It's In You To Give

"It's In You To Give" is the quote of the Canadian Blood Services [the Canadian Red Cross no longer collects blood]. I learned this motto today when I went to donate blood for the first time! I was excited for a while to do this, I just never got around to do it. I put it off for years by telling myself that I'll do it later repeatedly. But I finally did it! Now my blood will save 3 patients somewhere in Canada, and all I had to go through was a little questionnaire [about risky behavior and travel destinations] and a needle!
Next time I go again (56 more days!), I hope that it's as exciting as it was this time. It's truly gratifying to know that you're saving someone's life. The other thing I have to keep in in mind is to not squeeze my fist so hard, no matter what the nurse says. As she prepared my arm for the needle, she said squeeze hard [so she can find my vein], so I figured I'd be helpful and squeeze as hard as I would while weight lifting. That vein popped out as if it was begging to be popped by that needle. I then proceeded to go back chatting with this girl donating blood...until my peripheral vision caught something in the air..and then the nurse saying "UH Oh". So apparently you can squeeze your fist too hard and end up having blood squirting all over you when she puts the needle in! Of course Murphy's Law would dictate that the day you get a messy shirt, is the day that you happen to be in your nice dress shirt [that I wore at the clinic that morning]. So that day I proudly walked away, knowing I did something good, with a blood drop shaped sticker on one side of my shirt that said "First Time Donor", and with a blood stain on my other side of my shirt. Quite the walking advertisement I must say!

V - is for vagrant

A couple days ago I had a chat with the upper year class president about something we're both experiencing. It's a feeling that I like to describe as class president vagrantism. What in the world does that mean? Well my friend, it means that being class president often means that you get along with everyone, you don't really have enemies, and you spread out your time & love for the class. This seems wonderful at first because you get to know everyone, and everyone knows you. However, there's a price to pay for this - vagrantism. I really don't belong to anyone; I'm a vagrant, a floater, a wanderer. I'm not part of the keeners, I'm not part of the brown town/brown crew, the jocks, the not so socials, etc. I suppose that it can be argued that I partially belong to all of them? One of the vagrant phenomena is that any invitation to a social crews' events feels welcoming, yet like you don't fully belong. The crew is happy to see you, but at the same time you know that you don't know them as well as you would like.

I do have some very close friends, however, it's definitely not as many as I would have with a dedicated social crew. At times I miss the opportunity of being able to have memories with a consistent social circle. At other times, I realize that I am pretty lucky in that I get to know everyone in my class as well as the upper & lower year classes! There are even some people in my class who don't even know everyone's name in our class because they only stay with their crew! I suppose it's one of those "the grass is greener on the other side" type of thought. But you know, I don't even like grass - when I own a house one day, I'll make sure it has as minimal amount of grass as possible. But that's a rant for another day.