This past weekend a few girls in my suite and I decided to take a little break from our schoolwork, pile in the car, and head to the beach!

Over the weekend, I participated in a Pepperdine tradition called Step Forward Day. This year more than 1600 volunteers “stepped forward” for a day of service. I went with my Freshman Seminar classmates and professor to a nursing home. We decorated their bulletin board, played games and socialized with the patients, and took a few patients on a field trip to the park! It was something simple for us to do yet such a rewarding experience as well.

After we got back from the nursing home, we helped put up flags on our campus in honor of those who died eleven years ago on September 11. Five years ago, a Pepperdine student established a tradition to pay tribute to the victims of the attacks. The Wave of Flags includes 2,977 flags to represent each individual death on that day. Standing in the middle of it all and raising several flags myself, I couldn’t help but feel the magnitude of the lives lost that day. It was truly heartbreaking.

I will be forever grateful for all the heroes that took a “step forward” that day without a second of hesitation in order to save lives of strangers. They are the reason I am proud to be an American.

The other day, Hannah and I were in the Cafeteria getting lunch and we went to go find a table outside. When we got out there, we found one of our suitemates, Natalie, sitting all by herself. And that wasn’t okay with us. So, we decided to go sit down with her.

Within seconds after sitting down with Natalie, a bird pooped on her! The three of us had such a hard time holding back laughter, and it was then that Hannah reminded her that a bird pooping on you is good luck! And from that moment on, the three of us have been inseparable. I feel like I have known each of them for my entire life! They are some of the cutest, funniest girls I have met. There is never a dull moment when the three of us are together and I love it that way! I give all the credit to the bird who dropped some luck onto her that day because now Hannah and I cannot imagine our little pod without three peas.