Call of the Wild/Why did I have to Befriend Seniors?

Thursday, May 13, I went with Perri to her volunteer shift at the Grinnell Animal Shelter, as I occasionally do, to help take care of the kitties. About two weeks before, when I was at the shelter I saw two kittens that were kept in a separate room from the other cats because they were new arrivals and had to be quarantined. They're both white and look sort of like twins, and when I walked into the room they looked very very creepy. I was reminded of the twins in The Shining. "Come pet us. Come pet us forever."

Well, I saw the same two cats this past time, looking a lot bigger, and they had joined with the rest of the cats. This time the creepiness in my heart was replaced by love. One of the siblings is the sweetest kitty. She's playful and soft (I love the texture of her fur) and so lovely especially since she didn't take a chomp out of my arm like some of the other cats. I wanted to take her home. Her amazingness was only dampened by her name. I turned to Perri and asked what the cat's name was, and said "If it's name is Snowball, I'm going to hurt somebody." Sure enough-Snowball is her name. Really? Who can seriously at this point, non-ironically name a white cat Snowball? If I were to make her mine I would have to rectify that situation. I never have liked white cats before, but now I'm reconsidering. My dog plan for when I'm older is to raise a black great dane puppy, I think it would be cool to a have a white cat with a black dog. They would even match Henry!

Friday, I met the less adorable side of non-human organisms. I was eating dinner in the dining hall with a fraction of the group (Zach and Janna were out of town, and others were at a poli-sci picnic). We were having a conversation when, abruptly, Jessica said "that's weird". I looked over to where her eyes were focused, on the floor next to our table, and saw THE FRICKEN LARGEST SPIDER I HAVE EVER SEEN that wasn't a tarantula. Just chilling out on the dining hall floor. The girls (not to be sexist or anything) all walked/jumped away from the table/spider and succeeded in making a spectacle of ourselves in front of the whole dining hall. The other tables understood though because THEY COULD SEE THE SPIDER FROM 30 ft AWAY! Ben, the strong and able man of the group saved us defenseless ladies, captured the spider and released it into the wild so it could go eat a bird or cow or something. The table next to us applauded. Later at dinner Ben, feeling something on his leg said "another spider" although said extra spider was not present. Very funny. Well actually it was kind of funny because once again all the girls scooted out from the table pretty quickly. And that was when we decided dinner should be over. Seriously why would a spider in Iowa need to be so big?

Saturday at lunch, my senior friends were talking about their after school plans. First, Sara talked about attending a poli-sci major picnic the other day with Elyse, and desperately trying to fight the urge to lie to professors who asked about her plans. Sara doesn't know yet what she is going to do, so she made up an elaborate lie, basically that she would be working as an Adjacent Lab Research Assistant for JBI. The problem with the lie was that she would be caught if any follow up questions at all were asked. At lunch, Sara tried to figure out what she would have told people JBI stands for. Unfortunately, the only words she could think to replace JB were Juvenile Boys. So, Juvenile Boys Incorporated or International; which sounds an awful lot like some sort of child slavery ring. Or if she went the international root, an organization that distributes "children workers" across the world. "Well, I'm going to be a research assistant for JBI. Yeah, I'm going to be working against social justice." Ben decided he wanted to be a bear when he grew up, but he couldn't decide which kind. The whole group started making suggestions (grizzly, polar etc.) which led to this comedically brilliant exchange.

Leah: If you're going to grow up to be an animal, then you should aim higher. Like a dinosaur.

Elyse: God Leah, that's crazy. Dinosaurs are extinct. (*turns to Ben*) You should be a grizzly bear.

Saturday night was a big bag of mixed emotions. For dinner, I once again accompanied the group to the wonderful Chinese Buffet in Newton. And once again I ate way too much. What always does me in are these fried balls of dough covered in sugar. I have not tasted anything better in my life and no matter how full I am after I eat them, I always come back for more. The best fortune this time went to both Elyse and Stephanie: "You will encounter some kind of alien sometime in your near future." I'll leave up to you what kind of alien they were referring to.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I WAS MADE AWARE THAT THE "ALIEN" FORTUNE COOKIE DID NOT BELONG TO ELYSE, BUT TO JESSICA. SINCEREST APOLOGIES TO ALL THOSE AFFECTED.

After dinner, I once again accompanied the group to the bowling alley/karaoke bar in Newton. Alas, this time there was no karaoke. As we started to bowl, the guy in charge of the karaoke machine came up to us and basically said he would get to go home if we said we didn't want to sing; he apparently recognized the group from their previous karaoke shenanigans. We allowed him to leave, but not before he witnessed some of our craziness. Around the first frame of bowling, Miley Cyrus's "Party in the USA" came onto the radio. Now, before I came to Grinnell the mere sound of someone saying Cyrus's name would send me into shivers of disgust. But, the group has changed me. Don't get me wrong, I still generally disapprove of the Cyrus, but there will always be a soft spot in my heart for "Party in the USA". Hey, it's a good song. A little while ago Sara, Elyse, and Jessica made up a dance for "PitUSA". When it came on in the alley we all danced along. Yep, people were staring, including karaoke man. Take that for not letting us sing! Sara called it a perfect senior moment because for so much of her school career she has taken joy in embarrassing herself and others. This was the part of the night where that nagging thought first started creeping into my mind: they won't be here next semester.

The emotions really started flowing during the last game, once again due to music. For the last frame of bowling (and my last frame ever bowling with the group) Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" came on. This song always makes me think of high school. One, because they would play it at every major formal dance at HB, and also because Ashleigh and Cody have a tradition of singing and acting along to the song. Whenever I hear it now, I become very sentimental for a simpler time with my high school friends. Of course as time has gone, I've found new ways to be friends with them and keep in touch, but you can never completely go back to how it was in HS. I thought it was really appropriate and symbolic to hear "Rhapsody" during my last official outing with the group. It got me really thinking about next semester-never being with the whole group again-and how I'll have to once again reconfigure my relationships. Not to mention I'll be a senior, and all the anxiety and emotions that come with the realization you'll finally be pushed into the real world and your life will change (not to sound too melodramatic). Of course, as we were leaving the bowling alley for the last time, the alley started playing "All Star" by Smash Mouth as we left. A song from my elementary school days. Really world? A song from my childhood, my teen years, and my College years (still in progress). Really?

By the end of the night it completely hit me. I am so happy that I found such a great group of friends (and I mean that for any of you who might be reading). I set out to find new friends during Perri's semester abroad, and I succeeded. I even found friends that consistently make me laugh and brighten up my day. They're great, except for the whole them not being here next year. Why seniors? Why did they have to be seniors? It won't be same without them next semester. Yes, I'm being sentimental, but watching them graduate will definitely be bittersweet.

And now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go off and cry now.