"Today I don't feel like doing anything,"

     "....I just want to lay in my bed." Bruno Mars knows what I'm feeling. My alarm went off at about 6:45 AM and my brain turned on about 15 minutes later. Its first thought was, "Augh, I don't want to go to class today." I then rolled over and pressed the snooze button. While I snoozed, I couldn't help but think,"At least there are only three weeks left of waking up early for class."
     My eyes then opened when I realized that if I do get into the graduate program of my dreams, I'll be doing this for the next two years. "Maybe I should re-think grad school," was my next thought, "but then I'll have to wake up early every day for work."
     After careful deliberation and a bowl of fruit loops for breakfast I came to the conclusion that my first choice is still the right choice and I'll be going to grad school this Fall (upon my acceptance to my dream school).

Should I write this in my application essay when they ask, "What made you decide to further your education with our program?"

"Well... there was this morning..."

What's in a name?

     I've heard of people changing the names of their pets but never changing the names of their children, that was until yesterday anyway. It was in the middle of my average day working the registers when in between a few beeps and a couple of, "Have a nice days," I over heard a co-worker tell a customer that her friend changed her baby's name when he was five months old. 

     I'm surprised my neck didn't snap off with how fast I turned around to say, "Are you serious?" She smiled and said, "Well it's not like the kid will ever know the difference. One day my friend decided that her baby didn't look like a Jonathan and he actually looked like a Thomas." I decided to butt out of her friend's business and ended the conversation with an "I guess so."

     I can't help but think, what happened to the letters on his wall. You know those letters in 99% of nurseries that spell out the baby's name. Where did those letters go? Did they re-use the "A" to cut costs? What about the birth certificate?

     I keep thinking, if one set of parents did this, i'm sure they're not alone. Imagine how many re-named kids there are out there! Another thought is, what if you went from a good name to a bad name? Does that mean the parents thought less of the child. 

     Imagine you start off as Ace, a name associated with winning and being skilled, to a name like Eugene, often thought of as a "nerdy" name. Names are important. I was supposed to be an Ashley, but luckily half of my hispanic family couldn't pronounce it so I became Chantal.