Classes

I have discovered that this quarter is definetly going to be harder than last quarter. Besides taking four more units, my classes themselves are pretty challenging. I am taking philosophy, precalculus, wildlife conservation biology, and spanish. Philosophy is relatively interesting, but I know that it will challenge me in my writing abilities. So far, so good though. Next is precalculus. I know its just precalc, but trust me, it is a lot harder than the high school version. My teacher believes on loading on the homework. Not only that, but he says in tests are "challenging" and there are only two tests. When I first heard this I was estatic. Two tests sounded great to me. After thinking about it though, I realized that that means I am relying almost completely on those two tests to get me a relatively good grade. And I'm not the best test-taker. My biology class isn't hard, but extremely boring. Listening to an elderly man listing off different types of habitats at 8 am is no the most exciting thing. Everyday it gets a little harder to keep my eyes open all two hours. Lastly is spanish. Last quarter I got an extremely easy Spanish 101 teacher, which ended up to be much more of a curse than I realized at the time. I would like to blame all my current problems on her, but I know it was mostly my false. I knew that I could get away with little studying, and now I am really trying to catch up. Today was my first test in the class, and it was pretty painful. But thankfully, it is thursday night and my last class of the week is over. I will take the weekend to relax, catch up on homework, and hopefully get my mind off that test.

Rainy Days

Well, it has been pouring here, and it will continue to do so for another 5 days or so. To my friends in freezing Minnesota, I know this is nothing to complain about, but when last week was sunny and warm, it is hard to take this cold weather silently. At home, I always loved when it was cold outside and I could bundle up and get cozy. In college though, it is a little different. The 5-10 minute walk to each class that can be so enjoyable on a nice day is pretty miserable in the rain, and although my dorm room is a home away from home, it doesn't exactly have a fireplace in the corner. Another development, along with the rain, is a preoccupation with housing for next year. People are starting to talk about and plan where they will live, and who they will live with, next fall. I am so lucky to have found a wonderful group of girls to live with, and we will be entering in a lottery for an apartment together in about a week. Even the damp weather can't stop my excitement! I don't know if I have mentioned it before, but the dorm experience is something I am very grateful I had, but at the same time an experience I am just about done with. Nothing sounds better than an apartment "of my own", one that will feel a little bit cozier on a rainy day!

Independence

All you want to do in high school is to have independence. You first get it with your own car. After that first little taste of it though, you are pretty much without it until college. Independence is great right? Right...I guess. At the moment I am not so sure. Those things that my parents used to do for me is now left entirely up to me. And I'm not talking about the cool things. Things like finding a drycleaner, restringing a cello bow, or planning my schooling so I can do a semester abroad. The nitty-gritty details that used to just figure themselves out. First is the drycleaner. During winter break I bought this great sweater, not really caring that it had to be drycleaned. Now that it is up to me to get the sweater to the drycleaner though, it is a whole different story. Realistically, I probably won't get it there for at least a month. Secondly is the cello. After a year of wanting to play it, I have finally decided to do so. However, that means that I have to find a teacher and someone to fix the bow. So I have done what my mom used to do for me: take the initiative and actually find a teacher and someone that restrings bows. And lastly, I have decided that I want to study abroad next year. This means I have to decide where I want to go, make sure I am on track with classes, and actually apply to go. This is going to take major planning and talking with my advisor. So, this semester, besides studying philosphy and spanish, I am learning to be more independent and responsible...yikes.

Thoughts on the Second Week

It is only the second week back, but I feel as if I have been at school for at least a month already. I think this might have to do with the inordinate amount of reading I am assigned this quarter. May I suggest never signing up for two history classes? As a history major, I know that I am bound to make this mistake again, but if you can avoid it, do so. I find that most of the work that is assigned is reading, which is both nice and hard. It is nice because no one knows (supposedly) if you are a day or two behind. Then again, this only makes it easier to put off, and I feel that I am continually behind or on the brink of becoming so. Still, this quarter, unlike my last one, I am actually enjoying my classes. I am no longer taking the high school-like classes (math, speech, ect.) that I was, and am now taking courses that are actually interesting to me. As my highly competent college counselor pointed out last year, this is what makes college so much fun. So despite the fact that I am practically drowning in reading and my rising suspicion that I will have less free time this quarter than ever, I am enjoying college more this quarter than last.

Back From Break

After a four hour drive and about 6 trips from my car to my dorm room lugging my many duffel bags, I am unpacked and back at school. I just finished my first week of classes, and discovered that they are challenging and only slightly painful. I am especially worried about my math class. My professor doesn't seem like the best teacher out there and warned us that he had "intense" tests. "Intense" is the last thing I want my math tests to be described at. To say the least, the subject isn't my forte. Besides classes, it was harder than I expected to get back into the swing of things. Coming back from four weeks at home was harder than I anticipated, and the first night back I was truly homesick for the first time. I would have thought that I would have been more homesick when I first came in the fall, but I wasn't. However, the next day was Monday and through new classes and catching up with friends I was able to get my mind off lazy days watching LOST and playing ping-pong with my family. Everyday this week got a little better and now I feel pretty much on track. My classes, though hard, don't seem impossible and this weekend is looking wonderful. I will probably go to the town's farmer's market tonight and then go look at prospective on-campus apartments tomorrow or Saturday.

Back to School

I am finally back to school after a wonderful month off. This is my first week back, but in some ways it feels as if I never left. I now call my house and my school "home", which is really the way I feel. I am comfortable in both places, in each place I have friends, and although my dorm room doesn't quite compare to my room at home, it comes closer than I thought possible in September. Today was my second day of classes, and I am beginning to truly appreciate the quarter system. Instead of coming back to the same classes, I get to start all over again. And even though my Physical Oceanography class promises to be extremely boring, I am comforted that it will only bore me for 10 weeks, when I will get to move on to a different, hopefully more interesting, class. This quarter I am taking 16 units (or 4 classes) which is one more than I took in the fall. Although this is only the second day, I can already feel the difference. I have more reading than I can keep track of!