Do you know the saying "easy peasy lemon squeezy"? Well that is the opposite of my life right now. My life is difficult, difficult, lemon, difficult. BUT, there are some silver linings, which I will elaborate on. So this week has been a whirlwind of events. Do you remember that job interview that I mentioned? Well, I GOT THE JOB!!!!! Yay!!! I can now make money again (haha). It's my first time working in a real restaurant and not fast food, so it's been interesting. My legs are killing me from working 7-8 hour shifts, but I like the job. I'm kept busy and that's what I was looking for. Aside from that, I have a ton of homework. Like more than I usually do. I thought my time management skills would be better this time around, but I obviously was lying to myself. I actually have a ton of stuff that I need to finish today, so that's what I will be doing after I post this. Taking the online classes is definitely a learning curve. I felt like I knew what I was getting into, but I am definitely struggling a little bit. It's getting better since I realized it this early in the semester. I will definitely plan my time a lot better. Good thing I caught it now before it got out of hand. Another good thing that happened this week: I now have a vehicle to drive! One of my uncle's is loaning me their truck and they got the alternator put back in, so now it's here at the house. The only problem is now it needs a new battery. We are taking it into a shop on Tuesday to get it inspected and make sure that it is safe for me drive. I am very excited. I am also excited because my birthday is coming up this week. Unfortunately, I have class on my birthday, but I don't have work. Woohoo! Exciting stuff. I will probably spend the day doing homework because I am studious and I have a ton of stuff to do. That's enough for now. I have a bunch of homework to do, so have fun! I will post again sometime this week!
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Hey everyone! Sorry this post is a day late. Yesterday was hectic. Do you guys like the title of this post? I think it's funny. It's not like I came up with that title a few months ago and have been waiting to use it (haha). I like to think I'm funny. Anyways. This past week was my first week of classes. I am taking 3 online courses (Principles of Corrections, Juvenile Delinquency, and Social Psychology) and 2 on-campus courses (Intro to Sociology and Intro to Philosophy). My sociology class is Tuesdays and Thursdays in the afternoon, and my philosophy class is Saturday mornings. Do you get it now? I'm funny. Anyways. On the days that I don't have class, I work on assignments and readings for my online classes. These textbook chapters are looooonnnnngggggg. And my notes for those chapters are just as long. I'm not going to lie, I honestly am not the biggest fan of my on-campus classes. The campus is super cute. I love the snow and the view from the top of the hill, but the classes just don't vibe well with me. The classes don't directly correlate to my major or minors, so that might be the reason. I'm taking them to satisfy some core requirements that I still have left for my degree. Hopefully the classes get better. Because those two classes are on the longer side (1.5 hours for sociology and 3 hours for philosophy), the teachers incorporate breaks into the class time, so I do have the ability to get up, fill up my water bottle, and just walk around without feeling like I'm missing important information. Aside from going to class, this week I have also attempted driving on the ice, applying to jobs, and playing copious amounts of video games. My first attempt at driving was going okay until I turned a corner and the truck started to fishtail. Let me tell you, if you have never experienced a vehicle fishtailing, you do not want to. Apparently there is a way to properly handle a car that has fishtailed. I think it was power steering or power driving or something along those lines. You turn the same way the back end of the vehicle is turning and just keep going. I was not thrilled with my experience. I didn't panic when it happened but I just kind of took my feet off the accelerator and breaks and just let the truck come to a stop on its own. Then I kept driving. It was interesting. I have to learn how to drive up here because my family is working on getting me a vehicle to drive while I am up here. Having a vehicle would be great for getting to work, if I ever get a job (haha). I actually had an interview yesterday at this little family-owned restaurant up the street. During the interview, I found out that they make all their baked goods and breads from scratch. I thought that was amazing. I think the interview went well. I should know on Monday if I got the job, which I really hope I do because I have things that I need to pay for, like gas for my future vehicle. My last activity for this week has been video games. All my uncles play video games. Part of the agreement for me coming up here and living with my family was that on Saturdays I could not work. I had to dedicate that day to video games with my uncles, hence why Saturdays are for the boys. See, I'm funny. Yesterday once I got out of class and finished my job interview, we went and picked up a large pizza and started playing Diablo III. Great game. One of my favorites. Usually on Fridays we play Lego Harry Potter on the Xbox. Also a great game. So this has been an eventful week. I still love it up here. I actually think I might like the snow. *GASP* Mary Sager, who has always hated snow, now likes snow? How could this be? Well, unlike South Carolina and Virginia, people up here know how to drive when it snows and businesses don't close. Crazy concept. Next time it snows in Virginia, I'm going to be ready. Anyways, I think that's enough for today. I hope you guys actually found me funny (please), and I will post again sometime this week.
I made it!!! I am finally in Fairbanks, Alaska. After 3 plane rides, a 13-hour layover in Seattle, and not sleeping for almost the full 24 hours that I was in the various airports and airplanes, I have finally made it. For those of you that don't know why I'm here, I will explain. When I first got to college, I knew I wanted to study abroad. What I later found out was that the only places I could go to study criminal justice would be London for international law or Poland for cybersecurity. I wasn't interested in either, so I was kind of bummed out. Later on I found out about a program called National Student Exchange (NSE). Instead of studying internationally, you can study at another university somewhere in the U.S., Canada, or certain U.S. territories. My first instinct was to look and see what universities in Virginia were a part of this program, but I didn't see anything I was interested in. After that, I thought "Maybe this isn't for me." Then I thought about my family that lives up in Alaska. I laughed to myself and thought "That's crazy. What are the chances of that being a possibility?" I looked at the list of universities involved in NSE and saw University of Alaska - Fairbanks (UAF) listed. I thought about it for a while and finally decided to at least apply and see what would happen. I talked to my family in Alaska about it, and they thought it would be great to have me up here for a semester. They even offered to let me stay with them while I'm up here. Fast forward to spring semester last year. I'm sitting in class when I get the phone call saying I've been accepted. I can spend a semester in Alaska. I was thrilled. So here I am. I am spending my semester in Fairbanks taking classes at UAF. 2 criminal justice classes, 2 humanities classes, and 1 psychology class. My family is super excited that I am here, and I am super excited to be with them (partially because of the cute dogs, haha). My classes don't start until next week, so right now I am getting settled into the house, looking for textbooks, and most importantly, learning how to drive on the snow and ice. I have never seen this much snow in my life. And it's cold. Being in South Carolina, 30 degrees is cold. This is colder. 30 degrees would be warm here. Yesterday it was -25 degrees. NEGATIVE TWENTY FIVE!!!!!! Can you even fathom how cold that is? And I think it's supposed to get colder this weekend. Even colder!!! I did come prepared with jackets and boots, so that's good. But it's still cold. I am currently wrapped in 3 blankets with fuzzy socks. Anyways, I am very excited for this semester. I will be taking lots of pictures and posting them. I'm still deciding on if I'm going to post them to the blog posts themselves or just create another tab for a gallery. When I decide, I will let y'all know. Well, this will be exciting! Come back next week to see how my first week of classes goes!
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AuthorStudent at the University of South Carolina studying criminal justice, French, and psychology. Archives
August 2019
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