And The Countdown Begins!

T-minus two weeks of classes left and then finals and then SUMMER! These next couple weeks will, of course, be very busy filled with reading, studying, paper writing, and simply trying to get school matters settled before school ends for the semester! Many of my organizations are settling down for the year and are beginning the process of choosing new officers. All the elections are coming up within the next week, so it shall be interesting!

The next conference went well! Some professors from other schools even came up to me afterwards to compliment me on my research! It totally made all the revisions and research worth it—also the help of a few of my professors didn’t hurt either! I have also chosen my classes for this summer and next semester. I can’ believe I am going to be a senior and still taking general education classes! My punishment for waiting until my senior year to complete them! I am taking both my sciences this summer plus a Latin American literature class, and in the fall, I will be taking public speaking. I am soo incredibly scared for the speech class though! I am also taking Water Color for fun and then 17^th century English literature, American literature before 1900 and my senior seminar class. It should be a pretty good semester; I’ll just have to stay focused!

I’m going to Chicago this weekend with the Literary Interest Society for the Shakespeare trip! It shall be a lot of fun! After my mini vacation, it’s back to work for me!

Influential Books Game

Since books have such an impact in my life, I have decided to participate in the “influential books game” as said by nytimes.com columnist/blogger, Ross Douthat. Here’s the link to the blog!

In no particular order, and some of these are certainly not my favorites, but here is my own list!

1. The Upstairs Room by Johanna Riess

This is one that I actually read so much as a preteen that my copy is completely ragged and worn. The book is about a Jewish family who has to go into hiding during the Holocaust and how a nice German family actually risks their own lives to keep this Jewish family alive throughout the years of the Holocaust. The Upstairs Room was the catalyst for my fascination with novels about survivor stories of the Holocaust like Night and Anne Frank to name a couple. The despicable and absolutely devastating consequences of a family hiding Jews really taught me that there is kindness in strangers and that some people will truly go a long way for someone they do not know.  

2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

This novel, for not only its feminist characteristics or at least my feminist reading of it, is pretty much amazing. I have owned this book for years and years and have never been able to get through the first couple of pages until I had to read it for credit last Spring. Jane Eyre has actually really influenced me to read those classic texts that “are part of the literary canon” or are considered classical literature. Though the language is a bit difficult to read through a modern lens, the prose is absolutely beautiful.

3. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales is yet another one that I have read for a class, but was able to appreciate so much more now that I can understand it. Since Chaucer wrote in what is called Middle English and modern readers read Modern English, the word choice, formations, and overall writing is very different. I would have to read with my online OED at hand, but was able to appreciate the text so much more when I was able to begin reading it for myself. I also love how Chaucer unites members from both ends of the caste system as well as everyone in between and how he is not afraid to depict the corrupt nature of politicians or clergy members at times.

4. She Said Yes by Misty Bernall

Within a year of the Columbine High School shootings, the biography of Cassie Bernall, written by her mother Misty came out. Cassie was the girl in the library who, when asked if she believed in God, answered “yes” and was then shot to death. Cassie is depicted as a martyr for her actions in the library, but actually led a life that was full of struggles and obstacles that had certainly brought her down. The perseverance she showed and the courage she had to say yes, even though she probably knew she was going to die showed me at the time I read it and even now, that if you believe in something, religious or not, you should have the courage to stick up for it. If you cannot, maybe you do not feel as strongly for it as you thought you did.

5. A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

I have actually just finished reading this play for the first time last week for my Shakespeare’s comedies and histories class! Out of all the plays I have read so far in the semester for Shakespeare, this one has been my absolute favorite. This novel also sparked my true definition as an English major who wants to pursue graduate studies: I want to write a paper about it this summer just for fun. I want to eventually want to present it at a conference, but I definitely just want to analyze this novel by myself and for fun. It truly is dorky, but it has really made me believe that I have made the right decision in becoming an English major!

6. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Like Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice was one of those novels that seemed so threatening and unreadable, but I have found that it is actually much more accessible than my stubborn self thought. Pride and Prejudice’s battle of the sexes between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett shows a realistic relationship of compromise and of actual love, not an arranged marriage. It’s much better than some romantic comedies that depict the women as having to give up themselves in order to find “love” in their lives. Yay feminism! I love Elizabeth’s independence and wit throughout the entire novel. This book I accredit to my new found love and interest in studying British literature in the 16^th and 17^th centuries!

7. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

For me, The Bluest Eye, and all of Toni Morrison’s novels in general, really show how much a society can inflict harm to a person’s self-confidence and mental stability when they try to force certain characteristics or attitudes on their people. Pecola’s desire for blue eyes in a culture that tells her that “white is right” shows that racism is still very much prevalent in the novel’s culture as well as modern American culture. Instead of blue eyes specifically, women try to emphasize that Barbie doll like bodies are ideal. This further submits to women having low self-confidence and being unhappy with their appearances when nothing is wrong with them. Toni Morrison brings this horrible societal expectation to the forefront in a horrible, but epic way in The Bluest Eye.

8. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

In his minimalistic form and beautiful descriptions of nature, Hemingway transformed the stuffiness I always associated with early 20^th century American literature. He did something different and really stood above the rest in his expatriate narrative about sex, alcohol, and partying.

9. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

Like Oscar in the novel, I had a rough childhood. I just really felt like I could identify with the character at times, and also see how cruel peers can be to a person’s self-confidence. It also got me out of my little Midwestern comfort zone and made me explore the Dominican Republic culture and history as seen through a native speaker, complete with slang and cussing. The narrator spoke like I would, which really made the novel less stuffy than the traditional canonical texts.

10. I think I have to leave number 10 to all the hundreds of textbooks that truly define that well-rounded liberal arts education. I love learning something new everyday, especially about something that I am not really familiar with!

Spring Break is Over!

My trip has certainly been an epic one. I stayed up all night on the Wednesday we left, fearing that I would oversleep if I actually did go to sleep! We arrived at Lambert in STL and took our first flight to ATL for our short layover before we headed down to Kingston, Jamaica. In the Atlanta airport, my clutch was stolen. The worst part was that my passport was in the poor clutch! I searched and ran through the airport trying to find it, but my search was in vain. Without a passport, I couldn’t leave the country which meant I couldn’t join the rest of the group going to Jamaica. After that horrible mess, I had to wait a couple hours and fly back to St. Louis to spend Spring Break back at McKendree. I was completely beside myself and very, very upset at myself and the situation to say the least, all the months of planning and anticipation, gone. Many of my friends and teachers were so incredibly nice to make sure I was okay and trying to cheer me up. I spent the evening on the phone with what seemed like all the employees of Delta International Airlines and the AATC, the lost and found for the Atlanta airport.  On Thursday morning, I got a phone call from the ATL airport telling me that they had FOUND my passport. I was able to go and join the group! The next morning, I flew out of STL yet again and found myself at the Atlanta airport, yet again. By the time I was done with the entire trip, I realized that I had a very good knowledge base for that airport and could navigate myself very easily.  I had to stay in Atlanta overnight, and then I would fly out again, this time making it to my final destination of Jamaica to one of the other McK students waiting to pick me up at the airport! I had never traveled more than an hour’s drive by myself much less international traveling and staying in an unfamiliar city by myself. I was really quite impressed of how I was able to do it all! Talk about conquering some fears!

            Seeing the differences between Jamaica and the United States made the trip worthwhile much less the great amount we did actually doing work to improve some lives. In the first couple of days, the group built a house for an older gentleman whose house had burnt down last year. At the time, he was living in a scrap metal shack because he did not have the money to rebuild. They worked with some contractors and were able to build his new house within a day and then come back and paint it the next day. When we came back three days later to visit, he had already put curtains up to make it more like home!

            We worked on one school in particular for several days, Hill Top Basic School. The bottom structure of the school was deteriorating and it looked pieced together. We ripped out the old boards, put in shutters, painted the entire inside and outside, and then decorated a little bit on the inside and outside. The school looked completely different once we were done with it and it was amazing to be able to see the progress in so short of time. At Hill Top, we also gave away most of our children’s clothes donations, gave every student a beanie baby and a book, and gave two large suitcases full of school supplies. The principal and teachers were so excited!

            After finishing with Hill Top, we brought donations to three other basic schools! One of the schools, Font Hill, was actually one that the McK group in 2008 worked on. It was pretty awesome to see that their help there is still visible and helping the school thrive. On another day, we went to visit a Boy’s Home and talked to some of the residents. A couple of the boys showed us where they slept and some of their school books. One boy in particular showed me his English grammar workbook and his Spanish textbook! It’s dorky, but I was pretty excited to see both of them! During our fundraising efforts, we were able to collect over fifty book bags and tons of school supplies. At the boy’s home, we were able to give each of the 30 or so boys a book bag with some school supplies in it. I feel as if it is different in Jamaica when people are given things. They certainly do not take advantage of it and use everything they are given to the fullest extent they are able. On another day, we went to visit a children’s ward of a hospital and talk to some of the kids for a while and then to the hardest portion of the entire trip: to the infirmary. It was incredibly hard to see ninety or so older people who have no other family and are just stuck staying there day after day because they have no where else to go. The best thing we could give them was a little conversation. We divided ourselves in half and some went to visit the men while the others visited the women. We had brought sugar-free candies and we only had enough pajamas, lotions, slippers, and toothbrushes for the women’s side, but we gave reading glasses and bibles to the men’s side. Once we were down passing things out, we just sat and talked to all the residents, only if we only had time to say hello, they were so very happy to see us! I talked to a couple of older women for an extended amount of time and helped them open up their new presents. This experience was probably the most difficult for me during the entire trip. It was absolutely heart-wrenching to see how sad and lonely they all seemed and how they were older men and women who should be treated with more respect by their society, but are not and are actually forced to live in a barracks style housing with potentially forty other people.

            The overall experience of Jamaica was absolutely life changing and well worth all the trouble I went through to get there! The people who went before told us that once we got there, we were going to wish that we could have done more or brought more to give them, and that was certainly true. It really made me appreciate any service/mission trip’s fundraising efforts. Those groups are really trying to help other people and do good in the world. I wish that every college student was able to partake in this trip so he/she could really learn to appreciate what there is here compared to other less fortunate nations.

            After getting back from the amazing beaches in Jamaica, I have had an incredibly difficult trying to adjust back to regular life a.k.a. being in the middle of the semester. Midterm grades are popping up and final papers are lurking around the corner. I’m pretty excited for the rest of the semester though. There are many fun things yet to come and summer is just around the corner! I will be taking two summer classes (Science) and will be working lots and lots over the summer so I do not have to work a lot next school year! Next semester is looking pretty good, too. I choose classes in like two weeks, so I have met with my advisor to seek her opinion on all of my choices. It always proves so helpful! Today, I presented at my first academic English conference! I presented my paper on the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston at the Sigma Tau Delta (International English Honor Society) Conference. I was so incredibly nervous before I presented, but the run through I did in front of two of my professors and three of my peers helped me so much before the real thing on Friday. By Friday, I was still a bit nervous, but I was able to do it without any major hiccups! One of my professors and two other students who also presented at the conference came to watch me present! It was very reassuring and calming to actually have them there. One conference down, one to go! The next one is in two weeks! Eek!

Almost There!

Spring Break, for me, is only three days away! My class and I leave for Jamaica early Wednesday morning! It’s hard to imagine that I will be in a different country this week! I have not flown in a plane since I flew into the country when I was five-years-old. I am very, very nervous and have been trying to get as much information as possible about the flight and how it is like. We have one layover in Atlanta before we head to Kingston, and then we have an hour and a half drive from Kingston to our hotel in Morant Bay. I’m incredibly ready for the beach!

The last couple of weeks have been a complete scramble to obtain all the supplies and donations that are necessary to make the trip a success. Thanks to many, many generous donors, we have much more than we had originally anticipated. Last week, we even had a Silent Auction to raise money for our trip. From many of our corporate and local business donations, we were able to make the auction a success! Many of the students in the class sold themsleves essentially as auction items. I sold my McKendree website skills and a free night of babysitting. My “buyers” are going to take me up on their prizes sometime after we come back! Tomorrow night, we are packing all of our donation bags. Since there is no way for us to ship all of our materials, we have to physically bring them ourselves, therefore, all the students have a donations suitcase along with their own. On Tuesday, our personal suitcases need to be packed and ready to go by 5:00! I have soo much to do in so little time! Monday and Tuesday are going to be a running around scramble around campus!

This weekend, has been a very busy one trying to get everything done and prepared for my ten-day absence from home! I’m still in the process of packing while I am trying to study for my midterm and write my other midterm. I’m ready to leave, but school obligations are making me stay focused on academics!

I’ll report back from the beach, but until then– Have a fun and safe Spring Break!

And the Spring Break Countdown Begins!

Wow! What a week! Every week seems to be flying by! It seems that by the time I go to my first class Monday morning, I am walking out of my last class on Friday afternoon! Everything keeps me so busy that I feel like I am always running around everywhere! Midterm season is also here… I have a test next week, a take home midterm due in two weeks, an in-class midterm in two weeks, and two papers to write before March 3rd! Eek! I’m going to take a little bit of stress off of myself by doing things ahead! I do not want to get stressed out!

Next week is the 182nd Founder’s Day at McK. They will be celebrating it like a birthday party with cake and everything!

Last night, some members of my Shakespeare class and some faculty went to go see a performance of Shakespeare’s As You Like It at the Edison Theater at Washington University. I have seen a couple of Shakespeare performances before, like the one on campus last year, at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and Shakespeare in the Park last summer in St. Louis, but every performance is so different and unique! This one, in particular, has enough parts for a nineteen member cast. The Aquila Theater troupe, however, used only seven people to play all of those parts! Since I am in the Shakespeare class this spring, I had the opportunity to read the play already as it was one of the required texts. (We actually just finished discussing the play in class just hours before we saw the play!) I feel that since I read it and then saw it, I had a better overall experience with the play. Namely, I was able to understand all the jokes and actually know what the character were talking about! It’s odd though, when I read something, I imagine a character a certain way in my head, but when performed, the director’s interpretation of the character comes out. The play, was overall, and amazing experience!

Today, I went down to Mardi Gras in St. Louis in the Soulard district. We woke up so early in order to be down to the parade by 10:30! There were so many people down there, and we actually saw many McKendree students at the parade and on the streets in general. Since we were front row at the parade, we actually collected many beads from those people who were on the floats or walking alongside it. We came back around 4, and I am now incredibly tired from it all!

These coming weeks are incredibly (and only two weeks away from the Jamaica trip)! On Wednesday, the Young Feminists group is presenting a Brown Bag as an informational preview of the Vagina Monolgues that will be held during the following week. In the next two weeks, several candidates for full-time faculty positions will be coming on campus to interview for positions! I’m pretty excited for the Spanish candidates to come since I will be taking the new professor’s class next year! I’m also meeting up with my English alumni friends before I leave to catch-up on life and discuss our book for the month! We didn’t meet in January, so we have a lot of catching up to do. Hopefully I will have time to sleep sometime in these next couple weeks! Until later!

Three weeks down…

School has been in session for a full three weeks already! I can’t believe it! I pretty much love my schedule and am actually excited to learn! Dorky, but true!

This weekend’s Student Ambassador event is  my favorite event of the entire year! It is the annual Scholarship Days Weekend in which prospective McKendree students come and compete for a scholarship. I remember coming to this event when I was a senior and talking to all the faculty, staff, and current students who were so nice and welcoming. Now, I get the opportunity to talk to all the prospectives!

On Sunday, the SOC 240 class (the Jamaica class) is going to be making pizzas as part of our fundraising initiatives for our upcoming trip!

My classes are going pretty well. I decided to drop and then add a class the first week of school, so my schedule changed a bit from what I originally planned. I decided to pick up an independent study in English literature. Independent study classes are a bit different because you do not actually go to class a couple times a week. I still have the same work load mainly, it just means that I have to be self-motivated. Not doing so good so far, so I better get to work!

The next month is going to be really demanding and busy! My class and I leave for Jamaica three days before Spring Break which means, I have to make-up the work that I will be missing before I leave. Some of the work includes papers and midterms, so I’m nervous! We’re also trying to make everything work in terms of donations and such, as well, so it is a bit more wok than just going to class and then going on this trip. This year will be the first time I actually go somewhere for the enitirety of my break; I am little worried that it won’t feel like much of a break though. But really, who can complain when they are on a small island in the Carribean? In the next few weeks, I also have to start writing papers and thinking about ideas for longer papers! I have two ten-fifteen page papers due at the end of the semester along with probably three shorter papers , not including the four papers I have to write each month before that!

It may be a lot of work, but this month should also be lots of fun! The creater of Post Secret, Frank Warren, is coming to the Hett next week to speak and it is sold out! I’m really glad I got my tickets early! There are also many brown bags and events I hope to go to next month including The Vagina Monologues sponsored by the Young Feminists, the Brown Bags on both that event and one for Black History month, and a distinguished speaker towards the later part of the month. McKendree never seems to take a break! There is always something going on, but that’s the best part, you’ll never be bored!

A New Semester!

Hello!

 School is back in session, and it is already in full swing. I moved back in last Friday and have been trying to adjust to the idea that I am actually there! I picked up most of my books, 23 in total. Even though yesterday was the harsh reality that break is over, I was incredibly excited to see everyone around campus. Every time I had to walk from one building or classroom to the next, I saw someone I have not seen in what seems like forever, but in reality, it had only really been a month. Classes went well for the most part. I had five out of my six classes yesterday, so that was a bit much. However, I really like the people in my classes and the material we are going to be covering, so that will make time go by more quickly!

 For the rest of Christmas Break, I read a total of nine books, only five for school though! I was still a bit restless, but I guess it is nice to sometimes just be able to relax.

So many things are planned for the semester in all of my organizations! We had our first Student Government meeting last night, and I think we are going to be able to start some pretty awesome things for McKendree this semester! I can’t believe it, but I am going to be in Jamaica in less than two months from today! We had our first class meeting yesterday, and I think it is going to be an overall amazing experience! In April, I will be going to Chicago for the Shakespeare Trip sponsored by the Literary Interest Society. I will hopefully be attending a conference for Sigma Tau Delta. My acceptance for my paper is still pending, fingers crossed! For Young Feminists, we have our annual performance of The Vagina Monologues coming up as well as a Brown Bag for Women’s History Month in March. For Kappa Sigma Tau, Greek Week is next week! The biannual week long event of Greek Rush! We are hoping for a large pledge class! Next week, I start working in the Writing Resource Center again. I hope students will actually utilize the services!

Goals for the semester? To NOT be so dependent on my cell phone and to earn another 4.0! I think the harder of the two is going to be the cell phone actually. I’m going to try my best though!

Merry Christmas!

Hello! Merry Christmas!

Christmas break is finding me well, though I am starting to become a bit restless. I worked a lot last week, but this week and next week are going to be kinda slow. That’s okay though, I can find other things to do!  It’s been really nice to catch up with old friends from home. I didn’t realize how much I missed all of them until I actually saw them. This break has also been an excellent time to see people in general! Doing school work all the time tends to cut down on social time… I love being able to stay up late—without the regretful tiredness or risk of falling asleep in class. There’s something calming knowing that at one or two o’clock in the afternoon on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday; I don’t have to be sitting in class!

Grades came in! I was not exaggerating when I said that I would be very anxious to know. I checked everyday, multiple times a day! A couple of my professors waited until the last day to post grades (which almost killed some of my classmates and I), but the wait was well worth it! I did the best I have ever done in college so far; I earned a 4.0! I made it onto the President’s List. I know that grades may not be a huge thing for some people, but I made earning a 4.0 a short-term goal for myself, and I certainly felt amazing when I achieved it.

Time had been such a luxury! My reading catch-up has been awesome! I have already read three novels and will finish a fourth in the next couple of days. Two of the novels have been for next semester, and two have not. Though sometimes assigned books can be a drag to read, that has certainly not been the case for Toni Morrison’s novels! I have over two weeks left and many books still coming in the mail—and sitting on my bookshelf waiting to be read! I’ll find something to do with all my time! J

I also found out some other good news within the past week! I will be presenting a paper of mine at a conference in the end of March! One of those papers I wrote for a class will serve a dual purpose! I will have fifteen minutes to present my paper on a panel of four other undergraduate students. Luckily, the conference is being held in St. Louis, so basically no expenses! All I needed to do to be accepted was to write an abstract, but now I need to finish editing and perfecting the paper. Oops. It will get done though!

Today was Christmas! My favorite Christmas tradition is volunteering at the Bishop’s Annual Christmas Dinner. Again, every year on Christmas, the Diocese of Belleville hosts a brunch essentially for those people who do not have family to spend the holiday with or those who do not have the finances to provide one for themselves. My mom, my sister, and I were part of the hospitality group this year. Last year, we helped get drinks, food, and just generally check on our table guests, but I think we had more fun this year. When Santa Claus comes to visit the children in attendance and give them each a gift, they all receive a Polaroid picture to remember the event. My sister was the photographer, and I was the helper! We were able to capture that happy moment on each child’s face when they received their Christmas gift! It was absolutely so touching. Some of these kids do not have the opportunity to receive gifts at home, so being able to share the “opening gifts on Christmas morning” moment with these children was amazing. I love going; it is what Christmas is all about! This year was our fourth year going, and I definitely know that next year will be the fifth!

I hope break is going well for everyone, too!

Freedom!

I’m free!!! I finished up finals yesterday and am now officially on Christmas Break! I took three written finals and had to turn in 7 papers within the last week, talk about some homework. None of my finals were cumulative, so that was a relief. Some of those papers were tough ones, though. The moment I turned in my final paper yesterday, I felt an instant relief from stress! Though the finals are over, the anticipation begins. Professors do not have to submit grades to WebAdvisor until next Thursday, that’s a whole week of waiting! Not cool. I’m one of those people who like to know their grades, so this week is going to be very long!

I am moving back to my house today, so I have packed everything up at my apartment. I made a conscious effort this year to not bring home everything I brought with me back in August. I went through everything and am only bringing what I need! It sure saved some time when I packed up my car!

During break, I plan on actually having time to do thing that are NOT school related. I do plan on reading ahead for a couple of my classes, though. I am taking many English classes, so that translates into piles and piles of reading! I’m not going to read only for school, however; I have about 15 books that I have bought or received as presents and have yet to read! Non-school related planned activities do include spending time with my friends, doing arts and crafts, working, and relaxing. I am going to be working a lot, but that’s okay. I would love the extra money! Since I have not been able to work during the school year much, I have not been able to buy anything for myself, so Merry Christmas to me!

Christmas is coming up in only two weeks! I have yet to start any of my Christmas shopping! Oops! I have been way to busy trying to finish up this semester! Christmas at my house is typically a very small gathering. We tend to stay at home and celebrate. One of my favorite Christmas traditions that we do, though, is going to Althoff Catholic High School and helping with the Diocese Christmas Dinner. Every year on Christmas, the Diocese of Belleville hosts a brunch essentially for those people who do not have family to spend the holiday with or those who do not have the finances to provide one for themselves. I love going it is what Christmas is all about! I think it is the best way to spend our Christmas Day! I don’t know what I am going to do for New Year’s, but I am looking forward to another big event during break. My 21st Birthday is on the 5th of January! I’m pretty excited, but I have to wait a couple months for all my other friends to turn 21 to really celebrate! At least I will be able to celebrate with all of them!

I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful holiday break!

Thanksgiving Break!

                Thanksgiving Break! Finally! Today, I have four classes between me and freedom.  I have my first introductory type meeting for Jamaica today to talk about general information about the trip and fundraising ideas to start for next semester. The trip is finally coming into reality! Then tonight, I have two meetings: Student Government and Kappa Sigma Tau, so my school week should wrap-up well! I know many people on campus plan to leave immediately after their classes either today or tomorrow so they can spend more time with their families. I’m going to head to my house probably on Wednesday then come back sometime over the weekend. The big event for this weekend? Black Friday Shopping! It’s not really about saving loads of money, I love going and seeing how crazy people get about saving five dollars on a toaster. I can’t be too harsh though, I have my eye on a few DVDs from Target!

         I submitted my first paper to my first conference last week. I’m really nervous as to whether the committee will accept it or not, but I’m trying to resolve myself into thinking if it doesn’t get accepted this time, it will next time. For the conference, I used a paper I wrote for a class last spring. The best thing about conferences like this is that you really do not need to completely write a new paper. The entire purpose of writing papers in classes is to help you in the long run! I know a couple of papers I have written/or will write for this semester could possibly future conference options!

        My sister comes home on Thursday from her Army advanced individual training and I am so excited to see her since I haven’t seen her since August! I saw her in August, but she hasn’t been home since the end of May!

         I love having a break, but I know I need to write four papers sometime this week and actually start compiling everything to begin studying for finals. After today, I only have three more of my MWF classes and my two night classes once more. Crazy.  Finals shouldn’t be too bad; I have three actual finals and three final paper type finals.  All my classes have pretty much been wrapping up, so there haven’t really been any surprises. We know what we have to do before the end of class and it’s just a matter of getting it done!

         I have a list of books I want to read during Christmas Break and I am really excited to have the time to do so! It seems like over the semester, I have heard of a book I want to read or have suggested to me, so I add them to my book list, but there are so many now that I will not have the time to read so many in only a month’s time! I also wanted to read some books I will have to read for some classes next semester just to get a head start, so my “fun read” books may get pushed back until summer!  The only thing I have to remember is that this semester isn’t over yet!