At Camp

Today I am most likely at Fall Camp. At least that is where I plan to be when I am writing this because I won't have Internet access while I am there. If camp is anything like it was last year, it will be a lot of fun.

Bay Day

Today I went jogging down to the bay. It had been a couple days since I went running. Partially because of the weather, but also because I didn't feel it could be justified when I had a midterm I should be studying for. But now that my midterm is over and the weather was nice, it was an excellent day for a run to the bay.

The midTerminator

Today I had a three hour break in between classes to study for my midterm. However, only about an hour of this time was productive. That being said, it was a very productive hour.

For the past few days, one term in particular had been giving me troubles, the term transactionalism. I searched all through the highlighted sections of my textbook. Right before class, I was flipping through the book when I found the term. It was in a non highlighted section because I had borrowed a friends book when I read that part.

It all started to make sense. Well there were still some parts I wished I knew better, but thankfully they weren't a part of the essay question. And yes, transactionalism was part of the essay. It was a great feeling to be able to write an essay I was happy with for the midterm, but it was an even better feeling to be done with worrying about it.

Midterm Time Out

Today I spent quite a bit of time studying for tomorrow's midterm. However, I don't feel I've studied nearly enough yet. In fact, the more I study, the less prepared I feel. It is a terrible feeling. Thankfully, this midterm is just that, a midterm. In the grand scheme of things, it isn't that important. Nonetheless, I hope it goes well.

Tour Day Force

Today 800 fifth grade students visit Western for the Compass to Campus program I am a part of. I was on a team with two other students who toured three fifth graders around campus. It was fun, and even I got to see some places on campus I hadn't been yet. I thought they were going to tour my dorm room, so I got it all clean. They didn't end up touring my dorm room, but at least it is now cleaner.

Page Passing

For my European Union class, we either have readings from a textbook or readings he puts outside his office to read for each class. For tomorrow's class, the readings were supposed to be posted outside his office. When I got there, both of the copies of the reading were gone.

I walked to a lounge nearby, and found two people from my class. For whatever reason, there was only one copy of the reading between the three of us. It was sort of funny to have to hand pages to each other when we were done reading. What wasn't funny or fun, was having a huge pile of readings to read before tomorrow the class before our midterm.

Midterm Time

Today I started to study for my midterm on Thursday. The study guide consisted of a paragraph saying we would be writing an essay for our midterm. In other words, we basically need to know everything we have been taught so far. I also started researching the country Luxembourg for a presentation I have in that same class. Thankfully, the presentation isn't for a couple weeks.

Happy Birthday Dad

Soccer Scrimmage

Today has, and will continue to be, a busy day. I got some homework done, although there is much more I should work on this weekend. Should doesn't necessarily mean will, although it should. This afternoon, I played a soccer scrimmage game in the rain. It was fun except for when I was standing around as goalie and when I pulled my muscle.

Negated Gains

Today was a long day of classes. Thankfully, I have a nice three hour break in between badminton and my political science class which helps. I was able to go the rec center before class during this break. Unfortunately, my dinner and subsequent dessert more than negated any positive benefits that could have been gained from going to the rec center.

Back to the Basics

Today I was basically a 5th grade student. I got to the school around 11:45am, and was introduced to the classroom I will be working with and helped them with the metric system. I then went to lunch and recess with the class. After lunch, I helped a small group of students with math.

I was told to help with PE after that, but the PE teacher didn't have a class at that time. I was sent to the principal's office, which was a bit awkward. He seemed a bit frustrated with the group of us who didn't have a PE class to teach, like it was our fault.

In the end, we just waited until the next PE class, which was more than alright with me because I had homework I needed to work on anyway. It was fun playing dodgeball with the kids, although I had to remember to take it easy on them. Overall, it was very fun working with the students. They were all excited to have college students helping out, and it is exciting to help mentor them.

Tired Tuesday

Today started out with some fun games in my badminton class. I normally have a mentoring class right after that, but now I will be going to an actual classroom instead of sitting in one at college. Tomorrow will be my first day helping out in a 5th grade classroom. With my spare time, I was able to go the rec center before my back to back political science classes. For whatever reason, I was extremely tired during my political science classes. I can honestly say it was the first time I thought about falling asleep during a class but it would have been a bad idea seeing as it is a small class and we were all sitting in a circle. It didn't stop one guy in my class today from sleeping, but thankfully I was able to make it though the class.

Gone By

After today, I have now been at college for a month. It hasn't seemed like that much time has gone by. But at the same time, I've really formed a routine and college life seems normal. The only bad part about being at college for a month is that midterms are just around the corner.

Sibling Soccer

Today I played in a rec soccer game. I was disappointed to not be on a team, and was really missing playing soccer. I found out about a team that could maybe use some players, so I went to their game tonight. They were actually one male player short, so I was glad that I showed up. The game was fun, even if our team didn't win. I didn't do much besides run like a mad man all over the field, but that was fine with me. It was especially fun playing on the same team as my sister for the first time in my life.

Flooding and Burning

Today has been a bit of a crazy day. Late last night/early this morning, there was some flooding from all the rain and downed leaves. This afternoon, there was a torrential downpour accompanied by thunder and lighting. At dinner tonight in the dining hall, someone released some pepper spray. Every one's throat and nose were burning and they had to clear that portion of the dining hall out.

New Season

The past few days, it has become especially apparent that the seasons are changing. The leaves are changing color, and falling off the trees. It has become windier, and the rainy season is here. I think I am okay with this though.

It Is Finished

When Danny approached me (he actually called me on the phone) and asked if I would mind writing a blog post, I leapt for joy (I actually said 'sure; all right'). Thoughts soon turned to what I should write. I thought about writing about how Danny finished his paper for his Feminist Theory class today, but ultimately decided against it. I briefly considered writing about our (by our, I mean my, my dad, my mom, and sister Gabby's) surprisingly tasty tofu stir-fry dinner. That, too, was nixed. Maybe I should about thinking of an idea to write about... Nah: that would never work.

First Choice First

Today was a long day, which is slightly ironic because I didn't have any classes to go to. I basically had all day to work on my essay, but also all day to put off working on my essay. I also had reading to work on when I was tired of writing. Today was the first time I went inside the dorm I originally picked as my first choice to live in over a year ago. It was nice, but I am happy with where I ended up.

Not Bad Badminton Ton of Work to do

Today my badminton team went undefeated in badminton, which was a nice way to start the day. That was the highlight of a long day of classes, a very long day of classes. As was expected, my essay was critiqued quite a bit, which means I have another long day of essay revising ahead of me tomorrow. I will be so glad when this essay is turned in, but that feeling will probably go away when I find out what grade it got.

Uneasy Essay

Today I finished the rough draft of my essay. Tomorrow it will be critiqued by my classmates. It will be interesting to see what they think about it. Then I will have until Thursday to polish it before the final draft is due. I am a bit worried about this essay, and I will be glad when it is finally turned in and I am done with it.

Work Goes On

Today I continued to work on my essay. I am a bit happier with it now, but it seems recently I have been erasing more than I have been writing. The rough draft is due Tuesday, so I still have a bit more time to work on it. Tonight I was invited to go to dinner at a friend's apartment. It was an excellent dinner and it was nice to have a non dining hall meal.

Paper Problems.

Today I spent quite a bit of time working on my essay. I am not very happy with it so far. Hopefully, I will be soon because it is worth 25% of my grade. I was able to play some soccer today, which was fun even if it was only 3 vs. 3.

Building Block Begins

Today was a rather productive day. I spent a solid amount of time on my essay. Even though it isn't anywhere near completion, it is good to at least have a decent start to build upon. I also went running, which I haven't had the time to do the past few days.

Prompt Response

Today was a very long day of classes. The essay prompt was given out in feminist political theory class. The rough draft is due on Tuesday, with the final draft being due on Thursday. Most of my weekend will be spent working on this essay, and it is a bit of a daunting task.

Walker

Today I went for quite a long walk. Over the summer, I formed a habit of almost nightly walking our dog. Although sadly the dog isn't here at college, I have tried to continue the habit of going for walks. They seem beneficial for a multitude of reasons. So far, especially with the weather being decent, I have been able to go on a walk almost daily. It is a habit I hope, but don't necessarily expect, to keep.

Slowly Better

Today was a busy day. I was busy from 9:00am until 10:00pm, with only a little bit of breaks in between. Thankfully, I am slowly starting to feel better or today would have been a lot worse.

Long Day Off

Today was a long day. I haven't been feeling 100% the past few days, and I have been feeling progressively worse. Thankfully, I didn't have any classes or go to, or even much homework to do. Tomorrow will be an even longer day if I am feeling worse and in class all day.

Decluttered Desk

Today I finally got around to organizing my desk. There is still a little bit more work to do, but it isn't nearly as cluttered as before. It had become a convenient location for placing things I wanted to deal with later. It will be nice to actually have a functioning and organized desk. However, it probably won't make homework any more enjoyable.

Animal Adventure

Late last night/very early this morning, I went on a walk around campus and down to Boulevard Park with my roommate and sister. At the park, we saw glowing otters swimming in the bay. On the way back to campus, we saw an owl and a buck. It was quite the adventure.

Due Date

Today I had an essay to write. For perhaps the first time in my academic career, I waited until the day something was due to start it. It wasn't on purpose. Our teacher didn't remind us about the assignment, and I had so much other stuff to work on in my other classes. Thankfully, I was able to finish the essay today and am happy with how it turned out. Even though successful, I don't think I will wait until the day something is due to start it, or at least not very often.

Post Presentation

Today went much better than I thought it would. My presentation wasn't nearly as stressful as I made it out to be. The preparation and anticipation was the only difficult part. Once the presentation started, we were basically able to sit back and watch the classmates work on some questions we had prepared. I am so glad to have gotten it out of the way.