NAU, James Taylor, and the Colorado Version of Me

Hey everybody that may be reading this. It's been a long time since I've written anything on here. And just a forewarning--This is EVERYTHING that went through my mind this past 4-day weekend.

So I just got back to Oregon a couple hours ago after spending 3.5 to 4 days in Flagstaff, Arizona. I went to check out Northern Arizona University, a school that I've already been accepted to and everything. I attended a seminar about it in Portland about a month ago I think, and the school sounded fantastic. After much anticipation, and postponement, we finally found the chance to go down there. I'll break it down by day because it was an eventful day!

Thursday, October 30th:
Mostly just a travel day. We got into Phoenix at about 4? Gosh, it's hazy already. How about this, we got into Flagstaff at 7:30. It was really dark by then (Flagstaff is like the first place to get dark in America. And believe me, it's dark there) They don't do daylight savings there, but since it is technically mountain time, the Office was on at 8:00 pm! At that note, I was feeling good about the whole place (I'm easily impressed). Even though I had a terrible headache from all the traveling, I was able to enjoy myself when I got on facebook and talked to my friends that I dearly missed. We chilled for the rest of the evening and I found a love for political newscasting. I must say, this Tuesday will be an intense day. I have no idea how it'll turn out. I think I'll be happy either way, but I'm not sure.

Friday, October 31st:
Ok, so I'll tell you all straight up, I'm not a fan of halloween. I'm a wuss when it comes to all the scary stuff about it. I refuse to watch horror movies and I don't like the darkness centered around the whole day. Anyway, our tour was on Halloween, which was an interesting experience. Some people were dressed up in freaky outfits and some people were just weird! Moving on, we got the same powerpoint presentation about the school as we did in Portland, so nothing new there. We then had lunch, and the place was decorated with halloween stuff, which to me was enough for me to lose my appetite. They had a themed menu, and so naming a casserole dish brain stew (or something like that) isn't my idea of appetizing. So the tour continued and I was directed to the health and sciences department advisor as well as the Athletic Training Department head (who was great. She helped us alot). I learned that double majoring in Exercise Science and Athletic Training (my original plan) would be really difficult to do. Athletic training, as a major, demands 20-30 hours a week observing in an athletic traning room, as well as all the other research and homework. That's just the Athletic training major alone, not to mention my other major, exercise science. I would have to double major if I wanted to get the reduced tuition, but honestly, coupled with my desire to run on their cross country team, I just don't feel that I have the time for everything. Also, I learned that having only an undergraduate degree wouldn't get me far at all, so that means graduate school afterward. When we saw the conflict by double-majoring, the advisor suggested that I try to get Arizona residency, which would demand a job and ownership of property I believe. Honestly, this scared me out of my mind. If this were to happen, I wouldn't be a dependent of my parents and I'd be completely on my own. (Insert an image of me shuddering here).

So like I said, at this point, the whole college thing scared me pretty badly. Being completely independent. It's a scary thought, but also a revealing thought. Shall we continue?

Next was the actual campus tour. I got to talking to a kid from Colorado. I saw him pick up an "NAU Track" t-shirt in the bookstore, so I figured he was a runner. Turns out he runs around the same times as me and likes XC more than track (like I do). So that was cool, it gave us something to talk about while we waited for things to happen. However, it got way bizarre later. He noticed that a car drove was "rocking-out to high school musical." And so I said that I wouldn't know, in which he replied, "Oh, I'm just guessing." He told me that he was somewhat of a theater guy, and he told me that he did musicals at his high school. I told him that I was in Anything Goes my sophomore year, and he told me that they did that last year... It gets weirder. I asked him, "What part did you play? Please don't say the photographer." ... and he said, "Honestly, yeah." He was also a sailor, LIKE ME! At this point, I didn't know what to think, I was feeling the effects of the bizarreness. But he's a cool guy, so we're friends.

Through the whole tour, I noticed how barren Flagstaff really is. Like the rest of Arizona, it's just desert, but in this case, high desert. It just wasn't green, and it was very dry and dusty on the gravel "trails". There were a few times where I could see myself going to school there (I'll try to upload some pictures on here later), but mostly, I just didn't picture myself there. I also learned that Arizona has one of the worst rankings for the quality of education for Kindergarten through 12th grade. Kids don't understand punctuation and are ecstatic to receive C's. Alot of my success these past 4 years in high school are dependent upon the ambition and intelligence of the students around me. If I were to go to NAU, there would probably be a bunch of stupid in-staters, and I just don't think that'd work for me. I love working with the quality students now. All you obsessive-compulsive kids, I love you!

Saturday, November 1st:
This was a very interesting day, but a good one. I got up for breakfast, cooked a waffle in the hotel and shot a very quick prayer before eating. I looked up to find an older, texan gentleman looking at me. I said hello, and he asked me "Who are you praying to?" I was a little taken-aback and said "God." And he asked me which God? So I replied "Jesus Christ." He then continued to talk to me for about a half an hour about everything that was going on through his mind. Very talkative guy and a very nice guy. Despite my belief that everything happens for a reason, I kind of wondered "Why did I have to pray at that time?" His name was James Taylor, but not the musician. After that, I went for a run on the trail system that went through NAU. I'm still sick, and pretty much out of shape, but the elevation seemed to take a toll on me. Also, the trail was just a dirty and dusty gravel trail, and I feel spoiled to live in Oregon where there are beautiful tanbark and woodchip trails winding through beautiful forested areas. This was kind of disappointing to me.

We went to the Grand Canyons later that day, and let me tell you, they are the grandest of canyons. It was ASTONISHING!! That was a great experience, and I'd say that the whole trip was worth it for that.

Coming back, the check engine light came on... There are absolutely NO gas stations between the grand canyon and Flagstaff. Yeah, all like 90 miles or so. We seemed to be driving back on empty for awhile, only to find out that we still probably had 3 gallons left when we finally got back to Flagstaff and filled up. That was a stressful period, especially since I didn't have any cell service pretty much that whole time. But we made it back safely, and we were relieved.

Among other things, the people are a-holes (pardon my language) down in Flagstaff. I almost got run-down by a guy with his shopping cart. I was walking towards my mom and he comes up and doesn't slow down at all, and almost hits me. He just carried on, picked up bread all nonchalantly. My mom was shocked, I was just wanting to ask "what the heck man?" Another guy in a truck was cussing out the car in front of him waiting to turn right because he didn't aggressively go at a certain point in time. They are really aggressive drivers down there.

A big thing I don't like though is that it's SO DARK. Flagstaff is the only city where the lights only shine down instead of out, allowing a stronger view of the skies. However, everyone wears dark clothing and it's hard to see anyone. They also use yellow lights which are really disorienting.

Sunday, November 2nd:
To save time, since this was just another travel day, I'll make it short and sweet. We travelled towards the airport by taking a very gorgeous scenic route through the town of Sedona. There were tons of red-rock formations and it was just an amazing experience. Blah Blah Blah, we didn't think we'd make our flight, we got lost trying to find a Baja Fresh, we got stressed, blah blah blah. BUT WE MADE IT HOME!! It's honestly like a miracle to be back. I missed the rain, the greenness and yellowness of autumn in the pacific northwest. This trip was a revealing experience. I know that I'm confused out of my mind, and completely lost, but hey, so is everyone else. I've got time.