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.