F to the E to the B, R, U, A, R, Y!
I had a very busy weekend. I would wake up, study for about four hours and then get ready to go out and not come home until late. It was fun, but probably not the best plan seeing as I have my first midterm in an hour and a half, and I'm definitely not as prepared as I would like to be. Actually, I think I'm going to stop writing this and study some more even though I'm sure last minute cramming will do little good.
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Well, it might have done some good, or I'm just really amazing at picking out exactly what I need to study. The midterm was a lot easier than I expected. It only took me about a half hour to write and I really feel like I did well on it. That does not happen very often.
The lab drama I mentioned a couple posts ago has been resolved. I emailed my professor and he said that I didn't need to be registered for the lab as it did not count towards my grade and I could go to whichever section I wished. That was really convenient, but I'm sure it wouldn't be the same case for most classes.
Speaking of that class, I have to write a seven page essay for it. I've never written a history essay before and I'm seriously not looking forward to it. It's due the eleventh and I haven't started writing it yet! I really need to start that this week because one day this weekend the volleyball team I help coach has a tournament and I'll be out of the house all day. Apparently history essays involve a lot of referencing and the thesis is extremely hard to write. Those are my two least favourite parts of essay writing and they just got harder?! Ugh. I'm in so much trouble...
Tuesday February 10, 2009
Midterms... enough said
As I'm sure many of you are aware, midterm season has begun, which means that anyone who says they have spare time is lying to you. Outside of the insane amount of studying that needs to be done, my least favourite part of midterms time is how busy everywhere is. The CAW is constantly full, the library is always packed, and everyone is continuously stressed out.
It's good in a way. Misery loves company, I suppose, but it's also pretty nerve-racking when you're typing up a blog and everyone else around you is cramming. It makes me feel like I should be cramming as well...only I don't really need to thanks to my beginning to study early.
I've been doing pretty good thus far. My weekend got completely eaten by school work, but otherwise I feel like I'm getting better at staying on top of my schoolwork. My history paper is almost completely done. It would have been done already, but I went to see my GA during her office hours yesterday and she gave me some ideas on how I could improve my essay. Obviously I'm going to listen to her, even if it means completely re-writing the first three pages, seeing as she's the one grading the paper.
Well, I'm going back to work now...
Friday February 13, 2009
Reading Week...emphasis on the Reading
Even though Reading Week doesn't officially begin until this Monday, my last class of the week was yesterday, so for me it is like Reading Week has already started. I already have a pretty good idea on what I'm going to be doing. I have a lot of school work that I plan on completing including reading a 300 and something page French novel, a 300 and something page History novel, and re-reading two other French novels. In other words, my Reading Week will be a real Reading Week.
Despite the approximately thousand pages I have to read this week, I'm really excited for it. My friends who go to other universities are coming back home for the week, so I plan to see them as well, though not as much I would like, but I guess that's what summer is for. I'm especially looking forward to my Valentine's Day (cryptic, non?), and a certain name-twin who will be returning from McMaster.
I also have another tidbit of advice; this one is specifically for future education students, but can probably apply to other students as well. As a concurrent-education student I get to participate in a teaching practicum the first two weeks of May. To prepare for this practicum we were sent an e-mail that stated all students participating in a placement needed to get 1) a TB test and 2) a police check, and that form were available for both. Here's my advice, always read the forms fully! I did not read the police check form fully and ended up getting a regular police check with my local police forking out thirty or forty dollars in the process. Recently I discovered this is not what I was supposed to do. Now I have to re-fill out the form I did not read properly in the first place and send it off (with even more money) so that I can get a special card that is what the e-mail was originally referring to when it said "Police Check". Ugh.
Friday February 20, 2009
Still Alive, Still Reading
Reading week has been a combination of me being extremely busy and being extremely lazy. As much as I’ve managed to complete a nice chunk of work, I definitely have not gotten as much done as I would have liked, and I know I have no one to blame but myself. It’s difficult, sometimes, to stay motivated on your own. Something I find really helpful in staying motivated is giving yourself a reward for completing a task. I usually bribe myself with getting to see people. So, say if I finish an hour of reading my French novel, then I’ll let myself go out to the movies later that day with a friend. Other bribes to use could be computer time (be careful with this one, you need to be strict with yourself), junk food (again, be careful you don’t eat too much), or your favourite television show.
This week I’ve also (finally) filled in and put up the four month calendar I got for free during Welcome Week. Unfortunately the one they were giving out is a little too small for my taste. Also, it is non-reusable because the marker doesn’t wash off (or maybe I just used the wrong kind of marker...). I plan to buy a proper four month calendar next semester. I’ve been told by various university staff and professors that they are extremely useful. One of my professors admitted that she still uses the one she bought during her university days.
Tomorrow I’m going to see RENT with some friends. I’m seriously excited. I haven’t seen a live musical in so long! I haven’t seen the movie RENT and I really don’t know anything about it other than the basic premise, so I’m really looking forward to seeing something so completely new to me. The only down side to the trip is the cost...I’m thinking about getting a part time job of some sort because money would be really nice to have, but it would be really difficult to get and keep with school. Not to mention my two week teaching placement in May and my three week trip to Greece in the summer...
Tuesday February 24, 2009
Exhaustion, and it's not even March
I am very, very tired. I almost fell asleep in my only class today I was so exhausted. It's not because I've been pulling all-nighters or anything, but I did have to wake up pretty early this morning and it has just completely drained my brain power. Not a good thing to happen in the middle of a midterm week.
I have two more midterms this week, one of which is extremely important because it is a French class, my major. I'm not sure if I mentioned this before but because I only have two French classes this semester I need to do very well in both of them in order to keep a 10.5 major average, which is necessary for me to stay in the Outstanding Scholars program. Since I'm taking so few French classes, if I do poorly in just one of them it's likely I will lose my scholarship because I would have to do amazingly well in the other to even the mark out. And as much as I'm good at French if I get lower than a 10 in one of them, I doubt I'll be able to get my necessary average. I'm definitely worried about this midterm...so I think I'm going to get back to studying for it now. Hopefully some of the information will absorb despite me being so tired.
Friday February 27, 2009
It's Raining
Not much to update on. I'm still studying for midterms. I have one tomorrow evening and a "map quiz" Monday afternoon. I'm more worried about the map quiz, even though it's worth a smaller portion of my mark, because I have not started to prepare for it and it's going to be very different from any university graded assignment I've done.
Tonight Megan, my friend who attends university outside of Windsor, is coming home for the weekend. I'm really looking forward to seeing her, but at the same time it adds one more thing to my growing to-do list.
And since I'm already in a complaining mood I might as well keep up the trend: the rain soaked the front of my jeans and now my legs are cold.
I hate midterms.
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