Time To Turn the Page

Friday was "Family Night". The six of us girls took a trip to Alliance Bank Stadium to see the Sky Chiefs play the Toledo Mud Hens. To no one's surprise, the Sky Chiefs lost, but it was fun anyways. To be honest, we weren't really there for the game. We were there for the six of us to have a good time, to relax, and to cherish the last few weeks that we had together.

Taylor, Jaclyn, Breanna, Me, Anne, and Caroline

In only 12 days, the six of us will be parting ways, not forever, but for a longer time than any of us are truly okay with. Breanna is the only one that isn't graduating, and because of this, she's losing almost every close friend she has in Oswego. We'll be leaving her to fend for herself. She's an independent girl, though, and I'm sure we'll keep in contact enough to help her through the rest of her years at Oswego.

The rest of us though, are done with Oswego. We're not coming back, not for grad school, and perhaps not even to visit. Four years of this place is definitely enough. Caroline is going to grad school at Pace to get her Master's Degree in childhood education, specializing in Special Education. She'll be living in New York City, living the stressful life of a Master's Student. She wants to teach in the city, help underprivileged youths and be a good influence on those that truly need one. She has a presence in the classroom, one that shows that she's meant to be there and I believe she'll do great things while working in the city.

Taylor, well who knows where Taylor is going to end up. Chances are she'll be staying close to home in Buffalo to work at her horse barn, keeping close to Oswego because her boyfriend still has to finish out his last two semesters. She's a girl with high hopes, graduating with a degree in Public Relations. She wants to work with a big time advertising firm, but is planning to settle for volunteer work and possibly the Peace Corp., a place where her generosity would certainly come in handy.

Jaclyn is going to be staying in Syracuse, living with her boyfriend and their dog, trying to find a job that can help put her Broadcasting Degree to good use. I'll still see her quite often since we live only a short distance from each other and she's a girl I've come to be able to rely heavily on when I need someone to talk to. She wants to be a radio personality, and some day, if she remains active in the radio business after her internship at Galaxy Communications with Dave and Gomez, I think she'll be able to accomplish this goal.

Anne is, well, working on it. She wants to work in television, working behind the scenes, using her Broadcasting and Mass Communications Degree as best she can. Her dream is to write the best scary movie of the century and direct it, scaring the pants off of everyone that watches it. She has big dreams, but they are certainly achievable if she sets her mind to it. No one else loves horror movies the way Anne does and no one has studied them more than her. Although she's staying in Syracuse with her family, she'll definitely reach her goals if she sticks to it. She's my best friend, someone I plan to spend a great deal of time with after graduation. I love Anne, my first roommate and best friend at Oswego <3

And me, well I'm moving back home to Oneida and living with my parents while I figure out exactly what I'm going to do with my future. Grad school for Elementary Education gets closer and closer, but that won't happen until January. Closing this chapter of my life is going to be difficult, but I know that I've gotten through it with some of the best friends I could have made. I love each and every one of my girls so much and I know that we'll all do our best to keep in contact throughout the years.

Leaving Oswego will be difficult because I won't just be leaving the six girls, but I'll be leaving some other great friends as well; Andrew, Sarah, Kayla, Matt O., Christian, Matt G., Cameron, Dave, Lesley, and so many more. I'll continue talking to all of them most likely, Andrew, Matt O., and Christian especially. They're great friends and I'll miss them a lot as well.

But it's time to turn a page in my life, start something new, get a full time job, and make money so I can move out of my parent's home. It's going to be tough, but it's something I know I can do. Chances are I'll move somewhere that I can move in with Andrew, the best friend a girl could ask for. We're like two peas in a pod and although I'll hate leaving my girls, he's the one that will be hardest to leave. We're inseparable and he's the best friend a girl could ask for. According to him, "we'll be friends until pigs fly through a frozen hell." Good to know.

Me, Matt O. and Andrew

So I say a great goodbye to SUNY Oswego. It was fun while it lasted. :)

Blast From the Past

This past week seems to have been a blur. Papers are due. Presentations have been scheduled. Final papers are being assigned. Stress is increasing. Things are getting difficult and graduation is only 4 weeks away. Anne has been trying to put all the stress behind her and the other day entered my room with a hankering to play video games.

It started with a conversation at lunch about freshman year. We were reminiscing about the good days, when she was my roommate and she had the rights to use my video game system whenever she wanted to. This, of course, brought up the game that had taken over her life most of freshman year, an NBA GameCube game that was simply a 3 on 3 basketball tournament.

When we were freshman, this game ruled Anne's life. She would skip class to continue her season on the game, winning time after time and never putting the controller down for a break. She would save and turn off the television when she had to leave the room, but the game system would stay running, never being turned off so that Anne wouldn't lose any of her progress in her character's basketball season.

It was pathetic and we almost had to have an intervention to make her quit playing. Luckily, the summer had broken her addiction since she didn't have the game readily available at her home.

As we talked about this game, Anne decided it would be necessary for her to revisit her character and the season she had been doing so well in only three short years ago. When we returned from lunch, Anne took a seat in my green chair and started playing.

I did homework as she played and immediately I began missing freshman year, the stress free beginning classes and the countless fun memories I had with my friends. It made me realize how quickly the past four years have gone by, the ups, the downs, and the countless friends I've made. It's gone too fast and now it's over. There are so many things that I'll miss; Andy (my absolute best friend), the girls, Matt and Chris, and the free time I have to write. It's hard to believe that it's all coming to an end, but the future looks bright.

I watch Anne kick ass in each one of her 3 on 3 basketball match ups and realize that these are the simple times I'll miss the most, just hanging out and talking, watching her play a pointless video game because it helps her to calm down, breathe, and release some stress.

Let the Countdown Begin...

For the past few weeks, video games have become irrelevant. Now it's time to buckle down and get our work done. Of the six of us girls, five of us are seniors...and seniors with intense cases of senioritis. We all have our own things that are keeping us busy. Four of the girls have boyfriends that fill their time. Anne has rugby and her constant rugby parties. I spend most of my time hanging out with my close friend, Christian. There isn't time for video games, only time for homework parties and dinner.

The stress of our upcoming graduation is looming over all of our heads. We're trying to be good and not give in to the pressure of what lies ahead of us in the very near future, but it's difficult. The stress is causing our boiling points to rise and as the end of our undergraduate college careers gets here faster and faster, we are becoming easily annoyed by the little things. Nothing serious, but fights won't be easily avoidable with the high amount of pressure being placed upon the five of the six of us girls.

Last night we took a breather, a nice night to forget homework and other friends and spend the day catching up. The six of us took a walk to Bev's for ice cream. Being outside in the fresh Oswego air, taking in the breeze and enjoying every second that we had with each other helped each of us to relax. While we were walking, we talked about planning a family day, a trip to Alliance Bank Stadium for a Sky Chiefs game, the perfect way to take our mind off of the impending separation.

For now, video games, even though they can sometimes prove to be a definite way to de-stress, have taken a back seat to homework and valuable time with the girls before we all must say our goodbyes. Only a month left until graduation...

The Love of Knowledge

When it comes to video games, I'm a pro. Some games I'm a pro at because I've been playing them forever, and other games I'm a pro at because I've read the books that are created to tell you every little detail of the game. I love gaming manuals and for a long time in my life, I refused to play any game without the manual to go along with it. The game that started my love for this was a game I'm am still incredibly obsessed with.

Zelda. Easily one of the best games ever created. On my own list of favorite games, it can be matched only with my love of Super Mario and Donkey Kong. It's one of those games where you have free range and although there is a set path you must complete to beat the game, you can do it in any order you would like.

I've been playing different Zelda games since I was about 12 years old, the first one being Zelda and the Ocarina of Time. When my sister first bought the game for the Nintendo 64, I was fascinated with it, but since I strictly played classic games like Mario where you can only run in one direction, the free range game play threw me off and I settled for watching her play.

About a month after having the game and not being able to make it past the first level without an intense amount of difficulty, my sister decided to buy the game play book, the manual that tells you every secret of the game and exactly how to beat each section of the game with ease. This began my ultimate love for Zelda as I became what my sister deemed as "the reader".

As "the reader", I would sit and watch my sister play for hours, reading the book to her as she went so she would no longer have to question what she was doing in the game. Some say it's cheating, but I don't care. Reading all about the games inner-workings and the little intricacies of each level was incredible to me. Due to my photographic memory, I began to memorize everything about the book. I would read ahead when she wasn't playing and find out what the future held for my sister.

The only thing was, I wouldn't play the game. I didn't want to. It would take me away from reading the book. But as my sister grew older, she stopped playing as much and to me, reading the book began to seem useless. I had already memorized everything it had to say, so perhaps it was finally time for me to start playing the game. The first time I played the game, I was probably about 15 years old. I had the book sitting next to me, but I can remember never having to open the book because I never ran into a single area in which I didn't know what I was supposed to be doing.

I fell in love with the game because I was so perfect at it. I knew the game better than my sister did because I had read the book. At this point, I felt my brain was the book. I knew everything it had to say and I didn't need it anymore.

And this was what started my love for gaming books. I wouldn't play a game after that without having read the book for it first. The following Zelda games that were created, were bought with the books specifically because my parent's could tell how much I loved the books. My father would constantly call me a cheater, but I didn't want the books to help me with the game, I wanted it for the extra information, the pictures, the stories and character descriptions that you couldn't get specifically from playing the game. I'm a girl that loves details and that's exactly what the books provided me with.

Goodbye Friend...

Well, it's a sad day in Scales, Room 108. The Wii is officially gone...

Jaclyn was the owner of the Wii and in order to provide for her brand new pitbull/boxer mix puppy, Bailey, she made the difficult decision to sell her Wii, her games, and all the accessories along with it.

We should have had a going away party; one last group Mario Party party to say goodbye to our dear friend, but we didn't. That Wii has supplied Room 108 with so many hours of entertainment and laughter over the past two years, it just feels wrong that we weren't able to give it a proper goodbye.

It seems empty in the room. The sounds of dying cats and shrieking birds have disappeared with the loss of the Wii. There is no more Glee Karaoke or Disney Sing-it to be heard through the hallways.

I've lost the power to soar through the universe since I can no longer play Mario Galaxy, and we can no longer have the power to throw our gaming partners off of cliffs since the New Super Mario game was sold as well.

I suppose we'll get over it in time, but it will be tough to fill the void that the loss of our Wii has left deep inside. I love my GameCube and my Super Nintendo, but it's just not the same, not nearly as interactive and fun for the whole group as the Wii was.

You will be missed, Wii, I can promise you that.

Happy Birthday Jaclyn...

In my group of friends, March is one of the months that we look forward to the most. The reason? Several of us have birthdays in March. Jaclyn's is on the 7th, Bre's on the 12th, Caroline's on the 20th, and George's on the 31st. This means that during the month of March, there are a lot of birthday celebrations. Since Jaclyn's birthday was on Monday, we went to Cheap Seats Sunday night for a few drinks. I drove so, like always, I was the sober one.

We all had a good time playing pool and talking, and by the time we left, several of the girls were drunk; including Jaclyn and Anne. By the time we got back to the dorms, it was only 11:00. None of us wanted to go to sleep so Anne followed me and Jaclyn into our room and set up the Super Nintendo.

First, my two drunk friends had to figure out what game to play.

"Let's play Aladdin," Jaclyn yelled, slurring her words.

"No. That...is a one player game. And I...want to play a two player game." Anne spoke with great emphasis so that Jaclyn would understand exactly what she was trying to say.

"Aladdin is better."

"Noparooni. We are playing whatever game is already in the system."

"But I don't want to play that."

"Do you even know what it is?"

"Do you know what your face is?"

Jaclyn was silent.

"Exactly." Anne had proved her point. "Check the game."

"Nooooo." Jaclyn was in no condition to be getting up.

Anne, who was sitting in our green fold out chair, pointed at the Super Nintendo and then put her finger to her nose. This symbolized that she was not going to be the one to get up and turn the game on. Jaclyn, who was sitting in her bed, put her finger on her nose and both girls turned to look at me.

"Screw that." I knew what they wanted me to do and it was not going to happen.

"But you don't have your finger on your nose." Jaclyn said, her finger still pressed to her nose.

"I don't care. I'm not playing. Why the hell would I get up and turn the game on?"

"She has a point," Anne said. "You do it."

"Why me?"

"Because I touched my nose first."

"Awww. Fuck."

Jaclyn was not happy. She agreed to do it, but knowing Jaclyn, she would do it without leaving her bed. She adjusted on the bed and laid down on her side. She reached over the side of the bed and using the controller that was closest to her, she pulled the game system to her. Normally, this wouldn't be a difficult task, but tonight, Jaclyn was drunk.

Anne and I laughed as she pulled system to her. She pulled too hard and almost lost her balance. She started sliding off the bed and screaming along with it. Anne and I didn't move as my drunken roommate hit the floor with a loud thud. Anne started laughing even harder, so hard she was snorting. This made me laugh more as we watched Jaclyn struggle to get back up. She was having a great birthday night.

She pulled her self to her feet using her bed post and started yelling at us. "You guys suck!"

We continued laughing as she stood there, beat red and trying not to laugh at herself.

"I'm not even playing anymore." She kicked the system and stomped out of the room.

"Well, I suppose that's it for the night." Anne stood from her chair, said goodnight, and left the room.

I was still laughing when Jaclyn came back in. She ignored me for the night and went to sleep. It just proves that drinking and playing video games don't go well together, especially if you can't even turn the game on.

"Wii" Are Family

I live in a very closely knit family, but these days we're all very busy and often times don't have time to just sit and talk about our days with each other like we used to. I live in Oswego for about seven or eight months out of the year. My sister works two jobs, and although she still lives at home, she is never there. My brother is 16 and lives at home, but between friends, sports, and school functions, he isn't home nearly as much as he used to be. Often times it's difficult to get the five of us together in one room, but when we do, it's for the same reasons that it used to be; a video game night.

These days we don't play the Super Nintendo together anymore though. We play the Nintendo Wii. Since the Nintendo Wii is an interactive gaming system, my parents felt it necessary to get one for the family. It seemed only right. We have two Super Nintendos, a Nintendo64, three Nintendo Game Cubes, two Play Station 2s, and an XBox 360. Why not add a Nintendo Wii to the mix?

With the interactive bowling and tennis, my parents started arranging little family tournaments. I win the tennis tournament every time, but the bowling champion changes with every tournament. Besides the sports games that come with the system, we have Just Dance 2, an interactive dancing game where you follow the onscreen choreography. My parents enjoy watching me and my brother dance together. Due to my horrible coordination, I'm not specifically good at the dancing game, but I do my best to supply my parents with hours of entertainment.

Other Nintendo Wii games that I enjoy are Disney Sing-it and Glee Karaoke, two games that come with microphones and act as karaoke games. I play these with family and with friends. Now I'm not the best singer in the world, but I try my best to win points and unlock awards by singing songs decently and slightly on pitch.

My friends though, don't care about those things. When Anne sings "Can You Feel the Love Tonight", a classic song from The Lion King, I swear a cat is dying somewhere. She sings as loud and off pitch as she possibly can. It's not a problem since I don't play for points with the girls, but wow, it can definitely be painful sometimes.

The only song on my Disney Sing-it that Anne will take seriously is "A Whole New World" from Aladdin, and she will only take it seriously if she's singing Aladdin's part of the duet. She's something else that girl, but she has a way of making everyone laugh, no matter the game she's playing.

I feel like the Nintendo Wii has become an all too important part of my life, but only because it's been a great way to bring my family back together. It's helping me and my family become more active and giving us a way to connect that had been lost on us for many years.

It has also given me and my friends just one more way to entertain ourselves during the below zero nights in this bitter cold city of Oswego.