Update

As a new month begins and the semester rolls on I find myself very
busy, as usual, with the many things I am involved in at school and
work. As I struggle to survive stressful quizzes and never-ending
essay assignments (in Italian aaahhh) I pause for a moment to share
with you what is new in my life. So much has happened in recent
months that I feel I would be doing you a diservice not to fill
you in.

Let's start with the summer. I took a journey this to Elsworth AFB,
SD for 30 nightmarish days of Field Training. Actually, boot camp
wasn't entirely that bad. There were those times I hated it and just
wanted to get back home to L.A. but all-in-all I learned a lot about
myself and about leadership, not to mention, I got into amazing shape.
The true sense of accomplishment didn't really hit me though, until
recently back at the det. I understand more and more each day what a
great thing I accomplished and my new role as a leader in the ROTC
program. I also am much more motivated and focused.

My classes are definitely a lot of work, but they seem to be going
well. It's amazing how the amount of work you have changes once you
become an upperclassman. The Air Force required me to add a technical
course to my schedule, so I enrolled in Physics for Poets. At first,
I was not too excited about taking another physics class, but this one
is different than any other one I have had before. Instead of
teaching formulas and doing experiments it focuses on how to look at
the world and how the universe is all connected. We address those
questions that we have always wondered about such as whether time
travel is actually possible. It truly is an amazing class and it has
given me a new appreciation for science and the magic of our
existence. Whew, that was a long gush about one class. Moving on--my
other classes are pretty cool. I'm in advanced Italian now and Italian
Cinema. They are both a lot of work, but I really enjoy them. The
cool thing is that I have been with the same group of people for the
past 4 semesters and there are only 6 of us in Advanced Italian, so we
are getting pretty close. It's a really comfortable setting to
practice Italian. Let's see, I'm also taking Consort Singers again
because I simply can't survive without singing. And, perhaps one of
my coolest core classes is History of Popular Music. I don't think I
even need to elaborate on why that class rocks...literally ha ha. I
am taking Cinematography this semester and am a little disappointed
because I haven't learned much yet and it is a 5 hour class. My
teacher really seems to like me though and has even asked me to TA for
him next semester because I am "the type of student [he] want[s] in
[his] classes". That's a good thing, although it scares me a little,
because he clearly expects great things out of me already. Then, of
course, there are my two ROTC classes that I love. I have progressed
to a 3 hour course in Aerospace studies as opposed to the 1 hour
course I was used to as a GMC cadet. And, the amount of work I have
in the Wing has tripled. But, I love it. I am the Public Affairs
assistant for the wing and am really enjoying it.

I'm still also very involved with my service orgnization, Arnold Air
Society. I am the Director of Operations this semester and have a
huge job on my shoulders. I am in charge of coordinating all of the
service projects for the squadron and keeping a log of all service and
social hours we complete. I have already held my first big project
and it was a success. We did a "treasure" hunt for recyclables
throughout the Westchester community and raised over $60 for hurricane
relief. Our next big thing is a Push-up-a-thon also to raise money
for gulf coast relief. (So, if any of you are interested in
pledging.....) I am having a lot of fun and working hard in AAS and I
can't wait for our trip to San Francisco in November for our area
conclave (ARCON) and next semester our trip to Orlando,Florida for the
national conclave (NATCON).

The other thing I devote a lot of my time to is the Roar Network,
formerly LMUTV. We are slowly moving up in the world and have been
promoted to a student-run media organization as opposed to a club.
This is so exciting for us because we are now backed by the
administration and we actually have a budget and our own brand new
office!! Things are still getting off the ground and it's not perfect,
but we are on our way. I am the Co-Director of Programming for the
network which is a lot of work, but a critical job. I also am still
very busy as Executive Producer of Neüz Pollution, my TV show that I
shoot every monday night in the KXLU radio station on campus.

As if that wasn't enough, I am stoked about another fun year with the
Pep Band. We get to travel to Washington this year with the basketball
team and we are even starting to grow a little.

Some other fun tidbits...
I got to work on a Tenacious D film this summer. Check for it
probably sometime next year. It is called The Pick of Destiny. I
would love to tell you more about the shoot sometime, just ask.

I'm still working at Camera/Sound in the school fo Film and
Television. That's going swimmingly.

I am very happy to be playing bass again at mass. We have a new choir
director, Anna, who is amazing.

I am single again and just living my life. I am keeping my options open
but am focusing more on school and trying to manage my crazy schedule.

I hope you are all well and enjoying yourselves. I hope to hear from
you to find out how you are doing and about what is new and exciting
in your lives. Thanks for reading this to the end. Take care and
God's peace be with you.

Lots of Love,
Sugar