I Love College

Right now, I'm watching Law and Order: Criminal Intent... trying to do my religion paper and have something for my Paideia paper. There's, again, not much to say. I slept through my speech class, so... that went badly, but it doesn't even faze me.

That's something that's changed since I was in college. Before, if anything went wrong, my whole day was ruined up until the next day when maybe something good would happen. Honestly, there have been many times this week where I wanted to pull my hair out or just scream, but those moments never ruin my day (even if they come in unnecessary amounts). 

I would not call it maturity--everyone who's ever had any sort of conversation with me knows that I'll never be mature--but it's... something that grew. I'm not sure how to word it. 

On a much less serious note: here are some of the amazing things you learn at Luther/college.

1. "About" is an amazing way to mock Minnesotans and Northern Wisconsiners. 

2. You learn the art of "walmarting" it.

3. When you say "you'll pace yourself" you won't. 

4. How to maximize every single second of sleep by way of shortcut or sacrifice

5. "Working better under pressure" is complete crap.

AND SO MUCH MORE. That was a bit of advertisement. ;) 

This Is How We Do

On Friday, May Day, I was coerced into going to Relay for Life. Relay for Life is a fundraising program that takes place in schools everywhere--my high school had done Relay for Life--and it pretty much consumed my friend, who was organizing it. I meant to participate, but... life got in the way and I didn't pay my registration fee (or register, but that's a minor detail) so I was left to write my papers and read my paideia books and work while there were fundraisers and meetings. 

On Friday, the day of the event, I went to support our team, which was our hall floor. Because that was the same night as the Aurora and Norsemen concert, there weren't too many people there when I was there. The concert probably ended around nine and I was only there at 7-8:45 because I had to go to work. But it was fun to be there. We played cards and ate the free food. There were many pictures taken, especially with the people from our floor walking around with the giant inflatable pineapple. I had no idea what its purpose was, but it was interesting to watch. 

One downer on the whole spiel was that it was inside. It was spacious inside and temperature controlled for sure... but it was still inside. The weather is getting so much better now and everyone is outside reading, doing homework, or just hanging out... outside, but Relay was inside. That was one thing that bugged me, but inside also meant stereo equipment and I was definitely not complaining about that.

After work, I went straight back to my room instead of the Relay, so I slept (I had to work early the next day). Relay for Life went from 6pm to 6am.... which meant I didn't see my friends until about four in the afternoon. I was subbing for a friend at work Saturday morning and one of the girls there had been at relay. Her shift started before mine and the girl had not slept at all. It was kind of funny to watch, just because she was so out of it. My friends that stayed were all sore and amazed at how late they slept or absolutely exhausted. I was cruel and laughed at them. I know, I'm mean. 

There's not really too much to do this week. Things are kind of winding down and winding up as we get closer and closer to the end of the year. There's less to do, but those things that you do have to do are super important. I'm writing my last paideia paper of the year and hopefully for the rest of eternity. I'm doing my last religion reflection for the rest of my life. The constitutional convention is done. No more choir. I have my last speech to do (which I should probably be worried about since it's on Thursday). All is pretty good. 

I guess everything is getting better along with the weather. When it was stormy and gloomy... so was I. But it's sunny and warm today and I'm pretty content with life. Can't complain.

The Great Escape

I had an amazing, unschool-related weekend. I went to my roommate's house with my other roommate and two friends last weekend. We rode horses and we went to prom... again. Let me tell you about it...

It takes seven hours to get there. We left at 4:30 (because Laurie had to wash her feet) and we took a half an hour or so (+30 minutes) to eat at Tomah, WI and then also had to pull over because of the hail. It took us 8 hours to get there. It was great fun. We were ahead of the storm most of the time, except when we got hailed on and rained on. It turned out to be pretty fun--I saw my first cranberry bog--but as soon as the storm hit, I went to sleep. I hate storms and that's really the only way I can get through them intact. But I woke up for the hail. And the gas station... and then didn't go back to sleep.

We got there and then went to Jessica's (my roomie) best friend's house and hung out there until three. I was dead to the world, mentally. I was so ready to sleep. I slept with Emily (other roomie) on the pull out in the basement. It was... not at all like my bed at Luther, but not bad either.

I woke up at the crack of noon with my roommate and we had breakfast. Yum. I love home food. It's so much better than caf food. After that, the terror began. We went out to see the doggie. I ran through some chickens. I saw my first sheep and pet it. Then everyone came out and it was time to catch horses. I caught one--or tried--and just managed to get really dirty. I'm short, so all my pants are long and track through... everything. I was also wearing my converse, so those turned brown. It was pretty dirty. We groomed, then we started riding.

Oh boy.

Let's just say, I'm still feeling the consequences.

Then it was prom! It was very different from my prom, that's for sure. Not bad either. It was fun and we danced and laughing and took pictures. I'm fairly certain all of them are on facebook. After prom we had a bonfire with Jess' sister's friends and her sisters and brother. I was a lame-o and I went to bed after a while because I was just so tired. I was extremely tired, especially after getting physically beat up by horseback riding.

The next day was another AMAZING breakfast. And then we left. Twas a sad day. But we made it here in like... 6 hours. It was amazing (until we heard the tornado watch for the county were were driving through). I read the paideia on the way and had Subway... other than that, I was not the most comfortable because I was sore all over and sitting in one position. I'm pretty sure that's why I'm still hurting now.

And then it was back to school.

The Boogie That Be.

I ended that last entry on a... it wasn't the best note, that was for sure. But everything is fine now. the failed exam is behind me, paideia... well... yeah, I finished the paper, at least. Religion is turning into a manageable force, speech is... it's getting there and all the other classes are fine. All is pretty much well with the world. 

And it's registration time too! I register on Wednesday and I have all my classes lined up with SOME scheduling conflicts, but nothing I can't handle. I have had two semesters of 8am classes everyday... next semester that most likely will not be an issue. :DDDD. Yes. I am excited. My advisor is pretty cool and I like her. She's been to Chicago. XD.

Honestly, I feel like nothing can take me down. I have my paideia paper done. It's like walking on AIR. I've actually had it done for about a week, but that's beside the point. I still feel like I'm walking on AIR, especially since other people are still scrambling around doing their papers. 

I have a roommate for next year... AND SHE'S PRETTY MUCH THE (expletive I can't say that starts with an 's'). She's like... 6 feet... I'm 5'2".... but we make it work. We always go to wal-mart together and have the most 'affectionate' nicknames. It's great. I'm pretty excited about it. I'll probably never see her though... because she's music major and their residence is actually Jensen, the music building... they just keep their things in the dorm room. I'm not sure it that's a good thing or bad thing yet. I mean... I like having the room to myself... but one really is the loneliest number. 

THINGS TO EXPLORE AND THINK ABOUT UNTIL MY NEXT POST:

1. Check out Safari internet. It's AWESOME.

2. Youtube "Scarlet takes a tumble" (LOL)

3. Eat Lay's Kettle Cooked Jalepeno chips. 

Also, The Boogie That Be is the song that my dance class was going to do our hip-hop dance to. It was great. But we weren't allowed to do it because it had violence and... suggestive language. I liked that one so much better than what we actually did.

Girls a Straight Up Hustler

So... I just got back from a. the most stressful weekend. ever, b. the most important test ever that I probably didn't do too well on, and c. the worst paideia class ever... maybe I'm being dramatic, but it sure seems like it.

Stressful weekend? I realized on Monday that I had one week to read everything we were assigned to do in my American Politics class. It wouldn't (and shouldn't) have been a problem... if I'd read anything at all. It was really my fault. Really. And paideia. Paideia always gets in the way of my major/life/happiness. So I spend the whole weekend freaking out and reading even though I had a migraine so bad I was actually feeling sick and feeling all this pain in my shoulders... that's how much I freaked out. And I don't freak out. Not normally at least. So, yes. Not a great weekend. At least not until I took that painkiller and then eased away my pain and passed out. It was nice.

I am not encouraging painkiller intake though. I had a migraine. I had reason.

Most important test I probably failed? Yeah. Stressful weekend = not very useful when it came down to the actual exam. I'm not the best writer. I know this. I'm not the best reader, I know this too--and it's only because I get so distracted. Sometime between the painkiller and walking into class, half the information I knew flew out the window. It was a great experience. Really.

Of course, before this happened, paideia happened. Paideia... murderer of everything good in life. I'm not doing the reading, mostly because I was too busy studying for more important things (much like my future). My teacher found this out. Bad things. I only added to that by completely walking out of the class before the teacher was done. In my defense, I totally thought she was done. She was like "Okay, if anyone hasn't done a conferences with me..." and I was like, "Yes! Now I have to buy a blue book and suffer!" I was on a time constraint so I hauled butt out of that room.

She wasn't done. Realized that when no one else came out. Like... NO ONE. I looked in the window and half the people were still sitting. That felt nice. Realized even later (after failed test when I was contemplating my worth in life, which wasn't much at the time) that not only had I left early, not read much (I'm on pg. 57 at least), and stayed absolutely silent in more than a few classes, but... I forgot to turn in the mini-paper for that day. She collects them at the end of class. Good times.

But at least I only have one class tomorrow. Then I sleep the rest of the day. There is a silver lining. But not today. Today is Monday.

Shooting Star

If there's one thing I like about college... it's the internet. My mom has that 'internet wherever you are' thing... yeah, the program won't load on my computer, therefore, I have been cut off from the world unless I take those long trips to Panera.

Obviously, I survived midterms week... barely, but I did it. Tragedy struck about... 25, 000 times but that's okay. I came out alive in the end. I turned in the rough draft of my paideia research paper (*dies*) and did my super awesome speech for Public Address on the Merengue. I'm actually very proud of the speech. I finished my american politics paper on the continuity of government... religion... yeah... it's done at least. I'm not too anxious to see THAT grade.

Spring break was amazing and definitely needed after having all that stress the week before. There are many things I like about going home besides seeing my friends, mother, and doggies. For example, I'm quite fond of my air mattress and my couch. I'm quite fond of Chipotle and Panera and Starbucks. I'm very fond of driving my car and a Taco Bell that is open until 4am, as well as listening to the radio while I'm driving n the car and chilling with the homies a.k.a acting like losers. I also like that whole "no class and lots of sleep" thing. That's pretty nice. ;)

I went shopping while I was home and gave my mom my money from work-study for tuition... that was fun and painful. But I took a lot of clothes home because I knew I wasn't going to wear them and it was going to be a pain to pack up all the clothes at the end of the year... so I have new clothes and about half my closet. It's slightly pathetic considering how full my roommates' closets are. But there's not much I can do. I have a lot of stuff on my desk.

Alright, as lame as it sounds... it's bedtime. :B. I'm trying to maximize all the sleep I can. I've already showered and unpacked and I've decided to save my homework for an undetermined late and I plan on skipping paideia lecture. Hooray for terrible bad habits. XD.

I'm kidding. I would never skip paideia lecture.

Never.

Burn It to the Ground

This is midterm week. Last semester, that didn't really mean that much to me... but I'm definitely feeling it now. Actually, I'm feeling it now for last semester and this semester. I only had one midtern last semester and that was in the ever constant pain, paideia. It is totally kicking my butt. Along with religion. This is not a very good semester for me. T_T

Here's what's going down in Marcie World, and it's quite terrifying. Today has passed, and that was when I had to go into a panic (which is rare) because I had forgotten to do my application for the Diversity Center and it was due by 4:00. Instead of doing it like I had planned between American Politics and religion, I had taken a nap instead (great nap, in case you were wondering). So, that was completely my fault. Tomorrow, is Paideia Tuesday, as usual. I'll be slaving over that homework and pulling a very late night so that I can get a good grade. My goal for today is to finish transcribing all my interviews. I have the first one done and am starting the second one. The third one isn't very long, so I don't think it'll be a problem.

Wednesday is going to be a hard day. Not only is the paper due that day, but there's also a common quiz. I honestly think that paideia is out to get all the students.

Thursday, I have to give a speech in Public Address. For some reason, I thought we would do less speeching in speech, so I signed on for a course load I wasn't completely prepared for. I want to quit that class, but... compared to the others, it's fairly easy. You only worry about it on speech day.

Friday, I have my American Politics paper due... I'm very much in trouble for that because I don't know exactly what I'm supposed to do with it. I don't know if it's an opinion paper or a research one... because I haven't started and I haven't asked... because my bed always starts calling to me around 10:00... yeah. I'll probably shoot him an email and ask what exactly I'm supposed to do for the paper. Also, on Friday, I have my religion midterm and paideia midterm. They're both out to get me, I swear. Cool teachers... worst subjects EVER.

I have no idea if I'm in trouble, but... I think I have it. I think. I hope. Most likely... I have to get it sometime.