Where Have the Last Two Weeks Gone?

Sorry I have not written in so long. I have no idea where the time went. My sister warned me that Spring semester was more difficult than Fall semester. She was right. I feel like all I do is work and yet I am always behind. The sad part is that it is only two weeks into the semester. I do not know what I am going to do during midterms and finals. I have decided that I am going to live just for today and take it one day at a time. I heard this philosophy when I went to an NA meeting last night. Don't worry college has not driven me to drugs, I had to go for my stress management class. It was one of the most educational and emotional experiences of my life. I am so glad I went. It gave me a reality check. It was funny because I was nervous that people would be angry that I "intruded" on the meeting. I could not have been more wrong. It was the least judgmental environment I have ever been in. Everyone was so welcoming. 

Speaking of environments, that is probably the biggest adjustment I've had to deal with both in terms of the weather and social environment. It has been snowing frequently here and I've had to walk across campus with snow on the ground several times. As you can imagine snow and walkers do not mix especially for someone who is as clumsy as I am. My social environment has also changed. For most of my classes I have a new professor and new classmates and my classes are in different buildings. I feel like it is my first day of kindergarden again. If only the work were as easy as it was back then. With all these changes I will have to take it one day at a time and be ready for adventure, because everyday is an adventure!   

New Semester

New classes started on Thursday, and I've already dropped one class and registered for another. It was a class on Visual Culture, which was supposed to be kind of a prerequisite for film classes, but I knew from the instructor's introduction and reading the syllabus that there was no way I was going to enjoy it. I saw phrases like "representation in media" and the dreaded "postcolonialism," so I decided that it would be in my best interest to not endure the same nonsense as my Postcolonialism class last semester. I immediately dropped that class and registered for The History of Love and Dating in the US, which sounded much more interesting. I've only taken one class of it so far, and all we did was watch Woody Allen's "Annie Hall", which is one of my favorite movies. I glanced over the syllabus, and it seems like a far better class than the Visual Culture. I'm also in Journalism in Crisis, Writing Fiction About Families, and Local Food Systems. The first two are two topics I'm very interested in and I've already really enjoyed taking. The last one is simply a requirement fulfillment, but the professor seems great and the topic is more approachable science subject than, say, Human Gene Cloning. I'm liking how, compared to my last semester's beginning, this has been much less hectic. Starting last semester was tough because I was not only taking new classes, but adjusting to a new way of living entirely. Now that all I really have to worry about is new classes and buying books, I'm finding the transition much simpler. I also have a feeling that this semester will be considerably easier than the last one, in terms of the reading and writing I'll have to do. The jury's still out on Local Food Systems though - I've never been one for science, so I hope it won't be too complicated.

Did I earn this break?

January Term has ended, and the second semester has officially begun. My classes don't begin until Wednesday, but I turned in all my final work for my J-term class. I really enjoyed J-term - most of my friends were here, I got to take a class about movies, and I had tons of free time. The work I had to do for my class was pretty easy, and mostly enjoyable, so it hardly has even felt like school - which is why I hardly feel like this 5-day break I'm currently 3 days into was deserved. I'll take it, of course, and it's nice to have a little space between terms. And as nice as J-term was, it is also nice to have more of my friends arriving back on campus. This place is starting to feel like I did when I left, whereas J-term felt like some kind of condensed version of it. All my websites for my new classes are up, so I was able to check out the class lists and see who was taking the class with me, and quite a few of my friends will be taking some courses with me, which makes me even more excited about my new schedule, which is already looking more interesting than last semester, though I really enjoyed most of last semester. I'll have taken all of them by the end of the week, so I should have a good idea by then.

2nd Semester... Let the Adventures Continue

I think the motto for this semester is just keep walking! I have only gone to class two days and I am already exhausted.  On Wednesday I went to English and Stress Management. English was great. It is an honors class so I have the same professor as last semester and many of the same classmates. This made the atmosphere very relaxed and I was actually looking forward to the semester. Unfortunately, this feeling did not last long. That night I had Stress Management. That was my first mistake, taking a night class in a building I had never been to. I do not like walking on grass when I can see let alone at night when it is dark. Thankfully I made it to class on time without any major mishaps. It was once I got to class that the fun really began not! The professor was extremely nosey and he could not understand why my classmates or I had stress. Then he made us sit in a circle and introduce  ourselves. He was firing personal questions to everyone, but when he got to me the questions just kept coming. Why did I use a walker? What is CP? How did I feel about it? My personal favorite was when he said that I just needed to accept the disability. Let me just say that I think talking with a person who has a disability about his or her condition is a good thing. It is only through knowledge that we can learn acceptance. However do not ever tell a person how they should handle it, especially if you do not have a disability. To say I was angry is an understatement I think he plans on making me the class project. Thank goodness that class is only one day a week! Thursday came and although it was much more physically demanding it was less aggravating. I had to walk across campus twice and I only had fifteen minutes between classes. I had three classes in a row and my legs were very glad when I finally got home. I was quite proud of myself as I made it to all of my classes on time. I can tell that Tuesdays and Thursdays are not only going to be physically demanding, but also mentally. I have Macroeconomics and Spanish. As you already know from last semester Spanish is not my best subject. Economics seems challenging, but I hope to learn some things I can do to help reduce the current crisis.

Although these times are filled with crisis we did earn a victory in terms of one of our oldest conflicts: racism with the swearing in of Obama. On Friday the college had an assemble to honor Martin Luther King Jr. The speaker also knew Obama. The speaker spoke about both MLK's life and Obama's determination to be president. He mentioned how young both of these extraordinary men when they began their journeys. This gave me hope that I also can make a difference. This is why I am determined to just keep walking, working and pursuing adventure because everyday is an adventure.  

Under a Week to Go

I must say that even though this break was the longest break I have ever been given it is the first time I am not ready to go back. I feel like I am starting all over again. This is the worst part about community college. You don't have the same social opportunities to maintain friendships and you do not get as close to people because they are not just down the hall or across campus. The only good thing is that I have two of the same professors as last semester, meaning two less teaching styles I have to get accustomed to. I added another class to my schedule. I am now taking Stress Management on Wednesday nights. It has the potential to be the most beneficial class I ever take. This also means I take a different number of classes everyday. I have one on Monday, four on Tuesday, two on Wednesday, three on Thursday and, I am off on Friday. This will provide variation which should help me stay focused. This variation still seems very strange to me as I am still used to the high school schedule where I go to the same classes everyday.  I guess it is just another difference I will continue to adjust to. Variation also provides many opportunities for adventures which I should be accustomed to by now, as everyday is an adventure.  

January Term

I left Minnesota satisfied with break. I got to hang out with all my friends and see all my family, which was great. I was really looking forward to getting back to school, which was a feeling I wasn't expecting to have. What I wasn't looking forward to, however, was the day of travel ahead of me. My flight from Minneapolis to Boston was delayed 2 hours, which then put me on a later bus to school, so I ended up not arriving at campus until very late at night. As much as I hate that kind of travel, everything besides the delays worked out very smoothly, and I shouldn't really be complaining since I knew I would be getting involved in extensive travel days when I chose to go to school on the East coast. In the end though, it was just nice to be back on campus.
My January term course on Screenplay Analysis has been great. It meets every day for about 3-4 hours, and half of that time is spent watching movies. The other half we discuss the movie we viewed the previous class. It's great, because I watch and discuss movies anyway, and now I get credit for it.
Campus in January is a bit strange, since maybe half of the students take a January term class, so things are very laid back, and it is definitely much quieter. The fact that my class doesn't start until 1 p.m. is great as well, because it leaves me with more than enough free time to hang out with friends, read comics, watch more movies, and go into town. My only major complaint is that the bus system runs on a less frequent schedule during January, so getting into town is never a short thing - which can be a drag since it is getting cold here.

A New Year a New Me?

Happy holidays everyone. I hope everyone is enjoying their well deserved break. I know I am! This is the first time ever that I have gone on break and have not been able to do any school work, it is amazing! For those of you who are worried that I might take the entire month to relax, I assure you that my overachieving personality is still fully intact. I have been looking for places to transfer to and reading other people's opinions on my professors for next semester. Also, I have looked into summer courses. Some things do not change regardless of the year.  

I have found some time to relax. I have been doing lots of pleasure reading and have seen numerous friends from high school. Most of my friends have had a great college experience so far. I find several things interesting when comparing their college experience to mine. We have all established that finals week is by far one of the worst weeks of the year. Also we have learned that we would do anything to go back to the high school workload and finally that we do not know how we had gotten up by six-thirty during our younger days. The only major difference I have found between myself and those people who went away is our definition of home. All of my friends have been saying they cannot wait to go home as in back to school. They miss their independence and the people they have seen everyday for the past couple of months. I never thought that this transformation would happen so quickly. I guess we have all become used to our new lives and the adventures they hold. This should not be surprising though, because everyday is an adventure