I'm not slacking off, I promise.

At least I'm not intentionally slacking off. I've just been really spacey lately. I just completely forget about important things that are coming up, like assignments and meetings and such.

Example A: I had this project and paper for one of my classes and I swear to God it was due on Thursday (aka tomorrow). This semester I have a lot of my classes with the same people, so a few of us were talking as we were waiting for the bus after our Monday night class and I find out that it's actually due Tuesday (aka yesterday). Keep in mind that I find this out Monday after my night class and I hadn't even started it yet.

Example B: Yesterday, I was pretty pumped because I didn't have anything going on last night. I remember checking my phone calendar, seeing nothing, and thinking "Wow I actually have a free night? That never happens." Anyway, after supper I was doing homework and all the sudden I was like "Oh efff, do I have a meeting tonight??" Yes, I had a meeting. And yes, I was late. I have a committee meeting for student government stuff EVERY Tuesday at 7 pm. You'd think I'd remember it right?

I blame my dependence on my phone calendar. And my inability to remember things, but mostly I'm going to blame it on the fact that it wasn't in my phone (which is still my fault because I forgot to put it in there...)

I'm a bit notorious for putting everything in my phone calendar: meetings, appointments, work shifts, lunch dates, weekend plans, etc. See if it's not in my phone, I will think I don't have anything going on then. I know I work Fridays for three hours as soon as I'm done with class, but if it's not in my phone, I will be making plans with someone, look at my phone calendar, see nothing on that date and be like, "Oh yeah, Friday after class works perfect" and then about two hours later I will remember that I actually have to work.

The only think I don't put in my phone are classes and assignments. I write those in my planner. Unfortunately, I'm the kind of person who writes things in my planner, closes my planner, throws it in my backpack and forgets about it. Hence, the spaced-off papers and quizzes and such. I'm really trying to get better at actually looking at my planner this semester.

I've figured out that I have to write things in my planner and on my marker board. Towards the end of last semester, I started to have a permanent to-do list on my marker board. It's perfect because it's right by my desk and I see it every day. I can all sticky-note it and it's magnetic so I can put other reminders and stuff on it. For some reason, I haven't been using it this semester but that changed yesterday. Now it's got every class on it and what I need to get done.

Before

Just a side note, I didn't draw any of that.

After
Much better.

I told you I'm still trying to figure this whole college thing out.

Parenting?

I've realized that as I've gotten into some major-specific classes, my assignments get more and more...what's the word...interesting.

I started raising a child today. His name is Ben and he is three months old.

For my Human Development class we have to raise a virtual child, from birth to age 18. Ack.

It tells you your initial situation (I had pregnancy complications and my baby was born way early and had to be hospitalized for a week) and then it gives you a bunch of situations and you have to decide what to do. My child is probably going to be really screwed up because I have NO FREAKING CLUE what I'm doing.

To paraphrase one of the questions, "You want your child to develop curiosity and interest in things, how do you do this? Pick one of the following:

• You deck out his crib with the latest baby gear, like red and white rattles, etc
• You hold him, talk to him, and interact with him as much as possible
• You give him lot of audio stimulation, like talking to him and listening to music"

Umm...they all sound pretty good to me. I picked B.

Another example: "Will you breastfeed your baby?

• Yes, he will only be breastfed
• Yes, but we will supplement with formula
• No, we don't see the need to"

Again...ummm...B?

Remind me never to be a single parent.

Hopefully this kid survives. We'll see how it goes. I don't think I'm quite ready for this whole parenting thing.

Not quite yet...

I know my last post was all about getting back into the swing of things, but it's a little hard to do when there's a three-day weekend already.

And while I should probably get started on some homework, I'm going to put it off a little longer. See I've a had great weekend so far full of stupid funny movies (Eurotrip and The Other Guys), Packers football (Go Pack Go!), late night sledding (Brrr!), sleeping in (sort of), and spending time with some great friends, and there's still a whole day left. I'm not quite ready to do school-related anything.

Some friends rented a cabin for the weekend and it was great to get out of Lincoln, even just for a night. Definitely an awesome way to spend some time off. I spent the weekend with, among a few other people, my boyfriend, an avid Packers fan, and a kid from Wisconsin. I like the Packers and they had a pretty fantastic game, but let's just say we all heard A LOT about it. Even when we all finally called it a night and went to bed, the two of them kept going on about Green Bay's 48-21 domination of the Atlanta Falcons. It was actually pretty hilarious. They were like girls at a slumber party, except they were two 20-something guys laying in bunk beds talking about football.

Even better was that we woke up at 8:30 and watched Tom & Jerry (I love Tom & Jerry, no joke), followed by Sports Center for more Packers highlights and then pancakes.



How am I supposed to handle homework after all that?

How to Survive Dead Week

Today, the unthinkable happened.

WE GOT A SECOND SNOW DAY.

That happens like never.

Dead Week is much more enjoyable if you don't have to go to school.

But since that isn't the case most often, I've been coming up with a survival strategy so I don't go crazy.

First off, get some good music. Preferably nothing produced in this decade, but whatever floats your boat. Personally, I don't think you can go wrong with the 80s-R.E.M., The Police, Journey, Hall&Oates, Elton John, Queen, Styx, Foreigner, stuff like that. The 90s are also fantastic, but none of that N*Sync crap. Goo Goo Dolls, Third Eye Blind, Counting Crows, Better Than Ezra, Ben Folds, more R.E.M, Barenaked Ladies. And then of course The Beatles. You can't go wrong with The Beatles.

Second, don't sit at a desk and try to do homework. It doesn't work. Find a comfy couch somewhere, bring your books and your iPod and be productive. Also if you have someone to study with, that helps.

And third, don't freak out. Yeah there's a crap ton of stuff to get done, but take a break to watch a movie with your friends or go play in the snow. Your not going to lose anything by taking an hour or so off. I took about 12 hours off yesterday, and I'm fine =)

Hmmm...

Ok so I haven't updated this in forever. Life's been crazy.

We have finals in two weeks, and since next week is dead week, EVERYTHING is due this week. Seriously. EVERYTHING.

I've been going nuts.

I also ordered my books for next semester...it's gonna be at least $400. Ugh.

On a brighter note, I found out that my last final is on Tuesday of finals week, so that means I'm on break from December 15 to January 11. I love college =)

Except I'm probably not going to have anything to do for like a month. I should really get a job.

Tip of the Day: Don't turn in first drafts of important papers. Yeah, I BS papers the night before they're due and it usually turns out ok. I found out that the first draft of my English paper would've been "on the line between a D and a C." Revision is a good idea.

Survival.

Surviving college is not all that hard, at least so far. You just gotta know some stuff.

Like don't sit by people with laptops in lecture classes. I spent almost the entire 50 minute class period watching the guy I sit by play solitaire and the kid in front of me play some game where you throw turtles.

I sit in the second row.

Also, I found out sometimes it helps to study someplace other than a dorm room. There's just something about that I can't focus on anything. Go to a study room if you want quiet or the dining hall if you need background noise. I can't do anything in complete silence. It drives me crazy. I always bring homework to breakfast, especially if I don't have anybody to go with. It's nice. My new favorite place though is the Coffee House. Bring your laptop, grab a mocha, be productive. I was there for like 3 hours the other day studying for my biology test.

And finally, you gotta learn to outsmart the weather. You know how in movies when it's really windy and the umbrellas turn inside out? That totally happened to me today. Also, it's probably not a bad idea to invest in a pair of rain boots. Chuck Taylors do not cut it.

Tip of the Day: Well, I already had like three, so we'll call that good.

Procrastination...

I have a 4 page English paper due tomorrow morning. I have one paragraph done. It's 10:11 pm, central time.

It's going to be a long night.

It's not that I try to put stuff off. I really don't. It's just really hard for me to sit and focus on something, especially if there's no pressure to get it done. And let's face it, homework is rarely fun or interesting. So I put it off as long as I can.

Either that or I start and then get too overwhelmed with too much stuff to do and just quit.

I got overwhelmed and quit and went on a run about 2 hours ago. It was a nice break and wonderful stress relief. But now I'm supposed to be writing a paper and I can't even think straight enough to crank anything out. So I'm blogging and facebooking the night away! It's much more enjoyable.

I'm going to fail at college.

Actually, that's an overstatement. I'm actually a really good student, I just have really bad study habits. I did this in high school too. I could never bring myself to start big, important assignments in advance, and usually started them late the night before they were due. I almost think I work better at 1 am. Or it could be I'm just so out of it by then I don't really realize what I'm doing....

:sigh:

Homework!

So this is the first time I've actually had legit amounts of stuff to do.

I've literally been spending like 5 hours a day on homework since Saturday. It sucks.

I had a 5 page paper (3 hours), a powerpoint/research project (5+ hours), a French presentation (1 hour), an online quiz (half an hour), and a biology lab write up (1 hour so far and I have half a page done...it was a 12 page lab and we also have to graphs and explanations...it's due tomorrow...fml).

And it sucks because I didn't even leave all this stuff for the last minute. I've been working on all of it for days.... ugh.

Sleep is overrated anyway.

Tip of the Day: Don't take BIOS 101. The class is great. The lab is horrible.

Oh gravity!

I had my first near-mental-breakdown of the school year last night.

I had to make two graphs for my biology lab. Easy. I had to do them on my computer. Should be even easier.

False.

I've decided the Mac version of Excel is so not user-friendly. I got my graphs made, but I swear, there is no way to label the axes. It took three of us about 45 minutes trying everything before giving up. We're all honors kids on full ride academic scholarships with an average ACT score of about 33. We couldn't do it. I really don't think it's possible.

I'm one of those people who gets really stressed out and frustrated over things like this. I literally almost cried, and I couldn't even think straight or comprehend anything that was going on. I think if there hadn't been reasonable people in the room I would've lost it. Thanks Kevin.

And then it took all of about two minutes to figure it out on my friend's PC. Thanks again, Kevin.

So for the first time in my life, I'm forced to admit that a PC can do something better than a Mac.

By the way, if anybody knows how to label the axes on graphs on Mac Excel, let me know.

Calvin.

I got a betta fish.

I named him Calvin. (My friend got one named Hobbes...get it?)

So I am actually responsible for the well-being of a living thing. He mostly just chills in his bowl, but I have to feed him and stuff. It was a $27 investment.

Totally worth it.

I could literally sit here and watch him swim around for hours. It's kind of a problem, since it's way more interesting than most of my homework.

I've found out I'm really good at putting things off until the last minute. It's just that there's so many better things to do, like watching my fish and blogging and hanging out with friends, ya know?

That's really bad actually. Because now I have insane amounts of stuff to get done, and I don't even want to start. Ugh...

College is nuts because I have all these long term projects and gigantic assignments, but I have weeks to do them. Except instead of starting on them early and having time to do them like a responsible person would, I start them the night before.

I wouldn't suggest doing that.

Oops...

Haven't updated in a couple days, it's been super busy...

I survived my first weekend of being an official college kid.  Yay!

My clothes also survived their first time in a college washer.  Yay again!

Homework takes up way too much time, and it's really weird getting used to not having every class every day, like in high school.  Meaning, I forget about things, like homework.  The other day, I checked the website for my honors seminar class at, oh I don't know, 9ish in the morning and found out I have a paper due that day at 2.  Luckily, I start class at 11 on Tuesdays, but that was a crazy two hours and a really crappy paper.

Moral of the story, time management and organization, kids.  It's important.

Tip of the Day: Invest in a planner.  Write in it, look at it, it helps, trust me.  Also, use sticky notes.  Sticky notes are my new best friend.  They're nifty for reminders, and you can put them anywhere you'll see them: your planner, computer, mirror, bulletin board, wherever.  They're great.