Do I really have to graduate?

So our class schedule for next semester came out this week. Normally, I love this time of the semester. It's so full of opportunities to learn something new and there is the whole puzzle about how to get everything you need at the best times. I know I'm a dork but it's kind of fun.

This semester is different though. I am going to be a senior. Talk about scary. I technically need 23 credits in order to graduate which means that I actually get to take a real free elective. I might take something with friends but who knows, I could also just take a light schedule with only what I need and then focus on all of the other exciting things that I have going on next year.

Through talking to other people about scheduling while I have been here and as I have previously mentioned, I really appreciate Lehigh's scheduling and registration process. At Georgetown, from what I understand, they pre-register for classes meaning that they make requests of the class they want and then the registrar makes the schedule for you. Changes can be made at the start of the semester but I feel like this is confusing and a lot can happen those first few days. Who wants to be behind before they have started?

My co-worker from Australia told me that at his school, he chose his courses and then the registrar would make the times work for as many people as possible so you would know what classes you were taking but you didn't know what times until later.

I like the system that we have that most people register on their designated night at 10:00 and know exactly what they are taking by 10:05 unless something went wrong and schedules must be reworked. We have time to sort out our classes until about ten days into the following semester and the registrar maintains the right to change the class times but I have never heard of that happening. It's nice to have it all figured out and plan extracurricular activities accordingly.

Graduation already seems to be looming in the distance, fast encroaching on the life I love I can only imagine how I am going to feel throughout the next year. I thoroughly plan on making a bucket list with my housemates to accomplish everything we want to before graduation but there is so much that needs to be done! I have to admit that I haven't made a huge effort in the past but starting with this semester, I have tried to make more of an effort to experience things and have no regrets. I went to the cherry blossom festival yesterday which made me miss Lehigh more, not because of the cherry blossoms themselves but because by taking the entire afternoon to take a long walk and go see things, I came back to a really heavy feeling of stress with all of the things I have to do as a shadow over the experience. What frustrates me is that when I get an assignment at Lehigh, most of the time it really matters that I do it, usually for the educational content. Semester long projects are usually done in steps. I currently have projects that I am attempting to work on for the entire semester, but there is no time! I mean, I have class from 9-3 with only an hour break on Mondays and Fridays, I work 9-5 on Tuesdays through Thursdays and then have class from 6-8 on Mondays and Wednesdays. By the time I get back to my room, I am exhausted. I barely have time to do laundry or clean my room, let alone work on my research paper. That exhaustion continues to the weekend when no matter how much sleep I try to get, something always needs to be done and something is always more pressing than my paper. Now, we have group debates and another paper for a different class which all require the same amount of time each week as my research paper. Maybe this is why Georgetown gives so much time off? They know that students need to recuperate more often from the insane amounts of time spent on school work. I honestly don't know what I would do without this four day weekend coming up, especially because in theory I can take Thursday off from work but I would rather go to work than procrastinate all day and work is less exhausting then classes. I like that Lehigh professors seem to have a better sense of balance and while we might have one or two bad weeks with a lot of stress, that tends to lend to another couple of weeks with a far lighter load.

Now I must go and write my debate speech for tomorrow. Whoop de doo.

Little Darling, the smiles returning to the faces

Since I have been in DC, I have started skimming the headlines of the New York Times almost every morning on the bus. I have watched my friends get increasingly frustrated by their schools and heard about the thousands of students who have tried to change the way their education is being handled.

I am so glad I don't have that to deal with. Yes, Lehigh is a private school but you can get out in four years if you pay attention. One of the things that is driving me crazy this summer is that I pay for tuition and a meal plan and housing but that doesn't cover everything that I need to get by. It seems like a really small thing but the fact that Lehigh doesn't charge for printing is privilege that I will be thankful for from now on. There, I don't have to strain my eyes reading page after page of information I need for a paper either on the computer or in a minuscule font that I was forced to use to not have it cost me a fortune to print. Their system of what I can use my dining dollar equivalents for makes no sense and is just annoying. Plus, food off campus is far more expensive than around Lehigh but there are pretty much similar types of options if you know where to look.

I know this is starting to sound all complainy so I am going to stop.

Lehigh is beautiful around this time. The snow is melting (or completely melted in some cases) and all the green is coming out again, and the flowers get planted and you can wear dresses again. Whoo, it really is one of the best times of year. I got to wear a dress and sandals after work today!

Oh Lehigh, how I miss thee. Oh by the way, did I mention we are going to the NCAA tournament! SOOO EXCITED TO WATCH MY SCHOOL!

Deep Beneath the Cover of Another Perfect Wonder

I have never seen so much snow in my life. This area got 20-30 inches of snow. Reminder, I am not at Lehigh this semester so I have no idea how much snow they got. I made my first great snow angel and the snow was so powdery, trying to move through it meant I sank in past my knees. Being a Southern California native, I never got to experience the childhood snow memories so part of me is making them up now with snowmen and snowball fights with friends. Call me what you wish but holding on to a small part of my childish side sometimes is just good, clean fun.

That wasn't going to be the original focus of what I was going to talk about today but the truth is that I have had a lot of different ideas over the past few weeks about what to write about. Not many people have the chance to study at another university in the US and know for sure that they can go back to Lehigh at the end. So far I have learned that as much as I knew it before, I picked the right school for me to spend the majority of my four year, undergraduate experience.

Our program is in no way reflective of a typical Georgetown schedule but it's weird to me to have night classes offered across the board and be so widely accepted. I love that Lehigh tends to limit the scheduling to between the hours of 8-4 allowing us to be involved in other aspects of campus life as well as our classes. Although I didn't have to participate, the process of getting classes also seems far more stressful as I watched my roommate have to deal with changing her schedule and the waitlist process. By having each class register a different night, it allows for instant (well almost, the internet moves slower that night than any other night of the year)registration so you know immediately if you got into the class because it's all based on when you hit submit rather than the preregistration process. It obviously works for them but it's all very strange to me.

One of the things I miss most about Lehigh is the architecture of what I view as the main quad consisting of Alumni Memorial. the UC, Linderman, the church and Packer lab. It all seems so cohesive and gorgeous. Georgetown has some amazing buildings that are old and beautiful but the lack of cohesion taints the landscape a little bit. Although they do win with a flat place to have a great snowball fight and build an amazing snowman.

I have a lot more to say on a wide variety of topics but for now, I have to go and get some reading done for Monday so I can spend some more time enjoying the snow tomorrow.

I'll Find My Way Back To You

So it's been over a month since I have posted and I apologize for that. Quick recap on my life:
1. I finished the first semester of my junior year and I think it was pretty successful;
2. I am on leave this semester to participate in Georgetown's Semester in Washington program which I will describe in a little bit;
3. I went home for winter break.

First, I chose to take a semester off because I needed to take a break from going to classes everyday and this program allows me to intern Tuesday through Thursday each week so that I have a change a pace for a little while which will hopefully reinvigorate my desire to learn back at Lehigh in the fall. All of that, and I would really like to have enough classes for a full senior year. The facet that I am over halfway finished with my undergraduate experience is truly terrifying and I am really not happy about this.

I have been a Georgetown student for two days and there are already things that I miss terribly about Lehigh. The first would be Linderman. I guess I unknowingly assumed that most old schools would have old libraries, unfortunately not the case. I miss the beauty and comfort of Linderman, where the modernity of the renovations fit with the restorations of its original essence. I don't know what I am going to do without such a gorgeous place to study for the semester.

I also miss that printing is included in tuition and an abundance of public printers. Seriously amazing perk that I definitely took for granted the last five semesters. I actually had to go buy a printer today and even then, it can't auto double side like the ones at school. I mean, call me a nerd that I really do miss the printers at Lehigh but I do!

On the other hand, I think that personally, I needed to take the semester off to truly appreciate the education that I am getting at Lehigh as well as the experience. I am here and it is going to be a lot of work and a very different kind than I am used to but I guess that's going to be a good thing.

I have wasted sufficient time writing this since I have a ton of reading to do tonight for class tomorrow morning. ;)

There's No Place I'd Rather Be

So I was sitting in the same library when I started writing this blog about a year ago. I discussed the first big snow of the year and it just so happens, that might be today since it has been snowing for the last few hours. It's weird though since it hasn't been that cold this week which was nice for the last week of classes. But here we are, getting ready for finals, two very odd weeks. There are some really great things that happen during this period of time like my house's traditional Christmas dinner where our chef dresses up as Santa and gives gifts to all of the sisters or the simple fact that we have no school for a month. This year though is very bittersweet for me since I am taking next semester to participate in a different kind of adventure.

I chose to leave Lehigh for next semester knowing that I would miss things like the new pledge class that would enter my sorority, all of the fun things my friends and I would usually do in the spring as well as some of the interesting classes that may not be offered at another feasible time. On the other hand, I also have friends who are going abroad to study in interesting place like Prague and have their own set of interesting adventures and I don't know what Lehigh would be like without my complete set of friends.

It's a little bit scary, the prospect of leaving Lehigh for a short taste of the real world even knowing that I will be back in about six months but since I don't want to think about it anymore, I will think about new things, like the paper I should be writing right now.

Good times never seem so good

So I am working with a girl from a local high school on her college applications this semester. She and I have been working together since my freshman year of college which was her sophomore year of high school. Her goals have changed a lot in that time and she makes me laugh on a regular basis as we try to brave through the college application process together. One day she asked me what made it worth it and that got me thinking.

We all go to college to get a degree, a piece of paper that is supposed to somehow make our lives have greater value but really, I think it's the lessons we learned outside of the classroom that have enhanced our value. By moving away from home, we have to learn to be on our own and fight our own battles rather than letting our parents fight for us, even if the battle is something as minor the pile of clothing taking over the room. We learn to lead, we learn to follow, we learn to ask for help, and we learn how to deal with a wide array of different types of people.

I participated in a prospective student chat a couple of weeks ago and lots of students ask why I chose Lehigh or what makes Lehigh special and the truth is that I chose Lehigh because of the feeling I got when I was here, there was no doubt that it was the right place, the people would go out of their way to help me even though I was a junior in high school at the time. The advice I gave my younger sister as she navigates the process is that you can choose where to apply using all the facts like size and statistics but in the end, the real choice is made because of something inexplicable. I was more excited the day the Lehigh acceptance showed up than when I got any other letter and knew that it was going to be an amazing four years and I wouldn't trade the experience I have been having for anything in the world.

I am still having trouble coping with the fact that I am almost finished with a full two and half years, I wish college was longer just so I could spend more time enjoying Lehigh and all of the traditions it has to offer. Lehigh/Laf is next week :) and if you haven't heard about that, you will.

Now off to deal with my to do list.

I do my little turn on the catwalk

I have been thinking about what people wear and while most people might just jump to the assumption that this could all be about labels and designers, I was thinking more about the sheer kinds of things we wear around campus. This was mostly prompted by the very odd weather we have been experiencing.

For me, the second it gets cold, sneakers are the first thing that change yet all over campus there are tons of people still wearing sandals. Today, it rained and although it was kind of warm in the morning, it got colder as the day yet people were still outside in shorts and t-shirts. After almost two and half years, I still don't get it.

Unlike other schools though, the cool thing is that Lehigh kids tend to show their school spirit on a day to day basis rather than just at sporting events or other sanctioned functions. What I mean is that everyone is always wearing Lehigh gear and when you wear clothes from another school, people tend to give you funny looks. It is not uncommon for people to be dressed in brown from head to toe and while I feel that most schools might see that as taboo, it just happens to be one of the ways we show our spirit.

Walking around campus at this time of year is made more fascinating by the number of people who are in suits for interviews. Because of the timing of classes, many tend to go to classes dressed up and then work their interviews into the normal pattern of their day. Those are then juxtaposed with the others who roll out of bed, grab a pair of jeans and run to class.

I have now said what I can think of right now and really have to go study.