:D

Almost There

I finished 2/3 of my finals on Friday...so 2/3 of my teachers decided to skip the hassle of finals week and the three hour finals and decided instead to give them to us early. My Shakespeare as Lit. teacher, Nada, has decided to utilize the two hours given during finals week. In fact, she's offered an extra two hours because her finals tend to take a while to complete.

Nada is by far the most difficult teacher I have had so far in my entire academic experience [ever]. I have been a decent writer since middle school, and at this point I am fairly confident in my tenuous ability. The first paper I had to write for her was a four page paper analyzing a sonnet we had not discussed in class. I had absolutely no idea how I would go about analyzing a sonnet in more than one and a half pages; my ability to write semi-extensively about poetry has never been even almost on par with those who were quasi-competent. I decided to break it down quatrain by quatrain and derive what I could out of those lines, the couplet, and included a conclusion paragraph. I got an 80% on that paper, and I haven't earned that low a grade on a paper in a really, really, long time. Our extensive and very comprehensive midterm included TWO four page papers, followed by another four page paper with a 6 slide presentation and 30 line reading from one of the plays we covered, graded VERY. UNKINDLY. Followed by a ten page analysis paper on some aspect of Shakespeare's works (Elizabethan Sexuality as Reflected in the Sonnets) and a take-home final paper of 5 pages on the wrongs of King Lear. I have always been someone who could write an excellent scoring paper with little effort, and Nada really challenged that in me. She required that I be more insightful and more eloquent, and I'm sure I will benefit from her challenge in the long-term. I hope to someday be so astute in the subject of English Lit...I cannot recommend her highly enough.

I was invited to study with a girl I thought was French for the majority of the quarter--and a couple of other girls in my International Relations class. Aigul is actually from Kazakhstan and just happens to be fluent in French and Kazakh. I have considered her my secret competition in class...she can answer as many questions as I can (actually more...kills me) and has made a point to ask me any questions she might have. This wouldn't be weird, but I had been thinking of her as stupid smart all quarter and I thought she was challenging me when she would ask me questions. Because school is a competition to me for some reason I cannot describe.

Anyway, she was a fantastic and thorough study partner, and I really appreciated that about her. We studied for 6 hours straight and then e-mailed each other sample essay questions with the prompts our teacher gave us in our study guide. It felt really fucking good. If I don't get a 3.8-4.0 in that class, I'll be genuinely surprised.

I have Nada's final and 5 page paper to write, and as of around 3pm Monday, I'll be done with my A.A. As of 9:20 a.m. on March 26th, I will have started my first class towards my B.A. in English Literature at Seattle University.

FINALLY.

@ LONG LAST

Essentially I am really goddamn stoked this week! I had my orientation at SU and am finally a registered student. I think my really close friends are the only ones who know how important and exciting this is for me. I. Cant. Wait. I feel like I've been in community college for 10024r842yrs. The campus is evergreen-y and warm and not too big to feel lost, the library is brand new and has a cafe in it! & Private study rooms where you can bring that coffee! One of the most annoying things about Seattle Central for me is that utter disrespect everyone has for the library. Whenever I'm in there, every table (exaggeration) is eating crinkly crackly junk food and teriyaki and speaking really fucking loudly. I LOVE libraries. Just respect the library. Respect the books.

Spring Quarter Schedule

I think I'm most looking forward to the Law, Literature & Society class. I try to gauge my excitement off of the legitimacy of required book list and I can't wait to read and discuss the books for this class. The philosophy class is part of the required SU curriculum, and I wish it weren't at night. The book list looks pretty good, and I have yet to read much of Plato & Aristotle, which we will be. Excited for that too! And British Lit II ! RENAISSANCE TIME Y'ALL!

 I've taken MW&F off so I will only be doing school those days & NOTHING ELSE. I'll work on TThSatSun, which is pretty much perfect since I'll never work more than two days in a row. That, my friends, is how to stay friendly in customer service.

The weather in Seattle has been slaughtering my happiness. It is remarkably difficult to get out of bed in the morning knowing that it is pouring and you have to walk. BUT IM 2 HAPPY 4 IT 2 GET ME DOWN!

I turned in my 12 page research paper for my Shakespeare as Lit class today, so I'm feeling that false yet euphoric sense of freedom with my time. No papers, no projects, no presentations...just finals. I ended up writing the paper on "Reflections of Elizabethan sexuality in Sonnets 15, 20, 129, and 130." I wrote about the traditional gender roles and norms of sexuality during Shakespeare's lifetime, and since the Elizabethans were surprisingly homosocial, also about the norms of homosexuality for both genders. I used sonnets related to the historic information I found, analyzed them, and then related Shakespeare's personal sexual characteristics to aspects of his society. It was actually a pretty fun paper. Lets talk about it sometime.

I made it!

I did it! I fucking did it! A's on two of my midterms and a B on the only one I thought I might have ruined with my total lack of understanding scansion. My essays were appreciated by my professor--she even pulled me aside after class today and told me how great they were and that I was sure to do well in the class.

EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED TO HEAR.
I read both of the essays over again today and I can't even believe I wrote them. They're so good! I'm really excited about this. I feel very capable.

I had my 12 minute presentation today in International Relations--all about the Transnational Women's Movement. Got an A on that sucker, & an A on my Zionism paper...Im so happy with my grades right now!!!

On Tuesday I have to do a 30 line reading from Romeo & Juliet, a short powerpoint presentation on the context of the reading, and a 4 page paper on my conclusions. Another 4 page paper and a 20 minute group presentation (my favorite kind) on my favorite poets, short stories, and conclusions on The Hours due on Friday. I also need to begin that ol' 10 page analysis paper for Shakespeare...No idea what I'm going to do it on.

Only 2.5 more weeks until I register at this place!

Why did I sign up for this again?

I forgot my study guide for my International Relations midterm at work. I only really needed to read more about the essay questions (because he said those would be verbatim the questions on the test), but I'm forgetting everything I've ever known! I have read every chapter, taken detailed and well organized notes on every single page, and I AM STILL FREAKING OUT.

Because seeing things in list form makes them feel manageable:
-International Relations midterm TO-fucking-DAY
-Two four page essays due Friday for the take-home portion of my Intro2Shakespeare class
-12 minute powerpoint presentation on Zionism in Israel and the occupied territories of Pakistan due next Friday
-Eight pages on Transcendentalism vs Calvinism for U.S. Lit. Masterpieces due Monday

I know I'm a huge whiner, but I have to whine somewhere and R graduated two months ago and he is NOT having it. Keep in mind that I get two hours to study five days out of the week? And that it takes my ass four hours to write two pages. Two perfect pages.

I'm going to go to bed now, and hope that when I wake my mind won't be clear of everything I've learned the past month.

What I learned this week

1. Men are going to end humanity peacocking around with nuclear weapons.
-Can we get some women in power?! Honestly?! I don't know why anyone thought men were the best candidates for global leadership (obviously men put themselves in this role but still...). We had something to do with the scientist killed in Tehran this week and they are absolutely going to retaliate and Americans are definitely going to lose their lives over NOTHING. Hillary probably had something to do with that too, but I bet she argued against it! I bet she did.

2. We are reading the sonnets in my Shakespeare class and I am so in love! I don't know why they bother trying to teach teenagers anything--I definitely couldn't have appreciated Shakespeare until recently. We read the Elizabethan World Picture before starting on Willy's actual work in order to get a better understanding of the common beliefs, sayings, and limitations of his time. This has already helped me understand many of his popular metaphors. Very excited about this!

3. English Lit major was a good idea.

4. International relations was a good idea.
-News involving the Middle East makes A TON more sense. I can actually read, be interested in, and comprehend all of the headlines on the NYtimes now and this excites me very much. Except for stuff involving the stock market. Different language.

5. R is a really solid man. Just real great.

I have become obsessed with the Timbuk2 Commute 2.0 and really, really, want one for school/work. On school days, I often go straight from school->cafe to study->45 min bus ride to work->work and I take the bus home from work as well. Mind you, I carry my macbook, 2 HUGE anthologies, notebooks, pens, highlighters, sometimes my DSLR, and the rest of my school crap. So either I stop at home and switch bags (carrying my huge, floppy, purse with my computer, charger, planner, and whatsits) or I carry my giant 8 pound backpack full of things I'm not going to need until the next morning. My backpack is also not too sleek on the bus (during rush hour in particular) and I almost always hit someone with my backpack upon turning my body. Lot of apologizing going on here.

BEHOLD!

All roomy and sexy and efficient. And TSA compliant (don't have to take the laptop out of the bag at security). And most importantly--waterproof. Its ugly--I'll give you that. But it gets the job done, and its not like I'm going to carry this thing to a wedding or anything. Strictly weekdays. We will see. 

B.O.A. (Burnt Out Already)

ITS ALREADY HAPPENED! Second day of the school/work combo and I'm already behind.

Three days out of the [school] week I have a total of 2 hours in-between school and my commute to work. Each of those days I will be assigned 30-80 pages of reading between all my classes. I mean, I read pretty fast but I am by no means that impressive of a reader. I get home from work around 11:45pm-12:30am and I CAN.NOT. read another 30 pages of anything that late! I can skim it, take notes on what I'm getting. But really! I can't be impressive in the class discussions if I didn't read the shit thoroughly! Which is what education is all about.

I think I'm gonna go down to 4 days a week at work next month. I'm sure I'll hardly miss the money considering I worked 4 days a week all of fall quarter and saved a lot of money for the move regardless....pretty sure.

There's just no way I can be a good student and work this much as well. I hate when other students can discuss the text better than I can. I just really hate it.

Hottest French chick on Leno right now.

I love the first day of school. I really do. I love getting new notebooks, folders, books, PENS and new teachers full of information I want. I skipped a planner last year which was a HUGE mistake, so I'm pretty excited to drop by Elliot Bay Books to pick up a new moleskine (& their bomb house arugala salad) as well. And a planner pen! A perfect planner pen. I LOVE FIRST DAYS! Also love that in college you get three of them each year.

My schedule this quarter:

10-10:50am: Literary Masterpieces of the United States

11-11:50am: International Relations

1-1:50pm: Shakespeare I

Since I was still 15 credits away from my A.A. and enrolling without it would cost me a lot of $$$ and time at SU, I am taking another 3 classes at at SC which are all, conveniently, electives. The english classes will fulfill major requirements for my B.A. Eng. and international relations is to help me comprehend all of these NYTimes articles that seem so far away from me and my realm of knowledge. I read them anyway and try and piece together what back-info the author divulges, but the authors always assume you know something about Israeli-Palestininian conflict & shit! I just want to know a little more about how the world works, essentially. Essentially. 

The last two quarters my classes weren't until noon or one and I assure you I began my day accordingly. Waking up at noon stopped feeling good, so this quarter I vowed to take earlier classes to force myself asleep earlier and to start my day earlier. 

We'll see how I feel about this in a couple weeks.

Philosophy Failure

I dropped my Intro to Logic class yesterday, and I'm feeling pretty damn shitty about it. I decided to take the class online (like an idiot) and it ALMOST made complete sense, but there were pieces of the ridiculous logic puzzle that I just NEEDED an instructor to explain to me. I was confused to the point that I knew I wouldn't be able to even almost pass the next test (let alone the final), so instead of taking a horrible grade on my transcript, I'm taking a big fat W. I'm taking it again next quarter on campus and hoping for better results. Not only is the class required for my degree, but I'll be taking the completely logic based LSAT next June and I'm convinced that understanding logic and valid arguments beforehand will give me an upper hand. 

So long, $400. Yikes. IM SO MAD AT MYSELF. I've been telling myself that the only boundaries I have are the ones I force upon myself, so it feels like I just didn't try hard enough to understand it (which could be true). 

It's done with now, though, so I suppose I just say adios $400, hello W on my transcript, and I'll conquer the bastard that is logic next quarter.