Stress, sem, and migraine = not the best week.

Well, all I can say is that I'm SO glad it's Thursday. Honestly, my week started off terribly, and I was kind of concerned that it wouldn't get better.

Let's see. My sem proposal is due this week. It's a rough draft of my final paper, only I write it BEFORE I conduct the experiment. So I have to hypothesize the results and discussion. My partner and I decided to go first, but it gave us so much less time. It turns out that you have to turn in the paper 5 days before you presenet it to the class, which means TOMORROW. However, due to difficulty meeting up and the migraine I had last night, we got a short extension. I requested that it be due Friday at midnight rather than class time, since I am sure I could have it done (and done well) by then. We were given until Sunday at noon :) That means I get to sleep tonight! Though I do plan on working on sem most of the night anyway...

I set aside 6 hours to work on sem last night, but had a small migraine all day. I ended up feeling terribly sick (thanks migraine) and went to bed at 8. I set a few different alarms--one at 8 since I worked at 9, and one at 6, in case I felt like working on sem. I fully expected that I would wake up sometime, like 4 or 5, but I slept until my alarm went off. I wrote a few pages of sem this morning--it's going really well. I spent the last week reading about 20 articles and picking out stuff that I want to include in my paper. I'm about halfway done with my sources, and I have six full pages. I anticipated having about 8 pages when I was done, but now I think it'll be more like 11. It's kind of exciting, really. I get bored doing all the reading and stuff in sem, but I seriously enjoy writing papers for my psych classes.

I think the worst part about Ripon right now is the people stress. I know it sounds bad. But honestly, classes don't stress me out that badly--I enjoy going to class, and working on homework is a nice distraction from drama. I'm disappointed that people aren't more mature. As seniors in college, I would expect more from some people. Regardless, what will be will be. And there have been many positive parts to this week--I've been able to talk to my mom, dad, AND sister. I've had good talks with many of the younger Thetas. And also, I've gotten hugs from 5+ people in the last two days. I feel pretty loved, not gonna lie (that one is for you, Mom).

I think the week is slowly getting better. And this weather is FANTASTIC. This is the kind of weather that makes people fall in LOVE with fall. I would love nothing more than to walk around outside for hours. Unfortunately, it looks like I should eat dinner...and then work on sem some more!

How to go to graduate school...for free!

I figure a week is long enough to wait before blogging again. Hopefully I've accumulated enough interesting material. Last Saturday, Amanda and I spent the day in Appleton shopping and having fun. I had my hair dyed--it's about 3 shades darker, which some red. I absolutely love it. Some people say I hardly look different; in fact, some people don't notice at all. Other people are shocked, and tell me that I don't even look like the same person. The comments all tend to be positive, however. It seems that most people like it. Not that it matters, because I happen to like it. Ha.

Other than that, I've mostly been working on homework and trying to get ahead. I'm the first person to present my proposal for senior sem. My partner (Melisa, go figure) and I decided that we'd rather go first, so we can start actually conducting research as soon as possible. In theory, this is a great idea. However, even with only 12 credits, I'm swamped with stuff to do!

This weekend, we had a graduate school conference with SSS/McNair in Lake Geneva. The Abbey Resort is wonderful. Honestly, the bed was probably my favorite part. It was so comfortable...I loved sinking into the bed (and pillows). I wish I could take the bed home with me. The sessions about graduate school were also good, I guess. It was a lot of information to take in (and a lot of stuff that I already knew). I enjoyed it--Don Asher was the speaker. He's written a number of best-selling books on how to get into graduate school. Plus he's funny, and knows just what to say in every situation. He definitely knows what he is talking about, and I'm glad that I had this opportunity.

I had a lot of chances to think this weekend. I have a lot to be grateful for. I've had a lot of help here at Ripon, from all of my professors. They've all had helpful tips. Also, it was really great for Kovack-Lesh to give me a job. I mean, I just e-mailed her and asked her for one. I know I'm qualified, but I'm sure she also has a lot of interest from other students. She's also been giving me more responsibilities in lab, and teaching me to work with a variety of software that I might use in graduate school. K-L didn't have to do any of this, but I'm really glad she did.

I'm also really grateful for my family. They've been nothing but encouraging, every step of the way. No one has told me that I can't do what I want, or that I can't afford it. I did learn a whole bunch of tips this weekend, on how to go to graduate school for free. Mom will love it--in fact, I'm pretty sure she'd love all my notes from this weekend. I took, oh, 14 pages of notes. Ridiculous. A lot of it was stuff that I already know, or have already done, but I figured I could share this information with lots of people...like my sorority sisters, my little brother, any friends interested in grad school.

On that note, I'll have to end this little blog session. My bed is calling to me (though not nearly as much as the bed in Lake Geneva did!) and I'm really looking forward to sleeping. Tomorrow I have a long day of reading for senior sem, and working on grad school applications. Bah!

"There's no reason to do anything but fun!"

I know it's long past time for an update, which means nobody other than my mom is probably still checking this. That's ok. I can still post a lovely update.

I've somehow gotten really busy. That always happens, no matter how many or how few credits I have. I think I wouldn't know what to do if I wasn't busy. I only have 12 credits this semester, but 3 jobs (and I'm working at least 8 hours at each of those jobs).

Let's see. Major life updates....nada. Having my own room is nice, and it hasn't gotten too lonely. I always have my door open, which means I am literally never alone. I had to stop writing and come back, since I had about 8 girls in my room, hanging out for a few hours. That's probably my favorite part of living on the floor. I never have to be alone if I don't want to.

Tomorrow, I am spending the day in Appleton with Amanda. One of my sorority sisters left Ripon to go to cosmetology school--tomorrow she is giving Amanda a pedicure...and she is dying my hair :) Just a few shades darker, nothing too dramatic. But I'm crazy excited.

Next weekend, I will be gone all weekend for a conference on grad school. I'm ridiculously excited. I'll take all the help anyone can give me.

Oh, I've started up with Big Brothers Big Sisters again. My little is at a different school, though still in Ripon. So far we've been having fun--I brought him some pictures of my travels :) Also, we keep playing tag at recess. It's fun, but not so much fun when everyone wants to tag you. They think it's unfair because I'm bigger--and I pointed out that bigger doesn't mean faster. Except in this case, it does. My legs are about twice as long as theirs. Is it sad that I get satisfaction from being able to escape from 3rd graders? Because I do. It's exhausting though, and I tried to sit out for a little while last week. My little was very disappointed in me, and had some brief words of wisdom--I think they apply to every part of my life--"There's no reason to do anything but fun!" I think he's exactly right, too.