On This Cloudy Day

The past 48 hours or so have been quite interesting to say the least.  I had two midterms yesterday and of course and inevitably, I fell behind in my readings.  So I began studying some time Wednesday evening, in through thursday until 4am, went home slept for four hours, woke up at 8am, almost slept through my first midterm, got to class at 9.05 am (five minutes late), and began writing my midterm for geog…*takes a deep breath*  ten minutes into the midterm (which is in essay format) I take a few seconds to actually read the instructions and realise I only have to answer two out of the three questions that are given.  I quickly realise I’m writing on the hardest question.  So I scratch that out and start working on the two easier questions.  After that exam was over with, I skipped my next class to review for my midterm which was in two hours.   Studied, went to the class, wrote the midterm, ran out of time and wasn’t able to really complete the last question on the exam but felt good nonetheless.  Thankful that my ordeal was finally over, I went to Friday Prayers, went home and slept from 2-8pm, took two hours to get ready, went to Tim Hortons, grabbed a steep tea, and spent the night at university, getting home at 6am in the morning, having only studied for one out of the seven hours I was there for.   Went to bed at 7, woke up at 11 and now, at 2.45pm, I am planning on getting ready for what I hope to be a more productive night of studying.

Even though I got four hours of sleep, I feel good right now.  I feel happy and positive.  I absolutely love cloudy days and today is one cloudy day.  The plan is to feed off this positive energy that Im feeling by the clouds and use it as motivation to get my assignments and labs done before Monday morning.

Speaking of feeding off positive energy, Im totally feeling the positive vibes by these two:

11:25PM…

…sitting alone in a workroom in the library studying for a midterm tomorrow that I haven’t studied for until tonight.  Why oh why do I always do this to myself?  I will probably end up staying here until 3 at the very least.

It’s only Monday and I have already assured the destruction of the rest of this week.  Tired, groggy, upset sleeping pattern…I can just see myself being totally unproductive for at least 7 days.  Perfect recipe for the doing of nothingness.

Wish me luck!

Slow Start

So this semester has gotten off to a very slow start for me.

I had an hour long presentation last week which I literally pulled together at the last minute.  I didn’t even know the exact date my presentation was on.  It got so bad that I showed up to class one day thinking my presentation was that day.  I was so nervous and so not prepared.  I was actually contemplating telling the prof I was sick or something.  It turns out, my presentation wasn’t til a week later.  Luckily I managed to put together a decent presentation that the prof and the class actually appreciated.

I have a midterm coming up this Friday and I just downloaded all the notes we’ve gone through since the beginning of the semester off of the school site.  I have a week to study for it but as of right now, I have no idea what is going on in the class.  It’s not that I don’t go to class (although I have skipped a significant amount), I just don’t pay attention in that class.  All I do when I come to class is open up my notebook and surf the web; stalking people on facebook or thoroughly reading every article on every news site I can get to in an hour.  And as of right now, I have been sitting in the library attempting to study for the past three hours and I have gotten nothing done.

In my other class, I know I have a midterm coming up but I don’t know exactly when.  The prof has provided no dates on the course outline which is utterly frustrating.  On top of that, I have to submit a presentation proposal soon and I don’t even know what I will present on.  It would help if I went to that class, but I have literally attended that class twice since the semester as begun.

I really need to start getting my act together.  I was doing so well last semester; not only having fun but also keeping on top of all my work.  This time, it hasn’t played out that way.  Ive been having way too much fun and haven’t been paying any attention to my school work.

I had this little mantra last semester that if I get a little bit done each day or every few days, I won’t be stressing at deadlines.  I stuck to that and it actually worked.  It kept me from procrastinating (for the most part) and kept me on top of everything I have had to do.  I think I need to constantly remind myself of that. If I don’t, the semester will be over before I know it and I’ll be stuck in a position come exam time where I don’t want to be.  And it seems like this semester is going to fly by.  I looked at the calender today and its already Feb!.

Plus, I need to get over this Gossip Girl addiction that I’ve recently aquired…

After Semester, Red Eyes and No Sleep

Well the fall semester has come to an end for quite some time now.  I actually ended my semester at precisely 9:01am on the 17th of December to be precise.  That is when I managed to hand in my take home exam (7 hours before it was due) and finally get some sleep.

This semester was probably one of the most fun semesters I have had since first year.  I got involved in a lot of stuff that was happening on campus.  I made a ton of new friends and even got a bit closer to some of my older friends.  My classes weren’t all that bad either.  I also managed to get to know all my profs a bit better as well.  Considering I’ll be needing reference letters soon from them, I am glad I got to know them but regret not getting to know some of my previous professors.

But I also worked really hard this semester as well.  This was probably one of the most intensive semesters I have had in quite a while.  The library became my second home, literally.  Especially during the last month, month and a half of school, I was at University til 2 or 3 in the morning everyday.  My days turned into my nights and my nights turned into my days.  My entire sleeping schedule turned upside down and I still haven’t been able to recover from it.  During exam time, I was getting home at 4, 5, even 6 in the morning.  It was brutal.

I dedicated a lot of time to my finals.  But its my take home final that  will not soon forget.  This final was due on the 17th of December at 4.30pm, the last day of exams.  I got up at around 3 or 4pm the day before as I had a final then.  I took my time getting ready and finally headed out at 6.  I picked up a friend and we managed to get to the U at around 7.30 in the evening.  After finding what is arguably one of the most perfect study rooms in the entire university, I began my final at around 9ish at night.  So essentially I had 20 questions that I had to write on with no set page limit or restrictions of any kind.  So I began writing.  I discovered that I was averaging about half a page per question and each question was taking me roughly anywhere between 15 minutes to a half hour to complete.  Sometimes I would go all out and end up writing an entire page (single spaced) for some questions.  When I was writing I noticed time flying by like it was nothing.  It was actually quite amazing to look at the clock, look down at my work and when I looked up again, an hour had gone by; one wouldn’t even feel it.  When it was around 3am or so, the two people I was studying with decided to take a nap since they had their exam bright and early at 8am.  I never slept.  I wrote and wrote and wrote until I was finally done at around 8.15am or so.

After editing and all that, I ended up writing about 16 single spaced pages in 12 font.  When I double spaced it, it turned out to be 32 or so pages.  I couldn’t believe I managed to write that much.  It was amazing.  When I went to go hand it in, my prof was there accepting an exam from another student.  I was the second one to hand it in and apparently the girl before me had written about the same.  After I handed it in, I couldn’t believe that I had written that much.  I surprised myself.  I was going to go home but then I ended up staying and chatting with some friends for a few hours.  By the time I went home, my eyes were barely open.  I was talking like I was high or something.

I am sure I got my marks back by now but I am not going to check them until after Christmas.  I am confident that I did well on them so I don’t really have all that much to worry about.  And also, I just don’t want to think about school at this point in time.  I need a good mental break right now.  I feel like I am intellectually burnt out right now.  All I want to do is mindless stuff that doesn’t really require any hardcore cognitive activity.  Plus, I need to get back into a regular, normal sleeping pattern which is proving to be quite difficult.

All in all, it has been a good semester.  I will remember this semester for a very long time, I am quite sure of that.  I desperately hope that next semester, which will FINALLY be my last semester will be even more fun.  *Fingers crossed*

The Last Week of Classes

Well, it is upon us my friends.  It’s the last week of school.  And it is intense on campus.  People are running around all over the place with the look of utter fear on their faces.  It’s as if all of us are staring death right in the face.  There is nowhere to study on campus.  The library is literally flooded with people.  Every floor of every tower, every classroom, and every cubicle is occupied with crammers.

First exams begin on Saturday and I am one of those unfortunate souls that will be sacrificed early on that morning.  I don’t even know where to begin studying.  The prof threw so much information at us this semester that it literally seems impossible.  I just hope whatever studying that I manage to pull of over the next three days will actually be worth something.  I can’t afford to get a B in the class. I desperately need at least an A-.

I finally finished my last remaining paper last night.  It was such a good feeling handing it in and knowing that I will not have to do any of these things again for another couple of months.  I used to love doing papers during the first year or two of University but now I am just literally sick of them.  I hate researching my topics, I hate trying to figure out how to structure my essay, what to put in, what to leave out…all that sorta stuff.  I hate editing my work after I am done.  The worst part about papers, the one thing that literally irritates me are footnotes and citations.  They are such a pain it’s not even funny.  Footnoting and citing literally takes me an hour at the very least.  But like I said before, thank God I won’t have to do any of that for a while.

My condition right now is horrid.  I am so stressed for this up coming exam.  I have no eating schedule, no sleeping schedule no going home schedule…nothing.  I am in desperate need of a haircut and my nails are so long that it’s actually embarrassing.  I don’t think I’ll have time to shave until a few days before Christmas when exams are finally over.  I have bags under my eyes because I can’t sleep properly.  And dressing decent is out of the question.  I am walking around school literally looking like some guy that just got off work from a construction site.  I am trying to find every excuse in the world not to study.  I am constantly hungry and constantly irritated.  If I had swear jar, it would be filled to the top right now.  It’s getting so bad that coffee and tea have no effect on my whatsoever.  Caffeine highs are no longer doing it…I need something harder than caffeine.  I think it’s time to move up to energy drinks.

For those of you who will be joining me in these crutial last weeks of the semester, I wish you the best of luck.  Godspeed.

The First Few Days of Fall

Well its that time of year again.  The leaves are beginning to change colour and fall off their branches.  The temperature is starting to crawl down to the single digits and the sky is frequently overcast with clouds.  Its autumn.  And this is perhaps one of the most ambiguous periods in the fall semester. 

Its ambigious for one reason really…midterms.  Midterms usually begin sometime between the first week of October to the third week in October in some cases.  Theoretically as students, we should always be studying for our classes and reading our textbooks…theoretically.  In reality however, its much more complicated than that.  Its one of those times were it still kind of feels like that school has just begun (even though its the third week of classes already).  So its kind of early to study for midterms.  And if you have a paper that is due, its normally not due until late November or early December.  So what is a student to do?

My suggestion is to hang out with friends.  Right now is prime time to conduct as much socializing as possible.  Why?  Because every ones schedule is so light.  People can afford to waste time and procrastinate, even miss a class here and there.  As long as you keep up with your readings and stuff (which in reality is not all that hard) socialize away! Do it now because once midterms hit, everyone is going to be a stranger and nobody is going to have time to hang out and chill…unless they have a sever case of procrastination.  If that is the case well then…I have no advice for you.

So waste as much time as you can now because you can comfortably afford to do so.  Go out with friends, stay out late and be merry because as soon as midterms hit, surely you are going to regret not getting it out of your system.