Semester Thoughts

First semester of college is effectively over. One more final remains - and I will be done with calculus FOREVER - something I thought would occur upon graduation.

And my thoughts about college life so far?

The internet is an evil evil torturous device and Facebook is a drug that siphons all the time out of your life. Did I mention addicting? As of now, I have not been on Facebook for TWO DAYS. Seems like an eternity already, and TWO days doesn't seem like a lot. But for someone who was on the site multiple and lengthy times each day, TWO days is a long time. It had gotten so bad to the point where my fingers would instinctively repeat a pattern of keys ("Click" address bar, press "F", press the "down" key, press "Enter") without my consciously knowing it.

*New Year's Resolution: Check FACEBOOK in moderation, preferably only when I need to respond to somebody's comment. Otherwise, NO NO NO extracurricular Facebooking.

Coffee doesn't work. Caffeine can really screw up your system - within the span of one day, I had two grande BLACK coffees, and I can still remember the acidity... At first, I could feel the effects of staying awake during class, but tolerance builds, and I distinctly remember falling asleep in my political science lecture with a cup of coffee in my hands.

*New Year's Resolution: GO TO SLEEP EARLIER and rely less on coffee. Return to coffee because I want it, not because I need it.

It's really really easy to screw up priorities. Sadly for me, studying, and I mean, REALLY studying, was not one of them. Needless to say, first semester of college does not parallel first semester of high school. Too many distractions - events, two hour dinners, half hour walks to and from dining halls, FOOTBALL games - turned my priority list upside down. And not to mention that I don't do HALF the things other people do - I have to say, I really admire how they can balance so well.

*New Year's Resolution: RESET PRIORITIES. Each class will be given a designated day and time for which to study, without fail. Go above and beyond the minimum (I tried to do this first few weeks of college, and then realized I just couldn't anymore.), actually try to INTERNALIZE what I'm learning (I've been academic bulimic too), and FOCUS on why I'm here.

Dorm food can be good, will most likely be edible, and sometimes it's just plain NOT good food. 50grand, and students can't get consistently good food. Buffet style dining has its perks, and definitely has its downsides. There is truth to the term "eyes bigger than your stomach" - you might pile heaps of food onto your plate and half way through it, you realize you're already full. Still, you might plow ahead as to not "waste" food. And then, because no meal is complete without something sweet, you get a bowl of fruit, a yogurt cone, or (i hope not) a dessert.

*New Year's Resolution: Eat more vegetables. Stay away from heavy cream sauces and soups. Eat less meat and more fish. And again, only one dessert per week, if at all...

The Lyon center is right in front of my face everyday. Yet, it takes intense motivation for me to even set foot into it. It's the usual excuses - too tired, too much work, too much studying. Can't get up early enough to go in the morning, and usually after dinner, nobody wants to go to the gym. During the day, I will have either classes or work, back to back for hours, so no time to gym either. YET if I was motivated enough to get up early, say at 7am, and go to the gym, before my 9:30 - 10am classes mtwth, that would actually work.

*New Year's Resolution: Get up earlier to go to the gym???????????

And the last one:

*New Year's Resolution: I will admit - I love to take pictures. Of people. Of people and me. And so as I've amassed about 800 USC photos from first semester, I realize that I need to curb picture taking... at this rate, I will either (a) run out of space on my hardrive, or (b) fall into a deeper hole of self-pictureism. Neither is a good thing.


Finally:
-grades are important
-studying is important
-going to class and staying awake is important
-to all those movies/books who claim students should sleep with a professor to get an A - LIES! the TAs do all the work...
-Working a job is important - those extra dollars come in handy
-Keeping in touch with old friends is important
-Not to say that making new friends isn't as equally important
-Meeting friends in class is hard, especially in a class of 200. But it IS doable

And there it is - first semester is over!!!