Utlimate "Looking Back" Project

One of my professors is requiring our entire class to create a repertoire list of everything we have read in our college career. This includes books read over the summer as well as impacting works of literature that we may want to include from high school. Can I just say that this list is not only long but crazy! I mean, can you remember everything you have read in the past few years? So today I spent about an hour in the department office looking through syllabi's past and reminiscing about conversations we had in class, books I found interesting, stories I fell asleep to, things like that :)

It has actually been kind of fun to make this list. Once we have all of our books, they need to be organized into genres. This allows us to see where the gaps in our literature education exist and give us a basis on which to create a well informed reading list for the future! So far I am need of reading more of the American Novel and I need to read the Harry Potter series (tehehe). Overall, this has been a really neat exercise in mapping my education and in coming to understand what works have shaped the way I perceive my world.

Looking Back Part III

Saturday morning I attended the Senior Brunch for the Literature Department. The experience was very touching and (I'll admit it on a blog) I shed a few tears. My professors and peers all came together to commemorate our accomplishments and to look forward to the future. Some students shared works they had written, senior projects they had completed and everyone got some good laughs when Dr. Lescart (our French professor) and Dean Nelson (our Professor of Journalism) took center stage. We played "are you smarter than a graduating senior," and then the faculty surprised each graduating senior with a book that was hand picked for that student and signed by the Literature faculty members. It was very touching (that was the part where I cried). Reading the parting words my professors wrote for me was encouraging. I have made such deeply running connections with the people here; I know I can come back or write to any of them if ever I am in need of their advice or friendship.

Looking Back Part II

Here I am looking back again. I was thinking a lot this week about the different ways in which Point Loma has shaped my skills and abilities through my experiences here. My sophomore year was a big challenge and growth time for me as a Resident Assistant in Nease Hall. For the first time I was in charge of a big group of people (24) who needed me to take on a role of leadership, of an effective communicator, of a friend... the experience ushered in an amazing opportunity for me to learn from the girls on my floor. Junior year was a wild ride as well. My friends and I got a house together and for the first time I my work went to paying rent. It was a difficult but awesome and independent time for me. Traveling to Argentina during that second semester altered my world perspective and most definitely contributed to my sense of independence and ability to provide for as well as take care of myself.

This year was just hard work. Taking 17 units and working is just plain hard. And this final semester has been challenging in that, in addition to school, you have to plan on what you will be doing May 17th (the day after graduation). I have to say though, that everything I have gained through the years, responsibilty and effective communication skills, independence, have all made this graduating thing a lot easier to deal with.

Looking back - Part I

I have been thinking a lot about what it was like to transition from high school into my college years. I remember being sooo excited to leave home for the first time-- to get a sense of independence and to try and accomplish something big on my own. I remember driving through the mountains of North Idaho on my way to San Diego. The car was wayyyyy to full of things, things... things that I would later find out I didn't need in order to start my life at my new school.

I recall how nervous I was to meet my roommate for the first time. Would she be nice? Would we get along? Would she think I was a total dweeb? It didn't take long for Cassie and I to open up to each other and find a friendship.

Saying goodbye to everything that was familiar wasn't a hard thing for me to do until my sister and my mom got back in the car to drive home-- without me. That's when reality began to set in a little stronger than before. But I learned from that moment as well: no matter how much you try and anticipate change, no matter how much you try and prepare for it, thoughts and emotions you could not have conceived ahead of time will come. In those moments, you have to let these new thoughts and feelings sweep you off of your feet and teach you something new about yourself.

On a happy note...!

I mentioned a few blogs ago that one of my best friends and I secured an apartment for next year, and I am SOOOOOO excited to live there! First of all, Cassie is great fun to live with and such a supportive roommate, secondly, the little place we got is super cute! It's a one bedroom with a big living room and and adorable kitchen with retro tile and fixtures from the seventies :)

What's even better is the fact that it is close to school, close to the Point Loma Library (which has a telescope in the kids' section) and even closer to my favorite taco shop, Ortiz! By the way, if you so choose to come to school at Point Loma, you MUST, and I repeat, MUST try their carne asada tacos! They are amazing to say the very least.

I have already started packing and imagining what we can do to decorate the place! Of course we have to find a central place to hang Cassie's canvas from the Dominican Republic, and a funky place to hang my monet print in its thrift-store frame. This is going to be great!

UUUGh! Last big effort!

Well... I find myself in this place yet again for the eighth time in my college career-- finals week preparation! (Background sound: duh duh DUHN!!!)

The way I see it, I only have thirty pages to write, two final exams to take, a repertoire list of every book I've ever read in college to create, and two presentations to give before I can walk across that stage, shake Bob Brower's hand, and take hold of that empty, rolled up piece of paper that I can trade a week later for a diploma. Phhhew! All of this in three weeks! Yikes!

As a result of this somewhat extensive to-do list, I have locked myself up in an empty room and forbidden myself to use my car until I have completed at least two papers and gotten a handle on the two presentations. I'm afraid this might be a long weekend. Will report back later during another sanity break :)

Coming to a close...

I cannot believe that this year is coming to a close. Looking at my calendar is like entering a dream world-- only three weeks until graduation. What, only three weeks until graduation? Oh my gosh... only three weeks until graduation!

I have spent much of the last couple of weeks developing and redeveloping my resume, applying for jobs, attending seminars designed to help students adjust to the "real world." Next week I have a mock interview at the career center and the week following I have a REAL interview! If all else fails, I have a Summer job (one that I love) that I can fall back on. But that's pretty scary. One of my best friends and I just secured an apartment for the year, so my main concern is being able to provide for myself and also to begin paying back the ominous student loans.

Honestly, I go back and forth between feeling completely prepared to be on my own and completely vulnerable to all the change that is occurring right now. It definitely helps that I am not the only person faced with so much uncertainty. And in the end, I really just cling to the hope and faith that everything will turn out okay.

Espana was AWESOME

Traveling to Spain with my best friends was amazing! We spent two nights in Madrid, four nights in Barcelona, walked on the shore of the Mediterranean, viewed Picasso paintings, went to the Prado (it's amazing what you can squeeze into a week's time). For the most part, everything went pretty smoothly. Due to a communal lack in Euro, we pretty much stuck to a diet of baguettes and coffee. Kirstin lost her bus ticket on the third day so we attempted (and failed) to argue with the driver in Spanish to let us on. And I can tell you that if you are ever in Europe and think it's okay to walk around without your passport, DON'T. Apparently that could land you behind bars :) Not that that happened, but it could have... to me.

Spring BREAK!

With this final semester well underway, I have been caught up mentally and emotionally in all of the changes that are and will soon be taking place. My friends and I have been talking about where we are going to live next year and how life will change. I am actively looking for that rather intimidating three letter word (job...eeek!), and I am trying to anticipate what it will be like to throw my hat in the air knowing that I have completed the college journey. Maybe it will be hugely satisfying. Maybe I will feel like I'm strapping the world as a burden to my back. Maybe I won't feel any different at all. In a way, this literature degree is really only a step in what I want to do in my life. It's certainly a big step, but it's one amongst many.

There is a point in the second semester when you get to put aside these whirling thoughts-- spring break. I cannot wait! My best friends and I just purchased cheap tickets to Spain! Voy a Espana!!! Vamos a Barcelona por una semana para divertirnos y pasar un momento juntos ante de un gran cambia en nuestros vidas! In other words, we just decided that we want this to be a senior trip where we take time to enjoy each other on a wild adventure before we all start taking on different responsibilities. You can bet there will be lots of pictures!

Christmas Break was Amazing :)

Christmas break was absolutely wonderful! I spent Christmas early with my immediate family then I flew to Phoenix to spend Christmas day with my sister, brother in law and two baby nephews :) They are so wonderful! Luke is 21 months and Parker is 4 months! Seeing someone so little run around and enjoy Christmas's joy made the day very special. (The other little one is far too young to run around. He did a lot of lying around and looking cute.)

After Phoenix, I drove to San Francisco to see some dear friends. San Fran was FREAKING COLD but a very charming city. We wandered amongst the piers, gazed at the statue at union square, washed our hands in rose water while on the floor of a Moroccan restaurant and slurped hot soup from steaming bread bowls at Boudin.

And now it is time to study again. I feel refreshed and ready to take on the final sixteen weeks! My last first day was spent enjoying friends and attending the last class introductions I'll ever have... unless I go to graduate school :)

Dios Mio! Es el fin del semestre!

I FINISHED! OMG! I just got home from my very last final of the semester! I cannot even believe that I am about to begin my last semester as a student at Point Loma. The experience is almost surreal.

I have been thinking a lot lately about how much I am going to miss this place. As a matter of fact, yesterday I was walking down caf lane (a main path through the center of campus). I was the only person on the path and I tried to go through some of my favorite memories of things that have happened there. I remember accidentally running into my first college crush there. Freshmen year, my roommate and I got restless and went skateboarding down the path at like one in the morning. I've met with professors there for smoothies and to chat. I asked a random stranger on a blind date for a friend (that took some guts... let me tell you. And no, it was not a dare). I've danced on the path pretending to be in a musical. I've stared at all of the bricks with the names of alumni etched into their surfaces. I've run, full sprint, down caf lane to get to classes on time before (by the way, bring a reliable alarm clock to school).

Point Loma has definitely become my home. And I have no idea where my home will be next. I've looked at jobs in Orange County, San Francisco, Costa Rica. I'm secretly hoping I will be able to land a position in San Diego so I can stay here for a little while longer-- at least while I am figuring out what is right for my life next. For right now, I still have next semester. And I still have Christmas :) Merry Christmas by the way. I hope you are taking in all of the memories of high school and all of the uncertainties of the upcoming years. Just remember not to worry. I have come to believe that life is very much about pondering where you are and where you are going. So good luck! I wish you the best!

So close, and yet, so far!

I feel sooooo close to being finished! I am (as of about two seconds ago) only three and a half pages from finishing a very important paper (GRACIAS A DIOS!) and only five pages from finishing the humungo (is that a word?) project! My goal is to have everything finished by one, o'clock today. Are you curious why? Well, not only do I want to have the satisfaction of finishing all of the projects for the semester, but that means that I can spend the rest of the afternoon getting Christmas stuff ready. See, here is what I did:

I spent all weekend (literally, like fourteen+ hours) studying and doing homework so that after I turn in these blessed projects, I can enjoy this beautiful, rainy day. Did I mention that I have been writing my paper to the music of huge pellets of water pounding my rooftop. It's really awesome. Back to what I was saying, as soon as these puppies are turned in, I am going to reward myself with some fun, holiday cheer time. Yeah!

Save, save, save; and, did I mention save?

Last night was such a blast! A group of about eighteen of us met at a restaurant in La Jolla to surprise Kirstin (one of my closest friends) for her birthday! She was definitely surprised, and got to open some fun gifts-- one of which was a DVD of "The Dark Night" which I am hesitant to admit that IHAVENOTSEENYET. There. I've confessed. We didn't watch it last night though. Nope. I ended up back in the library (where I happen to be sitting right now) typing away on one of my last projects.

Speaking of projects, I had a very dramatic moment last night. After working on this project for two hours, I pressed save and closed the program to call it a night. I then reopened the program to make a minor adjustment only to find that I could not find the project ANYWHERE! I had a cow. I was soooo bumbed. Then, this morning, something miraculous happened, the document was recovered! And all is right with the world once again. I hope that you are all saving your projects as you wrap up the end of your semester. Good luck with all you are working on! You can do it :)

Coffee Shops and Studying

Here I am. At a coffee shop. Studying. Well, now I'm writing. But about two seconds ago I was working on a project for one of my major classes. I'll turn it in Monday as a sort of final. I can't tell you how many times I have found myself in a similar position: sitting at a petite table with a couple of friends-- our books scattered everywhere, several computers crammed onto a tiny table where we are all trying to check assignments off of our to-do lists.

Some of my best memories have occurred in coffee shops like this one. Over the years I have laughed, cried, and totally been forced to rearrange my thinking based upon the conversations with people I've sat down with just to have a chat. And it's funny, right now I am sitting with two of my closest friends who happen to be the girls I started studying with at random coffee shops during my freshmen year.

Big Week!

This day, Friday December 12th of Two-thousand and eight, is a very exciting day! It marks the ending of a big week of due dates and presentations and the end of classes for this semester! I think that the Chemistry exam went alright, and today I find that out for sure (please cross your fingers with me :) And as for this weekend, well, I think I will simply be living in the library for the next seven days.

Beyond that, I cannot wait for Christmas Break! I already have a plane ticket booked to spend Christmas with my family, and I might get the chance to go to San Francisco for a little getaway before next semester begins.

I am super excited for classes next semester. I will be taking a poetry course (yipee!), but I will also have to begin planning for graduation (AHHHHHH!). I just got my official "you are graduating letter" and am FREAKING OUT (in the best way possible).

So, at the end of this big week, I think that all I have to say is feeeew. I am relieved and excited for what comes next.

OMGosh!

I am freaking out! I can hardly believe this is the last week of school until finals! This weekend absolutely flew by, and now it is intense wrap up time for the semester's projects and major prep time for next week's exams. Have you ever felt like there is just not enough time in the day for everything that needs to get done? That is what this whole semester has been like, and now I am super excited to be turning in final papers and for final exam week to be here.

Tomorrow morning I have a chemistry exam bright and early. Even though I have been studying for it, tonight is going to require some more intense reading and problem practices before I can go to bed. Did I mention that Thursday I'm turning in a major twelve page paper about Shakespeare right after a final exam on Universal Linguistics? Yep. I'm procrastinating right now. I should be writing that very paper, but instead I am writing a blog :) Okay, I'll return to being a good student. But I'll be back to write to you and take another brain brake!

By the way...

By the way, did I mention that Halloween turned out differently than planned? So the peacock outfit did not work out so well. I was trying to make individual feathers (because real feathers are a bit expensive). And after about two hours of working and employing some friends for their help, I realized that the effort required to be a bonifide peacock was a little more than I could offer for the evening. So plans changed.

A friend was putting on a costume party, and I wanted to be a part of it, so as soon as I got home from work, I ran upstairs to my bedroom and began raiding my own closet. I found this all gold sequence dress I had purchased at a garage sale years ago (I knew that would come in handy someday) and did my hair and makeup. Then, after a plain piece of white cardboard was painted with black letters, I was transformed into Vana White.

The Halloween party was a blast. I saw a shark, a Lego man, movie stars, a race car driver, mother earth, an octopus, (and as you can see from my photo) green man.

Christmas is Just Around the Corner!

Christmas is just around the corner!!! Thanksgiving break absolutely flew by (no pun on the turkey), and the rest I caught up on was much needed. Right now I am about to sit down to look over a paper I have been writing over the last two weeks, and with only two more papers to write, one more presentation, and a week of finals I am checking off the to-do list until the sigh of relief earned once the semester is over.

I have to admit, even though we just got back from a small Thanksgiving break, it is sooooo hard to concentrate! All of the shops are playing Christmas music, there are houses putting up lights in the neighborhoods around school, and all I want to do is curl up on the couch, light a fire in the fireplace, and watch Christmas movies. :) But of course, I won't do that... yet.

Halloween!!!

I don't know that in all of my childhood I have ever been as excited for the arrival of Halloween as I am now.

So these last three weeks have easily been some of the busiest weeks of my college career: last week I was averaging an essay a day, I just began observing a high school English classroom, and that is not to mention tutoring weekly as well as attempting to maintain a social life and squeeze in sleep every once in a while. But this is not a complaining blog, because I had a revelation today! Even though I haven't been able to let down in what seems like eternity, that is all about to change.

The HOLIDAYS are almost here!!! Halloween is only the beginning of yummy treats, nostalgic decorations and endless get-togethers commemorating the year! Last year a bunch of friends and I carved adorable pumpkins, and just yesterday a few of us went to a fabric store to begin putting together our costumes! Since Halloween is on a Friday this year, we won't have to think about homework or exams until after we have sufficiently combed the surrounding neighborhoods filling our pillow sacks with way too much junk food. YIPEE! And if you can keep a secret, I'll tell you what my costume is going to be... a peacock!

Fitting in... again

Coming back to Point Loma from studying abroad has brought on a lot of new challenges and learning experiences. After living in Argentina with complete strangers, learning to travel independently, and trying my hand (or my mouth for that matter) at Spanish for five months straight, I figured coming home to Point Loma would be as casual as walking into my mom's home after my return this summer. This was not totally true. When I got on campus, I realzied that so many people had changed over the semester I was gone. The school had a new building and new students filled the campus with new perspectives and new customs I was unfamiliar with. "Sheesh! I'm a senior," I thought, "and I don't even recognize students in half of my classes!"
It took me a couple weeks to realize that this notion of fitting into your school, your home, or another culture is not a constant in your life. On the contrary, feeling at home in your surroundings is something that comes with time no matter where you are... even grandma's house! Now that classes are back in full force and I've leaped over a couple hurdles of culture shock, I am beginning to feel at home again. I can appreciate that there are lots of new students to meet, and it's becoming easier to catch up with old friends to figure out how we each have changed over this eventful semester. Overall, I would say the most helpful tool in this readjustment phase is definitely time.