reflecting

I've been meaning to write this post for a while but I kept putting it off. Looking back on my CTY experience, despite all the little things that went wrong and my mopiness during the first week, I really did have an amazing time. I enjoyed my class, the people in my class were ridiculously awesome, and it was still CTY. Although it was hard to go to a new site for my last year, it also made it easier to let go. Even though I am starting to forget certain parts of CTY and by my last year was on the verge of somewhat outgrowing it, CTY will always have a special place in my heart.

-Danielle

P.S. I have a feeling that people probably stopped reading this a while ago but I'll post this anyways

P.P.S. It just occurred to me that I still have a ton of blog posts I wrote on my phone and never put up. Maybe I should get around to posting those sometime....we'll see :).

Nevermores

It's plural, so that makes it a different title, right? Right?

So we've hit the end of the line, basically. Most of the nevermores here have been with me since my first or second year of CTY, and together we've grown up emotionally and physically. Well, except for Tomi. She never grew much physically : P jk jk I love you, Tomi! But anyways, the thing is that these are the people who stayed constant in my life. As 'real life' friends change, the people at CTY were always there for me. Every time I saw them again, it was a snapshot of another year of their lives. The beautiful thing was that even though we all changed a lot from seventh grade to now, the gleam in our eyes has always been the same. Deep down, we all share this common bond- no matter how much we change, we will all care about each other because we were borne of the same shared experiences. We're connected because we've been through so much together, and I kind of love that.

Sorry if that didn't make much sense, I'm tired.


-Dex

Full Circle

I feel like my last week is incredibly similar to my first week ever of CTY. I'm doing the same thing where I heat ramen with boiling tapwater, I'm feeling a bit like a loner in my hall, and I get the same vibe as that first first week. It's poetic, in a way.

My hall is falling apart. People are accusing each other of theft and it's really not cool. There's so much dischord. People are threatening violence and it's just ffffffffff. Pretty frustrated right now.


-Dex

The Beginning of the End

It struck me that we have three legit days of CTY left, and then I will be done forever. Since nothing really happened today, I thought I'd give credit to some of the people who made CTY great, in roughly chronological order.

Ryan Crout: A nevermore on my hall in my squirrel year. Taught me the CTY spirit.
Zombie: I don't remember this kid's real name, but he made my first year hilarious. Slept through the fire alarm, mostly.
Declan Kennedy: My first roommate, and a brilliant one at that. Sidenote here to thank Katie Leu for making him adorable and Emma Manning for teaching me to spell 'roommate'.
Maggie Ginoza: Always, in my opinion, the best of us, she just makes CTY run way smoother thanks to her great people skills and maturity (yes, Maggie, I know you'll snicker when you read that). Moreover, she's a great person and a great friend and I wish I was closer with her.
Jane Sadetsky: She provides me with a bit of affection whenever I need it, and that makes my life so much better. Honestly, she's great, even if she does drown hypothetical puppies.
Lizzy Hardwick: Basically she kept the CTY that I loved intact. Only now that she's gone do I realize how huge of an impact and how vital she was here. We miss you, Lizzy.
Danielle: Honestly the best friend I've ever had at CTY. She's compassionate and forgiving and smart and amazing.
Molly: Oh man. She's really adorable. End of story. (It strikes me that she must have a last name..)
Jackie Allegra Choi: I could devote a whole post to her, so let me summarize: She's the only person I've ever met who made me believe in myself. You have no idea how great that feels, confidence in yourself. Plus, she's sort of been my closest friend forever and is just awesome incarnate.
Jeremy and Nicole: I don't know these kids, but the way they dance gives me hope for the future of CTY.

Really really sorry if I forgot someone.



-Dex

Nevermore

Some thoughts on being a nevermore, courtesy of Seasons Of Love.

It hit me for the first time that this really is the end. And weirdly, I'm okay with that. I miss the people there like crazy, but I do not yearn for CTY the summer program. I realized that most of my friends left last year and that it wasn't Jason Boring or Dane or Karen Weeks or any of those wonderful people that made CTY great, it was my personal circle of friends. Now there's a new era of those friends, and I won't be involved in that- I'm a relic of an era gone by. But that's okay. I cash out with Jackie and Danielle and Maggie and everyone that makes life worth living. I don't need CTY any more because it's already given me its greatest gift-the people I went through it with. However, that's not to I didn't feel a little pang of sadness up there, swaying to the dying final chords of Love and realizing this is indeed the end of the tour.

-Dex

Brief Apology, Japanese Gameshow

So the Internet just decided to favor me again, so my last week's worth of posts are out of order. I'll fix it when I get back. Also, my charger decided to hate me last night and thus there was no post for yesterday. I apologize, basically there was a dance, some traditions disintegrated, yeah.

Today we had a new Mandatory Fun activity, Japanese Game Show, run by the illustrious Dane, along with Richard, this new RA who is the David Levithan to Dane's John Green. Also, he seems like a pretty awesome guy, so I hope he sticks around.

Anyways, Japanese Game Show was an amalgamation of several ridiculous activities (my favorite was Space Invaders) and was generally awesome- Olympics Day done right. Luckily, our hall joined forces with Amber's hall for our uberteam, which was great because Amber's hall contains Maggie Ginoza, noted athlete and all around awesome girl. We also had Casino night, only of note because our hall's codeword for scamming was "Operation Spilled Curry", which just made me smile.











-Dex

Fourth of July

So I set off a smoke alarm while attempting to make a poptart. I'm in shock.

So today in the olympics we were Canada. Canada. Just for once I wish we could be a legitimate country. We made a massive Canadian flag, but it lost to South Korea. Pandering to demographics much? Anyways. The olympics caused me to arbitrarily hate this Irish RA for reasons unclear even to myself. Long story short, we got 6th place, not bad; we have a giant Canadian flag in our hall, excellent; and I had to pay churro $5 for duct tape, bad.

Oh, I actually do like my RA. He's cool and has a sense of humor. I approve.


-Dex