Finals Quickly Approaching

It is almost that time of the year again; finals and summer are quickly approaching again. Finals week, or finals in general, are super stressful to me, and to many others. Although they do signal a means to an end of the semester so that is a plus in my book. A few weeks of stress and no sleep for three months of sleeping in and staying out late, so it is worth it in the end. This semester quite a few of my finals are taking place before finals week so that means that I will be getting out of school a little earlier than I had anticipated! I am trying not to think about summer vacation a lot though because if not I will lose all focus in my academics. Recently I have found a new sense of motivation and productivity so I am not prepared to lose it now. This time of the year always seems to be the most stressful; registering for classes, trying to raise or maintain my grades, and mentally prepare myself for finals. I am not quite sure why but I seem to concentrate more at Starbucks than I do at my house so that is probably where I am going to be living during finals week. So yay, there goes all of my money! Anyway hopefully I can keep the momentum going and stay focused on my studies.  I must admit that I do feel a little bit more prepared for finals this time around so fingers crossed that I do not lose this mentality.

Where is your favorite place to study or how do you prepare for finals?

Different College Experiences

Recently I met up with one of my friends from high school who ended up going to Sacramento State for college. We began to talk about how college has been going for us and reminiscing on our high school years.  After a few minutes I realized that my college experience was not anything like hers. She said that she missed high school and how easy it was, that you were in a class for an entire year and that she missed how comfortable it was. I on the other hand enjoy taking new classes every semester, meeting new people, and the spontaneity of it all. I thought that her college experience would have been much more exciting and enjoyable for her given that she was living on her own now and had a newfound freedom. Although she has this new freedom I realized that going to Stan was one of the best decisions I could have made. I may not get the typical “college experience” but I have made a lot of great friends, memories, and many opportunities available to me. Since my friend has already taken out loans to pay for her housing the thought of studying abroad for her is almost nonexistent. My dream to study abroad is a little more tangible because I have not had to take out loans. Coming to college I was worried about running into people from my high school but that no longer crosses my mind. My friend may want to go back to high school but I on the other hand am happy to be in college.

What to Take Next Semester..

So it is almost time to pick my classes for fall semester of sophomore year and I’m not sure what classes to take. Aside from Bio 1010 and the lab that goes with it I am pretty unsure as to what classes I should take and with what teachers. I have learned from my mistakes and came to the realization that going to school everyday of the week and having multiple night classes is not the best option for me. Although I must say that I am not sure how well I would do taking an 8 am class given that I struggle to get up for my 9 am lifetime fitness class.

I know that I have to take a class to fulfill my art requirement but I do not consider myself to be very artistic; so if there are any suggestions as to what classes are a good idea to take I would greatly appreciate it. Since I am already asking for suggestions, are there any good teachers you recommend taking English 2000 or Communications 2300 with?  Now that I have to plan for my classes I am starting to realize that it is time to get my school life together. I can say with 100 percent certainty that college has been a great experience for me and the only way that I will continue to enjoy my time in college is if I figure out a way to better my school routine. I know that because I am going to be taking a science class, which I hate, and that I am trying to find a job that I must find a way to balance my time between school, hopefully work, and my social life. But I have a good feeling about sophomore year so bring it on.

Close to the End

It has officially hit me that the end of my freshman year in college is quickly approaching and in all honesty I am kind of nervous. This year so far has been very good to me and I am anxious to see what sophomore year has to offer. This is not the reason that I am nervous however; it is fact that realization that I need to get back on track to end the year with the grades that I want. Not just this but I have also been thinking about my major and possible careers, I have held off declaring a major because I do not want to regret my decision later on. As of now I am leaning toward majoring in sociology and maybe double majoring in a degree that is still unknown. But before I declare my major I have to pass all of my classes, and in order to do that I need to stop procrastinating as much as I do.  While I have gotten better at managing my time I still need to work on getting ahead of my assignments to avoid all of the stress that I constantly feel. On another note can we just take a moment to realize that we are going to be sophomores in such a short amount of time? My goal at this point in the semester is to successfully pass all of my classes while minimizing my stress and making the most out of the remainder of my freshman year. What is your goal for the rest of the semester?