Columbia

It's funny how things happen in life. You know one of those, "I should've seen it coming..." sort of things? Well, Columbia was that should've-been premonition for me. I started going there for Missouri Scholars Academy my sophomore year in high school, then just sort of proceeded to continue almost every year after that - for Science Olympiad, orchestra, or anything else really - yet never thought anything of it.

Then, after turning down a full ride (pretty much) at Northwest MO State and earning 2 free years at community college and graduating from Disney University in Orlando, I somehow managed to end up here yet again. The effect is similar to that of the Bermuda Triangle.

I have found that it is a major part of the state of Missouri due to the fact that it contains three colleges and universities in it, however it is lost in the depths of time when it comes to the real world. For instance, the yellow lights are just as long as the green ones and cameras do not yet exist on the stoplights to make the sheriff's job easier - while he wears his over-sized hat that looks like it came directly from the '70s - but when Senetor Obama came to town and gave his "Yes We Can" speech before becoming president of the United States of America, you should have seen the turnout.

I love that the police are truly dependable here and wait on almost every intersection on the first day of school to help ease traffic flow. And that no one seems to mind if you're liberal or conservative, a college student or a doctor, a woman or a man. It has become my home when I am away from home.

Niagara Falls

A cold, windy place with fog so thick you could barely see where you were headed to. If you want the true experience, with the water flying in your face and the temperature so low you can feel your fingers falling off, go to Canada.

It was beautiful. And loud. And beautiful. And it's at that moment I realized the true power of water. Not the stuff you get out of the tap after it's been filtered by sedimentation or radiated with ultraviolet light 'til the algae and parasites have died and all that comes out is only half of what actually went into the purification process to begin with... But just pure water. Remember, the stuff fish poop in?

In your hand it reflects the colors of your skin and in a cup or at the back of your tongue it can relax your muscles at the end of a long and hard day. But in a mass, such as a large waterfall or moving river, it can kill you with ease. It can drown you just by drinking too much of it. And it doesn't care. Seriously, have you ever seen how massive it is?! And yet we take this majestic essence for granted all the time.

So next time you go to your 'fridge with a cup in hand - thinking about the cool liquid as it glides down your throat and quenches your thirst - remember where it came from. And that no matter how much of it is in the world, so many people are without it.