So here’s the final post. It’s weird that this semester is over so soon. Our first year of college is rounding to a close. And, honestly, despite everything, it’s been a pretty solid year for me. I know we’ve all been stuck inside for a month and I know that this isn’t the ideal end to our year. But, pat yourselves on the back! Despite everything, we’ve survived. I’m not going to pretend this semester hasn’t had it’s ups and downs for me and certainly for some of you. But, it was great.

I made my best friends yet. I never felt like I fit in before this year; now I do. And it’s a great feeling. I miss my friends like crazy. It’s true. And this is turning out to be a lot longer separation from them than I had anticipated. Nevertheless, I talk to them. I know they’ll be there for me when we return. I know I have a life that’s waiting for me when I get back. So, I wanna take this time to thank the people who made my first year in college so fantastic.

Thank you, Sadbh. You were my first friend in college and I have no doubts you’ll forever be my friend. You’re a busy lady but we always pick up where we left off and I am completely and totally myself with you.

Thank you, Cindy. You are my fellow crackhead and it is insane how fast we clicked. Neither of us ever thought we’d would take a second glance at the other as a close friend. And yet, here we are. I text you every day and I can always count on you for a laugh AND to school me if I’m being stupid or making mistakes.

Thank you, Brice. One of my other first friends in college. You made my birthday great. You make stupid and mean comments sometimes and yet you’re on of the best friends I have. You’re always there for me and will still give me a hug when I’m crying even if I was a jerk three days before.

Thank you, Chris. You most definitely keep me in line. You keep my ego checked at all times and you’re one of the only friends I’ve ever had who knows what a reasonable amount of mean comments is and where the line is. I can always count on you to talk some smack or educate me.

Thank you, Patrick. You stayed friends with me when Jen didn’t, and for that I’m grateful. And I’m sorry that things weren’t different this year. If you were reading this, you’d know what I mean. Maybe the cards will be in our favor one day. But for now, you’re one of my best friends.

Thank you, Lewis. You help me in class and we’re the last two who talk out of the summer group. We’ve made it and even though I haven’t always been the best friend, I’m glad we’re friends.

Thank you, Tiana. You push me to be a smarter person every day when you school me with your ever smart thoughts. I’m glad we’re friends.

Thank you, Prof. Sternlieb. You made me love reading again. You gave me my distinct appreciation for literature back and introduced me to one of my favorite novels. Thank you for restoring my love in my major and always making me laugh.

Thank you, Marisa. You recommended me for DPHIE and I’m so grateful. I gained so many sisters and friends so fast and I couldn’t be more grateful for all that you did for me.

Thank you, Grammy. You have been there for me despite everything this year and I’m so thankful for that. You always lift me up and make me feel better.

Thank you, Kellie. Your THON committee introduced me to great people and great experiences. I’m so glad we met and I don’t think I would’ve fit into any other committee better than I fit in yours.

Thank you, Ricky. You always gave good advice and you were a great pal. I’m gonna miss living on the same floor as you. I’m so happy for you and Carly.

Thank you, Amanda. You’re so fun and you’ve taught me more about differing opinions than I’ve ever learned in my life.

I’m sure there’s a million more people I could write some notes to but this is the main bulk of  people who made my year great. Thank you to everyone. You’re all great.

Hi, all.

So, our semester is officially over. Or, the fun part at least. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy classes, and I am still interested in my classes and the subjects even though it’s online. But, I have to admit, I miss my friends. I miss my in-person classes. I miss not having to depend on an internet connection to learn or having to worry about showing a messy room off during class. I miss Penn State.

A lot of people feel the same way; that much is clear. But I think the biggest problem isn’t even being addressed in terms of college students. Many of us left home and moved to college all alone for a reason: we wanted to get away and make a life for ourselves all on our own. That’s why I left, at least.

I love my family, don’t get me wrong, and coming home for breaks have been some of my favorite times I’ve had with my family. But, I don’t want to spend 5 months at home with my family, that’s why I moved in the first place. I don’t always get along with my parents or my sisters, and I don’t really have a place to live at home either. Both of my parents moved into houses without a room for me. So, I don’t love being at home, to say the least.

Aside from my weird family drama, which we most certainly DO NOT need to get further into here, I just miss my friends and the lively spirit of Happy Valley. In Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, people aren’t really all that happy and lively, to say the least. I may have mentioned it before, but my hometown was deemed the “unhappiest place in America” by NBC. So, you could say it isn’t the most exciting of places to be.

Overall, this sucks, and we all know that. But, I believe in our generation and I believe in our ability to overcome any obstacle put in front of us. We can make this work, and we can have fun doing it, I’m sure. That’s cheesy, probably as cheesy as it could possibly be, but it’s true. We’ll make it work, and we’ll come back semester better than ever!

Hello, RCL class! Welcome to my second passion post. These don’t really follow a theme, to be completely honest, or at least they weren’t SUPPOSED to. I feel like they are going to slowly become about me and my journey of finding myself, I guess? I don’t know if that’s the right phrase, but we’ll go with that.

Anyways. Last week, I wrote about being a happy person, and finding a way to do so by choosing happiness. This week, I want to write about becoming someone I can be proud of.

I generally like myself as a person, as arrogant as that sounds. But, I’ve never really been passionate about working, in any capacity. I’ve never felt really motivated to be a better me, if you will. Well, this has really changed for me in the last few weeks.

Why? Well, I wasn’t really thrilled with my grades and my overall performance last semester. My high school’s curriculum wasn’t really challenging compared with the elementary curriculum I grew up with in a different district. So, I never really needed to feel motivated to work or study because I had already learned everything that we were learning currently. So, I breezed through my work, you could say. I coasted, and it worked. I guess I just assumed that would still happen, and boy, did I have a rude awakening. I had a much lower GPA than I expected of myself, and it didn’t go over well with my family. I mean, I’m spending a significant amount of money to be here, and they don’t want me to waste it (which is fair). My dad ended up telling me that if I don’t improve this semester, there would be a serious discussion about whether I continued my education at Penn State or not. I love it here, so I’d really rather that NOT be a conversation we have to have.

So, I’ve really changed my way of thinking and acting in the past two weeks. I genuinely feel like a new person, somehow, and it’s one of the first times recently that I feel genuinely exhilarated by myself or something that I did. I just feel so great about myself, in the least arrogant way possible.

What did I do to create this feeling in myself? Well, we’re going into our third week of the semester here, so I know it’s early. But, for the first time in my life that I’ve been ahead on all of my work. I have finished my entire week of work before the week started. For example, these blog posts are being published on Sunday the 26th. I have everything that can be done for the week at the moment, done. It feels like a totally different experience than I’ve ever had, and that sounds so stupid but it’s a serious change for me. I’m not just coasting and flying be the seat of my pants anymore; I’m ahead of where I need to be. I’m where I want to be.

Old me would’ve said “haha, couldn’t be me” at myself and never thought about it again. I know it’s early, but I’m going to keep this going. I’m going to be a happy, productive, and energetic girl doing her best to be her best. I encourage you all to do so as well, if you aren’t already. It’s an amazing feeling. So, that’s me for this week, and all subsequent, hopefully. A different girl.

Hello! Welcome to the blog, so nice to see you, it’s a beautiful day, etc. etc….

So, I feel like I’m throwing a curve ball this week because I’m recommending a comedy! Believe it or not, based on my previous recommendations, I actually really love comedies and I think I’d say they’re my favorite thing to see in the theatre.

This is a pretty new one; I saw it in the theatre between summer and fall semesters so if that gives you any idea of just how new it is.. It also JUST came out to purchase digitally which I’m super excited about because I’ve wanted to watch it again so bad!

“Ok, great, what the heck movie is it?”

It’s Good Boys!

I guess I didn’t realize this movie was rated R, but we’ll soldier on because all of us are of age. So, Good Boys is a film about 3 boys (6th grade age) skipping school to get ready for a ‘kissing party,’ which, maybe I wasn’t cool or it was the Catholic school, but I’ve literally never heard of a ‘kissing party.’ I digress, however, and I’ll just say that this movie is hilarious. Like, I’d say it’s up there with Bridesmaids, which is one of the funniest movies I think I’ve ever seen (so, so many times growing up with two much older sisters).

It has Jacob Tremblay at the center of it, which is really exciting. I love Jacob Tremblay as an actor. He’s adorable, and so impressively versatile for his age, and has been for a good while. I feel like it’s weird to say, but, I definitely want a nephew or child like Jacob Tremblay. He’s literally so adorable. On a different note, this is a really different kind of film for him because he’s previously done drama type films, such as Room with Brie Larson, which was a huge hit in general, and won tons of awards for how powerful of a film it is. So, a comedy has never really been in this child’s wheelhouse, but he proves it now is because his performance in this film is really something to write home about. All three of these kids do that, really, because they absolutely nail comedic timing like they were born knowing how to do it. It’s not only a funny movie, but it’s really impressive to watch as a whole.

So, go buy the movie or wait until you can rent or watch it illegally, I don’t care what ya do or how you watch it, as long as you do! I

So, this was a really good movie, but I guess I’m recommending this so that if anyone watches it, I can discuss it with them.

This movie was from that weird time a few years ago where every YA novel about an apocalyptic or post apocalyptic world was a turned into a movie (ex: The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, Divergent, etc.) It stars Chloe G. Moretz and Liam Rowe.

Truthfully, I watched the movie this week because I like Liam Rowe as an actor and wanted to see something else he was in. But, it’s ODD.

There’s aliens (casual), there’s an out of place love story (of course), and there’s… soldier children…?

It’s weird. I’ll keep saying it. It’s weird.

I mean, it’s not bad, per se, just not written well I guess? I mean, the story itself is fine I guess, but the love story, which we all know HAS TO BE present in a YA book-to-movie fashion, but it was so, so misplaced. They also bring the love story to the front of the storyline right before some major secrets are revealed and the entire story is rattled from there on out. So, say someone was watching for the love story and was super invested in it, they would then be immediately disappointed.

They also have two love interests, I guess? I really couldn’t tell if the one character, played by the forever talented Nick Robinson, was supposed to be a love interest or just a backstory/friend/ally? I’m telling you, IT’S A CONFUSING MOVIE.

I’d also say it’s way too obvious what’s going to happen in the film because the entire time I was sitting here going “oooohhhhh that man is not good, he is a bad man, do not trust him, I am suspicious of this man!!!” (-me, for 2 hours during this movie)

It’s not a bad movie at all, and I’m sure if anyone has read the book, they’ll probably say the movie was a horrible adaptation. I know people always say that but sometimes, it’s true. Trust me. I will discuss this in detail another week, perhaps next, but The 2nd Maze Runner novel is an example of books and movies that aren’t sister, twins, or cousins. They’re two completely separate people, on two completely separate planets, in two completely separate galaxies, living completely polar opposite lives. NO JOKE.

So, should you watch this movie? I haven’t quite been selling it I guess. Like I said, not a bad movie, and hey, maybe it’s just me that has these gripes about it. So, yeah, go watch it and we can discuss!

Hello, today I am un-recommending a film, because the fact that it was made for children was an abomination, truthfully. I could describe it and most of you would probably guess it after a few lines of description, if we’re being real, but I’m just gonna come out and say it.

THE MOVIE CORALINE WAS, IS, AND WILL ALWAYS BE TERRIFYING.

I saw Coraline in the theatre when it came out, and I think it’s truly one of the only movies I have ever walked out of the theatre during. My mom got me out of there so quickly, I don’t even remember the discussion of leaving, I just remember crying and we got OUT. Even my mom was disturbed by the film, and won’t rewatch it again to this day.

Now, some people may like this idea. And after all, it’s a PG kids movie, most of you are probably fine and have probably watched Texas Chainsaw Massacre or the like at this point in your life. I have no idea how this was allowed to be rated PG because it is NOT if you ask me, but apparently it is. There’s talk of dead kids, there’s terrifying creatures and stories, actual on-screen death, violence, and it’s just terrifying.

I thought this would be fitting because it’s Spooky Season™️ and also, a tweet about this film from one of the last times I tried to rewatch it came up in my timehop today.

Honestly, I rewatched this over the summer when it was Kathleen’s turn to pick the movie during summer session movie nights in Stephens Hall (an amazing time). I whined and begged, but alas, we watched the film.

For the first time in, I believe, my entire life, I made it all the way through the film.

I AM STILL TERRIFIED.

It’s just so creepy. Like, so creepy. Sewing buttons on a child’s eyes? Kidnapping their parents? Sewing shut the mouth of the other dad who’s just trying to help Coraline? TERRIFYING.

I guess what I’m saying is DON’T WATCH THIS MOVIE. I am very against this movie, but there’s people out there rooting for a Coraline 2 or a live action Coraline. I don’t quite get that, because live action, NO, and Coraline 2, what else is going to happen?

To each his own, I guess. Props to the writers for creativity, but I hate this movie.

So, some people may remember this from Disney Channel’s Monstober. It wasn’t at all a Disney movie so I don’t really know why Disney aired it. But, Luke Benward, staple Disney Channel halloween movie actor, is in it and you can tell it’s an old movie because he is YOUNG. I don’t think most people are as well-versed in the Luke Benward catalogue so I’ll move on from that (check his movies out, though).

Mostly Ghostly is one of my favorite halloween movies from childhood, and it was one of the only movies I wasn’t terrified, only moderately frightened, of as a kid because I’m a baby about scary movies.

Overall, it’s a really solid movie to watch and even though it’s a bit kiddish and dated because it’s from the early 2000’s, it’s cute and nostalgic (for me, at least).

GO ENJOY YOUR SPOOKY MONTH WITH THIS (and/or Girl vs. Monster ft Luke Benward) WONDERFUL HALLOWEEN MOVIE!!

For the record, the title is a tribute to my friend Alex, because I asked him for a clever title for something called Eight Below and he said 8-16, so with something that clever, how could I not? ((sarcasm, but he’ll never see this))

This week’s recommendation is the movie Eight Below with the late Paul Walker.

For some reason, this was apparently NOT a staple movie in everyone’s childhood????? Well, MAKE IT A STAPLE NOW. It ‘s a wonderful movie if you want to be happy and sad AND SEE A BUNCH OF ADORABLE HUSKIES!! What else could you want from a movie?

It takes place in Antartica or somewhere like that, so if you want to get into a fall/winter mood and see some people being cold, this is a movie for you.

I plan on rewatching this right after I finish writing this post, so go watch it if you read this post.

Also, I never plugged my snapchat, so if anyone is reading this, add me! @caitb123

Anyways, this is a really good movie and there’s cute dogs and cute Paul Walker (RIP).

Go watch it and have a lovely rest of your week and homecoming!

For this week’s movie recommendation, I’m going to talk about a classic: The Breakfast Club

The Breakfast Club is an all-time favorite of mine, and what I like to call my “feel good” movie.

We’ve all heard of this movie, and it’s shocking to me that so many people my age have not seen it, and I, myself, was one of those unfortunate souls just a mere three years ago.

If you have not seen this film, which, like, it’s from 1985, so come on, I’m giving you homework to go watch it right now. I don’t care if we’re looking at these blogs in class, go watch it RIGHT NOW.

This movie actually made me feel better in my aforementioned down times of high school, and I have a strong intuition that it will probably carry my overly emotional self through college, and maybe it can carry other someone else!

I don’t have a lot to say because spoilers but this movie is an emotional rollercoaster, and I watch it whenever I’m sick or sad. I don’t know when this became my thing, but it just did at some point and I can’t let it go.

Overall, this movie is for sure A RUCKUS. But, it’s a ruckus worth watching, and your homework is to go watch it again if you have seen it, and go watch it right now, for those uncultured swines (like me, circa 2016) who have not seen it.