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Spring Break is over and everyone is now looking towards Easter Break, which is in about 2.5 weeks. Basically, although there is tons of work to be done, all anyone has to do is be strong and make it for 2 weeks. This is easier said than done for some. I got a good amount of work done over break, but there are always professors who like to wait until after break to give you the work schedule. They think they are helping you out, when really, for me, it prevents me from getting ahead.
What I was really focused on this week was planning for next year and for the future. It is shocking to think that in a couple of weeks, I will be registering for my classes for senior year. It seems like yesterday that I was a freshman battling with 3 other grades for good classes. Now, I am on top of the litter, which is cool, because no matter what scheduling time I get, I should get into all of my top-choice classes. With course scheduling, every class (aka frosh, soph, jun., sen.) has a different day to register. Upcoming seniors go first, and then the rest of the classes follow suit. It is hard, as a freshman, to get into all of your classes. However, if you do not get into classes that you need, all you have to do is go and see the academic advisors and they will help you either get into that class, or find another class to fulfill that requirement. The academic advisors also have a role before your class scheduling day. Every student must meet with their academic advisor with a filled out form showing the classes that you plan on taking for the next semester. The advisor will then make sure you are on track for graduation and that you are not taking classes that do not fill any requirements. This is extremely helpful to some students, especially double majors, because sometimes it is hard to figure out what classes fit well. I met with my advisor on Monday and got all of my classes approved. At this point in the game, I usually do not have any problems with the classes that I am taking, because I basically know my two majors and what is required of me, but it does help to have someone else look over them with you, just in case.
Another thing I did this week to prepare for the future is interviewed for graduate school. I know that I have probably mentioned before that I am applying for a combined MS/BS program here at the University. I will be able to take graduate classes my senior year, and they will count towards my masters. I was pretty nervous for the interview, because it was a group interview and it was two hours long. I was not sure what to expect. In order to calm my nerves, I called Career Services and made an appointment with them. Career Services is an office that offers really awesome opportunities to students. The employees there do everything from career planning, resume help, interview prepping, and helping students to get internships. Career Services helped me get my internship at the Girl Scouts at the last minutes, so I was confident that they would be able to prepare me for my interview. They went over what usually happens at a group interview and explained why it would be so long. It basically helped me prepare answers to frequently asked questions and bounce them off a professional, as well as ease my worries about the interview itself. The interview ended up going really well, and I think that Career Services played a big role helping me boost my confidence and not be so worried about the whole process.
Ok, so that’s all of my planning for the future for this week, thank goodness. I don’t want to leave school too soon! Until Next time…
Well, I am alive, but barely. Midterm week was absolutely horrible. My last midterm was on Friday at eleven. By the time I got to the midterm, I did not want to study anymore, I just wanted to take it and be done. I wanted to be able to say “I am finished and am on Spring Break.” I think most of my classmates felt that way, because the usual quiet that fills a classroom before a big test was not there at all. We were all talking and acting like we didn’t have a midterm in .4 minutes…I think we were in denial. I took the test and when I was done, I basically sprinted out of the classroom. I did not want to look over things and check my answers…you know why? Because I was finished and did not care. I was forced to drive my friend Nick’s car home for break, because my car, which is a 1986 VW Bus, decided it would be a good idea to die over the big Valentine’s Day snow. The car ride home was fun, because I drove three other people home, and we had a pretty good time singing along to tunes and talking about the previous week. When I got home, I took a long, much needed nap, and then headed to work. I have been working at Rita’s Water Ice since I was a sophomore in high school, and it is a pretty decent job. My boss is really flexible, and when she found out that I was really broke, she scheduled me for as many hours as possible. By the end of the week, I ended up working a little over forty hours, which was great for my negative eighteen cents bank account, but very tiring as well. It was not all that busy, since we did just open, but it is a long time to be standing on your feet all day, and by the time I get off work, I am usually pretty tired. I like to utilize my breaks to get ahead in all of my classes, because it is always really nice to come back to Scranton and have no schoolwork at all to do. Wednesday was really hot, and we almost hit eighty degrees, so Rita’s was packed. I always think its funny when people come to Rita’s for the first time all season. They are all like little kids in candy stores. They just get so excited, which is funny to me, maybe because I am basically made of water ice over the summer, so if I don’t have the winter break, I would probably turn into a gelati. Even more entertaining than Wednesday for me was Friday. On Friday, we had a sleeting ice storm. I went into Rita’s at 10:00 AM and made three buckets of water ice, put away the orders that came in, and then did schoolwork. True, we did not have lines…but…we did have a few customers. When I would open the window, gusts of snow/ice would come into the store and me. The customer’s would be shivering violently and would hardly be able to order…yet…they were still there. Those are true water ice fans. I do not think I will ever understand why people would want water ice when it is snowing, but they do. So, my break was basically filled with water ice and homework. Not all that exciting, but I did get a lot done. One of the biggest mistakes college students, and other students in general make, is not using their breaks properly. True, you should relax over break and sleep in, but, who wants to be frantically doing work on the Sunday before classes start and be swamped for the next week because they did nothing? Most college students lounge for a week and then come back to school and start on their work. If I can offer one piece of advice that you actually listen to, it would be to utilize your breaks. If you are successful in this, you will be a much happier, better rested student by the end of your break.
Well, we went from a snow day to a recovery week…and now, midterms. Midterm week is almost as bad as finals week for one reason, classes are still going on while you are taking tests. This week was so draining for me, because besides studying for four midterms and writing two papers, I also had to finish planning and go to my internship. Time becomes a precious commodity and good time management is key. This week, I went to a counseling session for my Crisis Intervention class. The class has a requirement that you go to four burnout prevention counseling sessions. This is my second counseling class that has required me, as a student, to actually go to counseling. I think this is great experience for professional life, because I get a chance to see what it is like to be counseled and how it feels to be the one in the client’s chair. Usually, the people the school has counseling you are grad students who need to actually counsel people for their classes. So, it is basically students helping other students fulfill class requirements while gaining experience in their field. Burnout is a huge topic discussed in my Crisis Intervention class, because it is an important thing to avoid in your professional life, and it can be avoided by knowing the specific signs and how to manage them. My burnout sessions are going to focus on time management and assertiveness training. I am hoping that by the end of these four sessions, I will be able to schedule my time well enough to get all of my work done, crew stuff, and have some time to myself to spare. I think that is my big problem most of the time. I like to chill out with my friends and relax, and if I don’t have that chill time, I get burnt out. I don’t really have time to chill out though, which results in me either doing work at the last minute or getting burnt out because I did not chill. I think that the requirement to go to counseling illustrates the University’s understanding that to survive in the professional world; you need to really experience your job. For this reason, many majors are required to do field training, student teaching, internships, and the like in order to see your job in action and really discern if this is what you want to do with your life. It was really nice to have my first session during such a stressful week. I basically just want to get out of this week alive and head home for break. I have never needed a break so much, and I feel like a lot of my peers feel the same way. We are all drained and cannot wait for it to be over. A lot of my friends will be heading to different, fun locations over break. I will be heading home to good old West Chester, PA to work at Rita’s Water Ice…still, I am ready to get there.
Well, the snow days are over and school is, regretfully, back in session. Of course, I did not use the snow days to my advantage, I fooled around with my friends and slept my life away. So, now I have tons of work to do to catch myself up. We are still responsible for all the homework that was assigned over the break, so it is almost like have 3 days of schoolwork due in one day. I loved the snow days, but they did get me a little off track, but it was worth it. There is nothing like looking out your window and seeing two feet of snow. Now, though, it is dirty snow, which I hate and wish they would just cart it away, but where would they put all that snow? Oh well, we are stuck with it until it melts, which I am sure will not be for a long while. This concerns me for one major reason, the crew team. With this much snow, it is going to take a long time until we are able to get out on the water. It is really important in the spring for the team to get on the water as soon as possible, because the season is really only a month long. We work out all semester for one month on the water, so this snow really kills the short practice time that we have. I am going to try not to stress about it until it is time, but its hard. Another thing that is hard about getting back in the routine is getting up early for class and work. I am not going to lie, this week I did not do such a hot job getting to all my classes and work shifts on time. I just did not want to drag myself out of bed. The professors are very driven to stay on task and not fall behind before spring break, which is in a couple of weeks. So, they are stuffing information into our heads, and it is really hard to keep up with them sometimes. Also, because of the snow, my internship hours are a little off skew. I am going to have to make those up at some point this semester. Hopefully by next week I will be back on track.
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