School days. School daze.

For once, the start of the semester does not make me feel so bad.  I'm not in a daze.  I'm actually quite excited for the upcoming semester, though I'm told it's the "make-you-or-break-you" semester of my program.  I've got a little confidence, not in myself, but in Jesus who is big enough to get me through this. 

Can I tell you how nice it is to walk across campus with Kyle? It's really great. Such an improvement from the loneliness of summer.

I still cannot believe that we're here together.  It seemed like such an impossible thing that we would even get into schools in the same city, let alone the same school!  To boot, our buildings are right next to each other.  Have I told you that before?  I can't remember.  Yeah.  It's awesome.

The SLU campus is beautiful.  I'd grown used to the drab architecture and dull landscape of SIUC.

Sure, the hills and trees are nice down there, but there's a serious lack of style and color.  SLU is quite the opposite.  I mainly attribute the differences to the fact that Southern is a poor state school, and SLU is an affluent private school.  They can't help it, really.

The landscaping here is immaculate.  There are grounds employees everywhere.  They keep the weeds pulled, the sidewalks clean, the hedges trimmed.

There are flowers everywhere.

There are statues, fountains, streams, coy ponds, and clock towers.  It's a place you want to be.

This lovely change in scenery has done a great deal to lift my spirits lately. More than I could have imagined.



Now there are some drawbacks to being a private school girl.  The tuition, for one, would make you cough your morning coffee through your nose.  I won't go into the others here. 

One more really great thing about SLU is that students just seems happy here.  Kyle is nothing but impressed with the law school and the instructors (despite the fact that the backpack he now has to carry is bigger than him).

In general, you don't here people complaining about the university as a whole.  You rarely hear someone badmouth instructors.  You don't hear students making fun of the school or the programs. 

I am totally impressed with the instructors in my department.  They're all doing interesting research.  They're constantly traveling around the country, around the world, making presentations on important topics.  Just in the few months I've been here, I've had teachers travel to Washington D.C., San Diego, Holland, Greece, and Australia.

In short, we love being Billikens!