Today I was working in my Random University library. They are now starting to box up shelves and shelves of reference materials – bound journals, archived magazines, technical dictionaries and the like – and send them to a central consortium storage place. You will still be able to access the materials by requesting them through the college library and there is an easy method to do so though the college computer system.
However, seeing all of the volumes being put onto carts and taken away makes me incredibly sad. One of my favorite pastimes in libraries is walking randomly through the stacks, pulling down books or topics that look interesting at the moment, and finding very surprising, fascinating bits of information. For example, one day in Ye Olde Colonial College’s stacks I found a series of bound women’s magazines from the 1940’s through the 1980’s. To look through all those volumes and see the ads and fashions of yesteryear, all of the articles of housewife-y information and advice, was quite a treat. Another time, I was wandering though and started reading old business magazines, marveling at the predictions and business practices from decades ago.
I know that in writing this I sound incredibly old fashioned, like someone nostalgic for the good old days, not sufficiently appreciative of the current technologies that allow people to access any information from anywhere. Well, I *am* appreciative – especially as a student and a researcher of sorts – but as someone who is always interested in a wide range of topics, and who sometimes depends on random connections to spark creativity, I think that the disappearance of the physical books from the scene can be considered tragic.
On another blog, someone was talking about how, as a kid, he would pull random books down from his parents’ shelves and read them as they struck his fancy. If we all have kindles or e-readers, will that moment of random discovery ever happen? Will everything in the future have to be purposefully sought out? What does this mean for future generations? I mean, I know that Wikipedia has a "random" function, but that supposes that you are constantly connected to a computer. I prefer not to spend huge amounts of time staring at a screen, and a tiny one at that! (And gee, can you tell that from my sucky posting these days?)
I also wonder why one technology has to push out another so quickly. I'd much rather continue to have choices of how I'd like my information, but it seems that especially in the newspaper realm those choices are being made for me, even though I'm willing to actually pay for the format I prefer.
These are some of the things that occupy my brain these days. Do you agree? Or do you think I need to adjust my tinfoil hat? Inquiring minds want to know . . .
A few weeks ago, my Economics class took a field trip to the Federal Reserve. The trip was both awesome and a bit discouraging to me. Here goes . . .
We went to the big marble building on Constitution. Of course, we had to have our IDs checked and go through the x-ray machines and get frisked first. We all got big yellow name badges, which we sadly had to return when the tour was over. Once everyone had gone through security and assembled, we were led down a hall to an elevator which took us to the second floor. There we entered in the middle of a huge, marble columned atrium - a bit reminiscent of the Capitol and some of the Congressional office buildings. We were led around the railings to an anteroom where we could hang up our coats and then we were led across the marble floors, across the big gold seal of the Federal Reserve, to the Fed Board of Governors Board Room.
It was breathtaking. The room is huge and looks like what you would image the White House meeting rooms might look like. Huge oval table in the middle, with large, comfortable leather/cloth/wood fancy office chairs - you know, the kind executives get, not the crappy ones us worker bees usually have. The chairs that the Board Governors sit in have a brass plate engraved with the Board’s last names at the top. Mr. Bernanke (as his name was on his chair) sits not at the head of the table but in the middle of the side. Our professor said that when she worked there, Mr. Greenspan would definitely sit at the head of the table, which was much more intimidating. We were allowed to sit in any of the chairs at the main table that we wanted before the presentation started, which is how I got to sit in the Chairman's chair. Woo! Very cool!
Along the walls are frames with samples of the original Federal Reserve Notes ($1, $2, $100 bills, etc.) from various years (1917, 1922, etc.) Also, interestingly, the Board room was the site of some major diplomatic talks during WWII and there were several plaques in the room marking those occasions when FDR and Churchill met in the room, and also when FDR and the Joint Chiefs of Staff met. We weren't allowed to take pictures, otherwise I would have. (Remember this . . .)
We were not the only RandomUniversity class scheduled for this presentation - besides our Money and Banking class, there was also a class from the “Semester in the City” program. Their professor had actually scheduled the presentation first and our professor arranged it so our class was able to piggy-back onto theirs. The Fed is getting away from giving presentations to school groups since with all of the work going on with the current economic crisis; many Fed folks don't have time to take people around, so we were lucky that they didn't cancel our session. Like I said, my professor used to work there, so that helped a bit.
All of the students from my class were there on time – in fact, we made sure to arrive early for the aforementioned frisking and to get settled in. Beforehand, my professor told us not to bring cameras and she warned us that since this presentation would be "Fed 101" our class would already know a great deal about what was being discussed. On this day, we were lucky to have a Senior Advisor at the Fed briefing us, who had a very "money" name that almost would have come straight out of a Dickens novel. However, since we weren't the class that made the arrangements, we weren't allowed to sit at the big table during the presentation - the other class had dibs. Of course, the other class dribbled in 5 minutes late, after Mr. Moneyed-name had started speaking.
The presentation WAS a lot of the information that we had learned earlier in the semester, but Mr. Moneyed-name was able to add a bit of color to the Fed's rationale for its decisions. When he was finished (after an hour), we only had 15 minutes to ask questions. The first question was from the Semester in the City professor who asked about what the Fed could do about outrageous credit card rates. Now, as students of the Fed know (like me!), the Fed has no authority or oversight over credit card companies . . . and that pretty much was the answer. The Fed can suggest things, but it really isn't its place. Then someone from my class asked why the Fed doesn't do more coordinated efforts with the EU Central Bank and the Bank of England. This lent itself to a longer more thoughtful answer about how each country, thinking that the crisis really wasn't going to be that bad, preferred to do its own thing, but now we might see more coordination as the seriousness of the crisis becomes more and more evident. Then the other class asked a question, which I can't remember at this point, but I do remember it was kind of pointless so I didn't listen very hard. Some other people in our class wanted to ask questions, but by then our time was up and we had to leave.
As we were getting up to go and filing out of the room, the Semester in the City folks started taking pictures in the room. Our class was noticing this and getting really uncomfortable, but we didn't say anything because their professor (who was much older and bald with a bad comb-over) was *helping them* take pictures. But then the guard lady came in and yelled at them to stop, and we all were rushed out of the room. I hope they didn't ruin the experience for future classes . . .
Being in the room and listening to the Fed person was such a wonderful, exciting experience for me - I'm really glad I took the morning off and went. In a way, the experience was also a bit of a downer because to work at the Fed you either need (a) a Ph.D in Economics or (b) you can be a Research Assistant, but those jobs are mostly for kids straight out of college who want to spend 2 years figuring out if they want to grad school or law school. Either way, it didn't sound like I would have much of a chance . . .
Also, on the way to the Fed and on the way back, the professor took 6 of us in her large van. During the trip, the other students were talking with her about their studies abroad and their grad school plans - one woman had studied in Ghana for a year, one woman is from Nicaragua and is deciding whether to go to the University of Chicago for Econ grad school, another is leading a spring break study trip abroad to study poverty in Mexico, one person is interning at the Grameen Bank, one is interning at the IMF - and I just felt so . . . small and stupid. I just felt really bad and I really don't have any comparable experiences to talk about, so I just sat quietly in the back. I know that I shouldn't feel bad – that I have a ton of experience - but in the world I want to get into someday . . . I don't think I'll be able to, with so much competition who've actually been places and worked on these major things. I don't know what I should be aiming for anymore . . . I just want to do good in the world, and try to help people, and I don't know what that means or if I'll ever be able to do it on the scale I want to. I have a lot more thinking to do . . .
So on that downer note, I'll just say that being at the Fed made me want to really study Econ more, while at the same time I feel like I have these huge limitations on me that everyone else in my class doesn't have . . . and it kind of hurts . . . I have to be creative and figure out more non-conventional ways of making an impact in whatever I end up doing.
So that’s one thing I’ve been busy with during the past month – how about you?
This is going to sound really geeky, but I was super-excited to hear the Paul Krugman, the New York Times columnist, blogger and Princeton professor, received this year’s Nobel Prize in Economics.
I have been reading his column for a long time, been following his blog, and started reading his books for one of my econ classes last semester. His writing is accessible, full of common-sense and has an element of speaking truth to power – which, as someone grappling with learning economics and trying to associate what she learns in ways that can help the greater good, has made him quite a role model for me.
So yay Dr. Krugman! Thus ends the geek portion of today’s blogging . . .
OK, what’s the deal with all these people randomly shooting up places? I know it’s a stressful chaotic time now, but . . . wow? Some guy shoots up a city council meeting in Missouri, someone else shoots some girls at a college, and that’s just in the last 12 hours or so.
Also in the area where I live, there seems to be a guy (or a bunch of copycat guys) going around attacking women who are walking home alone – and not necessarily late at night, but in the morning and early evenings too. This is why I can’t walk home from work anymore, even though my condo is only 2 miles away and I could use the exercise. In the paper today, I read that they may have caught someone who was responsible – the cops saw him dragging a woman into the woods yesterday and caught him right away. Creepy, but from the way they described it I don’t think this is THE guy, but someone who saw an opportunity. Oy! They joys of living in an urban area . . .
Bad news and good news: Bad news is that I am totally fed up with my Econ professor – in class he is STILL going over how to graph a demand curve, while lots of the other classes have already moved on three or four chapters ahead. I am beyond frustrated and am trying really hard to keep up with this man’s thought processes, but it is really difficult. Good news – I was finally able to get into the discussion section for another class, and I start going on Monday night. The TA sent me the syllabus for the class the section is for and I just about wanted to cry. They are already starting on Chapter 6 and have completed the first exam and wrote first reaction papers. The textbook that is being used is awesome (I had to buy it to keep up with the section) and has a lot of practice problems. The professor is doing a lot of interactive discussions and there is a lot of group-work connected to current events. Well, at least I know that when I take my next Econ class, what professor I should try to get . . .
I am also very excited because even though now I am in effect taking two classes and am going to have to do a LOT more work, I think I will have the good foundation that I will need to continue on in Economics – if I survive this semester, that is . . .
Ok, as I’m typing this (in the school library yet!) there is a girl sitting next to me who is coughing up a phlegmy storm. Ewww! Sweetie, do you want a cough drop? Some Lysol? I’m quite surprised that I’m not sick more often, given how I seem to end up next to the coughers and sneezers . . .
OK, I have to actually run to my class now, but I hope that everyone is going to have a great weekend. Sending many happy vibes your way . . .
(1) My Microeconomics class this semester, at first glance, is going to kick. my. butt. Seriously. But it will be in a good way, and if I complete it successfully I will be well set up for future economic study - I am quite sure of it. At least I'm being optimistic to start out . . .
(2) I've fixed the e-mail address attached to this blog so it will be much easier to check that mailbox daily. My old e-mail was a pain to check, so I would only check it, oh, once every month or two . . . or three. Ooops! Especially oops when people would ask me questions, so if I've taken forever to get back to you, I promise that I will never do that again, to the best of my ability. Mea culpa!
There might be more changes to the blog this year, but it will be dependent on how much time I can spare and whether I feel like learning WordPress . . .
I have a 4 page paper due for my International Relations class this evening and, of course, I put off writing anything until last night. I HAVE been doing research for the past week or so, so I’m not a total slacker, but for some reason I just could not get myself girded to write anything until last night.
Last night was my sister’s birthday, so we took her out to a very yummy sushi place in Woodley Park (DC). Of course, we did not get there until about 8:30 and didn’t leave until about 9:50, which means we didn’t get home until well after 10 PM. And, you know, it takes a while to settle in once one gets home, and then I had to flounder around in panic because I couldn’t figure out an angle from which to write my paper . . . so, long story short, I didn’t start writing in earnest until after 1:30 AM and I didn’t get to bed until 4:30.
I really hope that the argument I put forth in my paper holds up – I have Mr. Random reviewing it to make sure I don’t sound deranged. I really bit off more than I could chew with the topic I chose, since any one part of it could be made into a 50 page report. I *think* I picked a manageable part . . . but I could be totally wrong. I already know in my heart that I probably bombed my econ paper, so I wouldn’t be surprised if this one was rather sucky too . . .
So now I’m exhausted and running on Starbucks coffee and Diet Pepsi. I’m not quite awake, but too wired to be asleep. When I am really tired, I tend to get very silly and my mind goes a million miles an hour while my reflexes dwindle down to next to nothing. Today is going to be an interesting day at work, and I know that I shouldn’t try to do anything that will require lots of thought or talking or things will just be ugly. On the good side, at least that means I should be able to sleep like a rock this evening . . .
In other news, today starts NaNoWriMo! My goal this year is to have at least 10,000 words written in 30 days. Given my paper output in the past few weeks, I do believe that it is a reachable goal. I will get this year’s icon up when I get a chance. Unfortunately, it looks like I’m not going to be able to get one of their cool mugs this year because they are already sold out . . . bummer!
I would write more but my brain is totally fried. I wave a cheery hello to everyone!
Here are my “Random Bullets of Crap” to catch everyone up on what’s been going on with me:
Updates of the College Thing: I got a 97 on BOTH my Economics and my International Relations exams. Wooo Hooo! Rock on! However, I still have SO much work to do and can’t get complacent. I have a 5-7 page Econ paper due on Friday, and a 4 page Int’l Rel paper due on November 1. Econ homework problems due tomorrow. Econ exam coming up in three weeks. Much reading to be done. But at least I know I’m on the right track.
Speaking of the college thing, usually in most schools if you have part1 of a class at a certain day and time in the Fall semester, part 2 would be held at the same day and time for the Spring semester. Well, not at this school! Bummer! I have to take the next class either earlier in the day or much later, which will screw up the delicately balanced schedule that I have constructed around work and school. Not happy. I may just have to bite the bullet and reduce my work hours in the Spring, which while that would be great for my mental health, it will be quite lousy for the pocketbook.
Back to the Bard: The new theater season has started which means it’s time to go see some more plays! Tomorrow night I’m going to see Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” and in a few weeks (have to pin down the date soon) I hope to see “The Taming of the Shrew.” I LOVE being a “sophisticated theatergoer,” which is what my friend J and I like to call ourselves sometimes. One day, when I get my act together, I need to keep a list of all of the Shakespeare plays I’ve seen.
Movie Review: Saw "Rendition" on Saturday. It was OK, but it seemed like the writers should have just focused on one or two characters rather than having so many threads. Jake Gyllenhaal was pretty good, Reese Witherspoon did not seem to fit - in regards that she didn't have much to do except stand around and look indignant. Not enough Meryl Streep or Alan Arkin for my tastes. All of the actors who played in the North African parts were excellent, and as much as they were integral to the plot, I would have liked to see more about them and how they got to that point, instead of just all the hinting . . . I'm thinking that this is more a of rental in the future.
Pictures: I still have pictures to put up from the sightseeing we did last weekend. I did take the time to make the files “web ready,” I just need to figure out a better, easier way of posting them.
Observation: There is a young couple in my IR class, they can’t be more than 20 or 21 years old. Adorable. Quite smoochy. Sit next to each other when they show up to class. Last week, I noticed that the guy wasn’t taking any notes, but the girl was. I wanted to yell at the girl, “Don’t take notes for him! Make him do his own work!” I mean, I was kind of upset by that . . . my inner Feminist was not pleased.
Work Angst: I don’t know if I should talk about my work angst anymore. It’s hard to adequately convey the situation without you all knowing the place and the players. There’s a reason that most people who leave are hard and bitter for years afterward. I don’t want to get to that point, but I AM getting there . . .
National Novel Writing Month starts November 1st. Thirty days – 50,000 words. I’m in! I’m going to try. I’m setting my own mini goal of 10,000 words this year. http://www.nanowrimo.org/
Send Happy Vibes: My sister should be coming back to the states this week from Iraq for two weeks of R&R. Most of the time she is here she will be staying at the Random Condo with me and Mr. Random. Yay! She is supposed to fly out Wednesday night/Thursday, but it may take until Saturday for her to get here, since she is flying on a space available basis and has to change planes in Atlanta. I just want her to get here safely. I miss her a great deal and will be so happy to see her. Please send many happy vibes her way so that she has a safe trip here . . . anything can happen, you know. I’ve read too many stories about bad things happening at the last minute . . .
Status of the Random Condo: It’s a gosh-awful mess. It will be a miracle if we can get the place presentable in time for my sister to arrive. Need to at least get the bathroom and the guest room considerably neatened up. This also means that I will lose the use of my new desk/work area, but I can easily suck it up and work on my bed again for the next few weeks.
Updating of Wardrobe: Been going on a tear the past couple of weeks, getting some new clothes. Still haven’t found boots yet, but I do have a new winter coat . . . for once winter actually gets here. Get COLD, darn it! I’m trying to upgrade my wardrobe and have some nicer casual things that I can wear to school and on weekends, while at the same time upgrade my work wardrobe so at least I’ll feel like I look good not matter how lousy it is there . . .
Child’s Birthday Ideas: Have to go to a one year-old’s birthday party on Saturday. This child is not hurting for anything, so I am at a loss to know what to get him. He has very well-to-do parents, so I’m kind of feeling intimidated. Any ideas?
Overwhelmed: Yup, I’m there! There are a lot of wonderful things going on in my life right now, but are being outweighed by one really lousy one. It’s a big mental bummer. But I press onward, trying to stay optimistic.
I hope everything is going well for you, my lovely readers! I’m waving cheerfully at you through cyberspace and sending many happy vibes your way.
[Girly post alert: The below post contains a discussion about shoes. If you aren’t into that sort of thing, you can just read the first two paragraphs and consider yourself done. I promise it won’t hurt my feelings!]
So my exams are over now. One I know I did pretty well with, the other one . . . well, not as well. For the second exam, my brain just sort of gave out on me, and afterwards I was kicking myself for missing obvious things. I don’t know if it was because one exam was at 7:30 to 9:30 in the evening and the other was at 9:30 in the morning – I didn’t have enough “refresher time” for the second one, I guess. Plus, I had worked myself into a tizzy about both exams so I was bound to psych myself out on one of them. It kind of sucked that they were scheduled one right after another, and it’s going to happen that way for the final too, so I’m going to have to figure out an efficient way to handle studying for both at the same time . . .
So, being despondent when I left my exam today, I thought it would be a fine time to go look for some new pairs of boots. I usually wear my boots and shoes into the ground (I hate shoe shopping!) so I definitely feel the need for a couple of pairs of dress boots before the true cold weather sets in.
I went to a semi-famous shoe outlet and was rather disappointed in both the short and tall boot selections. Either the heels were too tall and I could see myself (a) tripping and falling a lot or (b) looking like I should stand on 14th street, or the heels were too low and the boots looked pretty dumpy. I’m pretty short, but I’m also pretty picky and I don’t feel the need to add another 4 or 5 inches to my height. It is also a terrible time finding shoes in my size – usually my size is snapped up pretty quickly. I also have the problem of wearing one size for one type of shoe and another size for another type of shoe, so I really have to try EVERYTHING on and walk around in them – no “off the rack” shoes for me!
Feeling even more grumpy, I moved around the store to look at other stuff and then these two pairs of shoes caught my eye. They were actually sitting right across from each other and seemed to call out my name.
I was very excited to see the Mary Janes – They are black suede with patent leather trim. I have a very, very old pair that are black suede that I bought about 7 years ago and I could never find a pair in that style to replace them. I have been still wearing the old pair, even though a lot of the suede has rubbed off – see, I told you I wear shoes to death!
The other pair are black leather oxfords – I’d been looking for a nice, normal looking pair for a while to wear with suits and dress pants. They were not too high and not too big or small.
And both pairs had sizes available that actually fit me. Yay!
So while the day started off pretty lousy, I now have two nice pairs of shoes which I can wear into the ground until this time next year. Retail therapy is a good thing sometimes . . .
I have two exams this week so in theory I shouldn’t be writing anything at all until after they are over on Friday afternoon.
This means that this week I’ll either write nothing or, in many fits of procrastination, I will write many of the longest, most well thought-out posts I’ve ever done in the history of this blog.
Bummer, my post count is going to be terribly low this month, and I had just started churning them out on a regular basis before all of this school stuff started . . .
So much to do, much to think about.
I got a “B” on my first Econ paper, which I was very happy with considering I hadn’t written a true school paper in about 16 years. Yay! Have two exams next week though, one on Thursday night and one on Friday morning, which will not be fun at all . . .
I am still having a bit of trouble feeling like I fit in somehow in the whole school environment. It is a bit lonely when leaving class sometimes – I’m not a grad student or a teacher or even one of the young undergrads at this point – and sometimes I think, my, it would be nice to hang out with someone or a group to have lunch, rather than just grab my bags and make my way home. There really isn’t a “returning students’” club on campus either, which probably would be a great idea for me. But I don’t want to be the one to start one . . . I know too well how much work that takes, starting a group from scratch and trying to nurture it long enough so it will run on its own. I just don’t have the energy for that right now, even though I could desperately use it . . .
I am lucky to have Mr. Random and my friend J and you all to talk to, but I would like to expand my network of folks again, even though I have even less time to do so . . .
Life at the Random Non-profit continues to be not fun at all, but it gives me enough flexibility to go to class 2 days a week, so I must hold on for at least another year . . .
Just wanted to check in . . . I hope you all are doing well!
Yup, school has started and I am trying to get into the swing of things. I am still overwhelmed and freaked out, but at the moment it is the usual Random Kath level of overwhelmed and freaked out, so things are semi-normal.
There are two young women who sit next to me in my Econ class that I would really like to throttle. Despite sitting near the front, they manage to chit-chat at highly inappropriate times, usually to complain that a lot of the history chapters we are going over now they learned in AP European History and it is a huge waste of their time – this isn’t economics!
First off, shut up. Can you both be any ruder? The teacher's right in front of you. AND I’m trying to hear! Secondly, while the content may mirror that history class you took, you need to now look at it with an ear to how economic systems developed and why things are the way they are today. I find it rather fascinating, especially when reading about the conditions that led to the Great Depression and what happened in the 1970s and 1980s. How does that saying go? “Those who do not learn history are condemned to repeat it.” Or something like that? Anyway, just read the paper to see how much people have to keep learning the same lessons over and over again . . .
Anyway, even though I am the one who sat there first, I think for my sanity I'm going to have to change seats. The class has 300 people in it - the room is fairly full, though I'm sure that soon some of the students are going to drop off due to the dryness of the professor's delivery and the early-ish hour . . .
In other news, I am trying to decide whether I should give up teaching my ESL class one night a week. On one hand, it brings me great joy – I love my students and I love actually trying to impart knowledge! On the other hand, while it doesn’t take as much time as before, I still have to take time to work on lesson plans and make copies, and the class itself kills one night that could be used for studying. I also know how hard it is to find new volunteers to pick up the hole – when I was a sub, I could have been teaching every night. I also really believe in the organization I’m volunteering for, and I’d feel bad by not continuing to contribute.
This is a very hard decision for me – this would be on top of my having to give up choir practice. Mr. Random says I should just wait and see how it goes . . . I may be able to fit it in to my schedule without a problem. However, part of me thinks I have enough on my plate with work and school without trying to fit more stuff on . . . I am so conflicted, and it is making me very sad and anxious. If I am going to stop teaching, I should let the ESL folks know right away, so that they have enough time to find a sub . . .
Oy! Why is this all so hard? I thought this was supposed to be a good thing I’m doing in my life, but it just seems to add more problems . . .
On another, happier, front, I’m going to have more pictures to show you soon. I’ve actually used my camera recently. Woo hoo! On Monday night, I took pictures at another comedy open mike. It was a special occasion, so I documented the evening by taking over 500 pictures. Wow! I didn’t intend to, but it just turned out that way – you’ve got to love digital cameras in that aspect!
My brain is fried, I haven’t had that much sleep, and I have a long day and evening ahead of me. I send many happy vibes out to you all . . .
School has started in full this week and I am already swimming in reading to do. Choir practice also started up again last night, but I didn’t get home until 10 PM. I think I’m going to have to give up my Wednesday night practices, at least for a while, until I start getting the swing of things.
I am highly anxious and feel very overwhelmed. Even though it has just been a week, already I seriously doubt how well I’m going to be doing this semester. And I’m only taking TWO classes! Hopefully, after the three day weekend, I’ll be all caught up and won’t feel so frantic about everything. My boss is being really supportive of me and I thank my lucky stars at night that she is around and being so encouraging. She’s part of the reason I decided to go back to school right now – if I had any other boss, the option probably wouldn’t have even been on the table.
Part of my anxiety is related to the fact that I started out this week with no sleep anyway, just worrying about things. Going to school is hard when you know you have a mortgage to pay. I listen to all of the students in my classes talk about their schedules and I feel highly envious – although I definitely wouldn’t want to be 18 years old again, that’s for sure! (BTW, not to be catty or anything, but some women seem to come to class WAY overdressed, over-made up and over-accessorized. My word, you’re not going to a club! You’re going to kill yourself on those heels! Besides, it’s only 10 AM! . . . yes, I am a cranky old lady . . .)
For my Econ class, they are going to have discussion sections led by TA’s where we will be required to turn in our weekly homework assignments. However, they did not include those dates and times in the original scheduling for the class. I am very concerned that these sessions will be scheduled on days and times that I will not be able to be on campus. I am lucky enough to get Tuesday and Friday mornings off – I really don’t feel comfortable taking off more time for this. Also, the professor’s office hours are on Mondays and Wednesdays from 1-4. Again, not very helpful – though I am sure that I could probably make an appointment if need be . . .
Little things like this are freaking me out. I want to take advantage of as many opportunities as I can to master the material, but it seems that I might not be able to do so and it upsets me greatly. I really, really want to do well . . . I know I have the capacity to do that, but I guess I’m so stressed out that all I can see are roadblocks in my way.
I need to chill out. I’m hoping to do something fun on Saturday to get my mind off of all this . . . stuff.
I hope that the rest of you are not as stressed out as I am . . .
