The harder you work the further you get with me.

In theory, I understand why classes that were supposed to take place on Good Friday need to be rescheduled to the following Tuesday. It just didn't translate well into practice. Most of my classmates weren't bothering to stick around or come back for one day. Others (like myself) selected class schedules without Tuesday classes for work, family, or other reasons, so it's not possible to attend. Then again, most of the teachers cancelled anyway.

Good luck to everyone on their exams!
Good bye, second year!

You know I'm coming for you.

Wow. Only two more classes, one SPSS assignment, and 4 finals until I have completed my second year of university. This year has gone by very quickly, probably because it was so busy. It's funny because I have been using the construction of the Learning Library as a mini-marker of my own progress. I'm interested to see whether it will be done before I am.

My dad is coming to visit in 8 days, so I am very excited! I don't quite revert back to being a kid with him, but it's nice to relax a bit and feel like there's someone to help with my life. My daughters absolutely adore him (and not just because he lives in Switzerland and seems to have an unlimited supply of chocolate...), so he can play with them while I have a chance to study without hearing: "Moooommmy, she hit me!" "No, she hit me!" "No!" "No!" "Moooommmm!" [must be said in high-pitched, whiny, only 45-minutes-until-bedtime voices]

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going out to enjoy the sunshine.


Days until my spring classes start: 34
Days until the carousel opens: 40

I pray that something picks me up and sets me down in your warm arms.

Writing a blog post seemed like a semi-productive way to take a break from studying, so here I am. The last few weeks have been a crazy mix of studying, sunshine, and feeling very old. Actually, I think the only time I felt old was when all the high school students and their families came for campus tours. The students looked so young! Sure, they were all taller than me and trying to come across as mature, but you could see they were fidgety and excited and nervous about what next year would bring wherever they ended up.

The weather has been gorgeous for the most part! It's been wonderful to drive with the windows all the way down and not get a snow facial.

Uggh, must get back to studying. My fish are giving me their "you know better" looks and it's making me feel too guilty to keep procrastinating.


Days until my daughter turns six: 20!
Rrrrroll-up-the-rrrrims won: 3 (and I drink a lot of coffee...)

I know that I've got issues, but you're pretty messed up too.

It's March, and we are inching ever closer to seeing green grass. When it's spring and summer, I complain about annoying bugs or the frizz-inducing humidity, but after months of gray, I'm still in my enthusiastic phase. Walking from the parking lot to school this morning, I was surprised to see the sidewalk. Guess Mr. Groundhog was little off this year, not that I'm complaining.

Now that midterms are wrapping up and I'm longer slipping on ice, I'm starting to freak out about what I'm going to do when the semester ends. My two choices are get a job or take classes over the summer. Easier said than done. Jobs are going to be few and far between. Unemployed workers, high school students, university students returning to North Bay...oy vey. I know I'm employable, but competition is tough. As far as the school option goes, there haven't been any Spring/Summer classes posted on WebAdvisor yet, even though registration starts next Monday. So, I'm freaking out wondering if all of the classes are going to include evenings/weekends or be ones I've already taken or be otherwise inappropriate. As a natural worrier, this is not the path I want to go down.

And because baby animals always make things better, I give you:

Night!

Number of times I've yawned since starting this post: about 7

Number of items on my to do list: 21 (and "homework" is only one item)

Twinkle twinkle little star / You're a ball of gas that's very far.

Ah, back to real life. Reading Week is nice in theory, but I find it's almost harder to go back and have a week crammed full of midterms than if we hadn't left at all. You can tell I didn't go anywhere sunny and warm...

Lately, there have been a lot of thesis students popping into my psychology classes to use us as guinea pigs. It's not a big deal because it usually only requires a quick survey, but it's gotten me thinking that my thesis is a lot closer than I care to admit. I will probably sound very silly, but I don't even know how to go about most of this university stuff. I wish there were elective courses you could sign up for that taught you everything from practical skills (financial management, basic car maintenance) to academic/career related things (tips about résumés and interviewing that aren't just tired clichés). I know some of these topics are covered in academic workshops and the like, but many students have schedules that don't allow them to attend. Plus, I feel like a three credit course designed around some of those subjects is just as meaningful as Introduction to Astronomy.

Time for more studying (and dishes). I hope everyone is enjoying the warmer - and slushier - weather.


Number of "modern" constellations: 88 (see, I'm not against astronomy! http://www.iau.org/)
Number of weeks I've actually stuck to my 2010 budget so far: 3

Don't believe the things you tell yourself so late at night.

I had a midterm today, and it was terrifying. Not because of the test (nope, I had studied!), but because the professor came over and caught the girl next to me cheating. I know I am probably in the minority (the minority that most people see as smug and boring), but I have never cheated in school. Partly because I have a disproportionate fear of authority and partly because it just seems wrong.

I know there are always polls and studies and whatnot claiming that most university students cheat, but I was living in an idealistic little bubble thinking that Nipissing students wouldn't do that. I usually resent the professors pacing the room because I find it distracting, but now it seems necessary.

Please Nipissing, restore my faith in Ugg-wearing, text-messaging, gum-popping humanity: don't cheat.

For the record, I can be smug at times (you don't want to see me win Trivial Pursuit...) and boring at others (please not my blog, please not my blog), but I'm not trying to judge. At 25, I'm divorced with two kids. It's not like I have much of a soapbox to stand on. I just feel like you're selling yourself short if you take that path, and it could eventually catch up with you. Cue after-school-special music.


Disney movies watched: 1
Number of times I stubbed my toe: 2 (the same toe!!!)

I know it's no good for me.

I am now in enough of a bad mood to post some of the things about Nipissing that annoy me.

1. The fact that university students still find it necessary to write on bathroom stalls. And the maintenance staff leaves it there.

2. When those with expired locker tags were warned to get new tags or their locks would be cut/their stuff would be removed, there was a final date this needed to be completed by. It arrived and....nothing happened. Weeks went by before the locks were cut. Anyone who has taken a psych course (or who has babysat) knows that you need to actually follow up on your "threats" or there is no point.

3. I don't know who thought it would be a good idea to switch the textbook provider right before school started, but that's what happened. And it sucked. For everyone: not just students, but the staff at the bookstore too. Don't do it again please.

4. How the computers, projectors, etc. in the lecture halls and classrooms never seem to work.

And now I have the hiccups, so I must go, but feel free to post your pet peeves.


Chapters I need to read to get caught up in all of my classes: 3
Number of licks it takes to get to the centre of a Tootsie Pop: too many

Start.

In the interest of full disclosure, I need to admit that my main motivation for beginning this blog is because that prize money is much needed. But I've also started to think that this would be a great way to see for myself just how therapeutic writing can be. You see, I am a psych major, and I have heard many times about the research studies conducted to investigate whether journaling about emotional events can have a positive effect on health. So far, the results point to this being true. I can use all of the stress relief/positive energy that I can get, so I will try to focus on the less dollah-dollah-bills portion of my quest.

I guess I could introduce myself: I'm a second year student in the Psych B.A. Honours program. I'm originally from NY/NJ down in America, but I found my way to North Bay in 2005. I have two daughters (5 and 3) who are the smartest, cutest, funniest, most amazing kids (I'm not at all biased...).

So far, Nipissing University has been pretty close to what my family and friends experienced when they went to college/university (in America, they're kind of interchangeable). One of the nice things about Nipissing is that it's smaller than a lot of other schools. Sure, professors might not know your name in an Intro class, but you'll actually know what your professor looks like. I also feel really lucky because university is a lot more affordable in Canada than in the US. I know everyone complains about tuition, fees, etc. (sometimes rightfully so), but OSAP and the whole Canadian post-secondary education system are pretty darn great.

I thought that I would post some stuff about Nipissing that annoys me too, but I'll keep this as a glass-half-full post. Night!


Caffeinated beverages consumed today: 2
Parking tickets spotted on the walk back to my car: 0