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...

This past Monday was my friend Libby’s 22nd birthday, and like any good friend with a serious case of FOMO, I wasn’t about to miss it. I met Libby last summer through mutual friends, and we immediately clicked. We kept discovering more and more shared connections, the kind that make you wonder how your paths hadn’t crossed years ago. Libby works as a nail technician in Bowling Green, and once I met her, she quickly became my go-to nail tech. She’s talented, creative and consistently delivers the best sets I’ve ever had. So when she invited me to join her and a few others for dinner and drinks to celebrate, I already knew I was saying yes—even if it meant a long night. I had work Monday morning, then had to drive to Perrysburg for the celebration, and afterward make the late trip back to Ada because I had class early Tuesday. Still, the fear of missing out won, as usual. We went to Bar Louie at Levis Commons, one of my favorite spots for happy hour. I decided to try a new drink, the...

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. From the decorations to the costumes, there’s something magical about getting to be someone else for a night. In college, that excitement only grows during “Halloweekend,” when the entire campus comes alive with parties, themed events and plenty of creative costumes. Last year, my friends and I had to skip the festivities. My roo mmate’s dad got married that same weekend, so instead of celebrating, we traded costumes for formalwear and spent the weekend at the wedding. It was still fun, but it wasn’t quite the same as being on campus surrounded by pumpkins, lights and laughter. That’s why, this year—our senior year—we knew we wanted to make the most of it. It felt like our last big Halloween together before graduation, and we wanted to go all out. Two of our friends, Lilah and Ethan, attended Ohio Northern University with us freshman year but transferred after that. They live about three hours away in Indiana, so we don’t get to see ...

This past Friday, I spent the night in Toledo celebrating my friend Jai-Lin’s birthday. For some background, I worked at a golf course for many years and, through that job, met some of my closest friends. Jai, Kayla, Lamai, Abby and I all worked together, and while we always have a blast during the summer when the golf season is in full swing, we don’t get to see each other much during the school year. That’s mostly because I don’t go to school in Toledo. Despite the distance, one tradition we’ve kept alive is celebrating each other’s birthdays. No matter how busy things get, we make sure to show up for those moments. Jai’s birthday fell on Thursday this year, but the official celebration took place Friday night. The birthday girl also requested a "cowgirl/country" theme, so of course we delivered.  To mark the occasion, Jai rented a pedal bar downtown. For the record, we are all over 21. The group was bigger than usual because she invited several of her other friends, wh...

College life is often described as a balancing act between academics and work. While those two areas deserve attention, the real challenge — and reward — comes from balancing everything else too: self-care, friendships and simply taking time to breathe. Schoolwork and jobs can quickly consume many hours of the day. Between classes, assignments, client projects and part-time shifts, it sometimes feels like my calendar fills up weeks in advance. Organization helps. I rely on my planner, sticky notes and Google Calendar to stay on top of deadlines and take care of business. But here’s the thing: school and work alone aren’t everything . Those are important parts of my college career, but I believe other areas of life should be prioritized just as much. It’s important to put myself first sometimes too. If I ignore my health, my energy crashes. If I skip out on friends, I burn out. That’s why I see self-care as just as important as academics or paychecks. Going to the gym is more tha...

 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...

               One thing about me, I absolutely hate, hate, HATE, the cold. I am meant to live where it is warm, I am not meant to live in Ohio. If I could never see snow again in my life, I would be so incredibly ecstatic. My mood is very dependent on the weather – when the weather is nice, I am nice and vice versa.             Since the weather has been so nice the past few days, this week at ONU has been so much fun. My roommate, Remi, and I have been laying outside by the pond, soaking up the sun and doing homework. Although, neither of us seem to get far in any homework because we always end up closing our laptops and talking. Anyway, it is very refreshing to be able to enjoy the warmth and get some vitamin D after surviving winter in Ohio.             The sunshine makes me eager for summer and over all things school. I ...

               This past week, I had two things going on that were a little nerve-wracking but thankfully, turned out good. The first thing was my 20 th birthday. Now you might be confused why my birthday would be nerve-wracking, but I had planned to go out and celebrate with all my friends at home. My coworkers, high school friends, some of each of their friends and even my mom were all there. So, there were a lot of people. Mixing friends wasn’t the worry, it was that I was bringing my boyfriend home to meet all these people for the first time. More specifically, it was that he was meeting all my friends’ boyfriends, and we all wanted them to be best friends – so there was a lot of pressure on the guys here.                It was a great night and a lot of fun to have everyone in one place to catch up and see each other. It was especially fun that my mom was there because all my f...

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...

Twins x2!               As spring break approaches, I get more and more excited about a break from school. Sadly, I am not going on vacation anywhere, but I am working. I work as a bartender and beer cart girl at a golf course in my hometown. Normally the course is not open yet by this time but this year since the weather has been decently nice the course is open!             Many people don’t find their job fun, but I love mine and have fun every shift. I have worked at the golf course for many years – this year will be my seventh season. I started working there when I was 14 years old as a clubhouse assistant. Clubhouse assistants, or ‘juniors’ as we call them, basically just maintain the carts by washing, gassing and parking them and help keep the clubhouse clean and kept. When I turned 18, I was able to start beer carting and then the following year I began bartending as well....

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...

This week honestly has been super uneventful for me. I have been racking my brain trying to figure out what to blog about that I did this week but there hasn’t been much of anything. Over the weekend, I wasn’t feeling good, so I pretty much was in bed Friday until Sunday. I did go to Lima on Sunday though, and spent way too much money at Ulta. The rest of the day I hung around while doing homeworking and watching The Real Housewives of Atlanta. I have been very hooked on this show lately because all the drama is entertaining to watch. I also think it is funny to watch all these women (who are mostly NFL and NBA wives) fight with each other of miniscule things and without a doubt it gets out of hand every time. I just saw an episode where one of the housewives pulled the other one’s wig off because she didn’t attend her fashion show. The rest of the week was basically the same as the weekend, except it included going to class. Yesterday was Valentine’s Day, which was probably the o...

  My job has given me many things, one of those being some of the best friendships I have. Kayla, Christine, Jai-Lin, Lamai       Throughout last Summer, some of my coworkers and I became very close friends. They all live in Toledo so at the end of Summer when I had to go back to school it was a sad time for us all. Luckily, I don’t live too far from school so I was able to go home on weekends to see them. We are all so much alike and we all have such a good time when we get together. Kayla and Lamai are 23 and Jai-Lin is 21, so we all joke that I’m the baby and I love reminding them that they’re friends with a 19-year-old…they, however, do not like being reminded.           Over this past weekend I went home to celebrate Kayla's twenty-third birthday with them. Since Kayla’s birthday wasn’t until Saturday, I decided to go to Bowling Green on Friday to see Jai because that is where she goes to school. I had a great tim...

     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 ...