Wildcat Fever: It's Contagious

Whenever people ask me something sports-related about the University of Kentucky, I'm always very quick to tell them that I'm not there to follow the athletics program -- I'm there solely to get a good education. Granted, the University of Kentucky has an excellent athletics program, specifically their football and basketball teams. But I try to get the point across that, while the program is great, it's not the main reason I came to UK. 

Surprisingly, that doesn't mean that I don't get excited when one of our teams does exceptionally well. Take last night for example: UK beat North Carolina for a spot in the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. That's a pretty big deal, considering our team hasn't made it to the Final Four in several years (not being a complete sports buff, I don't know the exact amount). 

Everyone in Lexington was going crazy last night about the win. And, the strange thing is, I'm finding myself getting excited about it, too. So excited, that I want to watch the Final Four game this Saturday night -- and I hope they win! I mean, I've always enjoyed basketball (mostly because I understand it); I played for a few years when I was younger. And I was raised to be a UK fan practically since birth. But I've never really had a desire to watch a basketball game on television before. I've tried and gotten bored about halfway through. 

Maybe it's because I'm a student at UK now or maybe I've simply caught the "fever" that has been going around campus (and around town), but whatever the reason, I really want to watch this game -- as well as other games that we play.  Who knew that it would take the Wildcats getting to the Final Four to put me in such a basketball watching mood?

Let's Try This Again

So, I tried to start a blog a couple years ago, but it didn't really seem to work out to well -- I was never able to do such a great job at actually keeping it going. Hopefully, this time will be better. 

Anyway, I guess I should explain a little bit about myself. My name is Crystal. I'm a sophomore at the University of Kentucky and I'm studying Psychology. And in less than two months, I will be getting married to the best man on the planet. 

That being said, I think it's safe to say that I happen to have a lot of stress to deal with. Between school, family and wedding planning, life can get pretty hectic for me sometimes. Thankfully, I've got a core group of friends and relatives to help me through the tough times. But I have to be honest, sometimes they aren't enough. 

See, I'm a reader -- I mean, I love reading. And, as is usually the case with most readers, I also enjoy writing. Mostly, I prefer writing fiction, but over the years I've come to like writing thoughtful, more personal pieces as well. I've also come to find that writing is an excellent means of catharsis for me -- especially in the past few years. 

Writing is a way for me to get my feelings out in ways that I can't seem to manage through any other activity. Talking doesn't always work in the same way; and bottling things up certainly is never a good answer. But writing really seems to do the trick. It helps me to get all the thoughts that are in my head out of the way. 

The title of this blog perfectly describes its purpose -- this is the reason why I write. I write because, not writing would most definitely lead to my going insane. And, since I can't have that happen, I've decided to attempt to write at least once every few days. 

What that means is, basically whenever I feel the need to vent or express myself in any way, I will get on here and write about it. This will probably happen a lot in the next two months. Here's hoping that I stay true to my "plan" and that you all enjoy the results of this little cathartic exercise.