rebel out of water

took this on campus.

I’ve headed home for the summer now, but I’ve got a few observations that I’d like to share after my first full year of living in Mississippi…

• In Mississippi, you don’t take a picture, you MAKE a picture
• You don’t turn up the TV, you CUT it up
• The only thing warmer than the weather is the people
• You have to add a few pounds to the freshman fifteen to account for Southern cooking
• Cowboy boots are the acceptable, if not preferred, footwear to go with sundresses
• If you let a lady touch a door, your momma didn’t raise you right
• Whiskey is the drink of choice
• Bowties are the true method of letting everyone know you have class
• Mosquitoes are the state bird
• The only thing worse than the heat is the humidity
• There are two seasons- spring and football
• Above all, people are loyal to these: their school, their family, and their friends

Stay classy, Mississippi. See you in a few months!

• Question: ok andd we have def met and talked before!! this is cool. - captainkirk6
• Answer:

  Wow for real? Haha, that’s so cool! It’s always interesting running in to people and them being like “hey, I follow you on tumblr.” I can’t remember when we would’ve met though!

I feel like saying “finals” is self-explanatory XD

It’s so crazy that my first year of college is over. It feels like yesterday that I was pulling onto campus with my parents and unpacking what I could bring of my Maryland life into my dorm room. So much has changed since that first August. I made wonderful friends and sisters in Phi Lamb who I know will be my bridesmaids. I started dating a wonderful Southern boy named Nick and I learned a lot about myself as a person. My parents are now divorced. I experienced Ole Miss football from the stands with the rest of the marching band. I ended a four year relationship. I got A’s in college courses, changed my major like 3 times, and learned exactly how much stress I could handle. I learned how to talk to professors and how to study and how quickly Starbucks will drain my bank account. I feel different, wiser. I will miss everyone and everything in Oxford deeply over the summer, and at the same time I’m ready to relax for a bit in my hometown. I was going to type “go home,” but it didn’t feel right. Maryland is where I’m from, but Oxford is where I live. 

I love you guys. I never thought I’d have this many people who care about what I have to say with any degree of consistency. Thanks for sharing my first year experience with me.

A helpful guide.

Someone sent this to save the students at Ole Miss! 

I learned this word because I was helping a friend out with her directing class, and I was playing Clairee from Steel Magnolias. I know nobody but old people use this word anymore, but I like it. It’s all antebellum and stuff. Aaand the word is:

Swanee

Old Southern slang for “swear.” 

“That man! I’ll swanee. The situation is worse than ever.”

Phi Mu fountain is finally running again!

‘cause there was an article in the Daily Mississippian today about “being a Yankee at Ole Miss” and I was like AAAH! They should’ve found my blog, I TOTALLY could’ve written that article XD I’m jealous. Thinking about writing a letter to the editor to the DM about it.

• Question: Hey! I'm from Wisconsin and I'm going to Ole Miss as well next year! I'm just wondering if you could give me any advice especially since I am from the North too. Do you like it there? - itzkriv
• Answer:

  I definitely love it here :) My biggest piece of advice is to keep an open mind and don’t resist the culture, if that makes any sense. My first semester I really struggled because I had myself so worked up against the partying and pageantry cultures that exist here to the point where I wasn’t enjoying school. I had to let go and accept Ole Miss for what it was, which as it turns out, let me find my niche. If you try to look at Ole Miss through the lens of high school or your hometown, you won’t be happy. It’s a very unique place where a lot of amazing things happen, but you’ve got to be ready for it. Ole Miss is like that one friend everyone has who occasionally gets in to some crazy stuff, but you still love and accept at the end of the day. I really think you’ll like it here, though. I’ve come to think of it as home. Just come armed with the knowledge that Ole Miss is going to be an awesome new adventure :)