Early Symptoms of Senioritis

When I first came back to Ohio Northern this year I thought that I would be able to pick up right where I left off last year. Full of motivation and a strong drive to succeed academically in all of my classes. Man was I wrong! I have quickly developed a serious condition of senioritis and it is becoming more powerful every day. Since I was in high school I have heard people talking about senioritis, but I did not think I would catch it this early in the school year. I was at least expecting to make it through the first semester before I started noticing any symptoms, but no, senioritis is in full effect just 4 weeks into the fall semester. I don’t know how I am supposed to make it through the rest of the school year when my body has already been taken over by this debilitating condition.

To make matters worse, many of my friends and roommates have also developed symptoms of senioritis and the results are catastrophic. Before, as soon as one of started slacking off the others would encourage him to refocus and get back to their studies. Now, when one person doesn’t feel like doing anything, the others will experience the same feeling and we all end up watching a Lethal Weapon marathon or something along those lines. 

Last year I completed a market research project examining the effect of student housing arrangements on academic performance. I concluded that students that live on-campus tend to have an overall higher GPA than those students living off-campus. I should have taken this into account before moving into an off-campus house, but I was so excited to finally get off campus after three years that I wasn’t going to let anything stop me. So now I’m just going to have to suck it up and get my stuff together before I end up having to take a fifth year of college, otherwise known as a victory lap. 

The Fall Allergy Plague

For the first 18 years of my life, I never experienced seasonal allergies. When I started my freshman year here at Ohio Northern a wave of fall allergies hit me like a ton of bricks for the first time in my entire life. It started with a runny nose that soon leads to severe congestion and dry, itchy eyes. Ever since that very first fall semester at Ohio Northern, my seasonal allergies have flared up every fall and spring since then. I’ve been trying to figure out why my allergies only flare up in Ohio and I think I have it narrowed down to a couple of different sources. I think the leading factor causing my allergies to flare up only in Ohio is the different plants and pollens around me that I am not normally exposed to in Michigan.

Another factor that may be contributing to my allergies is my age. It is also likely that I didn’t have these allergies when I was younger and they are something that I have developed over time. This has been the case for me when it comes to my tree nut allergy. When I was younger I used to eat almonds and pecans all of the time, but one day I decided to eat some chocolate covered cashews and I almost immediately had an allergic reaction to them. I later found out that I was indeed allergic to tree nuts and if I hadn’t had that allergic reaction, I would have never found out about my tree nut allergy. Going back to my seasonal allergies, I can say the same thing about coming to ONU. If I never would have come to ONU, I would have never developed these horrible seasonal allergies.

The Curse of No Internet

One of the biggest things I was excited for when I moved off-campus this year was getting internet that was much more reliable and faster than what has been provided on campus the entire time I have been enrolled at Ohio Northern. Unfortunately, this was only the case for the first week we had our internet. Since then the internet has been very sporadic for when it actually works and the connection speeds have been all over the place. On top of having the worst internet in Ada, my roommates and I decided that we didn’t need to get cable and we would just stream everything. In theory, this was a good idea, but in reality, this actually turned into a terrible idea because it has become impossible to watch anything in our house.

The internet dilemma is forcing my roommates and myself to become a lot more creative in figuring out things to do in our free time. Some of our more conventional ideas have been playing board games and sitting outside by the campfire, but you can only play so many board games and have so many fires before you get bored of these activities. Recently I have taken up the hobby of squirrel watching from my front window and I think it is literally driving me insane. I’ve even tried to name all of the squirrels that hang around our house, but let’s be honest they all look exactly the same and move incredibly fast so it is nearly impossible to name all of the squirrels that hang out by my house. Nevertheless, it helps pass the time and adds excitement into my life every time I see what I think is a new squirrel to the family.

The Ada Petting Zoo

It has been almost three weeks since I officially moved into my house for the year and it is slowly turning into a small zoo. The first animal to move into the house was one of my roommate’s dog. He has had this dog for two years now so this was no surprise to anyone. Not long after the dog moved in another roommate of mine decided to get about 20 fish. No one really understands why he decided to buy all of these fish, but I must admit they are pretty cool to look at and they definitely liven up the living room. The last animal to move into the house was another roommate’s cat. This cat kind of came as a surprise because my roommate found her outside at his work one day over the summer and decided to keep her because she is one of the most regal cats any of us have ever seen.

You might think a dog, a cat and 20 fish would be enough animals for one house, but not for our house. Not long after I moved into the house someone told me they had a litter of kittens and I could have one for free. How could I not pass up on this offer? In about two weeks I will finally be adopting the first cat I can call all my own. For the past two years of college, I have lived with a cat but it was my roommate’s cat so it didn’t feel the same as having my very own cat. I am very excited to adopt this cat and give it a great life.