Setbacks and Unfriendings

Ugh. I had been hoping to kickstart the beginnings of August with a running start. I spent so much time in July being so lax/lazy with moving forward in life, that I wanted to change that with the beginnings of this month, August.

What I've gotten to do in the past few day is Spring Cleaning. IN %@#!*^ JULY. All thanks to my family feeling the need to clean up our modest apartment. I don't know why or where this is coming from, but since I'm living with the family for now, I am respectfully helping them out (I was adamant on opposing this). It'll all be over in another day or two and then I can my plans for the month of August.

So for now, I've got to say, it's a bizarre sensation to know I've unfriended so many people. Ninety-five percent (95%), to be more precise. It's nice to see my Facebook and Instagram feeds devoid of such pointless and unoriginal posts (or in FB, sharing lame stories and memes). Surprisingly, I haven't gotten any flack from those who noticed I've unfriended them (Will and Daren, the podcast I mentioned in the previous post, got lots of flack for unfriending the majority of their friends on FB). The next step now is to find more established people to follow - find sources of inspiration that can challenge me to grow and develop, as a person and as content creator. I know I'm not the most creative person out there, but I've learned that I'm capable of doing so. As of now, I don't see myself making any money off of my creative endeavors, but I do like to learn new skills and, more importantly, it's so insanely satisfying to know that I can do these types of things and receive positive feedback.

Well, at least to me, which is why I'm doing this to begin with. But I'm a few days behind. Oh, well, tomorrow's a new day, right? Until next time, fellow readers!

Quality Time With "Veronica"

Recently, I did something that I haven't done in such a long time on my university campus - I had quality time with a friend and we spent almost 2 hours just talking, making lame jokes, and just having some bit of fun. Considering we're down to the wire (our final week of the Spring Semester), I was somewhat surprised that we somehow made some time to just talk and develop our friendship together, and getting to know more about each other.

Spending time with "Veronica" (not her real name, but she did request that I use that pseudonym for her) was quite an exquisite respite from the inexorable pressures of these remaining few weeks. I haven't had this type of quality time with a fellow friend and classmate in months. It seems that I have spent just about all of my free time studying and conducting research for two demanding essays and reading the text for four classes in our campus library. Now that it's all behind me (for the most part), it was a nice change of pace to be outside, enjoying the gentle breeze, the flora, the fauna (just some squirrels, really), people watching, and the company of a friend. I hope to have more experiences in the future. I can't help but feel these little moments create those defining "college moments" that many of us fondly recall as we age over time.

A Small R&R

Finally, after this past month and a half, I can actually write for my personal delight again! I spent all this time researching, outlining, and then madly writing two separate term papers - one as a class assignment and the other as a sign of things to come (it was a mock literature review designed to prepare us for the lengthy research process of our undergrad Senior Thesis). Now that both of these assignments are complete (and awaiting corrections/revisions by my professors), I can finally rest easy for this week (before I'll have to adjust my paper to reflect the evaluations my professors will impose upon me).

Unfortunately, this small break from my demanding school schedule is simply insufficient. I'm burned out from almost a whole straight year of juggling work and school, and how I'm holding up is beyond me. I'm afraid of how this Spring will end - I fear this will be my weakest semester thus far in my stay at this university. I know more there is more to life than good grades, but sometimes I forget that, and I end up placing a great deal of value upon a simple 5-letter grading system.

Anyhow, I hope to resumify my writing soon - there are things that I want to write about and try new experiences, hoping for positive feedback and results (more on these later, of course). For now, it's sufficient to say that I'm trying to be mindful to write more, for my sake. Until next, fellow readers!

Come Learn French with Me!

One of my classes this Spring Semester is elementary French (or FR100, as some refer to it). This was, unfortunately, the only basic foreign language course available this semester. All other languages were either level 2 or above, and I didn't have the prerequisites (the beginning classes) to add those to my current schedule. Besides, French is one of the handful of languages that I do want to learn (among German, Russian, Japanese, and American Sign Language), so I'm quite content with taking this course this semester. When I talked to my sister about this language course, she reassured me that learning French is quite easy, since a good handful of vocabulary and grammar reflects its Spanish cousin (which I already know - ethnicity for the win!). This simply means (in theory) I shouldn't have too much difficulty learning this romantic language.

However, just like anything new, learning a new skill (or in this case, a new language) relies heavily on repetition, comprehension, and understanding. So I got to thinking, "What if I post my progress here? I can review the material thus far and I can pass on (somewhat) what I've been learning onto others." It's been three weeks, but I've already got a good grasp on basic numbers (0-70), reciting the French alphabet (same letters as the English alphabet, but with different pronunciations), and basic colors, phrases and greetings (and such). Essentially all of chapter 1 in our class textbook. I'm ecstatic to know just how much I'll learn before the semester is over. Until next time, fellow readers!

Hiking

Now that the Spring Semester is underway in university, my convoluted schedule has finally allowed me an entire free day to do whatever I please. Unfortunately, this means that I have a whole free day to spend studying (or conducting research, whichever is more important at the time), but I'm sure I'll have a day every week or so to do something...right? 

Well, since these are the early weeks of the Spring Semester (we started quite early, actually), these next Wednesdays are free for me to do whatever I please. So, I spent this past Wednesday hiking. This hike will be the first of many and I hope that I can continue to do such leisurely activities like this in the future. Incidentally, this makes it a new trail that I've trekked, so now I've only to explore 2 more! Finally, I'll just post some photographs that I took along the way - Enjoy!

The Beginning of the End...

In the First Day (as well as the Second Day), I had expressed some nervousness (as well as some excitement also) at the prospect of being back in university after a year-long hiatus. Now, this semester is over and I'm quite enthusiastic as to know that this semester has been quite successful! I'm quite confident that I've completed all of my classwork with at least 2 A's and 2 B's (though the hope is that it's 3 A's and a single B and if I got all A's, it's a frackin' Christmas miracle of sorts). I say "at least" because I've yet to see my final grades! I've been too nervous to take a look ^_^" 

After meeting with my academic adviser to discuss the remaining courses and plans for the upcoming January Term/Spring Semester, I've deduced that I'm approximately only one year away from graduation! I couldn't believe (and I still can't) that this is my circumstance - although for this to be possible, I must keep overwhelming myself with 16-unit semesters and 32-hour workweeks! Still, I'm beginning to see the light at the end of this academic tunnel! 

I'm excited to make new progress and continue press forward with my academics - it seems that there is much more pressure, now that I feel that my life is finally coming together with a steady job, a soon-to-earned Bachelor's Degree, and even active love life of sorts! Life is finally starting to become more engaging and even fun now! :-D