Wow. The last couple of months were nuts. Winter quarter, I took a couple of more credits than I normally do. The quarter ended a couple of days ago and I have not even begun to recover.
(Side note: typing this on a new keyboard is weirdly difficult. I switched from my laptop keyboard to a full-size yesterday... My fingers are acting like they have never touched a keyboard before.)
As I write this, my dog has her head wedged under the armrest of the chair, on my lap. We have missed each other a lot over the last few weeks. But, alas! I get ahead of myself...
As I mentioned last time, I put together a little office for myself. One of my best friends found me an office chair, second hand, for $15. It is in amazing condition and has helped a lot with the back and hip problems my old woman body was experiencing from the folding chair that I had been using. After Emerald City Comic Con a few weeks ago, the nerd decoration has increased quite pleasingly.
The last few weeks have been FULL of typing in my nerdy office. I had two 10-page papers, two presentations, and three finals all due within a few days of each other. The presentations required enough content that I needed note cards, which I typed because my handwriting is not easy to read while on the spot. One of the presentations was 18 note cards long. The presentations also required visuals. The two papers were heavily research based and two of my finals consisted of essay questions... If I am honest, typing this blog post is kind of making me want to cry. My hands started to develop horrible cramps from all the typing, which is why I decided to try a larger keyboard. The cramping I was experiencing has stopped, but now my hands are cramping in a different way from holding my hands in a less familiar position.
One of the papers was the quarter-long culmination of research from my independent study. The biggest problem I had was trying to whittle down what I wanted to include. The local research was so interesting that I frequently forgot to eat dinner because I was so caught up. I am pleased, and a little surprised to report that my professor has suggested that I enter my research in the school's Scholar's Week competition. This requires refinement of the research, creating a poster, displaying it and answering questions, all while being judged by a panel of faculty. Gulp... I have not yet decided if I will enter, but if I did, it would be a nice addition to my resume...
I am currently on spring break, so I am playing WoW, watching TV, and cuddling with my puppy. I am trying, and failing, not to think about the upcoming quarter. I am taking Quantitative Methods (math, yuck), Archaeological Theory and Methods, and Contemporary American Indian Issues. The idea of doing more math, in any form is less than appealing. A fellow-archaeology major assures me that there is less math than you would expect, but based on the course description, I'm not convinced.
As of last Friday, I am officially a senior. That in no way means I will be done in a year. There are still quite few requirements for my major that I need to complete. There is a light at the end of the tunnel now though.
Monday, March 26, 2018
Saturday, February 10, 2018
Post-Holiday Scramble
Yeesh! It has been a crazy couple of months. The first 2 weeks of December were filled with prep for and then taking my Fall quarter finals. Then, suddenly, Christmas madness!
It was a nice, though short-feeling Christmas season. My baby brother, who is 27, came home from Texas for the holiday and brought his lovely girlfriend to meet us. There was lots of baking of traditional family recipe cookies and candies, delicious food, and feeling overwhelmed by all the activity. By the time New Years was over, I was suddenly faced with the beginning of Winter quarter. The break seemed really short this time...
This Winter I am taking 16 credits instead of my usual 14 or 15, but this quarter feels a lot less hectic than the last one. I am taking an intro linguistics class that is required for major... I wouldn't be taking it otherwise. No offence to you linguistics nerds, but I find it to be INCREDIBLY boring. It just isn't my cup of tea. It's a 2 hour class, but I could swear it was at least 4, and reading the textbook? Let's just say that I may be using it at bedtime to get to sleep... I am also taking an Anthropology class (surprise!) called The Rise of Civilizations which is crazy interesting. I love it. I am also taking a class called The American Indian Experience which is taught by the vice president of Northwest Indian College on the local reservation. We are getting the history of American Indians, particularly those in this area as well as getting to learn about contemporary life and the issues that come with that. It's fantastic! Last, but not least, I am doing an independent study with one of my favorite professors overseeing it. In fact, I am basically just working as a research aid to her on her ongoing work on the history of the local American Indians. I get to read through newspapers from the 1800s, go through handwritten courtroom transcripts, and look for information about the people who used to live in my hometown. I couldn't be happier with it!
One thing I am struggling with is sleeplessness. For some reason, I am finding it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to sleep most nights. It is making those less attention-grabbing classes even more difficult to focus on. I find myself drinking an alarming amount of tea, with a Redbull or two here and there. Living on caffeine is not my favorite.
On the plus side, my homework and study times are going much more efficiently this quarter! I managed to clear out a storage room and turn it into a little office for myself, complete with nerdy collectibles and posters. Having this space away from the rest of the activity of the house is making work go faster and in a less stressful way. Yay!
Hopefully, now that I am in the rhythm of the quarter will find time to post a little more often.
Until next time!
It was a nice, though short-feeling Christmas season. My baby brother, who is 27, came home from Texas for the holiday and brought his lovely girlfriend to meet us. There was lots of baking of traditional family recipe cookies and candies, delicious food, and feeling overwhelmed by all the activity. By the time New Years was over, I was suddenly faced with the beginning of Winter quarter. The break seemed really short this time...
This Winter I am taking 16 credits instead of my usual 14 or 15, but this quarter feels a lot less hectic than the last one. I am taking an intro linguistics class that is required for major... I wouldn't be taking it otherwise. No offence to you linguistics nerds, but I find it to be INCREDIBLY boring. It just isn't my cup of tea. It's a 2 hour class, but I could swear it was at least 4, and reading the textbook? Let's just say that I may be using it at bedtime to get to sleep... I am also taking an Anthropology class (surprise!) called The Rise of Civilizations which is crazy interesting. I love it. I am also taking a class called The American Indian Experience which is taught by the vice president of Northwest Indian College on the local reservation. We are getting the history of American Indians, particularly those in this area as well as getting to learn about contemporary life and the issues that come with that. It's fantastic! Last, but not least, I am doing an independent study with one of my favorite professors overseeing it. In fact, I am basically just working as a research aid to her on her ongoing work on the history of the local American Indians. I get to read through newspapers from the 1800s, go through handwritten courtroom transcripts, and look for information about the people who used to live in my hometown. I couldn't be happier with it!
One thing I am struggling with is sleeplessness. For some reason, I am finding it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to sleep most nights. It is making those less attention-grabbing classes even more difficult to focus on. I find myself drinking an alarming amount of tea, with a Redbull or two here and there. Living on caffeine is not my favorite.
On the plus side, my homework and study times are going much more efficiently this quarter! I managed to clear out a storage room and turn it into a little office for myself, complete with nerdy collectibles and posters. Having this space away from the rest of the activity of the house is making work go faster and in a less stressful way. Yay!
Hopefully, now that I am in the rhythm of the quarter will find time to post a little more often.
Until next time!
Sunday, December 17, 2017
Group Projects, Witch's Hats, and The World's Angriest Textbook
Fall 2017, my first fall quarter at WWU... I was signed up for 15 credits and was looking forward to all of my classes. I was taking Qualitative Research Methods in Anthropology, Religion and Culture, and The Indian in American History. The first two were anthropology classes and in the 300-level, the third was a history class in the 200-level. And once again, the one 200-level class in my schedule was more work and more stress than my two 300-level classes combined. How does this keep happening? I really do not understand this phenomenon...
I was a little nervous about my qualitative methods class at the start of the quarter. I didn't really have any idea how it was going to go. What I was looking forward to was the fact that I had heard that you work on just one research project the whole quarter long. I had never gotten to do that before. I was looking forward to getting to see a project through from beginning to end, spending time on every aspect instead of focusing on just one like I had in other classes. I was not disappointed. There was a bit of textbook reading and instruction, but the professor really wanted us all to have plenty of time to practice what we were in the class to learn. He gave us chances to re-do work we messed up for more credit, because he (rightly) did not see how just getting a grade without having a chance to learn how to do it right would be at all beneficial. Smart man... When the time came to choose research topics, the class voted on a bunch and narrowed it down to five. When we were supposed to get with the groups, my top choice topic's group was already full. The area of the room the group was to meet in just happened to be where a bunch of people who were interested already happened to be sitting. Great. Then I went to the group with my second choice topic, it too was already full. Spectacular... In the end I ended up in a group that was researching a topic I had no interest in whatsoever. This topic was so unpopular, that the three people who missed class that day got automatically assigned to it, since everything else was full and this group had plenty of room...
The group choice process ended up being a blessing in disguise though. See, the groups were huge, seven people each. Coordinating work in a group project with three or four people is hard enough, but seven?! I wasn't particularly optimistic. Anyway, through the grace of God and a lot of weird circumstances, I ended up with the best group of people I have ever worked on a project with. Everyone was engaged and actively seeking to do their part. Not one person slacked off or expected other people to do their work. Everyone was working so well, that each of us, at one point or another, felt like we weren't doing enough and kept trying to find more work! This group project was a completely unique experience. I hope that I find myself in a similar group in the future, but based on past experience, I'm not holding my breath... In the end, we finished all our work early and turned it in the week before finals, leaving us free of work from that class as we focused on finals for other classes.
My Religion and Culture class was fascinating. It was the experience that I had hoped to have in that class my first quarter at the school. You remember, the one that made me want to scream in frustration on a regular basis... No? Well, read through some of my old posts if you are interested... One thing that it had in its favor was the fact that nobody mentioned Marx, not even once. Hallelujah! While there was a lot of reading, like, a LOT, the lecture and discussion was engaging and informative. The information was really cemented and it made the readings easier to get through. The professor was and is a hoot! She has been working at the school for decades and attended the school as an undergrad herself, so she was pretty much the ultimate example of a WWU anthropologist. She knows the program, faculty, administration, etc. like the back of her hand and was always happy to help anyone who was struggling in any way.
We got a good overview of the world's major religions as well as a few less well-known ones. We learned about the people who practiced them and the differences in those practices depending on where those practitioners were located. On Halloween, the professor casually donned a cape and witch's hat half-way through class and continued along as if nothing had happened. She was great at relieving tension during the discussion of potentially highly-charged topics. She is fantastic and I am glad I know her.
My third, and most difficult class was the history class. Now, I have never taken a college-level history class, but I have learned a lot of history in my anthropology classes. The topic was in my minor and also one of my passions, so I thought that it would seem less like work. I was very wrong. I should have gotten a clue when I purchased my textbooks before the quarter, this class had three of them. In addition to those, we also had weekly online readings. The author of one of my textbooks quickly became my nemesis... Now, not to toot my own horn or anything, but I have a fairly extensive vocabulary. This one particular author was crazy. It felt like they wrote from a thesaurus, as though they were purposely trying to be impossible to understand. I had to look up at least one word per sentence. When I mentioned this to a couple of people who know me well, their response was along the lines of, "Really?! Wow. But you have such a broad vocabulary. You really had to look up that many words each time?" Yes, I did. On top of that, the whole voice of the book was one of anger and accusation. Every word dripped of it. So I was always frustrated when I read it, because I couldn't understand it, add in the emotion coming from the book itself, and, well... I love books. Other than my former chemistry book, there has never been one that actually tempted me to do it harm. I didn't give in with the chem book, it was expensive and I wanted to sell it when I was done. This book actually got chucked across the room on more than one occasion.
Every couple of weeks, the class had small group discussions about the readings and lectures. We had to prepare extensive papers in advance that had anywhere from 10 to 30 essay questions. So. Much. Reading and Work... I spent my 35th birthday, barely conscious. It was a discussion day and although I had been working on the paper for a week, I still had to stay up until 2 am to finish it. It was a pretty lousy birthday if I'm honest... Once again, my birthday fell within a couple of days of Thanksgiving, so, once again, everyone was busy. (I'm used to it though. This happens every couple of years.)That being the case, I spent the morning exhausted, trying to follow the discussion, then the afternoon watching Netflix. Woo-hoo!
The most difficult part of birthday had nothing to do with school or schedules. That week marked the 10-year anniversary of my grandpa's passing... Ten years ago, three days before my birthday (which fell the day before Thanksgiving), my last living grandparent left. He and I had been really close for as long as I can remember. I'm crying as I type this, I miss him so much. Gerald (Jay) Arthur Partlow was an amazing man. He was one of the most loving, gentle, strong, compassionate, intelligent people I have ever known. I think about him every day... 25 was a hard age for me. I was half-way to 50, single, lost my grandpa, was getting burnt-out at my job, and got my first cancer diagnosis. That was the year that depression and anxiety became a reality in my life but I didn't realize I needed to get help for another couple of years. I struggled every day to get out of bed, get through the day, and not completely lose my mind. It's funny, I didn't actually know that until I typed it just now, but yes, that was when my mental and emotional health really began to take a turn. As I mentioned before, I am doing pretty well in that area now. I can grieve, be sad, and yet not begin that downward spiral that I would have gotten caught in a couple of years ago. That's not to say that I don't have bad days, but I can see them coming now. I have a good support system that gives me a verbal slap when I need it, a comforting shoulder, a funny word... I am comfortable asking for the things I need on those days now, and that is what makes all the difference...
But I digress... Time to get back on topic.
The quarter came to a close and I was confident in all my classes but history. I studied for that exam until I could almost physically feel the pressure of the information I was cramming into my brain... I won't get my grades until the end of next week, and the wait is torture... The last few days off of school have been great though. I spent one day doing absolutely nothing that required effort, unless it was fun effort. I slept in, watched Netflix, played with my dog and cat, killed things in WoW, and ate mini-Twix. Since then, I have been working on a full-house scrub-down in preparation for the arrival of my brother and his girlfriend, who are staying here for Christmas. I have rearranged kitchen appliances, shopped for curtains and a rug, thrown away stuff that hasn't been used in years, and nearly killed myself falling when I was standing on the counter to reach something. I feel very accomplished. My back, on the other hand, feels very angry. Moving the refrigerator and carrying furniture and the microwave around has made it less than happy with my decisions.
I am all signed up for next quarter, I'm taking 16 credits. I have 5 credit; Introduction to Linguistics, two 4 credit classes; The Rise of Civilizations and The American Indian Experience, and I am doing a 3 credit independent study with my amazing Religion and Culture professor. This will be my first 400-level credit and I will be assisting her with her personal research. We have decided to call the class Sehome and Coast Salish Families: 1825-1925. I'm so excited! I get to assist in academic research that will (most likely) be published, on a topic I love! What is extra cool is that the families and cultures we are researching are the ones that are from right here. They are the people that inhabited the land under my feet for centuries before Europeans reached this part of the continent.
Wow, we are finally all caught up! My goal now, is to update weekly so that more I can provide more details of the life of a 30-something college student. Catch ya later!
I was a little nervous about my qualitative methods class at the start of the quarter. I didn't really have any idea how it was going to go. What I was looking forward to was the fact that I had heard that you work on just one research project the whole quarter long. I had never gotten to do that before. I was looking forward to getting to see a project through from beginning to end, spending time on every aspect instead of focusing on just one like I had in other classes. I was not disappointed. There was a bit of textbook reading and instruction, but the professor really wanted us all to have plenty of time to practice what we were in the class to learn. He gave us chances to re-do work we messed up for more credit, because he (rightly) did not see how just getting a grade without having a chance to learn how to do it right would be at all beneficial. Smart man... When the time came to choose research topics, the class voted on a bunch and narrowed it down to five. When we were supposed to get with the groups, my top choice topic's group was already full. The area of the room the group was to meet in just happened to be where a bunch of people who were interested already happened to be sitting. Great. Then I went to the group with my second choice topic, it too was already full. Spectacular... In the end I ended up in a group that was researching a topic I had no interest in whatsoever. This topic was so unpopular, that the three people who missed class that day got automatically assigned to it, since everything else was full and this group had plenty of room...
The group choice process ended up being a blessing in disguise though. See, the groups were huge, seven people each. Coordinating work in a group project with three or four people is hard enough, but seven?! I wasn't particularly optimistic. Anyway, through the grace of God and a lot of weird circumstances, I ended up with the best group of people I have ever worked on a project with. Everyone was engaged and actively seeking to do their part. Not one person slacked off or expected other people to do their work. Everyone was working so well, that each of us, at one point or another, felt like we weren't doing enough and kept trying to find more work! This group project was a completely unique experience. I hope that I find myself in a similar group in the future, but based on past experience, I'm not holding my breath... In the end, we finished all our work early and turned it in the week before finals, leaving us free of work from that class as we focused on finals for other classes.
My Religion and Culture class was fascinating. It was the experience that I had hoped to have in that class my first quarter at the school. You remember, the one that made me want to scream in frustration on a regular basis... No? Well, read through some of my old posts if you are interested... One thing that it had in its favor was the fact that nobody mentioned Marx, not even once. Hallelujah! While there was a lot of reading, like, a LOT, the lecture and discussion was engaging and informative. The information was really cemented and it made the readings easier to get through. The professor was and is a hoot! She has been working at the school for decades and attended the school as an undergrad herself, so she was pretty much the ultimate example of a WWU anthropologist. She knows the program, faculty, administration, etc. like the back of her hand and was always happy to help anyone who was struggling in any way.
We got a good overview of the world's major religions as well as a few less well-known ones. We learned about the people who practiced them and the differences in those practices depending on where those practitioners were located. On Halloween, the professor casually donned a cape and witch's hat half-way through class and continued along as if nothing had happened. She was great at relieving tension during the discussion of potentially highly-charged topics. She is fantastic and I am glad I know her.
My third, and most difficult class was the history class. Now, I have never taken a college-level history class, but I have learned a lot of history in my anthropology classes. The topic was in my minor and also one of my passions, so I thought that it would seem less like work. I was very wrong. I should have gotten a clue when I purchased my textbooks before the quarter, this class had three of them. In addition to those, we also had weekly online readings. The author of one of my textbooks quickly became my nemesis... Now, not to toot my own horn or anything, but I have a fairly extensive vocabulary. This one particular author was crazy. It felt like they wrote from a thesaurus, as though they were purposely trying to be impossible to understand. I had to look up at least one word per sentence. When I mentioned this to a couple of people who know me well, their response was along the lines of, "Really?! Wow. But you have such a broad vocabulary. You really had to look up that many words each time?" Yes, I did. On top of that, the whole voice of the book was one of anger and accusation. Every word dripped of it. So I was always frustrated when I read it, because I couldn't understand it, add in the emotion coming from the book itself, and, well... I love books. Other than my former chemistry book, there has never been one that actually tempted me to do it harm. I didn't give in with the chem book, it was expensive and I wanted to sell it when I was done. This book actually got chucked across the room on more than one occasion.
Every couple of weeks, the class had small group discussions about the readings and lectures. We had to prepare extensive papers in advance that had anywhere from 10 to 30 essay questions. So. Much. Reading and Work... I spent my 35th birthday, barely conscious. It was a discussion day and although I had been working on the paper for a week, I still had to stay up until 2 am to finish it. It was a pretty lousy birthday if I'm honest... Once again, my birthday fell within a couple of days of Thanksgiving, so, once again, everyone was busy. (I'm used to it though. This happens every couple of years.)That being the case, I spent the morning exhausted, trying to follow the discussion, then the afternoon watching Netflix. Woo-hoo!
The most difficult part of birthday had nothing to do with school or schedules. That week marked the 10-year anniversary of my grandpa's passing... Ten years ago, three days before my birthday (which fell the day before Thanksgiving), my last living grandparent left. He and I had been really close for as long as I can remember. I'm crying as I type this, I miss him so much. Gerald (Jay) Arthur Partlow was an amazing man. He was one of the most loving, gentle, strong, compassionate, intelligent people I have ever known. I think about him every day... 25 was a hard age for me. I was half-way to 50, single, lost my grandpa, was getting burnt-out at my job, and got my first cancer diagnosis. That was the year that depression and anxiety became a reality in my life but I didn't realize I needed to get help for another couple of years. I struggled every day to get out of bed, get through the day, and not completely lose my mind. It's funny, I didn't actually know that until I typed it just now, but yes, that was when my mental and emotional health really began to take a turn. As I mentioned before, I am doing pretty well in that area now. I can grieve, be sad, and yet not begin that downward spiral that I would have gotten caught in a couple of years ago. That's not to say that I don't have bad days, but I can see them coming now. I have a good support system that gives me a verbal slap when I need it, a comforting shoulder, a funny word... I am comfortable asking for the things I need on those days now, and that is what makes all the difference...
But I digress... Time to get back on topic.
The quarter came to a close and I was confident in all my classes but history. I studied for that exam until I could almost physically feel the pressure of the information I was cramming into my brain... I won't get my grades until the end of next week, and the wait is torture... The last few days off of school have been great though. I spent one day doing absolutely nothing that required effort, unless it was fun effort. I slept in, watched Netflix, played with my dog and cat, killed things in WoW, and ate mini-Twix. Since then, I have been working on a full-house scrub-down in preparation for the arrival of my brother and his girlfriend, who are staying here for Christmas. I have rearranged kitchen appliances, shopped for curtains and a rug, thrown away stuff that hasn't been used in years, and nearly killed myself falling when I was standing on the counter to reach something. I feel very accomplished. My back, on the other hand, feels very angry. Moving the refrigerator and carrying furniture and the microwave around has made it less than happy with my decisions.
I am all signed up for next quarter, I'm taking 16 credits. I have 5 credit; Introduction to Linguistics, two 4 credit classes; The Rise of Civilizations and The American Indian Experience, and I am doing a 3 credit independent study with my amazing Religion and Culture professor. This will be my first 400-level credit and I will be assisting her with her personal research. We have decided to call the class Sehome and Coast Salish Families: 1825-1925. I'm so excited! I get to assist in academic research that will (most likely) be published, on a topic I love! What is extra cool is that the families and cultures we are researching are the ones that are from right here. They are the people that inhabited the land under my feet for centuries before Europeans reached this part of the continent.
Wow, we are finally all caught up! My goal now, is to update weekly so that more I can provide more details of the life of a 30-something college student. Catch ya later!
Thursday, November 9, 2017
Fighting the Legion and Winning a Unicorn
At the end of Summer quarter I found myself practically vibrating from stress, wilting from the heat, and staring down two months off of school. Up until this point, the longest period I had had off of school was about a month. One big benefit of a crazy-short quarter was a longer break before Fall, and I was very excited.
The first order of business was to unwind. I needed to work out some of the stress that had been building up. I also needed a lot of hugs from my dog Beck. She needed those hugs too. As my time was completely consumed by schoolwork, I got a lot of this face:
The first order of business was to unwind. I needed to work out some of the stress that had been building up. I also needed a lot of hugs from my dog Beck. She needed those hugs too. As my time was completely consumed by schoolwork, I got a lot of this face:
So adorable!! I don't know how I resisted the urge to chuck all my work, wrap my arms around her, and bury my face in her neck... Looking back, I might have gotten my work done more efficiently if I had taken more time to do just that. A little de-stressing with my unlicensed, though clearly official emotional support animal would have reduced some of the stress and anxiety, so I could work better and maybe have a little leisure time... Hind-sight, am I right?
I began my break by staying in bed practically all day for the first day, cuddling my puppy and watching Netflix. Once I emerged, I decided a good way to aid the unwinding was by killing some demons:
Ahh, the simple pleasure of shooting the crap out of a burning legion of demons. Take THAT final exam! In your face anxiety! Oh look, a pretty dragon! Oh World of Warcraft, where would I be without you? I really don't understand why I resisted playing for so long. One of the irritating things about summer quarter, was that when I did take a little time off from the work, I couldn't de-stress by killing demons, because I was so sick of being on my computer all day and evening. But when my schedule opened up, a peaceful ride through the countryside, shooting stuff, was right there waiting for me. Therapy for the low low price of $14.99 per month. Even a broke college student can (kind of ) afford that.
Other than regaining my sanity, my biggest accomplishment during summer break was winning a new mount (in WoW) called The Lucid Nightmare. Sounds intriguing, right? It is a bad ass unicorn, I mean, look!
Purple flames coming from its tail, hooves and horn, contrasted against that charcoal coat. Beautiful. The things you have to go through to get this thing... Yikes. I wasn't at all sure I would ever actually get it. One of the last tasks sends you into this super creepy dungeon, complete with rotting corpses. One of my friends coined a nickname for this beauty, a nickname that I find highly appropriate: The Murdercorn.
By the time Fall quarter rolled around, I was nicely low on stress, high on demon killing, and ready to dive back in...
More to come...
Photo Sources: http://www.wowhead.com/news=274804/decrypting-the-lucid-nightmare ; https://us.shop.battle.net/en-us/family/world-of-warcraft
Sunday, November 5, 2017
Cultural Study, Blood Sacrifices, and the Summer I Lost My Mind... Again
After two weeks(ish) off, it was the beginning of Summer quarter. I have taken classes all four quarters, every year since I started school. When, after high school graduation, you wait 14 years to start college, there is an overarching feeling of urgency to get done as soon as possible. Taking the summer off of school seems like such a waste when you are already so far behind. At least, that's how I have been feeling... At WCC, the summer quarters are about 8 weeks long. Taking ten credits as opposed to the usual 15, is considered full-time as you have to cover the same material as a regular quarter, in a shorter time period. I have always found ten summer credits to feel much more difficult than 15 credits in Fall, Winter, or Spring, but it was doable... Toward the middle of Spring quarter, I had done as usual and registered for two five credit classes for summer. What I failed to realize was that both were in the "extra-short quarter" category, at just six weeks long. Yes, you read that right, six weeks, which is approximately HALF a regular quarter... Uh-oh...
In addition to the time crunch, both my classes were online, which is often a little more difficult for me. I decided to go with online, as I have major heat intolerance issues (just ask ANY of my friends, especially the one who found me barely conscious and incoherent from heatstroke one summer) and a sun allergy. I don't just burn easily, I break out in extremely painful/itchy hives within moments of sunlight touching my skin. That part isn't usually a problem in the winter, as the UV index is much lower, but I am always careful... Anyway, online classes. Right. Although the campus would have air conditioning in the buildings/classrooms, there is generally a bit of a walk from one class to the next and while a parasol helps with the sun, the heat radiating up off of the bricks causes me to get dizzy and nauseous and gives me intense migraines. That being the case, I decided that sitting home in minimal clothing, always having a huge glass of iced-tea or ice water by me, and avoiding the sun at all costs was the best option... While, health-wise that was true, it turns out that class-wise, it was not.
I was excited about the classes I had signed up for, Sex & Gender in Culture and Aztec, Inca, & Maya Archaeology. I really shouldn't have taken them in the summer... For exactly six weeks, I left my house approximately once a week to see friends, and spent ALL of the rest of my time doing school work. My stress level during that period is impossible to describe. I feel sorry for all those who ventured too close during that period. I was frantically trying to wedge information on culture, language, art, warfare, politics, and religious and sacrificial practices from three different cultures AND learning about perceptions of gender and gender practices from about a dozen other cultures into my brain all at once. I think, having face-to-face classes would have helped. With so little time in which to absorb all of this, being bale to talk with the professors and my classmates would have made a huge difference. As it was, I mostly felt so stressed out that I was as sick as if I had spent several hours a day in direct sunlight in 100 degree weather. On top of that, having to rush through all the material so quickly, I don't think that I got nearly as much out of these classes as I would have if I had taken them during a different quarter. It was really a shame, as the subject matter of each were topics I had really been looking forward to. Don't get me wrong, I learned a lot. Don't ask me questions on any of those topics unless you want to sit through a long-winded lecture. I just feel I missed out on a lot.
Looking back on that highly charged month-and-a-half, I am surprised that I didn't end up at the hospital again. Maybe it just all happened SO fast, that my anxiety & depression didn't have time to realize how stressed I was, and respond accordingly. I can say though, that I am grateful I didn't COMPLETELY lose it. Instead, I only lost it 3/4 of the way. 3/4 was enough though. I needed some serious recovery time after that quarter. I don't know how I got through it, much less in a fashion that had me nominated for a national honor's society... Oh well, I will count my blessings and move on...
In addition to the time crunch, both my classes were online, which is often a little more difficult for me. I decided to go with online, as I have major heat intolerance issues (just ask ANY of my friends, especially the one who found me barely conscious and incoherent from heatstroke one summer) and a sun allergy. I don't just burn easily, I break out in extremely painful/itchy hives within moments of sunlight touching my skin. That part isn't usually a problem in the winter, as the UV index is much lower, but I am always careful... Anyway, online classes. Right. Although the campus would have air conditioning in the buildings/classrooms, there is generally a bit of a walk from one class to the next and while a parasol helps with the sun, the heat radiating up off of the bricks causes me to get dizzy and nauseous and gives me intense migraines. That being the case, I decided that sitting home in minimal clothing, always having a huge glass of iced-tea or ice water by me, and avoiding the sun at all costs was the best option... While, health-wise that was true, it turns out that class-wise, it was not.
I was excited about the classes I had signed up for, Sex & Gender in Culture and Aztec, Inca, & Maya Archaeology. I really shouldn't have taken them in the summer... For exactly six weeks, I left my house approximately once a week to see friends, and spent ALL of the rest of my time doing school work. My stress level during that period is impossible to describe. I feel sorry for all those who ventured too close during that period. I was frantically trying to wedge information on culture, language, art, warfare, politics, and religious and sacrificial practices from three different cultures AND learning about perceptions of gender and gender practices from about a dozen other cultures into my brain all at once. I think, having face-to-face classes would have helped. With so little time in which to absorb all of this, being bale to talk with the professors and my classmates would have made a huge difference. As it was, I mostly felt so stressed out that I was as sick as if I had spent several hours a day in direct sunlight in 100 degree weather. On top of that, having to rush through all the material so quickly, I don't think that I got nearly as much out of these classes as I would have if I had taken them during a different quarter. It was really a shame, as the subject matter of each were topics I had really been looking forward to. Don't get me wrong, I learned a lot. Don't ask me questions on any of those topics unless you want to sit through a long-winded lecture. I just feel I missed out on a lot.
Looking back on that highly charged month-and-a-half, I am surprised that I didn't end up at the hospital again. Maybe it just all happened SO fast, that my anxiety & depression didn't have time to realize how stressed I was, and respond accordingly. I can say though, that I am grateful I didn't COMPLETELY lose it. Instead, I only lost it 3/4 of the way. 3/4 was enough though. I needed some serious recovery time after that quarter. I don't know how I got through it, much less in a fashion that had me nominated for a national honor's society... Oh well, I will count my blessings and move on...
Saturday, November 4, 2017
I Hate Marx, But I Love Cake
I was not prepared for the amount of reading all my new classes would require. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE reading and the topics of the books and articles was totally fascinating to me. There was just a LOT of it. So much, that I almost started to hate reading. I filled entire 3-ring binders with double-sided, hand written notes. Incidentally, my hand began to cramp a lot. In my "spare" time I would daydream of being able to afford buying dozens of European-style notebooks so that I could use my fountain pens for note-taking. They write so smoothly and with practically no pressure, so writer's cramp is practically non-existent... Fountain pens you ask?
Here's a little story (I don't think I've told you yet). A couple of weeks before I started school at WCC, I was having a really rough time. I had just lost a friend and was sick, and I was super nervous and stressed out about starting school. My mom and I were hanging out and she mentioned that she had a roast (or something along those lines, that part of the story is a little fuzzy) and that my 2 older brothers were coming over for a family dinner. The Sunday that was planned for the meal dawned, and I was feeling particularly ill and REALLY grumpy. I was told what time "the boys" (as I started calling them when I was very little) would arrive and I started whining like an angry toddler. It was something along the lines of "Easter is next week! Why can't we just postpone it until then?!" to which my mom replied that she had already had reschedule on them a couple of times due to my schedule and to stop being a baby. Rightly so. I was being a total baby. I grumbled under my breath then asked what she meant by rescheduling. She ignored the question. A few hours later, the boys arrived and I was anti-socially staring at a computer screen. A wrapped gift and a card was placed on the desk in front of me. I looked up, confused, and saw my big brothers smirking and waiting expectantly for me to open it. I asked what was going on and my mom said that they had gotten in touch with her and wanted to surprise me. They had been trying to schedule a time and I kept having changes to my schedule. I almost started crying as I opened the card. My lovely brothers had gotten me a gift to express that they were proud of me and my decision to go to school.
Here's a little story (I don't think I've told you yet). A couple of weeks before I started school at WCC, I was having a really rough time. I had just lost a friend and was sick, and I was super nervous and stressed out about starting school. My mom and I were hanging out and she mentioned that she had a roast (or something along those lines, that part of the story is a little fuzzy) and that my 2 older brothers were coming over for a family dinner. The Sunday that was planned for the meal dawned, and I was feeling particularly ill and REALLY grumpy. I was told what time "the boys" (as I started calling them when I was very little) would arrive and I started whining like an angry toddler. It was something along the lines of "Easter is next week! Why can't we just postpone it until then?!" to which my mom replied that she had already had reschedule on them a couple of times due to my schedule and to stop being a baby. Rightly so. I was being a total baby. I grumbled under my breath then asked what she meant by rescheduling. She ignored the question. A few hours later, the boys arrived and I was anti-socially staring at a computer screen. A wrapped gift and a card was placed on the desk in front of me. I looked up, confused, and saw my big brothers smirking and waiting expectantly for me to open it. I asked what was going on and my mom said that they had gotten in touch with her and wanted to surprise me. They had been trying to schedule a time and I kept having changes to my schedule. I almost started crying as I opened the card. My lovely brothers had gotten me a gift to express that they were proud of me and my decision to go to school.
(Yeah, that's my name written beautifully with a fountain pen by my brother) The gift was my very first fountain pen, a bottle of emerald green ink, and a notebook that could handle that ink. I felt like such a jerk. Here I was being grumpy and trying to postpone this family meal, and my brothers were just trying to be sweet...
Anyway, writer's cramp and reading... I was pretty overwhelmed that first quarter at WWU. My transfer adviser at WCC had warned me that transfers usually have a dip in grades their first quarter at their new school, as there is an adjustment period. This felt like a BIG adjustment period, but I was learning a lot. I learned that I do not want to Minor in Religion, not because there is anything wrong with the program, but because it just doesn't feel quite right. I learned that theory classes download mass amounts of information into your brain in a surprisingly short amount of time. I learned that (don't shoot me scholars) I HATE reading Marx. It's weird, even when I agree with what he's saying, I want to disagree just because of how he comes off. The man wrote like an arrogant, know-it-all, asshole. Reading his work drives me nuts and I had him assigned to read in every class that quarter. 😩 Fun...
As the quarter came to a close, I was holed up writing 3 enormous final essays and preparing for my WCC graduation ceremony. I was a little nervous about it. I had not attended classes there in a couple of months and I wasn't sure that I would have anyone I knew at the ceremony. As it turned out, I found a pal to hang out with and the ceremony was surprisingly non-boring. The keynote speaker was a woman who was a former astronaut! I donned my cap and gown:
Attended/participated in WCC's 50th anniversary commencement:
And received my first college diploma:
After the ceremony, the graduates were walked through a tunnel of the faculty. I was scanning the tunnel when I heard my name. I looked up and saw my three favorite professors from my time at the school waving at me; my Archaeology & American Indian Studies Professor, my Educational Planning Professor, and my Geology Professor. Hugs all around!
My group of attendees; my mom, dad, step-mom, and my best friend who is practically my sister, and I all went to a local restaurant/brewery where we met up with another friend of mine, and one of my older brothers (tickets to the ceremony were limited, and the friend who came had to sit in a different building and watch a live-stream, so my brothers were gonna meet up to celebrate after, but one of them wasn't feeling well). We had a lovely dinner and drinks and I got some lovely cards and gifts, including a new fountain pen from my brother. It's beautiful... Afterwards, my two friends and I went out to a couple of bars and just generally had fun...
A couple of weeks later, I had plan to meet up with 4 of my best friends to have dinner and play some board and card games. I walked in, and was promptly barred from entering the kitchen. I was pretty confused. I sat in the living room by myself, waiting for them, and then I noticed the decorations in the room. Across the ceiling were streamers and balloons wishing congratulations to the graduate. I had walked into a surprise graduation party thrown by the friends who couldn't celebrate the night of the ceremony, complete with mini-mortar boards and homemade cake.
That night, watching my friends and thinking about my family and other friends after the ceremony, it hit me once again how very lucky I am. I went through a period of a few years in my early 20s where I didn't have any friends, not really. There were people I knew that would attend the same things, but the only person I really talked to or hung out with was my amazing mom. She is a phenomenal best friend, but now my circle of friends is actually a circle. I am getting a little misty thinking about it now. I have the best group of people around me.
More to come...
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Sunglasses, Short-Shorts, and Delusional Sign-Holders
So, yeah. I settled in to life on campus... Sort of. I found the location of every Subway on campus and filed the information away for later. I tried the pizza from another vendor and decided to never get anything from there again. I spent time in the Library getting lost in the multi-level, multi-building maze that confused me with its sky-bridge...
I enjoyed people-watching on my way to and from classes, especially in Red Square, people really let loose out there. One day during Intro to Religion class, one of the guys sitting across from me suddenly exclaimed, "Whoa! Did anybody else see that guy?" We all, professor included, looked out the window and after a moment a strange sight wandered into view... A man with shaggy hair and beard, wearing the TINIEST little short-shorts I have ever seen, and nothing else. He (literally) skipped around the square on bare feet handing fliers as small as his shorts to the people walking by. We all stared for a while, mesmerized by this odd, yet not so odd sight. I should mention, Bellingham is a weird city, fantastic, but really weird. While startled to see this on campus as we were talking about Emile Durkheim, we probably wouldn't have even looked twice if we saw this dude wandering around downtown. Speaking of downtown, this man's tiny fliers were (if I remember correctly) advertising for Bellingham's annual Naked Bike Ride... Yep. We have an annual naked bike ride. Upon learning this, the professor, who was new to the area, and came from the East Coast originally, was truly shocked. She thought we were messing with her because, surely there was no such thing as a naked bike ride. Poor woman, she has a lot to learn about the PNW... Red Square is THE place for random booths to be set up, for fliers to be passed out, and during finals week, the trees surrounding it usually host several hammocks holding stressed out, napping students. True story.
One day I was walking through the square and saw a table with a "Spin the wheel and win a cool prize!" sign attached to it. I like cool prizes, I spun that wheel. My cool prize was sunglasses... Remember when I said I wear glasses?
I enjoyed people-watching on my way to and from classes, especially in Red Square, people really let loose out there. One day during Intro to Religion class, one of the guys sitting across from me suddenly exclaimed, "Whoa! Did anybody else see that guy?" We all, professor included, looked out the window and after a moment a strange sight wandered into view... A man with shaggy hair and beard, wearing the TINIEST little short-shorts I have ever seen, and nothing else. He (literally) skipped around the square on bare feet handing fliers as small as his shorts to the people walking by. We all stared for a while, mesmerized by this odd, yet not so odd sight. I should mention, Bellingham is a weird city, fantastic, but really weird. While startled to see this on campus as we were talking about Emile Durkheim, we probably wouldn't have even looked twice if we saw this dude wandering around downtown. Speaking of downtown, this man's tiny fliers were (if I remember correctly) advertising for Bellingham's annual Naked Bike Ride... Yep. We have an annual naked bike ride. Upon learning this, the professor, who was new to the area, and came from the East Coast originally, was truly shocked. She thought we were messing with her because, surely there was no such thing as a naked bike ride. Poor woman, she has a lot to learn about the PNW... Red Square is THE place for random booths to be set up, for fliers to be passed out, and during finals week, the trees surrounding it usually host several hammocks holding stressed out, napping students. True story.
One day I was walking through the square and saw a table with a "Spin the wheel and win a cool prize!" sign attached to it. I like cool prizes, I spun that wheel. My cool prize was sunglasses... Remember when I said I wear glasses?
Great, right? I totally pull them off. I should wear them more often... Anyway, there was this middle-aged guy that hung out in Red Square for a few weeks, holding a sign and trying to talk to passing students. I never once saw him successfully engage anybody in conversation. What was on his sign, you ask? "Trump for President!" followed by a whole lot of gibberish. Now, remember, this was Spring of 2017... Trump was already president... ????? Like I said, Bellingham is weird and is home to ALL sorts of people.
I eventually settled on "My" spot on campus. This became the place where I would go between classes to eat lunch, watch Netflix, or do homework. It almost never has more than a couple of people there at any time, has nice private study carrels, gets a good wifi signal, and is conveniently located adjacent to the bathrooms.It has become my little refuge and I hope it stays that way!
Next time on Squinting From the Front Row... Decisions on minors, group projects,ridiculous amounts of reading, and I HATE KARL MARX. Stay tuned!
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