Page Presents Second Entry in D's Diary

Sept. 18, 2007

Hey all,

We’re already into the fourth week of school, time flies when you’re havin' fun - or just too busy to realize it!

 

The first couple of weeks are always the hardest for me and this year is no different.  The first week is so busy with meetings, classes and basketball that I didn’t even have time to miss the summer.  But by the second week everything kind of calmed down and we settled into a schedule.  Right around that time is when I started to miss the lazy days of summer and all the fun that I had doing everything and nothing.

 

School is going well. I had to turn in my first paper today and that was a real shock on the system.  I think my body just figured out that this isn’t summer session anymore and the laid back classes are long gone.  I have a pretty heavy class load this semester.  I’m taking 16 credits, which is more than I normally take.  But I figure I will get all these classes out of the way the first semester and have a lot lighter load second semester when we do all the traveling. 

 

And I figure by second semester “senior-itis” will kick in, in full force and I will be less willing to do any homework whatsoever.  But it might have already hit me, because I find getting myself to do homework harder and harder with each passing day.  My hardest class is probably French this semester. I have been taking French since I was in 7th grade and took three years off from my senior year in high school to my junior year in college when I started taking it again.  But you would think with five years experience and another two semesters in college I would be fluent in French. You would be mistaken! 

 

I might be the worst French student ever.  Most people on the street know more French than me.  I have Bonjour and Au revoir, and a couple of phrases in between but that’s about it.  Good thing one of my new teammates is from France and can help me out with my homework.

 

Speaking of which, the team is doing great.  All the new kids are really fitting in well and each bring their own personality to the mix.  Kaitlyn (Burke) is from Canada and reminds us everyday when she says things like “washroom” instead of bathroom, or “pardon” instead of excuse me.  We enjoy giving her a hard time about it, but I have caught myself saying “pardon” a couple of times the past few days...oops! 

 

Tay (Hester) is playing really well in pickup and in practice and will contribute a ton to the team on the court.  Monique Whittaker is funny. We call her Whit because we already have a Mo and a Nique...so we had to use her last name to get her a nickname.  Whit me sometimes of Sarah White (a former Husker who I was roommates with my freshman year) because of some of the things she says and some of the moves she makes on the court. 

 

Nique (Dominique Kelley) is a great basketball player and an even better person.  She is so outgoing and has so much energy. She always has a funny story to tell the team. 

 

Kat (Catheryn Redmon) is a fellow post player who is famous for the zig zag.  The zig-zag is a move that Kat liked to make in the summer when we played pickup.  When she would run down the court in transition and she was in front of you, she would zig-zag down the length of court in an attempt to keep you from getting around her.  This was an effective tactic until we figured out what she was doing and busted it by her even harder in an effort to get a lay-up.  We joke about it now but at the time it was very frustrating running behind her in pickup. 

 

Jess (Jessica Periago) is from France and is still trying to master the English language.  I have such admiration for her because of what she has sacrificed to be here with us, and because she has to work so hard every day doing something that we all do without thinking about (communicating). 

 

We had our first practice today.  It was exciting to get back out on the court with everybody - even if it was just for an hour.  We are allowed to have two hours of practice time each week until official practice starts in October.  We started off pretty slow.  We did five-man weave for our warm-up drill today.  Mo (Kelsey Griffin), Cory (Montgomery) and I were in the first group and (Nikki)Bober, Tiny, and Kat were in the second group.  So you would think with all but one of the first two groups being returners we would have this drill, which we did all last year, down to a science.  But of course we struggled. 

 

We have a rule that if a group is not perfect, that group has to go to the front of the line and do it again.  Well the first two groups had to do it three times each before any other groups got to go.  We all had so much nervous energy that everyone was running around really not sure where they were supposed to go.  But that is how every year starts, so I’m not worried.  The new kids will catch on quick and the returners will remember even quicker.

 

Well, I’m sure that I have some homework that I have procrastinated until tonight...so I better get on that.

 

Hope you’re as excited as I am for the start of the season.

 

D

 

Small side note...I passed my 33 test, I know you were all trapped in suspense...well at least I was!