eid shoma mobarak!

Norooz! Happy Persian New Year everyone!

Last night, the girls from my floor accompanied me to what was sure to be an exciting celebration. The Persian Student Group here on campus put on a wonderful festivity during which we could all celebrate the new year. There were stunning performances of traditional dance, music, comedy...you name it. As my resident, Banafsheh, put it "we're running on Persian standard time." What was supposed to happen at 6:00 pm did not start until 6:30 pm, but the atmosphere whispered (sometimes yelled) this is about enjoying each other and celebrating our world; sit back and do exactly that.

The food was interesting and delicious. I was unfortunately called away by an impending deadline for a paper, but what I did see was great. In getting to just chat with my residents before it all started, we ruminated about our own backgrounds. The campus, and therefor our handful of girls consisted of mainly European descent. In fact, we lamented for a moment about not having a past worth celebrating. I stopped myself in that moment, though. Not worth celebrating!? What does that even mean? We are all worth celebrating!

This is going to sound controversial, but know that I have the best intentions. I am tired of being told or hinted to that my own background is the "norm" and therefore unworthy of or lacking in "culture." I am not just "white" and I'm tired of being written off as such. I come from a family thick in German heritage. For heavens sake, my mother's maiden name is Kottenstette and the names only get more German the farther back you go. My father tells me a story of my "great great's" in which a Scotch-Irish man in our family married a red-headed Italian. The stories are endless in which I could tell pieces of my heritage.

I know that standing next to a great percentage of my peers I am going to look like "just another" but I encourage us all to look past those groupings. It is so naive to think in terms of white, black, red, yellow and so on. A man or woman being black, does not mean that he shares the same heritage as his similarly dark friend. A man or woman being white does not mean that they are only part of a homogeneous, uninteresting grouping. There are too many beautiful mixtures of people in this world, and we should never be afraid or think little about celebrating our own unique mix. So what are you waiting for!? Get a group together...celebrate being beautiful...celebrate being human.

The Semester of Laughter

Part of the reason that I revamped this blog was so that I could stay in touch with everyone that has been so curious about my life. I am a huge fan of talking in person so this should never replace good conversation, good hugs, or good times. I understand, though, that there are just some awesome things to get out there.

So, I'll start at the the beginning of this school year because some amazing transformations have taken place as of late. I started my sophomore year at the University of Colorado and I took up the role of Resident Advisor. I work for an amazing woman who is always looking out for the interests of her staff; Vanessa Dunn. I love my job and through it have met a whole floor of forty wonderful girls. They make me smile daily and it is so much fun to hear all of their stories and be part of a short blip in what I know will be dynamic lives for them all.

Also, through being an RA, I have met the most wonderful two "older brothers" if you will. Joshua Marshman and Jon Fragoso are whole stories in and of themselves. With them and with Rose, Ross, Nick, Graham, Brad, Kara, Serwaa, James, Jake, Brittni, Alex, and Dan, we have the most amazing staff ever created! At the very beginning of the semester, the lot of us (with Justine, who is also amazing although not working with us anymore) went to Mt. Evans to watch a meteor shower. It was such a random shenanigan...it was FREEZING, but beautiful and it was the first time we got to really spend time together. We did not return, I don't think, until the wee hours of the morning and we had more training the next day!

Justine, Joshua, Jon, and Joshua's friend Greg also came to my house one day during the first weeks and Joshua led us on what was an epic first-time 14er hike. We hiked Mt. Humboldt near Westcliffe and camped up there for two days. It was so beautiful and I could not have been in better company. There was only one catch to what was an amazing trip. We hiked to the top of Humboldt the first day that we were up there and on the way down we kept searching for a spot to camp. Fatigue and cold got the better of our patience and we decided to park the tent right next to Colony Lakes still above timberline. Such a poor decision! The tent that I had brought with me was not made for...wait for it...60 MILE AN HOUR WINDS! All five of us were huddled in a tent that was rapidly breaking into pieces and crushing in on us. It was freezing, ridiculously windy and in the light of morning we woke to find ourselves inside of a cloud. No joke. With our original plans being to hike another 14er nearby, we quickly scrapped that plan and headed back down the mountain. This is all, of course, not to mention the fact that our wonderfully ambitious Joshua decided to hike a second 14er (Challenger Peak) by himself the previous day while we set up camp. He did not return to camp until it was already dark and because of his fatigue he managed to put considerable stress on his knee and we left with a man who was once whole, but was now injured. I have since learned that he likes to frequent the house of injuries...silly person.

We headed down to Rye, Colorado one more time last semester. What was supposed to be an epic hot air balloon experience actually just turned into somewhat of an awkward weekend. Joshua and Jon were dragged for several yards in a wind vs. balloon catastrophe and after helping set up Katherine and I were just left on the ground to watch.

Since the first six weeks of school the fun adventures have been significantly fewer as the semester's work started to rear it's ugly head, but whenever adventures do occur, they are just as epic. It was a semester of wonderful, uncontrollable laughter and many lesson learned. Joshua and Jon also introduced me to The Annex at the beginning of the year. I don't know if they will ever understand what a wonderful thing they did for me in that. :) The Annex is the group through which I recently went on a mission trip to Ireland and every Tuesday I get to spend time with God in a community unlike I've ever witnessed before. It really is, "Real Life in Jesus Christ." Simply amazing.

I'm also in a bible study with Gina, Lorena, Chelsea, Michelle, Kristin, Annie, and one of my best friends ever, Megan Rigby through St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church. All of these people in my life have and still are holding me accountable and providing laughter in unending amounts. Last semester embodied the learning of several hard lessons (some lessons still in progress) but God has been faithful the whole time. I am so blessed to have been introduced to so many fun and amazing people. And to think...it is all just the beginning of what is surely a great chapter.

Oh...Social Experiments

Social experiments are one of three things: extremely vexing social irritants, nonsensically hilarious, or purely interesting. Recently, there has been a sort of social experiment making the rounds in the cyber-line up. Essentially all you have to do is tell the electronic world 25 random facts about yourself. It has been whizzing in and out of various spaces for several months now, only showing up to nag me. Eventually, though, I read one or two of my close friends answers. It was actually quite enjoyable reading random things about the people I cared about. Some were silly and some were inspirational, depending on the person (or perhaps on their mood when completing said internet social experiment). As it stands, I actually got the patience to complete one myself and I just thought I'd post it. So here it is...perhaps you'll learn something you'd never have guessed. ;)


25 Random Facts about Samantha (Sam, Samwise, Samalander, whatever other nickname you may have for me) Davenport

1 - I feel like I was born in the wrong time period. Every time I watch/read a western, a renaissance book, an epic battle, a feudal struggle or virtually any other sort of book or movie of the past I think, "Why not me?!" Of course, I'm too strong willed to leave women's rights back here in the present, but under a lot of circumstances I wouldn't mind be stuck in a Michael Crichton novel, where I could choose any time period to go to.

2 - I think that life is a continual cycle of exploration. We experience our deepest and greatest relationships when we are making discoveries together. This fact gives birth to lots of other facts...

3 - I did not realize how much I love the outdoors and small towns until I moved to college. I have owned up to my small town childhood more this past year or so than I ever have. I love saying hello to everyone with their first name and sitting down to a good conversation even though I might not really have the time. It has made me realize the truth in the fact that we have one trip around this beautiful life and I'd better soak up those good moments.

4 - I think that children are often the most beautiful things in the world. I wish the eyes of innocent exploration that a child has would stay forever.

5 - I'm a big proponent of playing and being silly and going outside.....rambunctiousness!

6 - I love words. New words, old words, big words, small words, funny words, serious words, foreign words. Language is such a crazy phenomenon in history.

7 - I wish more of my time could be spent in good company and in good conversation. Time flies faster and faster and the only consistent thing is the love we show one another.

8 - I love surprises and spontaneity....like being with friends or even a special someone when I don't have to plan anything. Just exploring is good enough because we're doing it together and there can be no amount of planning that would do life better justice.

9 - My favorites are ----- color: green smell: meadows, campfires, rain, basil, horses, clothes that were dried outside food: my mom's, salads and barbecue type stuffs dessert: chocolate covered strawberries season: fall/spring

10 - The perfect day and/or date is to go for a long day of hiking and end it with swimming (depending on the season) to cool off and a nap. My friends used to tease me about that one.... what am I saying? They still do. :) Don't get me wrong, I like going to dinner and stuff like that too, but I just enjoy sharing in this beautiful place called Earth.

11 - I have laughed more in the passed semester than I ever thought possible. I laughed a lot before, but it has recently been nigh on ridiculous. :D

12 - When I was a little girl I thought, of course, that my dad was the most important man in the world. My opinions haven't changed. :) He has always pushed and challenged me....I know he's always got my back.

13 - I love hugs. And kisses on the head.

14 - My favorite verses are Isaiah 40:31, Hebrews 12, and Philippians 4:13

15 - If I could be any animal I would either be an eagle or a black panther.

16 - I feel scatter brained sometimes because I have too many interests. I love history, biology, geology, math, literature....all of it. It makes me anxious sometimes because I feel like I need to pick one and it needs to be the right one. But then, discoveries have no limit. Just because my major is one thing, does not mean that I am not exploring the others.

17 - I have a picture of my sister on my desk that could cheer me up even if I was being tortured. It is so ridiculous cute. She's so great! :)

18 - My heart is too big good for its own good. I'm inspired to tears a lot and I love a great deal no matter how much it may seem like my head gets in the way.

19 - I think insecurities are the worst thing in the world.

20 - I think that we learn and we live through our work. It is a goal of mine to lead a lifestyle in which I go to bed, exhausted and beat with a good days work; tired with joy.

21 - I love lost arts like archery and sword fighting.

22 - It is impossible for me to look around and not believe in God. People are beautiful, the land is beautiful, even our struggles as tiny or as large as they may be are often quite beautiful and His hand is everywhere.

23 - I love making people happy or making them laugh.

24 - I love nicknames. I have been given quite a few. haha

25 - I wish I could take back what I like to call "word vomit." You know...those moments where you admitted something before you could stop yourself, or you stated something that could have been saved for later or not said at all but it got out anyway and made the situation mildly awkward...haha...I guess there's "action vomit" too......but then it's a hopeless wish. Things can't be changed and those who care about you wouldn't want it changed anyway.

25.5 - there are obviously more than 25 things that we could all share with one another. I encourage all to love one another for how dynamic and awesome everyone is! Cheers to good conversations and good times. :)