Life lately...

has found me really unmotivated to do school work. For instance, I am currently sitting in class. However, to keep myself from falling asleep, I am making a post because my teacher is so unfortunately boring. It's unfortunate because the subject is one that would usually interest me to the point of my classmates thinking me strange (history of american media). Alas (always wanted to use that), my teacher is so boring that it's making me crazy. Add that to the fact that the learning system that he uses "Blackboard" makes my internet as fast as molasses, it's been a frustrating day.

But back to my lack of motivation. I am getting through a cold and didn't even come to school on Tuesday. Yesterday, I just stayed in the lounge during a class that I knew I wouldn't miss much in. I have papers that need to be done and books that need to be read but for some reason, I just do not want to do anything. And no, the fact that the Olympics are on do not contribute to this, even though I am still following them avidly, cheering on Team USA and my photographer friends, via their teams blog NewSport Photo Agency. I met Patrick, Aaron, Clayton and Rick at the Summer National Senior Games last summer at Stanford and that was when they found out that they would be headed to Vancouver to shoot the Olympics. How cool is that?! Hopefully, I'll be there with them next time...well not with THEM per se, but in the same place, working with the Olympics. Ahhh a girl can dream, right?

See, I keep getting distracted. But maybe that's the root of my problem. Sleeping, surfing the net, watching TV just all seem so much more appealing than reading or writing for school. Even working on Convocation (which is going so smooth I should be nervous) or Regional Activity (which is NOT going smoothly so I AM worried) sounds more appealing. Oh well. I need to get my butt in gear. It's almost the end of February. 3 months from now is summer. I have to get through those 3 months though and those 3 months are filled with school work. Ugh.

Part of it is that I am going through a nasty bout of homesickness. It reached it's peak Valentine's Day weekend (no relevance I promise) which happened to be when my last post was. That post was about the Olympics in part because that was what was making me happy. In truth, I was fighting back tears all weekend. I was so depressed and feeling lonely that I believe I called my mom crying like 4 times that weekend...on top of the other countless times I called her.

Ok so this post has no real point. But it's me emptying my brain...yet again. On top of the aforementioned topic, I've got a nasty case of chest congestion which leaves me short of breath most of the time and coughing up phlegm. gross I know. ugh I just want to feel better and feel like me again, the girl who LIKES to do work. I need to find her.

The Olympics

The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver have FINALLY begun. I have been sooo excited for these games to start because, well, I LOVE the Olympics. I don't know what it is about them, but it's 2 solid weeks of non-stop sports. And I love sports. I'm not exactly the most athletic person (well my dad says I have the ability but no desire...which is true. I'd rather organize) but I still have a great love and passion for the world of sports. For those of you who know me, you know that I am a ridiculously big New York Yankees fan and love anything baseball. But I am warming up to other sports. I swam and played water polo in high school and played softball and (very briefly) soccer when I was younger. During the Summer Olympics, I will watch it all. Same with the Winter Olympics. But I have a worry associated with the Winter Olympics.

The Summer Olympics are generally more popular and many people I have spoken to prefer them over Winter. And by the numbers, the Summer Olympics are a bigger event. In Beijing, over 200 countries competed. In Vancouver, only 82 countries are represented, with a good handful of these countries only sending one or two athletes. It's understandable though. Not all countries have access to winter terrain, but everyone can go run on a track or jump in a pool. My worry with the Winter Olympics is that they are so much more dangerous. At least that's what I think. Between the tragic death of the mens luger from Georgia and the numerous crashes I've seen in speed skating and skiing, it's scary. These people have guts. I could never tell myself that "ok I'm going to go down this icy track at 90 mph and get out of it unscathed." No, I'm a scaredy cat, completely. In fact, right now NBC is doing a highlight on how high risk the Winter Olympics are. Nice timing, eh?

Despite my worry, I really can't take my eyes off of it. In the beginning of my fascination with the Olympics, it was strictly figure skating, because that was my mom's favorite. So we would watch that. But now I watch it all. For instance, right now I'm watching women's moguls where American Hannah Kearney just won Gold. I think the American's first gold of the Games. The first of many I hope. Next up is Apollo Ohno in speed skating and well I love him. Of course. haha. In fact, figure skating is the one sport where I only have a mere interest in this year. It's not because we don't have a strong team (it's an ok team) but because everything else seems so exciting to me. I was watching women's hockey this morning. That's right, I watched hockey. What is this world coming to?!

On that note, I think that's what I like most about the Olympics. It's the world. Literally the World Championships. It's the whole world coming together for a bit of friendly (at least it should be) competition. Everyone is invited and no one is discriminated. It's the ultimate networking event (sorry just had to throw in some PR-ness). And someday I will be there, either as a spectator, employee or both. I want to so bad. I am strongly considering going to London 2012. I will try even harder for Sochi 2014 and I will be at Rio de Janeiro 2016. That is what I want to do. The more I think about it, the more that I know that I want to work with the Olympics. Either with the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) or the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Of course, the USOC is closer to home (it's in Colorado) than the IOC (Switzerland). We'll see. The next few years should be fun.

And I'm done. Happy watching! Go Team USA!!

technology + me = success?

So something amusing has happened. At least it's amusing to me. Besides working on this blog, I have been helping with the upkeep of my student organization's conference website. It's a simple webs.com blog but still the thought of ME being the forerunner on something to do with technology is a little silly to me. I even taught my friend how to do something on it and he's the techno expert on most things. In fact, in the year that we have been friends, I have learned how to do about 50% of the things I do on my macbook. And I love it. I like knowing what I'm doing and I like getting creative with the website...which you can check out if you go to my facebook page and click on the link.

Now this new subject occurred a long time ago, but I have become one of "those" people who you rarely see without her laptop. All I'm missing is a smartphone, which sad to say is almost a necessity for me at this point. I still have a simple messaging phone, and although it has been very loyal and worked well for me the last few years, just isn't cutting it anymore. It's a dilemma for me. I want a new phone but don't exactly have the money for it. But I also want a new laptop (mine is coming up on 4 years old) and the new Creative Suite from Adobe (omgosh it's amazing). My goal is to have all 3 of these items in my possession at latest December, which is when I graduate and my student discount on said laptop and CS program disappear. So that's the goal. Besides having a fabulous year.

Ok those are my thoughts for right now. Ciao!

Brain Emptying at its finest

So my original thought for this blog was to be a place where I would post maybe once a week and be done with it until my summer took off. Now I feel like it's a place to empty my brain and get my thoughts out without saying it out loud.

Stress has quickly become an unwelcome constant in my life. At least from now until the weekend of March 18. I usually can remain calm and generally avoid stress while still getting a lot done. But this is too much for me already. Between my student organization's activity we are hosting in March to the slew of reading I have for classes to my frustration with my waitressing job, it's just a little much right now. I know that it will pass and I will get through it but jeez. I've said this before and I'll say it again. I really think that life after college will almost be easier to manage. We'll go from taking a full load of classes, juggling and internship and a job to just one job (hopefully).

On a positive note, my friends and I had a "family" dinner last night. We were at my friend's house and had dinner with his dad and brother and there were a total of 9 of us at the table with a HUGE bowl of pasta and an equally huge bowl of salad in the middle of the table. At one point, it was silent except for eating sounds...that's when you know the meal was good. And it was a home-cooked meal with my amazing friends. I loved it, but then I got an overwhelming feeling of homesickness and even teared up for a few seconds.

So that is my brain emptying for the day. Sorry if I sounded a little bit whiny but it's going to be one of those days. =).

A week of highs and lows

The first week of school is always an interesting one. With some classes, you know what to expect, either by knowing the teacher and their writing style or hearing from fellow classmates who have already had that class. Others, you have no idea what to expect and are going in blind. This semester, I have a decent mix of the two. I have a lot of research and writing to do this semester on top of my extracurricular activities. Some of this I expected and some I was thrown for a loop. But luckily I am able to take a bit of a break and concentrate just on school and work, instead of also throwing an internship into the mix. I was up for an internship with a great company but unfortunately my class schedule and schedule for the rest of the year didn't go with their needs. So here I am for the first time in a while, only working ONE job and having a full load of classes. We'll see if I get bored at some point. My goal is to get straight A's because I have the time to concentrate on classes.

So the highs with school were reconnecting with friends that I haven't seen since before winter break started and getting excited about some classes I am taking that I've always wanted to take (human sexuality for all you curious people) and the lows were realizing that I am taking some classes that may very well kick my butt (one class requires 8 5-6 page papers along with a group presentation, 2 solo presentations and 2 short presentations; another requires a 20 page research paper at the end of the semester). Also,the stress of an upcoming event that my student organization is planning and hosting is starting to really set in and take its toll. Like I said, it's going to be a long, interesting but fun semester.

On the home front, the highs were welcoming a new roommate that is fantastic already. She decorated our shared bathroom in a way that I have only dreamed of doing. I know that's a funny thing to point out but for me it's a big deal. I do miss my old roommate but life happens and people move around. So yay for a new roommate who seems like she is going to be fun! The lows of the week is realizing that this is the worse off I have been financially...ever. When I first started working, it was for pocket money and to have something to do after school and to learn about responsibility and get a little better at my work ethic. And I truly liked working because it was something new and I was doing something I had never done before.

Now it is to support myself because I have bills to pay and things to buy (necessities and once in a great while now something fun). I am a waitress and like most restaurants this past year, mine is still recovering and I am not working nearly enough or good enough shifts to get a good amount of money. It's really kind of scary. But I am, and always have been, pretty independent and believe that I can do it on my own...with a little help now and then. I have my parents to thank for that mindset and for the help now and then.

I said in a previous post that this was going to be a great year and I still believe that. However, it is going to be great in a different way than I originally thought. I am going to grown and learn a ton this year. And I am really looking forward to it.