Search results matching tag 'finals'

The S Word...

ChristinaL — Thu, 07 May 2009 04:12:00 GMT

...stands for SENIOR. Also known as what I have officially become as of 5 pm Monday. But let's not say it too much, because the last few days and thinking about how little time I truly have left in college has gotten me even more stressed than finals.

I had no exams, but my finals this year were intense. I had a final paper to write for every class. Normally I like writing, but jamming this much into the end of the year, on top of a whole semester writing articles for my internship at NUVO Newsweekly? No longer fun.

In the end, I wrote about 40 pages (and did LOTS of research & prewriting) within about 9 days:

5 pages in Spanish analyzing the postcolonial/gender theories in the works we read about Hispanic "women on the road"

9 pages about Lolita for my American novel class - the last thing I turned in... I think I may have lost all brain power by that point.

9 pages arguing against a literary critic about The Tin Drum - definitely the most challenging one

18 pages about working women's role in the women's suffrage movement in New York City - definiely the most time consuming one. My room turned into a mini-library, with so many books for research...

I am just SO SO SO glad it's over. I feel like I have grown so much as a writer this year. I'm not sure whether that's coming from having to write in Spanish, or being challenged with new assignments, or the pressure of having to write professionally for my internship, but I have definitely improved... nevertheless, my improvements have made me really obsessive about my writing. I do SO much planning and outlining and I am never happy after one or two drafts. My final products may be better but I am spending a lot more time on them! Stressful. I am ready to take a break from writing...for like a week. Then I am back to work at NUVO.

Anyway, I had kind of a chill day after my papers were all turned in. I had to move myself out (my parents don't always come down to help me anymore... boo for getting older and more independent) which took the better part of Tuesday (but interrupted with breaks to watch the Real Housewives of NYC marathon. perfect for packing, and realizing that your life is NOT that dramatic. I had dinner with a few of the senior girls from Pi Phi (who I will miss ridiculously... there's that s word again! let's not talk about it because I'm in denial.)

Now I am back home in Chicago. My mom and I went out shopping today, but she took a wrong turn and we accidentally ended up having to turn around at O'Hare airport. That was especially weird because I started out this school year at O'Hare, boarding the plane to Spain for my study abroad semester. Now it's the end of the school year and here I am. It truly seems like September 1st was just a few weeks ago, but just thinking about how much my life has changed since then blows my mind.

I've been really nostalgic in general lately, but especially about Spain. The people I met there are so dear to me, and the experiences have shaped me forever. This semester, I feel like I've grown tremendously as a student and through my internship, especially... but I just haven't been happy the way I was in Spain.

I think I've had way too much on my plate and not enough free time to enjoy the things and people I love. I've had good times with so many people I love at Butler... but really, not enough, and I haven't been able to spend the time I wanted to with my family... even the ones just down the street on the east side of Indy. I haven't been healthy to my body... too many almost-all-nighters, too much soda and junky food, not enough exercise. I guess I just want something a little more simple and calm for next year. I don't know if I'm capable of doing that. Butler offers so many opportunities, and I'm just not good at saying no. But, I guess that's my challenge if I want to end out my career with a happy and healthy "s word" experience. I've got one year left. I need to be smart about it.

This summer is my chance to get started... I'll still be around Butler and blogging, so stay tuned and wish me luck!

From my desk at Butler to my porch swing at home... :)

StephF — Thu, 07 May 2009 00:56:00 GMT

So I am finally done with my freshman year at Butler! It's a really weird feeling....because I feel like it flew by while I also feel like it just dragged on and on. I can't believe that this time last year I had like 2 weeks of my senior year left....and that the only things I had been to Butler for were Early Registration, Butler Business Scholars, and my very first tour. I have learned so much in the past year about myself, about Butler, about Indy.....and everything else in the world. It's OUTRAGEOUS! I knew that my freshman year of college would be a big change for me....but no matter how much you think about it and tell yourself that....it's hard to imagine it until you've already been through it all. I would really like to share as many tips and as much info about your freshman year at Butler as I can....but that would be an outrageously long blog....so I think I'll make it into a series...get excited! I'll try to come up with a catchy name for it if I can.....since my words of wisdom are so important (at least I think so...haha) and will hopefully be helpful for all of you incoming freshman as you get ready to come to Butler!

So on Monday I had my final final....haha. It was Statistics.....and it was like pulling teeth to try to get myself to study. I couldn't focus here at home over the weekend, so I went back to Butler in the early afternoon on Sunday....and I couldn't focus there either! I kept packing up everything that was left in my room....and thinking of other things to do besides study. Schwitzer was like a ghost town....there were like 10 people left in my unit....and the walls were bare, and so were all of our rooms! I think the lack of things to do made me want to get my stuff packed up even more because by then I was VERY ready to come home. I had a wonderfully relaxing weekend at home with my family....no washing clothes as fast as possible to get ready to go back to school....no packing up any stuff....just chillaxing and watching movies! If only every weekend were like that... :) So on Sunday night I went over to Ross to my friend Tommy's room to study with some people in my Stats class....but that didn't help me focus either....so I went back to Schwitz and I finally got to studying...at like 11:30 at night. haha....I'm a night owl...and I do my best work in the wee hours of the morning, obviously. :) So I studied like crazy till I was too tired to function....slept for awhile....then got up and packed some more, because I was supposed to check out of my room like 40 min after my final ended....which didn't exactly happen. haha. My professor graciously let me stay late to finish my final....then the elevator at Schwitz was stuck on a floor.....and it basically took me forever to get everything packed up. But by 6 PM, I had been officially done with all of my classes for 3 hours, my Mom's Trailblazer was jam-packed with the second load of all of my stuff, I had cleaned and checked out of my room in Schwitzer, I had spent all of my Flex Dollars, I had returned library books, I had used my last meal exchange at C-Club, I had turned in my key fob at Alpha Phi, and eaten dinner there. Yeah....I was productive. Then I carefully drove home for the last time in awhile....(carefully because I couldn't see out the back of the car...haha.) Since then I have been sleeping a TON, unpacking everything and finding places for it all, and trying to find a summer job. I probably need to focus on the finding a job thing a lot more than the sleeping and unpacking things....but I beat almost all of my friends home, so I feel like I already have a bit of a headstart..haha. And I don't really want to think about being productive right now. I'm just enjoying our porch swing and couch and everything else at my house. :) Well I'm off to try to be productive....but look forward to my posts with advice for your freshman year.....and if you have anything you want me to talk about, just send me a message!

I'm ALMOST there......ALMOST!

StephF — Sat, 02 May 2009 18:52:00 GMT

So I'm almost done with my freshman year...but not just yet! I had a final on Thursday afternoon, and my next one isn't until Monday, so I decided to come home for my Grandma's art show yesterday. It was her third one, and she has been working really hard on everything for awhile, and it was great!! She had a great turnout at her reception, a lot of friends and family came, so it was really nice to be able to see everyone that we don't always get to see. Overall, it was a great day and a nice change of pace from packing up and unpacking, and especially studying...here are a few of my favorite paintings that she exhibited...

So now I am enjoying just relaxing a bit before my last final and all...which probably isn't good for more than one reason. First of all, all of my friends are moving out now or are already moved out, and since I came home on Thursday before they all left, I don't feel like most of the people will be gone when I get back...but they will be. :( I feel like it is just a normal weekend....but we will see how I react to just taking back one bag with the stuff I need for one night instead of lugging all of my clean laundry back up the 3 flights of stairs to my room. I'm pretty excited about that! Second of all, I'm not exactly studying right now....which I definitely should be. So hopefully I will get into studying mode really soon....so I can get a good grade in Statistics! I keep reminding myself that I'm almost done...I just need to get through this last one....and that there's only a little bit more stuff for me to take home...haha. On Thursday I had my Mom's Trailblazer completely packed....and I am hoping that I can get everything else in the car on Monday! So keep your fingers crossed that everything fits and that I get to studing....really soon! Look forward to a celebratory/reflective post early next week....once I'm actually done! :)

I can't believe it's actually over...

SarahG — Fri, 01 May 2009 19:25:00 GMT

I just finished up my last final about an hour ago... I made it through another successful semester at BU! It's funny because in the past hour I've experienced a complete change in attitude. Throughout this entire week I was so ready to go home. I am completely burnt out on studying and thrilled by the fact that I won't have to sit through another lecture until the end of August. However, now that I'm done with all the hard stuff, I've realized that I'm not just taking a break from classes, but from everything else I love to do. It's hard saying goodbye to friends at the end of the year and not having so many events to attend anymore. Luckily, I'll be back in a few weeks along with some of my friends for an amazing summer!

Now it's time to start packing-up! My parents are coming tomorrow afternoon to take me back to good ole' New Pal, and I haven't even begun to organize my things... is it really summer already?!

Last thing - Look out for my end-of-the-year blog sometime next week. In the meantime, you can check out how I was feeling last May at the end of my freshman year (I can't believe that was an entire year ago)! I put a lot of thought into that blog and there are some really great tips for you incoming freshmen.

Farewell sweet BU

LizM — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:41:00 GMT

This will be my last blog post of the year! Wow. Time flies. I can't believe that this year is actually coming to a close. I am having such a hard time staying focused to study for exams...I just want to play with my friends before we all have to leave to go home! I had two finals yesterday, journalism and biology. Both went pretty smoothly except my biology one was given in a different room than we are usually in. The room felt like a sauna. It was so hot I thought I was going to have a heatstroke. Also it was right after I ate lunch so I was really sleepy. But it wasn't that awful, I survived.

We also had room picks on Tuesday night for Theta. I am rooming with one of my good friends and another girl who I absolutely LOVE and will hopefully get to know better. We were able to get one of our favorite rooms in the house so that was definitely exciting. I also was able to sign up for a bottom bunk in the cold dorm which is awesome. The way our house is set up, we have desks, dressers, and closets in our rooms but we all sleep in a big room on the third floor. It's kind of like summer camp. There is a big room full of bunk beds and that's where all of us sleep. Its called the cold dorm because it is always cool (with the windows open) and dark, so even if you want to take a nap in the middle of the day you can go up there and find some peace and quiet. I'm really looking forward to moving into the house and getting to know the other girls on a deeper leve.

Today I had the day off which was nice. I had one of my big bros over for lunch at the Theta house because he is leaving to go home tomorrow. I'm not going home until next Tuesday so I have a few more days left to savor. I have a mass communications exam tomorrow and then I have my music final on Saturday morning. My roommate isn't leaving until Tuesday either because she has a final on Monday so I just decided to stick around and hang with her for a day or two more. I have SO much stuff to pack up so I will need the time. Also our RA just informed us that our room will be used as a tour room for students during the summer...wonderful. That means we actually have to clean. We are two of the messiest people in existence and never clean our room, so this should be interesting. I'm just not ready to leave yet. I'm scared of being a sophomore and growing up. Last weekend when I went home I was dreading coming back to school but now I don't want to leave :( I wish we could stay and hang out and just not do the whole schoolwork part of it :)

This summer I will be nannying for two little girls who are our neighbors. They don't get out of school for another month by the time I get home so I will have some time to relax and get my ducks in a row before work starts. My clothes are all over our house - in tupperwares in the garage and the basement and thrown in my closet - so I need to go through them and get rid of stuff I never wear and try to get that organized! Also it will give me some time to maybe find a night job at a restaurant or something and to hang out with my friends that are about to graduate from High school and those that are home from college. My dad and I are taking a week to go fishing in lakes and ponds around the area and enjoy the hopefully beautiful weather. I really like fishing and I haven't been all year so that will be a lot of fun to get to spend time with my dad. I'm sure my mom and I will take some shopping trips and do some movie nights together too :) I've missed her a lot.

I am really looking forward to coming back to school next year though. The past month or so has been rough with so much schoolwork and just trying to make it to the end of the year. This year has been very eye-opening. College is an experience unlike anything else in life. Living on your own, making your own rules and trying to decide who you want to be is probably the hardest thing you will ever have to deal with. You just have to take it one day at a time and learn from your mistakes. Everyone is here to learn and to grow and sometimes its nice to know that you're not all on your own. We're all in the same boat. You'll have days where you just don't want to get out of bed and face the world and days where you can't help but tell everyone about that awesome grade you got on your paper or that you finally declared your major. You just have to milk it for all its worth and stop worrying about what other people think. These four years are your life and what you make of it. If you constantly worry about what other people think or waste your time trying to be someone you aren't you won't be happy. Its only until you discover who you are and the person that you want to be, regardless of what your parents or friends or professors may think that you will have so much happiness and fun that you never even knew existed. College is so much more than just classes and finals and parties and a degree.

"It takes courage to grow up and become who we really are. All our dreams can come true...if we have the courage to pursue them."
-- Walt Disney

Bringin it back to elementary school......

StephF — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:16:00 GMT

So you know those worksheets we used to do in like kindergarten that had two almost identical pictures with one thing changed?? Well....in honor of finals and me not wanting to start studying for my next final....here is something very similar....lol. You have to guess what is different in the two pictures..... haha.

So there are technically two things that are different....but they are both very significant to my overall point......#1, the massive line of post-its is gone, and the 2 books on my desk are gone.....YAY!!! The first picture is from this morning before my final paper for my seminar was due, and the second paper is from right now....after I turned in the paper, AND took a final!! As you can see in the first picture, I am a big believer in the use of post-its for everything....I use them as reminders of things I need to do and when I'm writing papers and I want to remember something or use something somewhere else in the paper...I write it on a post-it....and hope that that will help. But my point is.....Almost all of the post-its are gone!!!!! And the books I was using to write my paper are gone now too!!! That means that I am finally almost done.....and that my to-do list is much shorter. :) I am done with my freshman seminar, my chem class, and my politics class. It feels wonderful! Tomorrow I have an online final for my communication theory class, and on Monday I have my statistics final. I can actually see the end of this year now.....and I think that I can make it.. :) Now I am just nervous about my grades...I have been figuring out everything for each of my classes...like, well if I get this grade on this paper and this test I will have this grade....so basically I have been stressing myself out. I have been uber busy lately, so please excuse the messyness of my desk...but it is a legit college student's desk....on the first day of finals. I tend to just set things everywhere on it when I get busy.....and clutter accumulates very quickly.

I took the weekend off of studying...which was probably a horrible idea....but if I would've studied straight through the weekend I probably would not be sane right now. My boyfriend Scott came to visit, and we did all kinds of fun things around Indy. :) We started it all out by going to the Freshly Brewed Spring Concert (they're Butler's women's acapella group). One of Scott & I's good friends and one of the girls from A Phi are in it (She's also my greek family)...so we went to support them, and they were great!! It was a beautiful weekend, so we went downtown.....and walked around basically all over the place! We went to monument circle.....and then to the mall of course. :) Retail therapy is one of my favorites. Then we met his sister at PF Changs, which is without a doubt one of my new absolute FAVORITE places to eat. If you have never been there, everything is delicious....but I like the appetizers the best. I highly recommend lettuce wraps, crab wontons, and fried green beans. They are so wonderful that I usually hardly touch my real food......so we decided that the next time that we go there, we are just going to get a bunch of appetizers. Works for me! By the time we were done there, we went to the canal and walked around.....which was beautiful!! It was dark out, so all the lights were on everywhere....and it was a really nice and relaxing way to finish off our day. Then on Sunday Scott helped my roommate and I move around some things in our room...(yeah I know....one week left of school and you want to rearrange your room?? smart.) But Hannah's parents came and moved all of her stuff out on Saturday, like the futon and the tv and the fridge and all but a little bit of her stuff. So our room looked really empty.....my solution: debunk our beds. So we debunked the beds.....and moved the dressers.....and now our room looks much different. haha. But it is kind of nice to have a place to sit besides my desk....and another place to pile my stuff. haha. Hopefully this will make moving out easier too. :) Well I'm off to start studying for tomorrow's final.....:)

The final countdown

SarahG — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 00:33:00 GMT

I am officially done with classes for the spring semester... how exciting! The last day of lectures was yesterday, and today we were given a free-day for reading break. Unfortunately, this means that tomorrow is the beginning of finals week. I'll have five total this year (brutal, I know) but I've already taken two, and one other was a take-home essay test which I've already finished! So if you're following me here, that leaves two for this week: on Thursday and Friday. I don't think they'll be too bad, and I've already gotten through the bulk of it all so that helps! Plus I just have to keep in mind that I get to go HOME on Saturday! Summer is so close I can practically taste it!

Luckily, this past weekend was a lot of fun for my last one this spring! Although I spent all day and afternoon studying, my nights offered a bit of a break from all of that! Friday night was Senior Wills at Theta. This is basically an event where all of the seniors gather all of their KAO shirts, sweatshirts, bags, hats, picture frames, umbrellas... and other RANDOM things they don't want anymore and give them to the younger girls! It's hilarious to see the seniors just throwing - and I mean literally, throwing - their stuff into a crowd while the rest of us grab anything and everything we can. Not that I really need any more Theta paraphernalia to begin with (seriously, I could go at least a month wearing a new KAO shirt each day and not have to do laundry) but it's always fun to get some new gear, especially for free!

Saturday night Delta Tau Delta had a themed dance that was held at Jillians downtown! The theme was CMT v. BET, and as I'm sure you can imagine, some of the costumes got pretty creative haha. For my last dance of the year, the location was actually really fun because there were games and pool tables in addition to a dance floor!

Overall, it was a fantastic last weekend here at BU... but I'm afraid I'll have to leave this blog at that... I need to get back to studying!

Cool Kids on a Saturday Night

ChristinaL — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 04:02:00 GMT

Well, it's now midnight on Saturday and I am writing to you from Jordan Hall (one of our main academic buildings). I almost always study on Saturdays, but usually from the comfort of my own home. However, with finals starting next week and lots of deadlines for me on Monday, today calls for extra focused concentration and I am camping out in the Writer's Studio. Our academic buildings are locked at night, but students can get in with our IDs, and claiming a classroom to study is a common tactic for those who can't focus in their dorm rooms, apartments or Greek houses. I like it here because the weather today has been BEAUTIFUL, and there are huge windows in the Studio, so I have them open and am sitting next to them to get the outside feel without all the wind and bugs and grass.

I was feeling a little dorky about it. Sometimes I feel like one of the few who has to use lots of weekend time to catch up on my studying. The funny thing is, I went down the hall to the pop machine a few minutes ago and almost every classroom I passed was occupied with someone studying! I've seen so many people out on the Mall, playing frisbee and having fun today and been super jealous, so it's good to see others still here studying and know that I'm not the only one who has to work!

Anyway, I shouldn't write too much because - let's be honest - this is just another procrastination tactic in the epic battle of me vs. my comparative lit paper. Just wanted to let you know that even though we may do a million extracurriculars and talk about the fun side of Butler all the time, we all are actually secretly students, too! : ) Wish me luck on the paper, and if you need a good study spot or just a cool Saturday night hangout... 3rd floor Jordan is THE place to be.

It's 4 a.m. and I'm still in Jordan....

StephF — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 21:08:00 GMT

So there is only one day of classes left!!! This sounds really exciting, but it also means that I have LOTS of things due on Monday. I am trying to plan ahead, and get things done before the weekend so I can kind of relax for a few days before I get crackin again. :) For today I had a goal to finish two rough drafts for papers that are due next week...and I had to develop a model of communication for my communication theory class. My motivation level this week has basically been at a constant zero......so last night I knew that I had to get it all done....and it ended up being a VERY long night. I got one paper finished at 1 am, then I decided on my model of communication, and I was on my way back to Schwitzer around 4. For some people this is rather normal.....but for me this was outrageous! I sure do love my sleep! Then when I got back to Schwitzer, my friend Lauren was getting ready for bed, so of course we had to catch each other up on the happenings in our lives....so it was around 430 by the time I actually got into bed. Yeah. It was a long night. But hopefully, that long night will make the weekend and next week much more enjoyable.....since I will have most of everything done! Just one more paper, one more project, and fixing those two papers before I start studying for my finals....whoohoo! What a great time of year......and I love how prepared I am for it all. Well I'm off to enjoy the BEAUTIFUL weather!

I'm a freshman for only 2 more weeks!!!

StephF — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:14:00 GMT

So we only have 4 days of classes left...yay!!!! :) I'm taking a break from writing two papers to write this...which is much, much more fun! I luckily have no tests this week...but I have these two final papers, and a communication model due on Friday. BAHH no fun! Luckily, I am completely done with my Intro to Politics class...and I have been since last Thursday. My group got to go first for our final presentation...which was a policy recommendation of our choice. We chose to make a policy that aimed to lower the dropout rate for IPS (Indianapolis Public Schools), and our group was great! We wanted to learn as much as we could about IPS schools before we made our policy recommendation, so I contacted Broad Ripple High School, and their Student Activities Director arranged for us to meet with a very diverse group of students. My friend Jordan and I went to talk to them, and we learned SO much about IPS, Broad Ripple, and their lives. It really gave us some great insight into what they would like to see done with their school, and it made us a lot more educated for when we decided what we would like to do with their school. It also gave us an edge on the other groups (hehe) because we had talked to the people who are experiencing this problem firsthand. We had a few stats that were pretty intense, because they really made you realize that this is a serious problem....like, Every 26 seconds a student drops out of high school in America, and that IPS schools have the second lowest graduation rate in the US at 30.5%. This was a really interesting project that we got to do...and it was much better than taking a final! Now I'm completely done with that class, besides going to class one more time to see another presentation. It feels wonderful!!

Last Thursday I also got to register for my classes.....which I was terrified of. Last time I registered, it was almost impossible to get into the classes I wanted/needed, and it was so stressful! But this time, all of my classes were open.....which amazed me! I'm taking Intro to Accounting I, Information Management, Microecon, Real Business Experience (RBE), South Asian Civilizations (my global and historical studies class), and Communication and Leadership. Each one is 3 credit hours....so that gives me 18....and 19 if you count my training class for Speaker's Lab, so hopefully I can handle all of that! I got all the teachers that I wanted, and I'm actually going to have 3 teachers that I had last semester and that I liked, so I'm excited about that! As you can see....I've got a lot of business stuff going on there....so hopefully I like all of those....which I'm sure I will, because RBE sounds like tons of fun, and the others hopefully won't be bad at all! RBE is a class in which you get to come up with an idea for a business, and then start it here on campus. First semester is where you get the ideas and the business plan and such, and second semester you get to start the business if you want to. I'm really happy with my schedule, and I think that I will love it next year! :) Well I'm off to get back to those papers.....and in 2 weeks I will be completely done!