphones, we will play better at our concerts, that last one which wasn’t the hottest show I’ve played in.

My uncle underwent surgery to remove his prostate this week.  He had been diagnosed with cancer earlier this fall, and he went in at noon just two days ago and had to procedure done.  He’s feeling better, but he tells us that he is still in a significant amount of pain.  I’m relieved to know that the danger is gone and that soon he will be back to the fun uncle that I know him as.  All I can take from this is to watch your health and maintain it as best as possible.

At the beginning of this year, I got a dermatofibroma.  Basically, it was a huge cluster of nerves an acne which had formed a cyst just under the skin layer.  It was removed a few months ago, but it returned this fall.  Not all of it was removed, said my dermatologist, so I was down on the operating table again just a week ago getting it out again.   This time, they really dug in and got it all this time.  I needed eight stitches to patch up this wound, and I actually saw what the thing looked like.  It reminded me of a white piece of chewed gum–gross.

This has had to be the coolest project that I’ve done in school recently.  For physics, we were assigned to build a car which would move under its own power (without the use of batteries or motors).  Over the past few days, I have built the car out of KNEX, which had been sitting in my basement for a very long time.  In the end, I was able to build the car, running on rubber band power.  It travelled about thirty feet.  There was one car built that went to the end of the hall (about 150 m), which is outrageous.

One of my good friends is getting married in December and one of the things she is doing for her wedding day is learning how to dance. Her fiance is a really good ballroom dancer, and so she is secretly taking dance lessons to surprise him.

Because she had never been to this particular class before, I came with my friend (as moral support) to learn how to cha-cha. The class was made up of about eight or nine couples (and then one other single besides my friend and me), and I guess the class has been going on for some time, because they all knew each others names and seemed very close-knit.

The first thing we were taught was the basic cha-cha steps. And then we built on from there, learning how to box step, open, twirl and chase– always to the count of 1…2…cha-cha-cha.

Then we mixed up the partners and free-style danced. My partner was an older gentleman who I later found out was 83. And he still had some wiggle in his hips. We were tearing it up out there, Gramps and I. We cha-cha-ed and twirled and all the fun stuff. After the dance, he thanked me and asked me if I danced often. I told him that this was the first time I’d done the cha-cha, and he told me how much he loves to dance, and his wife doesn’t like to but he dances anyway.

When I get to be his age, I still want to be out late cha-cha-ing on a Tuesday night.

So I am back in Norman after spending a fabulous week with my family. I had the perfect break.

I went shopping more than once and got a bunch of nice winter clothes (cute for here and functional for Montana). I spent time with most of my friends and promised to hang out with the others during Christmas break. I learned how to Cha-Cha. I took pictures of my brother and his date before they went to TWIRP. I braved the crowds with my mother on Black Friday, all for a sweater that still hadn’t sold out two days later. I saw Beowulf and the Bee Movie in theaters, and my dad and I watched the Star Wars trilogy at home. I took pictures of the snow. I watched a lot of movies. I was feeling adventurous and cooked a sort of pepperoni calzone-thing for the family. I even managed to do a tiny amount of homework.

Like I said, it was perfect.

I am finally home. The flight was easy and uneventful. I got to the airport with plenty of time thanks to the fabulous driving of Cindy, who lives across the hall from me. I slept on both plane rides, which made time go by even faster.

The best part was being met at the airport by my family and best friend Shiloh. And the weirdest part was instantly, it felt like I had never left. I don’t know what I was expecting to feel, but there with my family and friend, it felt like I had only been gone for a few days, not months.

Home felt the same, for the most part. I had forgotten about its…er… quirks, and I had to be reminded of how to set the alarm. But the hanging out in the kitchen with Mom and lounging around on the couch, watching a movie with Dad– it felt the same as always.

I guess that’s why they say when something just feels right, it’s like coming home.