Hey all, it's Amy Lynnette.

First, a little about ME~I'm currently a full-time graduate student at the University of Illinois at Springfield, working on my M.A. in Political Science. Surprisingly enough, I'm starting to like Springfield, although it's taken some adjustment. I'm taking a graduate seminar in Poli-Sci, and American Constitutional Law and Civil Liberties. The grad seminar is boring as hell, but con law is a lot of fun. In addition, I'm interning with Congressman John Shimkus (IL-19) approximately 15 hours a week. When I'm not in class or at the office, you can find me working at the mall. All in all, I'm EXTREMELY busy.

I did my undergrad (in Poli-Sci) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which is just over an hour away from my new home. I absolutely loved it there! I spent most of my free time involved in College Republicans (External-VP), working at the B-E front desk, volunteering for various political campaigns and putting up yard signs ALL over the quad, sampling the drink specials at all of the fabulous campustown bars ;) and just hanging out with the greatest friends in the world. :o) I try to go back and visit as much as I possibly can, seeing that I have a great deal of friends still there. Even though I've met new people and found new places to hang out here, nothing compares to friends I left behind, and the great times we have had and still have together. And no bar can ever compete with Murphy's. It's just as simple as that.

Moving on, I'm originally from Centralia, Illinois, a small town in Southern Illinois. If you haven't heard of it, chances are, you aren't missing much. If you HAVE heard of it, you have my deepest sympathy!-lol :o) I graduated from CHS in 1999. My favorite activities in high school were being a full-fledged band nerd (section leader), editor of the newspaper, FBLA v.p., Spanish Club, etc., in addition to terrorizing the town with my fellow band rats after competitions on the weekends. My parents and younger sisters are still in Centralia-Jami is in 8th grade, and Lori is heading for UIUC next year to study Computer Engineering. My parents both teach high school.

Anyway, with all that out of the way-since I'm in grad school now, and away from most of the people near and dear to me, I figured this is the best way of letting everyone know what's going on. My posts will probably be quite boring a great deal of the time, but at least you'll all know what's happening! :o) Take care and I'll post again soon...