Introducing my bag

So I decided to use my blog to help me do my homework. See productive.

My first speech in my COMM1020 class is called "That's My Bag". It's basically an introductory speech about yourself using three items that represent you. I had originally discarded the past, present, and future option from the style of speech, but I think that's the one I'm going to go with.

My objects are...Okay, so this is part of where I get stuck. I'm pretty sure I know where I want to go with the speech, but I'm not really certain what objects to pair with the sections.

I know I want to play off of my obsession with the Asian culture. When I was a kid my favorite food was Ramen and my greatest goal was to become more Asian (difficult for a white girl who's biological parents are white.) I would actually spend time in the bathroom pulling the edges of my eyes back, letting go, and thinking they looked a bit more almond shaped than they had before. I thought almond shaped eyes and Asians looked quite lovely and I was going to be one.

College helped allow me to follow this obsession through both TaeKwon Do and Kung Fu classes. I remember Fielding walking in to the class the first day and wanting to get to know him. The instructor knew him from before and said he'd just gotten off his mission. (Yeah, like a year before.) Outside of the obvious fact that he was cute. He was also really happy and I was certain he had some interesting stories to tell. Unfortunately, Fielding wasn't really into being social and I practically had to stalk him (I know I'm creepy). But luckily, Fielding finally got around to talking with me and decided even though I was crazy (WAY too much energy for him) I was pretty cool. Then he decided I was cool enough to marry even if I wasn't the kind of girl he originally thought he'd marry.

But though marriage is amazing, it also can impact our life plans. Fielding and I both stopped going to school for a while and I finally got back in school two years ago to finish my Bachelors I'd started almost 8 years ago. (Wow, that's a really freaking long time ago.) I'm pursuing my Bachelors in History with a minor in Political Science and am hoping to finish by the end of this year or early next year. From there we'll just see what the future has in store.

hmm...I don't know why, but I feel like I'm still missing the paragraph about my future because my graduation (or expected, anticipated, insert other appropriate word) seems much more immediate than the 'future'. HA! Eureka!!! Brilliance. I totally just came up with the third object I need. An giant empty jar my aunt gave us for Christmas. (I know it might sound like a weird and random gift, but it really did and does still make sense. Find the book Penny's Christmas Jar Miracle then it will make sense.)

Empty jar representing all the hopes and dreams I want from life. I may not have any specific goals, but I do know that I want to be happy with Fielding doing whatever God has in the works for us. (See I told you, brilliant.) =) Also, did I mention my two weeks? Yup. Doing good.

Okay, I think I've got it so I'll leave you all alone now with my ramblings. =)

Long days are here to stay

Okay, so mostly I'm trying to avoid prepping a speech for my COMM1020 class (Or maybe in the more delusional part of my mind I'm hoping this will help strike my genius). Can I tell you how tired I am of school? I really am. I'm tired of every three months having to figure out what classes I can take that won't be too crazy or hectic when combined with everything else in my life (not that there really is a lot). It's just really exhausting to go to work full time and add an additional 15 credit hours on top of it. (I know I'm retarded, but only slightly.)

The funny thing is that I honestly think I would love to go to school all day every day if I didn't have to work. I LOVE school (excluding long papers). Not to mention there are a number of history classes I would love to attend simply to enjoy the pleasure of listening to a few professors lecture. Some people can't stand lectures, but I'm telling you you just haven't had a really good one in a subject you like. If you can find one though, you're bound to search through the offered courses for the next semester for that same professor.

*sigh* Part of me really would just love to be finished with my degree, but the other part of me is just sad that I'm missing out on so many great classes because being an adult means I have to have a job that pays my bills. Some days I wish it were easier for me to walk away from my job and responsibilities to my job, but I'm too devoted to just up and drop it. I want to type that maybe one day..., but I refuse. Instead I'll hope to have the opportunity to indulge in more school at a later date.

Oh, I guess the title mostly just references how full my life is at the moment. School, work, and spending time with Fielding. Not much I can cut out there, but maybe there's some prioritizing I can do. (Okay, I'm not including all the time I spend watching tv. It's such a good distraction from my homework.)

Because it really did make me lol

So I've always thought Fielding is a bit weird when he is sitting at the computer all by himself and I hear him laughing from the other room. But thanks to one of my friends, Danny, I found myself Loling tonight because of this link. Seriously I thought it was funny.

So for any of you who click on this and don't laugh, I'm sorry. Oh, also a heads up that it's about cats so if you're not fond you probably won't find it very amusing.

Oh and the semester is finally over. Failed one class, but got a B, C, and C-. Not my best work, but I'll take it. Sadly, school and work aren't really conducive for Jennifer's getting super great grades.

1 Down 3 to go

So I've pretty much finished one class completely (all I have left is one test). And from what I can tell, it should be a good grade too.Sweet!

So two tests and one 17 page research paper left (why do they have to be SO long? ) then I'm done for the semester. Hooray! (Just wish it were easier to see where I stand instead of having to wait two weeks until they post grades.)

(Sadly, it starts all over again on January 3rd.)

Not cool.

You know what isn't fun? Waking up about 30 minutes earlier than you normally do to drive 45 minutes up to campus to take a test. You know what makes it worse? When you get to campus only to find out that the testing lab doesn't actually open until 7:30.
Man. 30 minutes of waiting...

And after that 30 minutes of waiting, I actually have a class to attend. That means I don't have time to take my test and have to figure out a different time to deal with it all.

Oy!

Brain overload

So for most people school doesn't start for another week or so, but I had a seminar that started this last week. It consisted of 3 days (8 hours each day) of lectures. I signed up for the seminar at the advice of one of my favorite professors.

Overall the seminar was really interesting, but it was packed full of information and required A LOT of thinking. The seminar was titled 20th Century U.S. Leaders (sounds interesting, right?). I wasn't really certain what to expect because this if the first seminar class I've ever attended. I figured lots of lecture, movies, and a bit of Q&A. I was wrong. The majority of the class consisted of a dialogue between the presenter and the class. Lots of deep thinking analysis about the foreign aid policy following the Cold War (1945-1989).

I seriously left the class each day thinking about all of the stuff we learned in class that day and how ill informed I am about the state of America and our government. Did you know that we have a National Security Plan (essentially a strategy plan) that is available online to the public?

I didn't. I thought that that was part of the reason why we voted on the President. (I know this is just showing how ignorant I've been.) I figured they decided these things and we'd only find out about them after the fact.

Also, do you know why we're at war? (Yes, this was covered extensively in the seminar and yes, the presenter is a hard core Democrat.) My only point in this is how many of us have really thought about this and looked into finding out an answer to this or do we ignore it and let others worry about it. (Wow, can I tell you how...political I feel right now?)

(SOAPBOX below, but hopefully it's short and to the point)
I guess overall what I got out of the class is how much more I need to do as an American citizen. I need to learn more about where we're at, what the government is doing, and MAKE DECISIONS about where I want to go. We should become more educated about our country. We can't hope others will keep our interest at heart if we're not willing to take the time to tell them what we think. That's the other part. THINK. We need to start thinking. Use our minds to find out what we think. Even if we don't all agree (cause we know that rarely happens). Learn to speak with people of differing opinions without belittling them or their ideas. Instead learn. Learn why they think what they do. Maybe they are aware of something you aren't.

Okay, I think the soapbox is over. lol. I guess I can go now that my brain is once again hurting. Overall, I'm going to read more political books and articles. I'm going to learn more about policy and start thinking more about it too. (Maybe then, I'll feel better about having political conversations.)

(And as a side note, women in the early church were VERY active in politics.)