Sunday Homework Sessions

It’s Sunday. The day where you attempt to cram all of the homework you neglected to do over the weekend into one day.

Before brunch, I put on my high school tennis warm-ups (as I do every Sunday), went to brunch with my friends, and then up to Perry House (and now the library) to do homework. I spent about 30 minutes longer than I planned to at brunch and really wanted to take a nap before I got started but I knew that was impossible. I had 2 assignments due by 5 and a third assignment due by 8 so there was no way that I could take a nap as the clock approached 1. I also had a meeting at 5 and somehow had to fit dinner in, so I had no time to waste. When I finally crawled up the stairs to Perry I ended up turning on the TV and watching Family Feud (the episodes where Steve Harvey is the host) and getting sidetracked from my readings. By the time that I finished two of my assignments it was time for me to go to that 5 o’clock meeting. After I left there I had dinner with my friends and again stayed 30 minutes longer than I had planned. After dinner I finally made it to the library to complete my 3rd assignment.

I could have easily done a little bit of work on Friday, Saturday, and today… but that would require me to not procrastinate. I’m not sure if it’s just me but it seems like everyone has a Sunday homework session (probably for different reasons) that involves setting goals of getting x amount of work done, homework with friends in Lusty (or wherever someone chooses to do homework – I like the LLC on the 3rd floor of Canaday), tweeting/facebooking about how much work you have to do, shopping online, eating snacks, and trying to stay awake long enough to actually reach your homework goal. I think homework on a Sunday is just one part of the college experience.

 

I hope everyone has had as productive of a Sunday as I have 🙂

Life After College

Coming into college, I knew exactly what I wanted to major in and what I wanted to do for a career. I was convinced that I was going to do research in either developmental or educational psychology or become a school psychologist. The more I learn about the field and grad school the more I’m like ehhh maybe not. I took an education class last year and I thought that I wanted to be a teacher. Then I took some more psych classes and I thought maybe I want to go into family therapy or counseling. Then there was a brief moment when I wanted to be an intervention specialist or a social worker. But right now in this moment, I think I want to go into K-12 school administration. So basically, I have no clue what I want to do after college.

Every class that I take opens my eyes to a new field that I could pursue or a different area that I hadn’t thought about. I also spend a lot of time looking up different careers online and different grad school programs. I think it’s important to explore different options and routes because everything college and beyond is an investment.

It’s hard for me to not know exactly what I want to do with my life, but I’m slowly learning that it’s okay. So the only things I know for sure is that I’m moving back to Cleveland after I graduate and I want to work with kids.

Where Has the Time Gone?

Hello everyone!

It seems like forever since I last posted a blog!

Here’s what I’ve been doing since school started:

1.  Customs Committee – Before classes started, I was here on campus with other DLT members preparing for customs week and beyond!

2. Diversity Council – The Diversity Council is just getting restarted this year and I look forward to the work that we will do this year (Look out for updates on twitter and here for what the Diversity Council is doing)

3. Meetings – It seems like I have been in a flurry of meetings since classes started. Whether it was a meeting for customs, diversity issues, Ferguson, SGA, or just how to make this campus more inclusive – it seems like the meetings just haven’t stopped (I have some today too!)

4. Midterms – I have had more midterms this semester than I have ever had in my Bryn Mawr career, but I’m finally done.

5. Admissions – Whether it’s been to sit on a panel for “Bryn Mawr Unplugged” or a mixer with prospective students, I love spending time in the admissions office.

6. Trying to figure out what I’m going to do with my life after college – Luckily I’m not a senior so I still have about three semesters to figure all of that out, but it’s still a little nerve-wracking.

7. Tweeting – For awhile I was following the hashtags #BecauseIAm #IfIWere #kcass #bmcdissent #RaceatBMC and as always, #bmcbanter.

8.  TV – I now spend Thursday nights in Shondaland watching “How To Get Away With Murder.”

9. Dancing – This semester I tried out for Rhythm N Motion and got in! So I know spend my Saturdays in the dance studios here and at Swarthmore.

10. Answering hard questions – This semester, someone asked me, “If I knew everything that I know now about Bryn Mawr, would I still have chosen to come here.” That question alone has caused me to reflect on my time here at Bryn Mawr and what brings me back every year.

11. Suffering from writer’s block – I always start to type up a blog and then a few sentences in I think, “that’s so cheesy” and then I try to pick a different topic… it usually doesn’t work.

12. Procrastinating – I think this one speaks for itself.

In other news, have a safe and candy-filled Halloween!

Checking In

Hello everyone! It’s been awhile since I’ve written a blog, so I thought I’d share a list of all of the things I have been doing this semester.

1. Homework

2. Sleeping

3. Black History Month

4. Spring Break

5. Reading articles on Facebook

6. Hiding in my room

7. Planning a culture show

8. Neglecting my laundry

9. Hiding in my friend’s room

10. Pretending to do homework

11. Hoping for “Bad Weather Days”

12. Tweeting

13. Procrastinating

and finally…

14. Drafting blogs but not finishing them.

The Final Countdown

Has anyone else started their end of the semester countdown?

I have 9 days until I leave for break.

3 final papers to write.

1 final exam to take.

8 more classes left.

A few days worth of studying.

Roughly 3 loads of laundry to do.

A lot of people to hug goodbye.

Yet it seems like I have no time to do any of this.

Welcome to the final stretch.

 

 

 

Take a study break and watch this youtube video! (Especially if you’re a Beyonce fan!) (Credits to Todrick Hall)

 

Thanksgiving Break & The Final Stretch

I hope everyone had a restful and much needed break. While I was home, I got to spend some time with my crazy family and do a little extreme shopping. Thanksgiving was filled with the normal shenanigans (arguments about religion, the state of our education system, and the endless questioning about college to name a few) and was followed with Black Friday shopping (my aunt spent almost 24 hours shopping and dragged me along for 12 of them). Needless to say, I enjoyed being home.

But now it is that time of the year when papers are due, group projects are driving us crazy, and even the idea of sleep is laughable. It’s crunch time. It feels like there is so much work to do and so little time to do it. We’re in the final stretch, so get ready to cross another semester off your list because it’s almost over.

 

And remember… Done is GOOD

It’s Been a While

Hello everyone!

I feel like I haven’t been here in such a long time. I have been so busy between fall break and now – no one told me that sophomore year was going to be this difficult!

Fall Break: I wish fall break was still happening (lol). I went home to Cleveland for fall break and brought one of my friends along. We had a very hectic Greyhound trip, but the week home was definitely worth it. I ate food, slept, and watched TV for 9 days.

I have spent the last two weeks adjusting to being back in school. I started looking for summer internships back home. I also started really thinking about what I want to do with my life after college. I thought that I knew exactly what I wanted to do, but now I don’t know. I guess what I’ve learned so far this year is that it’s okay to be unsure of something. I’m having a hard time accepting that because I like to extreme plan; but I am slowly coming to terms with it.

I have a bunch of pictures that I want to share from the pop-up event, Halloween party, and more!

#bmcbanter

Coffee Hour

I won the raffle! Offerings to Athena :D
I won the raffle! Offerings to Athena 😀

 

So today I slept through my first class, almost missed turning in my midterm, and it’s raining. I thought my Thursday was off to a bad start until coffee hour. When I went in I was excited to finally have breakfast, and what’s a better breakfast than donuts and coffee? I got the chance to talk to a few professors and staff that I hadn’t met before. I also got to talk to a few people that I knew, like my Emily Balch professor from last year. (I also was able to turn my midterm to my professor who is coincidentally president of the college.) To top it all off, I won a raffle prize! That almost never happens to me. I won the book “Offerings to Athena.”

 

Here are some other pictures from Coffee Hour.

Coffee Hour is back!
Coffee Hour is back!

Coffee Hour is back!

Coffee Hour is back!

Coffee Hour is back!

Coffee Hour is back!

Coffee Hour is back!

Coffee Hour is back!

Coffee Hour is back!

Coffee Hour is back!

 

The Beauty of Self Governance

There’s something wonderful about self governance. Last year I didn’t understand what self governance was or what it meant to be a self governing community. There is often an emphasis on the Honor Code and SGA but what does that all mean? After my experiences at plenary this past weekend and my experience participating in the AMO (Alliance of Multicultural Organizations) workshop this semester, I have come to understand and own the fact that Bryn Mawr College is self governing.

I have seen problems revolving around club budgets and plenary attendance, or lack-thereof, be resolved or talked about through student-centered and student-led discussions. It is amazing to see the community come together around a central problem and not focus on the problems but the solutions. The solutions then either become plenary resolutions or easily fixable situations that are, once again, student-led and student-centered. One example that is very vivid in my mind is the budget issue that occurred in different AMO groups.   Instead of having a pessimistic attitude we generated a list of solutions, a lot of which had an impact on the whole community not just the AMO groups. Everyone involved took some level of ownership and responsibility and together we made changes to help the advancement of our community.

That is what self governance is to me. It is the ability to take ownership of our roles, effectively communicate what we want, and collectively make decisions that enhance the community. We don’t need an “adult” or administrator to tell us what to do; we can speak and decide for ourselves. We are held accountable for seeing our vision through and we initiate and continue progress. That’s the beauty of self governance.

Look out for my next post about the intersection (and if there is one) between SGA and students of color on this campus.

 

 

Being a Sophomore

Majors, minors, and PE requirements – these are just a few things that daunt you in your sophomore year. I knew I wanted to major in psychology but I still wanted to explore other departments and classes. For some people this can change what they want to study and for others it can confirm what they want to study; I was apart of the latter group. I realized that I really do love psychology but I also love education and I want to work with children… so what now?

It seems like there are so many requirements that have to be filled and so little time to do it. Unlike high school, you get to structure how you fulfill those requirements. It’s taking me some time to adjust to the freedom I have in the liberal arts curriculum. A class that counts towards inquiry to the past (IP) doesn’t have to be in the history department and a physical education class (PE) can be anything from a dance class to yoga to personal finance.

Last week I built up the courage to ask one of my professors to be my major adviser. I had so much pent-up anxiety that I felt like I was asking someone to be my heller all over again.  It turned out fine and now I have a major adviser. Once I got over my anxieties I realized that I was making progress towards completing my college education. I’m taking more classes in my prospective major and I’m finding that I really enjoy it. I also started taking classes that relate to the areas I want to minor in, education and child and family studies.

I’m slowly crossing items off of my sophomore to-do list and it feels good.