Recently in College Life Category

Don't know if any of you are still out there, but I'm here.

We're on day two of a snow storm, and it's beautiful out.  I've got a front-row view of the falling flakes, a cup of hot chocolate, and a purring cat on my lap.  I'm still in my favorite pj bottoms with the softest, snuggliest sweater I own completing this most comfy of ensembles.

So, what's new?

I think I have about a bazillion posts of yours to read, and I'm going to.  I want to catch up with what's been going on.

As for me, well, the semester is over and, while I enjoyed my classes, I can't tell you how glad I am that I have this break.  During the second half of the semester, two of my professors realized that they had fallen sadly behind.  Rather than change their plans, they subjected us to a whirlwind of chapter overviews, quizzes, tests and papers.  In both classes, I had a test on the last day of class instead of review.  Yeah, they took it right to the very end.

While I'm certain that I received an A in my 2 psych classes (one has posted the grade, the other hasn't but has already told me I'm in good shape), it is my sad duty to report that my streak of perfection has come to an end: I got a B in Statistics.  As you might guess, I'm not happy about that.  There were some problems with the final.  When I challenged him, he told me I was right and said that he corrected that and gave me credit.  The test was online, so I went back to look.  The grade is the same, and he has posted our final grades.  I emailed him but never heard back.  This was his last semester here- he's off to teach at Purdue- so it's not like I can track him down.  I keep the B.  I'm trying to practice acceptance.  It's an uphill battle, but I'm working on it.  Here's some happier news: my Bio lab professor liked a paper I did so much that she's keeping it on file for future students to use as a reference for how their papers should be done!  I'm still waiting to find out how I did in Human Bio overall.  I know I got an A in the lab, and A- on both the midterm and the final.  I'm in the B range, though, for homework and quizzes.  Each of these components makes up 25% of the grade, and I don't know if the B on homework, etc., is going to pull me down to a B+ for the class or not.  The A in lab is really an A+, so perhaps that will offset it and leave me with an A-.  I just have to wait and see.

I have a lot to do... tour college campuses, fill out applications and financial aid forms, finish work on that incredibly involved scholarship application (due Jan. 14).  Our donation drive for area shelters went really well and I have a carload full of items to sort through, divvy up and deliver.  I've already made one trip before this (a carload of blankets that time) and am so pleased and proud of our students and faculty for their generosity.  Other clubs collected winter coats and stuffed animals for the shelters as well, while the faculty had a giving tree covered in ornaments with children's wish lists for toys and clothes on them.  We  could choose an ornament and buy the things listed, then leave them in the office to be delivered.  My brother, who has just been laid off from work because of the economy, bought a special $50 snowboarder's sweatshirt for a kid who loves the sport (in other words, a kid after my brother's own heart!). 

I don't have a Christmas tree and, at this rate, probably won't.  We gave our tree stand to my mother because hers broke and, though she went to every store in the tri-state area, she couldn't find a new one!  She had her tree in a bucket in her living room, still wrapped up, because she didn't have a stand for it.  She asked Randy and I if we had a spare- we used to- but our second one had broken and we'd tossed it.  Randy offered her ours, insisting that he can rig something up for us.  I can't tell you how happy my mother is!  She and the kids were finally able to decorate their tree yesterday.  Why wait so long to put up the tree?  My fault.  It's a family tradition to keep the tree up until my birthday in January; I loved it so much when I was little!  Naturally that means holding off on the tree until late in December so that it won't be a brown, shriveled up husk on Jan. 12.  I haven't been over to see it yet, but will soon.  As for us, well, we don't have any children and I've just been too busy to even think about Christmas really.  The fact that today is Dec. 21 sank in a little while ago, causing my chest to contract, my breath to catch and my heart to accelerate like a rabbit's.  Apropos, that, since "Rabbit" is my mother's nickname for me.  I haven't bought anything for anybody, which isn't quite as bad as it sounds; most of us have said that we'd rather the money that would have been spent on us be donated to charity instead.  It's such a tough year for so many!  I can't even imagine...

I've blathered on long enough and have only covered the surface, but I think I'll stop here for now.

Good to be back!

Lest you think that I've fallen off the face of the earth... I haven't.

I wrote a long, witty, newsy post a few days ago, and then my browser spontaneously closed (any idea why Firefox has been doing that since the upgrade?) and my lovely post was lost.  Aggravated and out of time, I decided not to try to recreate it; it's never as good the second time around anyway.  I've received all of your wonderful emails and comments, though, and wanted to let you know that I'm ok.  Thanks for asking!

I'm up to my eyeballs in last minute tests and finals.  My last final is Wednesday, and then I'm a free woman.  You'll hear more from  me then.

Until that time: peace, love and broccoli.

Tests, tests and more tests.

Have these people nothing better to do with their time?

Here are the highlights:

- My grandmother's memorial service is a week from today.  I'm ok.  I'm sad, of course, but a little happy too.  She's free of her illness, and I like to think that, wherever they are, she's reunited with her husband at last.

- I'm still only pulling a B+ in both my Human Bio and Statistics classes, but both profs assure me that I can get an A.  That is, of course, my goal.

- My PTK advisor approached me a couple of weeks ago.  She's the school's representative for the Jack Kent Cooke scholarship, one which you can only apply for if you're nominated by a scholarship rep.  I'd never heard of it before, but Sharon wants me to apply.  For a variety of reasons, I don't actually think I'll be receive one, but it's an honor to have been asked.  I'm applying anyway; I could receive up to $30,000/year if awarded!  Can't hurt to try.

- My Child and Adolescent Psych prof is teaching Behavior Modification next semester.  It's by invitation only, and he's asked me to sign up.  Again, an honor.  It isn't my favorite treatment method, despite its efficacy, but it is effective.  It doesn't look at underlying causes for behaviors; it only eradicates them.  They may return, or manifest in a new way if the cause(s) aren't addressed.  That being said, there will be times when I'll need to refer a client to a behaviorist as a supplement; I need to understand what my clients will be going through.  I've already informed my cats and my brother that they will be my first test subjects when I've finished the class.

- Illinois Institute of Technology and Marymount Manhattan are both tirelessly trying to recruit me.  Especially IIT.  Multiple emails and snail mail cards, etc.  Yesterday, though, I received an email from Columbia inviting me to come to an informational meeting.  I hadn't even contacted them.  I assume they found my hit either here or through their website.  Still, pretty cool.

- I received a good performance review at work and, though people are always complaining that it doesn't happen, I received a  25 cent raise, which is substantial for them.  Yay me.

- Randy bought me a zoom lens for my camera, something I've wanted for a long time.  Now if only I could find time to use it!

- I'm about to pay off my credit cards.  And I have a little money coming my way from my grandfather's estate (paternal grandfather who died a couple of years ago, and whose estate has been a bone of contention ever since amongst my aunts and uncles).  I wasn't expecting anything from him; it's a pleasant surprise, if something like this can ever be called "pleasant."  Also, I know my grandmother left me a little money as well.  I'm not sure how much is left, though.  I told my aunt to use the money to take care of my grandmother in the nursing home if it was needed.  I don't know whether she did or not, but it was more important to me that my grandmother was cared for while she was alive.  We'll see. 

- Randy told me that he wants to take me back to Alaska for our 15th anniversary.  That's almost 2 years away, but it's something to look forward to.  We'll spend more time there, explore more, than we did before.  I'm so excited!  Then maybe I'll have a chance to use that zoom.

I think that's all.  I've hurt my back.  Nothing serious- badly knotted under the shoulder blade and reaching towards the spine.  It's painful, but it could be worse.  Given everything else that's going right, I can't really complain.

Oh, for those who asked a month or two ago, my vacuum is a Bissell Pet Hair Eraser. 

As I drove home from school today, I inhaled the mint I was sucking on.  I quickly swallowed hard, which cleared it from my airway, but it stayed lodged in my throat. I was afraid of trying to dislodge it while by myself- what if in doing so, I actually positioned it so that it did block my airway?  Every time I swallowed, I felt it dip down, then painfully bob back up to the back of my throat again.  I decided to go see my mother, the nurse.  She gave me warm water, and then hot tea, to dissolve the mint.  It eventually worked, but I still feel it faintly.

In an ironic twist, the mint that I could have choked on?  A Lifesaver.

I've tried writing a couple of times, but just kept drawing blanks, and so gave it up.  I've thought about blog entries on and off during the day, but by the time I get to my computer at night, I've either forgotten what I was going to blog, or have just been too tired.  Now I've once again caught a cold- it's been circulating around here and everyone around me keeps getting it again- and am muzzy-headed.  It seemed a perfect time to blog.

School has been... school.  It isn't bad.  I had a Child/Adolescent Psych paper due last Tuesday and stayed up until 4 AM working on it because I didn't like the way it was turning out.  Woke up Tuesday a few hours later, read through it, realized that the end was just plain crappy, and worked it over again.  I finished and just made it to school in time for my Stats class.   The nice thing is that I didn't have school on Thursday because both profs happened to have conferences scheduled on the same day.  As my Psych prof collected the papers he apologized for not being able to return them to us on Thursday.  I pointed out to him that I had just handed him my paper on time; could I have it back now please?  I wanted to make revisions before he graded.  He just laughed at me.  I told him, in all seriousness, that he shouldn't bother reading my paper.  Using it as a paper airplane when the conference became boring would be a better use of it. 

I somehow doubt I'll get that lucky.

It's a summary of a (looong) professional journal article; I'll have to do 3 total on the same subject, plus a paper on my own conclusions.  We each had to choose a subject of interest (I chose the effects of child abuse, whether the abuse be physical and/or psychological), find the articles we want to use, and then summarize them.  We're doing one article at a time, not all 3 at once, which is a relief.  The problem is that these articles are full of technical jargon.  While I can make out what is being said, it's hard to summarize something you have a tenuous grasp of.  I only hope I didn't fall into the trap of paraphrasing.  That's all I need- to be accused of plagiarizing.  I was so tired, I've no real idea of how it turned out.  It's a testament to the education the college has provided, however, that I could pick out several flaws in the methodology of the researchers.  I was proven right when, on the last page, they themselves acknowledged the same flaws I had picked up on.  So yay me, and yay professors who taught me.

Also, we had another PTK meeting.  We were throwing around ideas for fund raisers and other activities for the semester.  We've decided to do a couple of things I think you'll find amusing; I know I do:

- We're going to kidnap professors' office chairs and replace them with a hideously ugly one that has a toilet seat on it instead.  If the professor ever wants to see the office chair again, they'll have to pay the ransom!  The cool thing is that they can then pay us to kidnap another professor's chair.  PTK did this 3 years ago and raised $600 for our various programs.  I can't wait to get started on this!

- We're going to erect a jail on the green by the main building, and allow students to pay to have their professors jailed for 15 minutes.  I can think of a few that I wouldn't mind locking up.

On a more serious note, I suggested that we have a collection drive to receive donations for area homeless and battered women shelters.  Winter is coming on quickly, and with the state of the economy, the need will be greater than ever at the shelters.  I've been appointed to spearhead this project.  We'll post fliers around campus (as well as in the campus activity calendar and student newspaper) listing the requested items, then set up a table for 3 days to allow students time to bring donations in.  As a way of saying thank-you for the generosity of the students who donate, we'll be giving out coupons which will allow them $0.50 off items from our breakfast or lunch sales, held a couple of times a week.

So you see, I haven't just been moping about my rotten grade all this time.

Nothing much else going on.  The leaves were glorious the past few days, and have now begun to fall in earnest. 

And I have begun to realize how boringly little it takes to make me happy.  Randy had my car detailed and it looks as though it just came out of the showroom.  This happened a little over a week ago, and I'm still thrilled about it.  I've even left the paper on the floor under the pedals; I have a dirt driveway and I can't stand the thought of tracking the sand and mud into my beautiful car.

And we bought a vacuum cleaner recently, one which specializes in ridding the home of pet fur.  I can't tell you how delighted I am, especially since it actually works.

And though Randy offers to take me out for dinner and a movie every Friday night, I always turn down the offer (he does it to please me, not because he wants to go out), preferring to stay home and cuddle on the couch while we watch t.v. together and talk.

I don't need diamonds or pearls.  Just give me a clean car and a vacuum, and I'm a happy- if dull- woman.  Of course, I'd be happier if someone else did the actual vacuuming, but I'll take what I can get and be grateful.

Just personally devastating.

Last weekend I had 3 quizzes (2 Bio and 1 Bio Lab) and a Statistics test.  I studied for Stats for 4 days, though most of it was review for me.  There was some new stuff mixed in, and I wanted to make sure I had a firm grasp on it.  I did all of the problems at the end of each section in the chapters, getting some right and working on the others until I understood what I was doing.  The test covered 2 chapters, and the prof had posted 2 practice tests, one for each.  Before taking the real test online, I took both practice tests and got 100 on both of them.  But when I started the test itself... it was awful.

The questions were confusing, worded oddly, leaving me to desperately try to figure out what it was asking of me.  I began to freak out, and that made it harder to remember the things that I knew cold.  In the end, I ran out of time before I could answer the last 2 questions.

I got a 65.

I was so mad that I threw my notebook, narrowly missing Randy because I didn't pay attention to where I was throwing it.  Being the sweetheart he is, he insisted that it came nowhere near him, and tried to comfort me.  But I had to be alone.  I sobbed.

My best friend from school called me later.  She got a 30 on it.  We resolved to talk to the professor the next day.  I knew it wouldn't do any good; he'd made it clear on the first day that there would be no leniency on any point in contention.  This makes him sound awful, but he really isn't.  He's just rigid when it comes to testing.  Anyway, I just felt the need to express my thoughts regarding the test itself.  Apparently, Kim and I weren't alone.  People stopped him before and after class, and he had received a lot of angry emails.  Didn't do any good.  I told him that I didn't like the way the questions were worded; it's confusing.  I've since requested- as crazy as it might sound to some- that he put harder, trickier questions on the practice tests so that we can be better prepared for what's on the actual test.  That, at least,  he has agreed to do.

The upshot is that I have to live with the 65, which is 1/5 of my grade for the class; the 5 tests given over the semester are our only grades.  Add this to my first test score of 100, and I now have an (unacceptable!) 82.5 average.  I can't screw up another test.

This sent me into a depression that lasted a few days.  I kept tearing up at first, but then went sort of numb.  I think I've finally snapped out of it, but it was a sucky week.  I haven't had a grade like that in 17 years.

Let's see if we can't end on a more cheery note...  let's take a look at my work week:

1.  There's a series of psychology books which has just come into our store.  Someone bought a sort of psych 101 book from the series, one on psychotherapy, and 2 about treating someone with substance abuse problems.  Know which book they chose not to buy?

The one on ethics.

Hm.

2.  Did you know that there are John McCain and Barack Obama paper dolls available?  Truly.  And not the sort of "let's dress them up funny because we don't like them" paper dolls, but regular paper dolls for children to play with.  It includes their families as well.  At least whoever it was who created them was bipartisan about it.

and finally-

3.  I was restocking the shelves when I came across a title on my list that wasn't on my cart.  I checked and checked again.  Then I got a wicked smile on my face.  Because really, how often do you get to go up to your supervisor and say:

"There's no Deep Sex on my cart!"

My life lately has consisted of work, school, studying and exhaustion.  I've taken several tests now, and have another on Monday.  I took a Child and Adolescent Psych test on Thursday, which I feel confident about.  I have a Psych II test on Monday which, while I need to study for it, I also am not too worried about.  But my weekends, which should be free time for me, always seem to be taken up by Bio homework and quiz studies, and studying for tests as well.  Not to mention the readings I have to do for my other classes.  It's all good though.  I love a challenge.

I don't have much to say for myself right now, but I received this email and I thought I would share it with you.  I think this is a great idea (and it's non-partisan, which makes me happy just now):

I'm against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG.

Instead, I'm in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a We Deserve It Dividend.

To make the math simple, let's assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+.  Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and
child.  So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up.

So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billion that equals $425,000.00.  My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a We Deserve It Dividend.

Of course, it would NOT be tax free. So let's assume a tax rate of 30%.

Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes. That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.  But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket.  A husband and wife has $595,000.00.  What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?

  
-Pay off your mortgage - housing crisis solved.

-Buy a second home - stimulate the economy

-Repay college loans - what a great boost to new grads

-Put away money for college - it'll be there

-Pay off credit cards - more disposable income to invest or purchase 
goods and services - stimulate the economy

-Save in a bank - create money to loan to entrepreneurs.

-Buy a new car - create jobs

-Invest in the market - capital drives growth

-Pay for your parent's medical insurance - health care improves

-Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean - or else


Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the 
folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other 
company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving 
in our Armed Forces.

If we're going to re-distribute wealth let's really do it...instead 
of trickling out a puny $1000.00 ( "vote buy" ) economic incentive 
that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President.

  
If we're going to do an $85 billion bailout, let's bail out every 
adult U S Citizen 18+!


As for AIG - liquidate it.  Sell off its parts.  Let American General
go back to being American General. Sell off the real estate.   
Let the private sector bargain  hunters cut it up and clean it up.

  
Here's my rationale.

We deserve it and AIG doesn't.

Sure it's a crazy idea that can "never work."  But can you 
imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party!


How do you spell Economic Boom?

 
I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use 
the $85 Billion We Deserve It Dividend more than I do the 
geniuses at AIG or in Washington, DC.


And remember, The Family plan only really costs $59.5 Billion 
because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.

  
Ahhh...I feel so much better getting that off my chest.

Kindest personal regards, 
A Creative Guy & Citizen.

PS: Feel free to pass this along to your pals as it's either 
good for a laugh or a tear or a very sobering thought on how 
to best use $85 Billion!!

I got As on my Bio homework, Bio quiz and Statistics test, and I did it with a nasty cold.

I'm going to curl into a ball and die now.

After I watch Heroes.

Well, here I am again.  I probably should be at work, or studying for my Statistics test (to be taken online over the course of the next couple of days) or my Bio quiz, or my Bio homework.  I'll get to all that.  I have a lunch date with my mother and brother in 2 hours, but perhaps I'll go to work for a short bit before that.  I only have to put in 2.5 hours today, though it would be better if I put in more.  I'm still on the lazier side at the moment however, and have those pesky school things to take care of.  Like studying.  Ah well.  Some of you may remember that ancient commercial featuring Orson Wells, "I'll have no wine before its time."  Of course, I'm not planning on drinking wine, period.  But the underlying meaning is the same.  I'll do it when the time is right.  Roughly translated: I'll get to it when I get to it.

As I said: lazy.

I have a Pampered Chef party to attend tonight, thrown by a girlfriend- K -  from school.  She's the one I had 3 classes with last semester, and also 2 classes this semester.  To be unnecessarily technical, we had a class together 2 semesters ago as well, but I digress.  We've grown to be good friends, and it's a chance to get to know each other better outside of school.  She doesn't expect me to buy anything; it'll just be fun to hang out.  It would make more sense, really, for Randy to attend; he's the cook in the house.  But this is a girls' night, so he probably wouldn't fit in.  Unless there's something about my husband that I don't know about.  Seems unlikely, though.

That will be my excitement for the weekend.  Oh, and that pine tree in the back yard is supposedly coming down at last; the weather and a busy tree man kept it from happening over the summer.  As long as it doesn't come down on my house, or even my neighbor's (being the magnanimous soul that I am), it'll be fine.

Some cool things: I found and purchased a copy of Sliding Doors, something I've wanted for awhile now but never got around to buying.  Also, an elderly gentleman who used to visit with me when I worked at the gas station just stopped by.  He kept telling me about the old Hitchcock movie, Spellbound.  It hasn't been available in the U.S. for some 40 years ( can't remember why now other than it was out of print), but this gentleman has a friend in Seattle who obtained a copy from someone in China.  This friend passed the copy along to my friend, who just gave it to me.  No worries- it's in English.  He knows that I like Hitchcock, and felt strongly (obviously) that I should see this movie.   The only down note is that when he stopped by, my hair was soaking wet from my recent shower, I had no makeup on and I'm wearing a tatty old sweatshirt with bleach stains, and the shorts with the slash on the thigh from when I, well, slashed my thigh.  Poor man.  This isn't how he's used to seeing me.  I think he survived the shock though.  If he didn't, he had the grace to collapse somewhere other than in front of my house.

I guess that's it from the wonderfully un-fascinating life of Aravis.

As you were.