I don’t understand why people enjoy playing euchre so much here. I had never even heard of the game before coming to Ohio State, but it seems like the go-to card game for pretty much everyone. I tried to play it once, and I kept accidentally cheating, and I thought to myself, why am I playing a game in which I can’t even tell if I’m cheating or not? The rules are an enigma, the way the players deal out the cards is trippingly unusual—I swear whoever invented this game worked in some sort of bureaucracy and was a heavy drug user.

The quarter’s coming to a quick end. Only a few more weeks and I’ll finally be free. I have no idea how I’m doing in any of my classes. The professors don’t post the grades or tell us if the course will be curved or hand back our papers or tell us exactly how they grade us regarding class participation. I mean, I don’t have a good feeling about this quarter; I’m almost positive my GPA will be tending toward the downward direction, but just how much is the question.

I went to a communication workshop a few days ago. I didn’t really want to go, but I need to attend a certain number of events this year to get my Fisher Citizen status, so I signed up for this one, reluctantly. I’ve always been a shy person; I don’t have a strong understanding of social concepts, and I’m quick to pin the blame on my INTJness. But I had a lot of fun at this workshop. I met some great people and learned how to improve my communication techniques.

What surprised me most was what happened when I was about to leave. The guy who ran the event stopped me at the door to tell me what a great job I had done. I was thoroughly shocked, especially since I was the only one he singled out. I told him he gave a great presentation and I had a good time. He then gave me his business card and told me to “keep in contact.” I said, “I will,” not knowing what else would be socially appropriate at that point in the conversation. But, needless to say, my self-esteem was sky high the rest of that day.

With the quarter coming near its end, I decided to reflect on how much I’ve changed since quarter. And, honestly, I can’t even believe how much I have. Last quarter I don’t think I would have felt comfortable singing aloud in my room or walking to Target with friends, but now I do it all the time. I’m a much more social person, and I’m starting to learn to open up more to people. I still have a long way to go, but I’ve made more progress in these few weeks than I have my whole life. That communication workshop, though it only lasted two hours, was one of the most rewarding and affirming events of my college experience so far. And with a few weeks left in the quarter to spare, I’m going to try to keep things up and come back next quarter with a whole new set of possibilities.