A Letter To School

Dear School,

Although I dread you when every break comes to a close, I do have a special kind of love for you. You make my life very difficult at times, but I know in the long run you are what will be best for me. So why is it that every year I try to do really well you just get harder? You know I have a life besides just you. You know I have family, sorority, work, friends, boyfriend, and many other obligations. Why must you insist on making all those things so much harder to keep up with when I try to keep up with you? Perhaps it is because you know I will never just quit, no matter how hard it gets, or how many unsatisfactory grades I get, you know that I do not think quitting is an option. As the semester draws to an end you have loaded my life with assignments. Some easier than others and some so difficult and time consuming that classes end up being skipped in order to finish work from a different class. This semester I have had a huge paper in every class. It was my goal to get off of my sorority's academic monitoring and raise my grades this semester, but the way it is looking now is that I will not reach my goal and instead my grades will drop and I will be on academic probation. I know this is not for certain, but it is what I fear for this semester. That will not make me give up. However, School, next semester could you please just be a tiny easier on me? I want to do well, and I also want to have a life outside of you. You know that I enjoy you the first month of so when you start, but after that things just get so difficult. Isn't it more fun when I enjoy you? So please School, think about this for next semester, go a little easier on me when I am struggling to juggle everything in my life and you.

Much love,

Kristi

Words of the Week:

corroborate

: to support with evidence or authority : make more certain.

conscientious

: governed by or conforming to the dictates of conscience.

Island Time!

I am on the beautiful island of Oahu, Hawaii. I got here Saturday around noon island time. My dad took me for my birthday present and it has been just fabulous! Saturday we got all settled in, checked out the hotel area, and then found the International Market place. This is my third time to Hawaii so I kind of know my way around, but it has been fun to explore. We went to eat at a restaurant in the hotel and I had what I thought was an amazing Ceaser salad. Little did I know later that night that I would get food poisoning! The rest of Saturday night and all of Sunday I was vomiting in the bathroom of the hotel room. It was awful! Fortunately, by Monday I was fine and ready do go to the beach and so some shopping. My dad has been having fun getting me to try lots of different drinks because I am finally 21. Today I tanned by the pool for almost three hours and then explored a little bit and found a Vietnamese restaurant because I was craving pho. Tomorrow my father and I are going to rent a car and visit the North Shore. I am hoping to get a little more tan because before I left I bragged to everyone and said I was going to get all tan while I was away, but since I was sick Sunday I lost a day of tanning. It has been a really great break, but as soon as I get back it is going to be time for me to really crack down on my school work! I have been on what my dad and I call "island time," which is just a really relaxed 'do it when you do it' kind of time. It is the way the people of Hawaii live. It is not like California where everything is very efficient, people here just take their time. It is nice for vacation, but I don't think I could ever live here, I am definitely a California-girl at heart.

Words of the Week:

callous: (adj.) harsh, cold, unfeeling.

knell: (n.) the solemn sound of a bell, often indicating a death.

4 days until HAWAII

I think I have checked out of school a little bit. This is not a good thing. Last week I forgot to do this blog. It was my 21st birthday so I guess I can give myself a pass, but I shouldn't. (The picture is from my 21st birthday) In 4 days I am leaving for Hawaii for 5 days. While I am gone I am going to have some homework to do, but who cares if I have homework. Yeah I am going to do my homework, but I will be in Hawaii while everyone else will be in San Jose. I think leaving for a week will be good. When I come back I hope to refreshed enough to finish off the semester strong! I really need to pass all my classes and have a GPA higher than a 2.5 this semester. I signed up for a winter class and I will be taking 12 units in the Spring semester. Assuming I pass all my classes this Fall and pass my winter class and then I pass all my spring classes, I will only have 33 units left until I graduate. It seems attainable! I have never felt this close to graduation before. I think if I take a Summer class or tow that could also be really beneficial because it would either speed up my graduation date, or it would make my last couple semesters less stressful. I think I should see an advisor in Spring to see if they think me graduating in Spring 2012 is attainable. For my dad's sake I really hope it is. I am excited to be graduating college because it is a huge accomplishment in my family, but I am also really scared. I have gotten so used to this college lifestyle, I don't know if I will know how to live as a working woman, and what will I even do as a job? I didn't pick my major based on what kind of job I want, I picked it because I like the topics of the classes. However, I do not want to be a politician. I think the only thing I really want to do is work in an office. I would be cool to be a secretary or something like that. I don't know why that appeals to me, but it just does. I really do hope that my little vacation does not set me back too much in my classes. I have tried to turn things in early or make arrangements with my teachers, so hopefully I can stay on track and come back ready to finish everything off.

Words of the Week:

After the in-class assignment we had today I remembered a few words that I did not remember the definitions for.

phenomenon: noun, a fact or situation that is observed to exist or happen, esp. one whose cause or explanation is in question

brut: adjective, (of sparkling wine) unsweetened; very dry

A few weeks ago in my POLS 195A class, all the students had to participate in a survey. We were those people that call you and ask if you are interested in doing a survey. It was interesting to be on the other side when I have answered the phone so many times to people asking if I would like to take a survey. Whenever I have answered the phone and it has been a person asking if I want to take a survey I usually say no. After being the person on the other end I would definitely take the survey if I had time and if I did not have time I would be very polite about saying no. It was a very challenging experience because I had called over a hundred people and only two people took and finished the survey. I got hung up on countless times and even encountered some extremely rude people. Many people simply did not answer their phones, which was better than the rude people. I do not think there was anything I found to be enjoyable or rewarding about working on this survey. I had way too many rude people to find anything about sitting in a room for four hours cold calling people enjoyable.

What I learned from this survey was that people do not want to take surveys over the phone. Many people are going to be rude, and the few that do agree to take the survey are going to wonder why it is so long and boring. I also learned that mainly women answer the phone.

My suggestions for next time would be to make the survey shorter if possible. Also avoid calling cell phones because people do not want to waste their minutes. Also, in order to get a more diverse sample, it would be great to ask for a male or a female or find things to ask that would change up who people are giving the survey to.

Words of the Week:

reticent: disposed to be silent or not to speak freely; reluctant or restrained.

volatile: tending or threatening to break out into open violence; changeable or mercurial.

14 days... 25 days!

School is never-ending this time of the semester. I seem to have a huge assignment due twice a week and everyday small assignments, not to mention sorority obligations and attempting to still have some sort of a social life. I keep trying to just take it one step at a time, but that ends up making me do a lot of my work the night before. I have tried to plan everything out before my 21st birthday, which is two weeks away, but after that I am not sure exactly what I have to do. I keep telling myself to just look at my schedules, but I kind of do not want to because I want that night to be stress-free. My dad is taking me to Hawaii for a week in November, which I also want to be stress-free, but I will probably be doing homework on my vacation. At least in Hawaii I can get a tan while I study. I was not worried about making sure I get good grades, because I was going to make sure to be on my stuff, but being on my stuff has been really hard! I do get all my work done on time. However, I tend to be very hard on myself and when I know it was not my best work I beat myself up about it. I just really hope I can get this semesters GPA above a 2.5 otherwise I will have to be on academic probation from my sorority. The semester is already halfway through, but there are so many assignments left it is hard for me to gage how well I am going to do. I guess that is where grade checks can help. Last week I had to do grade checks and none of my teachers had my grade so all I got was passing, which is better than failing of course, but it doesn't help me gage how well I am doing or how much I need to improve. I don't know what else to do, but to take it one step at a time even if that means some work being done the night before. My weekends keep going by too fast for me to catch up on life and homework. Hopefully my week in Hawaii will let me catch up on both! 14 days until my 21st birthday! 25 days until Hawaii!

Words Of The Week:

cathartic: adj, providing psychological relief through the open expression of strong emotions; causing catharsis

plume: noun, a long, soft feather or arrangement of feathers used by a bird for displayor worn by a person for ornament

What to Write...

Right now I feel as though I am stretching for something to write about. All these grammar lessons have me second guessing all of my writing. I try to go back and edit, but I always feel like I am missing something. Right now I am sitting in my night class. I should be taking notes, but instead I am writing this blog. I will admit, I forgot to do my blog over the weekend and then Tuesday came so fast that this seems like the only time I was going to have to do it. I think I realized that I often write how I speak. I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing, but if it's bad then I am not sure how to stop. These weekly blogs are the only homework assignments that are open ended in a way. Although I do find myself feeling bad when I don't write about politics. Maybe I find it harder to write about politics because all my classes are Political Science classes so I do a lot of writing in that area on a regular basis. These blogs are almost like a break in a way. They are like a public journal I guess, which I still find kind of creepy. A girl in this class is wearing a shirt that says something like "I'll put that in my blog." I guess that means she likes blogging? I have always wondered what kind of people want to have blogs? However, I guess I am sort of becoming one of those people, which is hard for me to embrace. Since I can't seem to think of anything to write about I guess I am just writing my mind flow, or as others might call it my stream of conscience-ness. Today has been the only day that I wanted to go to class. The only reason is because I wanted to get out of my house. The only person I have been getting along well with lately is my boyfriend. I love my sisters no matter what, but I think I have been spending too much time with them recently and I need a break. Luckily I have Mike to hang out with most nights. I know the week has barely started, but I can't wait for the weekend because my roommates will be gone and I need that break desperately.

Words of the Week:

Both from a POLS 195A reading.

conceptualization: verb, form a concept or idea of (something)

substantive adj, having a firm basis in reality and therefore important, meaningful, or considerable

I Want A Break

Since my picture is from the SJSU tailgate I will start off by saying, the Spartans lost on Saturday... big surprise.

I have been a bit stuck on what to write about this week. The only thing on my mind is midterms and school. I feel like I have been studying non-stop for midterms and exams and all I want is a break. I guess it is a good thing that the weather is not too great because I will not be distracted by wanting to go outside and play in the sun, but this gloomy weather only makes me want to snuggle in my bed and watch movies all day, not study. Maybe I need to catch up on some sleep and then I will be more motivated to study. This past weekend I barely slept at all I was so busy because I made so many plans, maybe even over-booked myself. Then Sunday night I was up until 2 am studying for a midterm I have Wednesday. Monday everyone kept asking me if I was sick, but I was just so tired and out of it that I must have looked sick. I still feel really tired and out of it, but I feel like I have so much to do and catch up on for school that who knows when I will ever be well rested again. I try to set up schedules and lists and goals so I make sure to get all my work done, but lately I feel as though I am falling behind because I have not had as much time as I usually need to sleep. When I do not get enough sleep my brain does not work as well and I forget about things that I tried to make sure I would remember to do. I guess there is not much else to do but to keep trying. I am not sure if I am too hard on myself because I always feel so awful when I forget about something. Or perhaps I am too easy on myself because I allow myself to forget about these things. I wish I could just have a week off to relax and catch up on everything so I would feel better about how I am doing in my classes. I guess my life is never dull and that is a plus, but the downside to always having something to do is that I want to do everything even though I might not have time for it all.

Words of the Week:

Both words this week were found from my Pols 150 notes.

Caveat: noun, a warning or proviso of specific stipulations, conditions, or limitations.

Deterrent: noun, a thing that discourages or is intended to discourage someone from doing something.