Next Saturday Night, We're Sending You Back to the Future!

Dear Sophie,

Now that you are thirty, flirty, and thriving, I have to say that I could not be happier with how far you have come. Many obstacles were faced earlier in your life, but you overcame them. Your dream was to make it to Washington, DC, and you did that. With your liberal mindset and love of the news, where else could you live anyway?! Throughout your college life, you knew what you had to do to be successful. You didn't go to the parties, instead you decided on movie nights in your dorm room or studying. You would read your PoliSci book up to five hours every weekend freshman year, and it definitely paid off. Look where you are now, you are a reporter covering the events you have always wanted to. I remember when you were growing up your mum would always say you were the type of girl who if she set her mind to something was unstoppable. I believe most of your confidence and success came from the help of the Miss South Carolina organization. After you competed in your first pageant when you were 17, your life was changed for the better. You finally became that girl that set her mind to something and succeeded. You became you. You weren't afraid of anything - you said what you wanted to say, and did what you wanted to do. You are thirty and not married yet because you have solely focused on your career for the last ten years. Now that you are "secure" and have a job (though in the world of Journalism, nothing is ever secure), I think it is okay for you to get involved with someone. You are the kind of person who loves people's attention, so why not settle down? You have worked hard, it is time for you to celebrate with someone whom you care about. Nick Jonas is still single, maybe he'll run for president and you can interview him. It would be a match made in heaven! (;

Remember you are beautifully and perfectly made. Love you… because if you can't love yourself, who can?

Love, 
Sophie Keyes to Your Heart(Age 18)

To Quote Asher Roth, I Love College.

I have always been a very dependent person. I didn't get my driver's license until I was 17, my dad would always get water for me before I went to bed, and my mum made supper for me every night. Everyone was worried about me coming to USC. These past few weeks I have proved to myself and everyone else, however, maybe I wasn't always so dependent on things.

I have only been late to one of my classes, which was Journalism 201 on the very first day, I have been managing my time, and I pledged the PHInest sorority on campus. I would say I'm doing pretty well for myself here. The school work is so much more difficult than I have ever dealt with, but I like the challenge. The only class I am horrendously scared of is French 109. We have had some pop quizzes, and my grades haven't been perfect. My goal for the end of this semester is to just make it through that class! I have started working with a tutor and I do online work every night to keep my mind in the right place. If I made it through my first PoliSci quiz, I can make it through French! Besides, I have to do well in my classes if I plan to be Miss America one day. (;

I have aspirations and being here at USC, I can feel them in my reach. In just the month I have spent here, I finally feel like myself, and I am so happy. In Miley Cyrus's words, I can't stop. I have to keep going, and push through any obstacles I might face. The first semester is always the hardest, so I know if I can get through this time, I will get to where I want to be.

Ohhh, Summer Reading: The Postmortal

I love to read, but for some reason when I am told I have to read something, the magic of reading is taken away from me. However, as far as summer reading goes, The Postmortal, was not horrible. I found the storyline to be quite interesting. One point I have not heard many people bring up in discussion of the story is this: Do you have more than one soulmate? The protagonist, John Farrell, seemed to find the answer to this question - yes.

The whole plot of the story revolves around "the cure," a gene therapy that is able to stop one from aging. John Farrell gets the cure at age 26, an age where one normally begins to settle down and marry. Because the cure was a forever commitment, the life-long commitment of a relationship or marriage were not as important as they used to be. John Farrell had many relationships during the story, and he always seemed to love them. Which leads to the question, do people have more than one soulmate? John's first relationship in the story, Sonya, the woman he had his son with, was a big part of his life. However, knowing he had the cure, he could not make the forever, almost more than life-long commitment of marriage. As his son started to grow up, he formed more relationships. John finally had a chance with his middle school/high school/life-long crush, Allison. Once their relationship started getting serious, he realized he could make a forever commitment to her. He believed she was his destiny, his "soul mate." Then Allison died a horrific death, and he moved on to another woman. Also, earlier in the story his best friend, Katie died in a cure terrorist attack. There was never a relationship between the two, but everyday after she died, he would toast to her. From his point of view, I always got a feeling that he loved Katie more than a friend. Again, what if the cure never existed for John? Which woman would he have ended up with in the end? Who would he love in sickness and in health?

My mum has often brought up the point to me that everyone has more than one soul mate. She believes it just depends on what corner one takes, what aisle one walks on, or what opportunity one decides to take. The Postmortal really made me think about the point my mum has often made to me. If no one were to truly die and live forever, eventually people would get tired of one another, right? Forever is a long time, there would be no expiration date. One could be missing out on another person on the aisle or corner.