Elli Yeager

Packing is a tedious task. Travel is part of student life, we are often taking off to go home for the weekend, to an exotic destination for break, to competitions or club events, or just to visit a friend. 

Packing can be exciting for some who can’t wait to bring everything they need for their next adventure. Packing can also be stressful,  since you never know what you need or want to bring. Some people pack a week in advance and some people leave it for the last minute. Either way something is always forgotten, whether it is a toothbrush or a hairbrush or a bathing suit.

Packing can also be metaphoric. Students have to “pack” their dogs or cats somewhere while they are gone. Some must “pack” their studies or responsibilities away until they return home. Others like to finish all of their homework before their trip, whether it be for athletics or just for fun, so they don’t have to worry about anything and just enjoy the trip.  

College starts with packing and will end with packing, and it will be a skill we practice for all four years. 

Need an icebreaker? The top ten questions to ask on a first date….

1. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Ice cream flavor can tell a lot about a person, whether they prefer life vanilla or walk on the wild side with Rocky Road. 
2. Do you talk to your pets? What do you say to them? I personally find that if a guy does not like animals, our first date is also our last date. 
3. What song do you sing in the shower? It’s a good sign when people don’t take themselves too seriously. Singing in the shower can be a sign of self-confidence. 
4. If you had one meal left on Earth, what would you eat? Sushi for me, as anyone who knows me well can answer. 
5. What is your perfect first date? April 25 because it’s not too hot, not too cold…all you need is a light jacket.
6. On a first date, would you choose an outside activity or an inside activity?  Strikes for movies, meeting for coffee, or meeting up at a club. 
7. Are you active or lazy on a Sunday afternoon? Depends on the afternoon for me, usually after a crazy busy week, I like to lounge around the house and practice self care on a Sunday afternoon. 
8. What is one thing that you have tried and would never do again, and one thing that you tried and will never give up?  Wakeboarding at the water park is a no-go, but water skiing and boating I enjoy every summer now. 
9. What is your favorite place on Earth. You mine as well know now that the barn, doesn’t matter which one or what location, is my home away from home. 
10.  Are we done yet? If I ask this question, you already know the answer. 

Midterms… the word is bittersweet. 

On one hand, I am halfway through the semester. Halfway closer to summer break. Halfway done with lectures and reading and homework. 

On the other hand, WHERE DID THE TIME GO! The panic and fear of grades takes over every student just about the time of midterms. All the reading that I meant to do ahead of time and the time management skills I swore I would work on this semester.

It’s the time of year when the library is filled. Students are on campus past dark. Study groups lock themselves in quiet spaces and study for their lives. The finance and accounting majors have it the worst- those are the ones usually in the library – and look miserable.  Students look run down and most are crying and panicking with fear for what the professors have in store for them. Nobody goes out or parties because there is no time to do both, and studying, for once, comes first. 

Some students are prepared and some are trying to play catch up. Everyone suffers from insomnia, wondering if they have enough time to prepare, knowing cramming is not the most effective or successful strategy, but desperately opening up e-books, podcasts and lecture notes anyway. Hoping 7 weeks of studying can fit into 2 and a half days. 

Why is it that nobody seems to know how to park? I have to arrive at class thirty-five minutes early just so I can hit up two different parking structures and hope I get lucky. I often wonder if parking is a problem at every school, or if it’s a unique pain at SMU. 

Parking ticket people seem so unnecessary. Not having a front plate (so I can’t back into a spot)- Ticket. Forgetting to put on my hazards when I am dropping something off or picking someone up – Ticket. Not parking in the correct zone -Ticket . 

Once, I even paid for a two hour parking spot and they still gave me a ticket. That made me mad enough to go in and defend my parking rights. I felt pretty proud of myself when I was given an apology and not another ticket when they realized that they had made a mistake. 

And then there’s the fact that even people with carts that practically park for them, with surround parking assistance cameras, who still cannot manage to park in between the lines, which makes my life with a truck miserable, especially when there are no oversize or SUV reserved spots on campus.  There’s even difficulty navigating within the garages because people like to whip around the turns and go 40 miles an hour in the farages. It really is a fight for your life in these garages, and sometimes I’m a winner and more often I am not.

And lets say I finally find a spot , it is usually a 20 minute walk to my class, which then turns into a spring because it took me so long to find the spot to begin with that my extra thirty minutes allotted time is often not enough. So when I am late to class and my professor gives me a look, I assure you it is not my fault, but the fault of the parking gods at SMU.

Three of the most difficult schools are on our schedule this week, South Carolina, Georgia and Auburn. Long nights and long days are ahead of us and teams are out for blood, I guess that’s what happens when you are number 1. Thus, the start of hell week. The week that everyone needs to be above and beyond with their rounds, their cheers, and their support. 

First up. South Carolina. At home they can put up a real fight on their horses and on their turf-  they also have a bigger team than us. Fences, Flat and Reining are what we need to fight for this week. This is also a bittersweet battle since all of us on the SMU team have friends at each of these schools. It’s not always easy doing battle with besties, girls we have grown up with and competed against our entire lives.

Second up. Georgia. This year Georgia has had some of the highest scores breaking records in one of our divisions and Georgia won NCAA Nationals 2 years ago, certainly making them a real competitor. Their team is huge. 80 girls on their team compared to our 35 make us look small, but as my dad always says we are “small but mighty.” Georgia has some very talented players, but so do we. This will be a real matchup of how far we have come in these last few weeks as a team.

Finally, Auburn has more accolades and SEC championships than any other team in the country. In the first round of the NCAA Championships, the best team goes against the second lowest ranked team. That was us last year and we came out guns blazing and beat them by 4 points, one of the biggest upsets in the first round in history. The stakes are different this time, they are at home and have their whole team behind them.

 All I can do is rely on the faith I have in my team and do my part in competing, cheering them on and supporting them. Everyone is out for our blood but what they are ready for is us to fight back just as hard or harder. 

Pony Up 

My Valentine’s Day was quite boring; I had classes all day and then ate a meal with some of my friends, but it wasn’t a celebration or anything like that. Campus was flooded with girls walking around with flowers and guys holding flowers and boxes of chocolates to give to their significant others. Delivery services like “Tiff’s Treats” had couriers all across campus for those in long distance relationships or if they were too lazy to plan ahead. Couples gleamed with joy and walked across campus like it was middle school when the most exciting thing to do was hold a boy’s hand. For them the day was full of flowers, chocolates and red colored gifts. Instagram was flooded with “Happy Valentines Day! I love you” with a collage of pictures on stories or as posts. Snapchat was also taken over by the Valentines Day pictures. In all, it seemed like a whole lot of stress for everyone involved.

I will take option B. The single people with not a care in the world because today was just like any other day for them. Their looks of not being bothered in the slightest and ignoring all the antics of Valentines Day and simply spending time with close girl or guy friends. No pressure for the perfect present, the perfect card, the perfect dinner.  No agonizing over the appropriate social media post, or the picture that best displays “the happy couple.” Just an ordinary day with a little laughter and a whole lot of wine. 

The flash of light against the windowpane

The drops dribble against the glass 

The lights flicker while the thunder rumbles 

Growling its anger at the pitch black sky.

Ice balls crackle and crack diving down from the sky

Wind gusts howl with indignation through the alleys below

Dark-gray black clouds gallop across the silvery moon

Nature, all in, shows her hand.

Watch with awe as the lightning lights up the sky

My dog and I hide under the safety of sheets and quilts

Trembles rip through her body when the thunder crashes 

And I comfort her until the storm passes.

 Mondays are quite simply the worst. I am exhausted from traveling and usually our coach gives us a day off, 24 hours to breathe and get our lives back together, but that was not the case this Monday morning. Sadly.

Ding Ding Ding my alarm screamed from my phone, I groaned and fell out of bed. And that is how the day started. It did not get much better.  I woke up in a terrible mood, screaming at my alarm clock on my ass on the ground- I was tired, sore, and irritated. No days of rest for athletes, instead we are off to early morning practice despite three days of living and breathing red and blue. 

No rest or reset, just straight back to work. 8:30 practice was way harder than normal, everyone’s facial expressions reflected a team of dark and stormy moods. We put in the little energy we had left and got out of there as soon as possible. Then I had workouts, taking more of the empty tank of energy I had, and everyone was at eachothers throats at this point. Team spirit checked out with my lack of sleep. 

Spanish did not brighten my mood. Even the boy next to me, who kept cracking jokes and making funny faces, could not extract a smile. Class, homework, class, repeat. Great. Maybe I can make it to bed before tomorrow begins.