Coming to an End

I can not believe that the year is almost over. I'm basically a forth of the way done with my college career. This year has gone by so fast it's unbelieveable. It honestly feels like halloween was last week. However, I've learned a lot this year. I've learned about being on my own (obviously) and having to make good choices without your parents' help, I've learned about social scenes in college and how if you feel uncomfortable being somewhere or with someone you should get out of the situation because there are a lot of sketchy people around. I've also learned about how hard it is to get good grades. First semester it was insane how often I went to the library and how much effort I put into my school assignments, and second semester people kind of learn how you can still get by without putting all of that work in which can be a good or bad thing. I've learned that it's ok to switch your major, but it is a good idea to have SOME direction otherwise it can be stressful. Probably most importantly I've learned how important family is. I knew that before, I mean I've always had great relationships with my parents and extended family but when you're away and something happens, whether its a cousin getting really sick or my step family moving into my house, you realize that those are really important things in your life and should not take your family for granted.

Kayaking

So, for lots of my friends, midterms are coming up. Thankfully, mine are all still a few long weeks away. I am extremely talented at pushing those sort of dates out of my mind until it is absolutely necessary that I start remembering them. So instead of studying, I have been able to enjoy a relaxing weekend. This Saturday my friends and I decided to do something a little more productive with our time than sleeping in until 11. Instead, we woke up early and went kayaking in a bay about 15 minutes from campus. Sometimes it is just so nice to get off campus and remember that there is another world out there that is not focused on midterms and essays. While out, I successfully stayed dry, took multiple pictures without dropping the camera in the ocean, and even saw an otter! Very exciting. The rest of the weekend has been pretty relaxed though. I have watch way too many online episodes of Lost and Standoff to mention without embarrassing myself and have spent a nice chunk of time on facebook. Sadly though, the weekend is about to end, which means that I should start thinking about doing my laundry and finishing the rest of my homework.

New Distractions

I am starting to get very excited that it is Spring Quarter. Not only does this mean that I can start making summer plans, but it also means that my time here at school is starting to get more enjoyable. Last weekend I was able to go down to the beach, and this weekend I think some friends and I are going to go kayaking. Next on the agenda might even be roasting hot dogs on the beach. Now I am remembering why everyone says my school is in such a great location! I love walking to class and seeing people walking to their cars with surfboards, or in bathing suits heading to the beach. It reminds me that it is only minutes away, and that I can go if I want to (and have the time). There is one downside to all of this. Because it is so nice outside, it is even harder to stay in and try to get some work done. I have tried reading on the beach (not very productive) and on the grass (a little more so), but it is unsurprisingly easy to get distracted while doing so. Despite the fact that this season is a distraction, I think I will enjoy it immensely.

Open House

This weekend is open house, which has ended up being a blast. One of my friends from home has decided to come to the same school as me, so she came down to visit this weekend. I had a lot of fun showing her around and having her stay in my dorm. It is weird to think about the difference between where I was last year at this time and where I am now. I remember coming to open house and being so overwhelmed as I followed my mom through all the activities. I was so worried about making friends and getting plugged in, but now I realize I had nothing to worry about. Today I worked at booth for Campus Crusade and it made me realize how far I've come since this time last year. Even though I am still meeting new people and trying out new things, it is a great feeling to know that I have an awesome group of friends and that college feels like a second home to me. Today I was able to talk with new freshmen about joining Campus Crusade and I realized how much I love being here. I definitely made the right decision and I'm so glad.

So, not much new has happened this week. I am learning that I get more done when I have a lot to do than when I have a lot of free time. My biology class was canceled this week, and since it is 4 hours (3 in lecture, 1 in lab) on Mondays and Wednesdays, that freed up my schedule considerably. I had so many big plans for this week, but it is so hard to get stuff done when you have so much time to do it!
Besides my huge amount of free time, I experienced my first truly stressful assignment in college. Besides my speeches, that is. I had to write and in-class essay for my "Argument and Logic" class, which turned out to be pretty difficult. I am starting to think that logic just isn't my thing, which is kind of depressing.
I am also very excited for this weekend. One of my friend's from home is planning to come here in the fall, so she and her mom are coming this weekend for Preview Day. My mom decided to come with them, and I am so excited to see her! So if I can just get through one more day, I am headed for a wonderful weekend.

Housing

So the whole housing ordeal is finally behind me. Today I turned in the paperwork that guarantees me a spot in the new apartments on campus. It has been quite a process, starting in February. The four of us girls that are living together first decided that we wanted to live in the new on-campus apartments that are opening this coming fall. After getting ourselves all excited though, we ended up not getting in. Because there were so many people that applied for the apartments, a lottery process was made to see who would get in. Sadly, are names were not picked. So after mourning our bad luck for about two weeks, we started searching for off-campus condos and houses. We found one that was really nice, but also quite pricey. Plus, there was still a chance that we could get in the campus apartments because we were wait-listed. We finally decided to risk it and just see if we could get in from the wait-list. The whole things was pretty stressful. Off-campus housing goes really fast, so we didn't want to get to the point where we couldn't find anywhere decent to live. About two weeks ago though, the four of us all got in to the apartments and we turned in our contracts today. Finally, the process of finding a place is over. It was weird though. Except for advice from parents, this was something that we all had to do independently. It wasn't like our parents could drive the four hours to see the potential places and decide for us. So this is just one more step to becoming the "independent person" that I am supposed to be in college. I wonder if its working... :)

"Learn By Doing"

My school's motto is "Learn By Doing", which became very real yesterday. I am taking a plant Biology class, and twice a week we have a three hour lab. So yesterday, instead of sitting in the lab, we went out on a field trip and hiked around the hills near our campus. It was so beautiful, and really fun to get outdoors. The only downside was, as our teacher put it, feeling the "bio burn" as we climbed up and down hills for several hours. It was just so neat to be able to learn in such a hands-on kind of way. My teacher, who is a graduate student, would stop us every few minutes and explain a plant and the community it was living in. Much more interesting than looking at them through microscopes. This just reminds me of how much I love college. The classes are challenging, but so much more interesting than most of the courses I took in high school.

Sports

Most seniors know where they're going to school at this point in the year, but if you're not sure yet and you're interested in sports, a school with D1 athletics can be a lot of fun. As I said in the fall, our football team did way better than expected and now our basketball team is in the championship game! This last week has been so exciting around campus. Everyone, including professors, are so into the games that we've ended up talking about them for the first part of class every hour! After we won our final four game last weekend, there was an estimated 12,000 people in our downtown area running all over the streets, chanting, singing school songs, holding signs, it was unreal.
I've heard a couple people say that they think having good sports teams at a school can take away from the "school/freshmen experience" because people get so tied up in the games that school work gets put off occasionally. Personally I think that statement is completely false; I think that having tons of school spirit is part of what college is all about. People are so passionate about our teams that it really makes you feel like you belong somewhere, since you're part of it.
(Cheer for us tonight in the championship game!)

Spring Quarter

So, I have a very good feeling about this quarter. That is partly because I am only taking three classes, and none of them are spanish and math. However, it is more than that. With the extra time that I have without a fourth class, I have decided to do a few things I normally wouldn't have the time to do.
1. Cello lessons- I have been planning to learn the cello since January, and I have finally started. I have only had one lesson so far, but my teacher seems nice and pretty patient. I don't know if I will ever be skilled enough to play in the school's orchestra or anything, but thats beside the point.
2. Growth Group- A growth group is like a bible study for college students at the church that I have started going to. Its a pretty big church, so I am hoping this will help me get to know more of the people.
3. "Big Buddies"- This is a Christian version of Big Brother Big Sister. I just signed up for it but I'm really excited. The program will pair me off with a child/young teenager that is living with a single parent and could use a good influence and friend in their lives.
4. Flameworking- At the college craft center they offer classes each quarter and I have wanted to take one all year. In this class I will be making glass things, mostly simple little pieces I am guessing. I am doing this all by myself, so I hope there are some people in the class that are both nice and haven't done this before. I would hate to be the only beginner.
So, anyway, as you can see, I will be kind of busy this quarter. But they are all things I am excited to do and I can't wait to get started on them.

It is amazing how fast school becomes normal after being gone. I've only been back a few days, but it feels like a few weeks. It was a lot of fun to see everyone when I got back. To celebrate some friends and I went out to a movie and dinner (I highly recommend the movie "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day"). Also, I like most of my new classes so far, but that might be because we've only met once or twice so far. Unlike my first two quarters, I still need to enroll in one more class. This means that I am "crashing" classes this week, seeing if they have any room. This isn't too bad, but it is getting a little discouraging. I am trying to get into either a philosophy class or another history class. I am just hoping I get into one of them so that I have 16 units.
This quarter I have made some resolutions (kind of like on New Years, just a few months late). I really want to make it to the beach more, considering we are so close. Secondly, I want to try to get As in all my classes. I know this will be hard, but I am going to try to do this. And lastly, I want to be more vocal in some of my classes. Most teachers reward you for participating, and considering my second goal, I think this would be a good idea. Not only that, but I think I will do better in my classes because of it.
So that is my recap of my first few days back at school. I think I am going to like this quarter, so I will keep you posted!

Mid-Terms

First semester I didn't have any real mid-terms, instead they were just normal tests, but this semester I had 3 and a paper. My Understanding America test wasn't too bad, I got a low B on it. Accounting was really difficult. I even went to the help room for the three days before the test and I still got a C, but since it's a tough class, I'm satisfied with that. I also had an Abnormal Psychology test that wasn't actually cummulative, but it was worth a little bit more than our previous tests and I got an A on it! (my first A in that class) For spring break I went to Mexico with my mom and sister. It was a really nice, relaxing trip. It's strange because at college, people rarely go on a trip for spring break, unless it's with their friends but since most college kids are broke, there weren't a lot of people I know that went out of town. It was really nice to get back to school though, I really missed my friends which made me realize that this summer is probably going to be really hard to be away!