Archives: Class
Stuck in my room
Of course, I got sick, again. Alright, to start from the beginning. I finally got to see my mommy! I had been looking forward to it for weeks. Sadly, soon as I finally get to spend time with my mom, she get sick, and more then happily passed it on to me. I was fine for a few days until suddenly, I had a light cough. My first thought, uh oh. All I could remember is my mother saying, “I wouldn’t give this to my worst enemy.” Thanks mom… I think.
Tuesday, BSU had our kick off! I was so excited! I could hardly speak without coughing so I had Megan, my awsome VP do the talking for the night. For someone who is every outgoing, I was laughing at her grabbing all the rest of the BSU members to make them speak insted of her everytime something had to be said. It looked great, although, I must remind her to imbrace her wild side, its what makes her a great VP.
I had a lot of fun and so did the students who came. I saw a lot of greek life there which is always exciting! Rob and his ZBT brothers were there, and a bounch of my sisters were there, a few in letters. 
BSU brought two R&B groups for our kick off, C4 and The Bench Warmers Clique. Some of the girls were going crazy over one of the guys in C4. I couldn’t help but giggle and try and turn a blind eye to it all. I think the worst part of the night is that I helped picked out all the great desserts for the night, and couldn’t have a single one because I was sick and could only eat soup or have tea because they were keeping me from coughing. Yup, that had to be the worst part.
At the end of the night, I started to get the chills, by the time I got ready for bed, they were very intense chills. The next morning I went straight to the nurses office where she made me cry when she tested me for the flu. You don’t want to be tested for the flu…. They stick stuff up your nose. Its horrible. I was like, I already feel bad and have a horrible headache, why are you doing this to me????
So now, days later, I am still stuck in my room. Coughing, a lot. I’m starting to feel better, so I guess all this weekend is going to be is sleeping, meds, and disinfecting this room! I almost want to get some stuff from the lab to clean this room. There is the good stuff in there, I’m sure nothing could survive the harsh cleaning products and me washing and scrubbing everying for a hours.
Right now, I am going to take something for this annoying cough that keeps me up and take a nap! Yes for naps! I still have a headache and still hurt a little but I’ll be able to go to class on monday! Yes! No more boring 4 walls! Fresh air! The lovely sun! Oh and homework, tests, BSU paperwork and lectures to type up. I’m going to be busy catching up on a lot, but it will be ok, I can do it outside!!!!
Too excited to sleep
It is almost 1 am and I am to excited to sleep. I am looking forward to school to start in a few days. Yes, I’m the nerdy kid who loves the first day of school. I am using the Tri Sigma mentality, always moving forward. I’m looking forward, and enjoying what is yet to come. I am looking forward to moving into my dorm room! Finally, a single! All to myself, from the start. I have so many ideas for the room design, my mother is scared and has recently and oh so convenitly “lost” her wallet.
Black Student Union is going to be up and running this school year, ya! New exciting programs to come up with and new people to meet. Sigma Sigma Sigma recruitment, making new friends, loving new sisters. I am looking forward to continue with the ideas that I started last year and to see how they have grown over the summer to make them even better for the sorority. This year, I really want to take the time and get to know all the great women I call my sisters. I feel like I missed out on getting to know some of the ones that graduated last year and now they are gone becoming wonderful women in their fields.
Then there are the new labs, new ways to try and blow up our lab experiments. Just joking Professor Ahmed!
This is the year where I have to find a job in my future field. I am going to the career center soon as I get back so they can help me make sure that I get the right job that meets the requirments that I need to get into a veterinarian school.
It is going to be a very busy year this year, but I am very excited to jump into it and get started! I have a feeling I may have over booked myself, but I’m not worried. I am looking forward to seeing what I learn about myself this year and the great adventures I find myself in over time. I feel like junior year is my year to shine. Freshmen year was the year to adapt to my new life, sophomore year was the year to work hard and focus on my grades and what made me happy, now it’s my year to come out of my shell and make my mark.
The best software for all college students
Recently, I was playing with my cell phone and was trying to get the contacts off my of it. I have a sidekick and its easy to put the contacts in, but almost impossible to get it off. I had to download a software, from my service provider and then they were all on my laptop. Great, but I couldn’t open them without Microsoft Outlook.
I had never used the software Outlook before. It has been 4 days now, and I have no idea how I survived in school without it! Outlook is a software that pretty much creates a daily planner, holds all of your contacts, and has a space to write down all the tasks at hand.
I now have all my appointments, class schedule, and plans for the next 4 months on my laptop, ipod, and phone. Now, each time I plug in my ipod to update it, my calendar updates as well. Since I use my laptop in a few of my classes, it makes it easy to type in the assignment name under the date its due, add some notes about it and place a reminder that it is coming up. I have assigned colors for different things, purple for Sigma Sigma Sigma, Red for exam week, yellow for when I am in class, orange for when I am in Lab, etc. I feel so organized!
No longer will my day planner be written in multiple pen colors with tons of correction marks. It only took me about an hour to figure out a bunch of different functions. It is easy to make corrections and I can print out the whole month and put it on my wall, or carry it in my note books if I wanted to.
Microsoft Outlook has made my life so much easier in just a few short days. I’m looking forward to using it at school and seeing how it changes my life during the school year. The first month back is so busy and full of events, now I’m sure I won’t miss a single one because I’ll be so organized!
I used to think that Outlook was for business people. I just never felt young people friendly I guess. At least, thats the way it felt for me. I think that since I use my ipod so much and I now figured out how to make the most of it, connecting it to my laptop for new functions that suit me so well in my daily life. I started messing around with the program for a while, and now I love all the pretty colors and pop up reminders that tell me where I need to be and what needs to be done when.
My advice, just try it out for 60 days. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. I know I’ve tried many different forms of keeping track of my daily life plus my assignments and for me, this has been the best system by far.
Pressure
In college, there is a lot of pressure. Pressure to excel. Pressure to be the best. Pressure to balence everything in life and make it look easy. Sometimes, it can be hard to tell when the pressure is to much for a student one week to another.
There are student athletes, scholarship students, first in the family to go to college, the over achivers, its endless. For what ever reason, college students have a lot on their plates. It is always good to know that there is a support network out there, willing to be there for you 100% when you really need some one to talk to or to lean on, even if it is just for a day or through a tough week.
It is really important for parents to be there for their kids during college… BUT… that doesn’t mean keep treating them like little kids that they were when they were living at home. Finding the right balance to letting the little kid who used to try and stick their fingers in all the sockets in the house go to seeing the young adult that may need a little guidence from mom and dad every once in a while. College is a new chapter, not just for the student, but also for the family. Sometimes the pressure for mom and dad to let go can be harder than expected which can cause some tention between parents and students. My advice to parents, let go of the reigns and let your kid come to you. Its amazing how often your kid will start calling soon as they think you aren’t controling their life.
Pressure comes from everywhere in college. Its a new pressure, no one there to tell you when to go to bed, do your homework, clean your room, not to say stupid stuff, check your bank account. Grades become more important than ever for some, while others could hardly care what they get. Living with a person who is pretty much a stranger can be hard. Trying to always be the perfect roommate can the tiresome after… a week. Professors that forget that students have other classes can really be frustrating.
I feel for the athletes. Always traveling or on the field praticing. It’s endless for them. Trying to do homework on a bus. Studying in between class and pratice. Then the students on full scholarships. Most of the time, their parents are on them about the grades. Constantly checking up on their assignments, reminding them that they have scholarships to keep.
I’ve been saying for the last two years, college is easy, its everything else that makes it hard. Sometimes blowing off some steam is the best option. Skip a day of classes to sleep in and catch up on some much needed sleep. Go out for a night on the town and not worry about being a little extra sleepy in class. It may be hard to explain to parents and professors, sometimes even friends, but know yourself. Know what you need as student is so important. Taking a break can do a lot of good for the mind, body, and soul. Now, I’m not saying a break every other day, I’m just saying that knowing when to take a break can help in the long run. College doesn’t get any easier after freshmen year, its best to learn how to deal with the stress right away. For some, its simply asking the parents to chill on the lectures, for others its a day planner and a special treat at the end of the week/month. Sometimes just talking about it to friends can really be a relief… just as long as your friends are willing to listen and take you seriously… but thats another post.
The only advice I have is, find what works for you when you are stressed your freshmen year and you don’t have to be perfect. Just do your best and remember, you are supposed to ENJOY college. What do adults always tell me, something about it is supposed to be the best time of your life…
Exams and Summer Plans
The end of this week starts Exam week. I have an exam on Thursday for Human Anatomy. So not exciting. *sigh* exams are a very stressful time of year at in the spring because for freshmen and sophomores, it means moving out of the dorms. Seniors are nervous and excited about graduation just being days away and having family flying in from all over the planet. Sophomores and juniors are fighting with the housing board to let them move off campus. Oh what a wonderful but very busy time of year!
I am still planning on what I am doing for summer vacation. It keeps changing due to new information coming in each day which only complicates things. Originally, I was suppose to go to Brazil to see Michelle for a week, then come back and spend time at home, get a summer job, and chill with the cats until my mother returned home from Iraq. Now its looking more like summer courses. I need 3 courses to get into vet school that Lynn does not offer.
Something that I have learned since I have been in college is that no one just tells you what to do anymore when it comes to your education. It’s YOUR education. I meet or email my adviser a few times a semester to make sure that I am on track. I just had an hour long meeting about my future and that is when I realized that I needed to take these summer courses this summer not next summer. Thus, the change in plans. I also need 400 hours of clinical work, but I am not worried, for there is the Career Center on campus that can help me. I have realized this year that I must be pro active in my college career. If I want to take a course, I have to speak up when I’m planning my schedule with my adviser, they aren’t mind readers.
The power of email. It is so important now and days when talking to professors. Recently, one of my professors forgot to print out my handouts for my final project. She was going to print them out in color for students that asked ahead of time. I had asked her a week in advance in person, as well as emailed her back and forth. She forgot the day of my presentation, but because there were emails for proof that I had asked for them, my grade was not affected.
Well, I must go back to looking for summer courses. I have to find the courses online because I could not find any of the courses that I need in DC, apparently they don’t like animals or vets there and my mother insists that I come home this summer, that I’m never home and don’t spend time with her. Funny, cause here I was thinking she was never home due to being in a war zone.
A Chocolate break
Today in class, as I fell asleep about 6 times in the very warm room, I was awaken to find out we were switching rooms. No big deal, I was thankful for the fresh air and the cold lab that was sure to keep me awake.
While walking back to the lab, Michelle sniffs the air and then informs me that there is a chocolate fountain in the area. lol. So now we are both sniffing the air for the smell of chocolate.
Once in the lab, I notice that about half the class is missing. It wasn’t a hard guess where they were when they slowly started showing up back in class… with plates of fruit dipped in chocolate.
Michelle, Wideline, and I start chattering in our corner about the random event. A student walks back into the room, which Wideline was more than happy to infrom that they were being crazy for walking out of class for chocolate, but her argument did not last long. The moment she saw a chocolate cupcake, the rest of her comment was long gone from her thoughts. Michelle of course turned towards me, looking very serious, to only inform me that I was to “stay behind and take notes.”
So off the two of them went to explore the magical area in ASSAF where the chocolate fountain was located. Still in shock at the madness, I take a look around the room to see more than half the class eating who knows what, and about 2 students actually listening to profesor Ahmed. He suddenly realizes that something is very wrong and looks around to find his students in what to him must have looked like a huge mess of 6 year olds. There was liquid form chocolate all over the lab. And just what did our professor have to say? “Hey, were did you guys get that?”
Not long after his sudden realization that his students weren’t listening, was Professor Ahmed getting his own plate, thus ending the class.
Wideline brought me back a cupcake and we all packed up our stuff. As I passed the booth with all the goodies lined up nicely, I found the source of all the distraction, the library! Now, I thought they were supposed to help us learn! Oh well, I got to hand it to the library staff, they sure do know how to get the students attention!
I must say though, Professor Ahmed had the last laugh at the end of the day. We are still bio majors, and so all he had to do was pour some strange liquid into a bowl with some purple powder which caught fire and filled the lab full of smoke for 15 minutes to get our attention back. I’ve got to hand it to the man, he knows how to keep his students!
Speeding for class
A lot of times, students will come in saying that they got stopped by campus security or the cops on the way to class and the professor will let them off easy (of course with proof) because they feel bad. Yes, students are so worried about getting in trouble with their professors, they would rather be given a ticket than to show up late.
Well, today, I was shocked to find out that one of my classmates got a ticket on his way to class… and now has to go to jail because of his speeding.
I for one know how hard it is to get up in the morning sometimes for my early classes, but my oh my, speeding so fast you have to go to jail? Wow. I was shocked at first, but now, wow. I feel bad for the guy. I mean ya, he was speeding, but that is just a bad morning! Plus, he was still late to class.
Enjoying life
Lately I have been enjoying myself at Lynn. Today I went to the school’s coffee shop, Christines, with Cristina. I am def noticing the change in work load since freshmen year. Now back for my second semester as a sophomore, I am feeling the pressure to do more in shorter amounts of time and well, it gets rough some times.
But like I said, I am enjoying my time at Lynn and enjoying life. Tri Sigma had a Super Bowl theme meeting the other night. I don’t remember ever having a theme for a meeting before, but we sure did enjoy it, pizza and all.
Now that I have a good few months under my belt, I am starting to think about study abroad. Junior year will be here faster than I ever expected, I know that much, so I am trying to plan ahead. My only problem is I can’t figure out what I am going to do! I am going to stop by the study abroad office some time this week or next to figure out what Lynn offers.
Oh! And my room is all set up now! It looks wonderful and feels like a place I can relax in now, not like a cell anymore. I had some help getting my new room set up, and the bribes were worth it! I love how everything is set up.
Oh and another thing! Did anyone check out the last home game for basketball? We had 99 points, one point away from an even 100. My friends and I were going nuts over the one point. We wanted to see it go into the hundreds but oh well, we won! It was a great game as always. I love sporting events at school, Lynn students and staff go wild at all the games. No matter if we are winning or losing, there are people screaming, chanting, laughing, dancing, its just crazy!
Well, homework calls. Like I said, sophomore year is just a little more demanding than my freshmen year…. man, if only I knew how easy I had it!
A new year, a new semester
I am very excited to get back to Lynn. I spent my new years at The Palm Restuarant. I had a wonderful time and brought home a doggy bag for my two cats who were more than happy to take some fish off my hands.
Now, it is time to go back to school, and start having a great time learning amazing stuff about science. Making metals heat up from chemicals, figure out sound waves of people talking in the room, or how the human body is able to move from place to place.
I have a new room now so I have to get that all set up.
I am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things as my grandmother would say. Although, I’m not looking forward to going back to caf food after having so much good food at home. Oh well, at least I get to be with my friends again and I only have to buy one new textbook this semester. Thank you Anatomy II, Chem II, and Phyisics II. hehe.
Doing happy dance
I’m doing my happy dance because my grades just came in and I like them! lol. I really really like them. I almost want to wake my mother up in the middle of the night to show her….. hmmm, I rather wait till morning….
