Summer in May, You Say?

Unlike most college students, we at UP are done the end of April. Aside from the fact that my non-UP friends are still in school, I am enjoying NOT doing school work and doing everything I don't have time to do at school.

Here's what makes my break great
1. First semester in my college career with no C's. My lowest grade is a B minus in Brit lit.
2. Reading for fun. I have read The Time Traveler's Wife and The Namesake, both excellent books.
3. Watching TV: Glee, House, Parenthood, Modern Family, Jeopardy, and Family Guy. However, I do miss watching Glee every Tuesday night with my UP girls
4. Cooking: I have not done as much as I would like, but I've been going through Cooking Light magazines I have not had a chance to go through and find recipes. However, I've enjoyed eating at places other than the Commons and Cove.
5. Possible trips to Chicago and Eugene
6. Sleeping in, especially with my beloved Lily
7. Not having to read books for school, write papers, or study for tests (although I should get a head start on my Shakespeare reading for London)

DONE DONE DONE!!!

It's official. I am DONE with my sophomore year of college! I never thought the last day would come, but it finally came. I am blogging from the Portland Airport waiting to board the plane home. I am exhausted as I have been up since 7 AM both for an 8 AM final and to get a jump start on packing and cleaning. After writing two essays for both my English finals, my hand hurt like crazy. After my finals, I had lunch with Sara, and continued to pack, clean, and move boxes to Fields (my new dorm). Thank you SO MUCH Megan and Traci for your help and for taking me to the airport! I won't find out about my grades until Monday, but think I did well. Brit Lit was probably my hardest final, but it is such a small part of my grade that even if I do horribly, I will still pass the class (and yes, this class WAS my hardest this semester). I turned in a reflection paper for psych on Monday, and am not worried about my Fine Arts or Lit Studies finals. Choir is an easy A that always helps my GPA. Going abroad this summer means that I have been working very hard to maintain my grades, and despite my freaking out about not getting good grades, it has been my experience that things usually turn out better than I think they will be. Regardless, I'm thrilled to be done and very excited for a break! HELLO FREEDOM!

Summer, Why Can't You Come Any Faster?

Four days. I know it seems like a short time, but to me, it seems like forever. At least I survived Dead Week! I got an A minus on my speech for fine arts and turned in two major papers which I'll get back tomorrow. I have been studying and packing like crazy. I am one reflection paper and three exams away from summer and London. Even when I have those stressed out, anxiety-provoking moments, I remind myself that I have worked so hard and that I have made it this far. Wait, does that really I am almost halfway done with college? It's exciting to think about my future, but also scary at the same time. I used to think I would never make it out of high school, but here I am, happy in college. I literally just want to sleep and chill the first few days I am home, as I have had a busy semester. I will be home for six weeks before I jet off to London, and home again for three weeks in August before I head off to Portland for orientation assistant training.

I am really excited for next year. New dorm and roomie. Interesting classes, including three with professors I have had before (all three of them being favorites, including two three-timers). Starting week 5? WRITING ASSISTANT!! English Society President. At the same time, this means I should get some idea of, as Mary Oliver says, "what I plan to do with my one wild and precious life?" Hmmm...I don't have to think too hard, but I have some ideas.

Thank you so much for following my blog! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

After All My Hard Work, I Think I Deserve A Fun Weekend

I can't believe I'm almost done. Not just done with the year, but almost halfway done with SCHOOL! Wait, what do you mean I only have two years left of college??

This week has been pretty relaxing. I turned in my Brit Lit paper on Monday and did my lit studies presentation on Thursday. I'm 2 papers, one presentation, a reflection paper, and three exams away from summer.

On Thursday my friend Christina came for a visit, and we (her, me, and 2 of our friends) went to Tea Zone (a tea bar) where I got a strawberry bubble tea. Then, we drove back to UP where we saw Urinetown, the musical that was playing here these past few weeks. Friday night I went out with some friends to McMeniman's, a restaurant in the St. John's area (few minutes from UP).

Arielle spent the weekend with me. After I picked her up, we went to Mio Sushi, one of my new favorite places in Portland. When we got back to campus, I gave her the grand tour. I ended the tour by taking her to visit my friend Sara in Fields, the dorm she currently lives in and the dorm I'm going to be living in next year. That night we had pizza and looked and magazines with my UP girls. Yesterday we just relaxed and chatted, and I practiced my fine arts speech for her. Because I got a lot of work done over Easter break and this past week, practicing my fine arts speech was the only school-related activity I did. It felt great not having to do much academically related, as that's how I felt most of my weekends have been.

I woke up this morning realizing how stressful this week will be, both with school and trying to get my stuff organized to move to Fields. On the plus side, I just found out that my Brit Lit class is canceled Friday. As that class is my only class on Fridays, I plan to spend the day sleeping and organizing my stuff (with some studying on the side). Luckily, I have awesome friends with cars who can help me drive my stuff over and possibly take me to the airport.

10 more days until summer. Can I make it? I think I can, I think I can....

A Less Stressful Week

This weekend was better than the previous few weekends because I did not feel as stressed. Staying on campus for Easter may have been quiet, but at least I got time to work on my insanely heavy workload. Both Easter break and having classes canceled (two of those days being my 8:10 lit studies class) allowed me to catch up on sleep. My Brit Lit paper is due tomorrow, and I am glad that I finished it with out the extension I thought I would need. I had a conference with my lit studies prof about my research paper, which went well and am well into making the revisions based on his comments.

Friday night I did not get a lot done as my friends and I played games and hung out. We played Banana (which is similar to Scrabble, but with no board) and Loaded Questions. Saturday was Weekend on the Bluff, which is where prospective freshman who are going or strongly considering going to UP spend the weekend exploring the campus and spend the night with current students. My roommate and I, along with some of our friends, hosted prospective students. We had fun showing them around campus, hanging out in our rooms, and attending "The Price is Right" (students play games trying to guess the price of a particular item, similar to the show).

These next few weeks will be busy, but at least I'm 2 papers, one speech, three tests, and 18 days away from being DONE!

Easter Weekend

Unlike many of my friends, I stayed on campus for Easter break. Why, you might ask, would I want to be here in cold, rainy Portland, when I could be somewhere sunny? Unfortunately, this decision and nothing to do with what I wanted to do, but with the fact that I have 3 papers and a speech before finals week...which isn't that far away. Since I came back from spring break, my workload has not gotten lighter. Even though I didn't go home, my decision to stay worked out for the best, as I made progress on my work that I would have had a harder time accomplishing at home (or on vacation).

I mostly stayed on campus except for yesterday and today. Yesterday I went to the grocery store, which included a trip to Starbucks, courtesy of my Christmas gift card. Today I spent most of the day with my friend Kelly and her family. Kelly and I are going to London (and hopefully Paris!) this summer, and I really enjoyed spending time with her and her family. Her family is huge compared to mine--eight siblings plus her aunt's children and grandchildren. Still, we had fun!

Tomorrow I have the day off and I'm going to sleep and work on homework. This week I am blessed with not having to get up for my 8:10 class, thanks to my professor canceling class and instead having conferences with us about our research papers. I also don't have Brit Lit on Friday, but am meeting with my lit studies prof to talk about my research paper...so we'll see how that goes. Hopefully, it will be good. :)

4 More Weeks...Please Fly By

I have a month left of school. 3 big papers, all of them in the double digits. Should I mention I have a speech as well? Why must these weeks be so cruel to me? I'm almost halfway done with college, and I just want these weeks to fly by smoothly.

Despite my busy workload, I had some fun. I got some free coupon from Nicola's (my favorite local pizza place) a while ago from Admissions for showing my room to prospective visitors. I used one of those and ordered in pizza, which is a nice change from eating at the Common's. After doing some homework, I went to an Easter egg hunt where I met up with a friend and her roommate and friend from her dorm. We colored Easter-themed pictures, participated in an egg hunt and an egg toss. I also won a chocolate peanut butter Easter bunny at the door, and one of the hall directors (Residence Life sponsored this event as part of a program called "Pilots After Dark") gave me a bowl of jellybeans, as she didn't want to toss them.

Thursday afternoon begins a 4 day break for Easter. While it would be nice to get off campus (more specifically, sunny Palm Springs, which is where my family will be), I am relieved that I will be staying on campus. This will give me plenty of time to get my homework done without the distraction of people and sun. Luckily, many people I know, including two of my neighbors, stay on campus during this short break, so I won't be too lonely. At least I'll come home in May and can give my family (and friends) my full attention without worrying about the demands of school.

I can't believe I'll be halfway done. Never thought I'd make it this far...