Field Testing and Fall at Iowa

For lab this morning we went to a Indian Creek and tested the water. It was so much fun. I really enjoy doing field work, as its called. I wore my rain boots and waded across the creek and back, soaking my feet in the process. It was so pretty out there, I didn’t want to come back to Coe. I could have stayed out there and camped and enjoyed the scenery and cooked over a fire. It has taken me a few years worth of summer experiences before I figured out I enjoy the outdoors but after hiking and camping and canoeing and white-water rafting with the Venture Crew, I’ve come to really enjoy it. Its always so peaceful and calm. Everything is so pretty, even when there aren’t any leaves on the trees. Its nice to get away and relax from the stress that surrounds you when you’re on campus or at home. You can temporarily forget that you have a paper due and homework to catch up on. You can forget your worries and just enjoy being.

Jeffrey was there, along with Yvonne and Deborah (De Bor ah). Yvonne is so funny because she keeps up a running commentary about how she thought by moving to Iowa she could get away from hiking. Deborah is a sweetheart. She’s so quiet but she’s fun to talk to and I enjoy having conversations with her. She seems very nice and I’m excited that she’ll be working in the Writing Center next year and sad that I won’t be able to get to know her better that way.

Jeff took pictures of me crossing the stream. I think he enjoyed being outside, too. In fact, I know he did. He showed up to lab almost five minutes early when he’s usually five minutes late. Field testing is what he wants to spend his life doing and so today’s experience was just up his alley.

Allright. I’ve confessed a crush of Jeff before and then let it fade but it came back again today. I know that nothing is going to happen between him and I. There’s too much family history, what with me dating his cousin (Alex) and knowing his brother fairly intimately, too, but he has some personality traits that I am definitely looking for in a guy. First of all, he’s confident and optimistic. He knows what he’s doing and forges ahead. He doesn’t waste time trying to figure out if he’s figured out how to do something. He just does it and if it works, it works, and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t and he’ll find another way to make it work. Also, he really enjoys the outdoors and doesn’t assume that just because I’m a girl, I’m going to be less capable outside. One of my biggest peeves is being treated like I’m incapable. Its different when I ask for help, because then I’m acknowledging I need it but if someone assumes I can’t do something just because I’m a girl…ooh it really irks me. He doesn’t do that. In fact, sometimes I teach him how to do things.

Probably another reason for the attraction is simply because we work well together and know each other. We’re comfortable around each other and its never awkward like it can be with strange people. I’m sure I will have plenty of awkward moments in the fall at the University. I’m going to have to get used to them.

Actually, I’m a little nervous about the friend situation this fall. If Beth decides to go to Iowa, then I’ll have her to hang out with and I can branch from there. If she decides to go to Emery, in Atlanta, Georgia, then I’ll have to figure something else out because I refuse to sit at home every Friday and Saturday night because of a lack of people to hang out with. It sucks that all of my friends are moving away. I wish I had some way of meeting new people. I’m afraid that class sizes are going to be so big at Iowa that there won’t be any sort of making friends. Will I just go to class, take notes, and leave? How is it going to work? I’m going to have to be outgoing and friendly and open if I want to make friends. I’ll have to follow the advice I gave Lori about making friends on her own terms in California: “If you want friends, you’re going to have to go out of your way to make them. You can’t just sit around and expect people to want to hang out with you. You’re going to have to make them want to hang out with you.”