Christine's Column

Thanksgiving break officially starts Friday, and I’m more than ready for it — even if mine won’t actually begin until Monday. While most students are packing up and heading home as soon as classes end, I’ll still be on campus for the weekend because of work. It’s not ideal, but I keep reminding myself that a few extra shifts now means more spending money later, especially with a busy week ahead. My break really kicks off Monday afternoon when I finally hit the road for Toledo. Before I get there, though, I’m making a much-needed stop in Bowling Green to get my nails done. It has become a little ritual to start every holiday break with a fresh set, and after the past few weeks of exams and projects, the timing couldn’t be better. Tuesday night is reserved for one of my favorite traditions: watching the “Dancing With the Stars” finale at my best friend Claire’s house. We’ve been doing this for years, and no matter how hectic life gets, we always find time to sit on her couch, argue o...

 As my first blog back, I thought I would walk you through my very hectic last month of summer. On Aug. 2, my mom told me she was moving in 30 days. She was very excited about it, and I also thought it would be fun. However, I quickly realized that I was leaving for Florida on Aug. 13 and moving back to school almost immediately after returning. That meant I had about a week and a half to go through everything I owned. It’s also important to note that I am not moving back home after I graduate in May — I’m moving to Florida. So it wasn’t as simple as packing and moving my things. It was a cleanout of everything I owned. I don’t know how I managed to get it done, but by the time I left for Florida everything of mine was already pitched or packed. I then, thankfully, went on to have the most relaxing vacation. My boyfriend and I are long distance — he lives in Florida — so we decided to have a little getaway before we both begin our last years of school. Naples Pier, FL We went t...

My morning view when I open the course                 Well, spring break was boring. I basically spent the whole time relaxing and watching The Real Housewives of Atlanta. I did work, but because I work at a golf course when it rains, we close. I only ended up working at the course half of the days I was scheduled to work due to being called off. Toledo, Ohio didn’t suffer any tornadoes, thankfully, but we did have some bad rainstorms throughout the week causing the course to flood. Luckily, I also work for my aunt’s locally owned business and coincidentally they had a lot of work to do that week and wanted my help. So, I still worked most of the time, just not where I thought I was going to be. Mike, aka, Golf Boss             On the plus side to being called off, I had time to hangout with some of my friends, including my friend Morgan, who I haven’t seen much since high school be...

  Last week I received a text in my family group chat from my uncle asking my brother and I if we were able to come home for the weekend because he wanted to have dinner to celebrate my grandfather’s seventy-fourth birthday. My brother and I were both eager to go home and see the family and our dog, Barrett. I was especially happy because my brother said he would drive us – all I heard was I didn’t have to pay for gas to drive home myself. We didn’t end up going home for the entire weekend, only Saturday to make dinner and then we drove back to Ada that night. We live in Toledo, which is only about an hour drive, so it was easy for us to simply go for the day. My brother and I have always been close and with him graduating Northern this May it’s nice to spend time with him before he leaves, even if it is just a car ride together. When we finally arrived in Toledo we hung out with our mom and caught up on what’s going on in school and life. The three of us have always been super c...

Being at school obviously makes me miss my family and friends, however, I always miss my nephew, Leon, especially. Technically, Leon is not my nephew, and we aren't related by blood, but he is my best friend's son. Emily and I have been best friends since high school and have always been there for each other, except for one period during Junior year we refer to as 'The Lost Year' and we didn't like each other but that's beside the point. Despite that, I have known Leon since he was a newborn and over the past couple years since he was born, I have always thought of and treated him as if he was my real nephew.  Emily and I have a relationship that is more similar to a sisterhood than a friendship. Beyond my relationship with her son, I have relationships with all of her family members including her parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. and vice versa, she is considered family within my family. I go on their family vacations, attend family holiday pa...

     When I came to Ohio Northern my freshman year, I didn’t know anyone. I was the only person from my school to come to ONU and the few people that are from my area I had never met before coming to college. Luckily because of social media I was able to find a roommate, but we still didn’t know much about each other before we moved in. My roommate, Remi, and I ended up becoming very close within the first couple of days and now she is my best friend at ONU. Her and I even got matching tattoos of our freshman dorm number on our ankle. To this day, we always talk and make jokes about how we got lucky finding each other because we were both stressed about not having a roommate or having a roommate that we didn’t get along with. But in the end. our whole roommate situation could not have been more perfect. Having her made navigating freshman year, and the transition of college in general, so much easier.              A couple months ...