 |
| Photo by Taryn Elliott from Pexels |
Dear past me,
Everything ended up alright. And you know what, fuck those who ever doubted me (even if one of them is past me.) I still love you, you got this, just breathe.
Sincerely,
present me
Showing posts with label college. Show all posts
Showing posts with label college. Show all posts
6/3/23
Past me freaking out
4/14/23
To my barely college graduated self
 |
| Taken by my dear friend, Linda |
Dear present me as of 2019,
Well, I finally graduated from college after four years and a lot of things later. And it just hit me, and now I'm feeling kind of sad. It was a good chapter of my life that I will never forget, and I learned a lot of things from it. However, I cannot let that chapter hold me back from living the rest of my life, even if I will miss it dearly.Dear past me,
I do not miss it dearly. I miss certain moments of it, but I don't dwell on it. It felt very freeing growing up and doing whatever I (legally and ethically right) want. And honestly, I think you would be proud to see the growth I've made since then. Even if it is very wonky.
From,
present me as of 2023
12/18/19
A random thing that college made me appreciate
 |
| Photo by me when I was at a popup museum called Love Letters |
Whether that was some kind of research that I was interested in like video games, the mind, Asian American studies, cultural studies, social justice, etc. Or memoirs of people whom I'm curious about like Trevor Noah, Eddie Huang, Marjane Satrapi, Thi Bui, Tara Westover, Frederick Douglass, and Paul Kalanithi. Or even various personal growth books written by Anna Akana or even Dale Carnegie. Overall, it made me realize the breadth of nonfiction works and how myriad it really is. It also taught me how nonfiction works are on a spectrum in terms of its writing style just like fiction. Moreover, it really expanded my viewpoint in terms of what literature can do for a mind.
And now the weather:
"Sign of the Times" (Harry Styles KOver) - Kevin Olusola
~ Stacy N.
3/25/19
On being lost (and other miscellaneous thoughts)
 |
| Photo by Sebastien Gabriel |
I'm super stressed and I honestly don't know what to do with my life. Graduation is coming up, and I know that it's fine to not have a job lined right up afterward, but somehow that feels like a failure to me. And I know I should reframe my thinking about that, especially after talking with so many friends and family members who were in the same boat as me, and didn't have a job right after college. They all told me that it's fine to wait and figure out what to do; but, then I keep on hearing other stories that sometimes you just never know what to do, even when you're 40-years-old and doing what you think you love.
That sense of being lost has been stuck with me forever. And I don't know what to do with it, and I don't think I ever will. People talk about finding their purpose in life like it's a casual easy thing to do. It isn't. It honestly isn't.
To be honest, I went into my English major because it was just something to do. I enjoyed reading and writing and thinking about things in a new way. And I knew for sure that I would never be happy if I did engineering or something in the medical field. And then as I went further into English, I realized that I also liked learning more about the behind-the-scenes stuff of how a story gets published. That made me realize, hey I want to go into the publishing field. However, I don't know where I want to start in, despite some of the obvious choices that are right in front of me.
There are also so many doubts, and a quiet realization of fuck I'm fucking scared.
I know I could have been the "good" Asian American who follows her parent's dreams and wishes. One who could have been a good doctor (minus the constant fear and wanting to barf if I mess up some how some way.) I could have continued staying quiet and not gotten a tattoo and not learn more about social justice and what it means to be Asian American and in general human and all the consequences (both good and bad) that come with it. But then I wouldn't be the same me sitting at her laptop writing all of this down. I would have been someone completely different, probably someone more sad and robotic and well boring.
And that is not someone I want to become.
And now the weather:
Don't Disappoint Me by Ruth B.
~ Stacy N.
6/10/18
Letters part 9 [what went on my head during year 2 of college]
 |
| Source |
Speak up more often. Ask questions and answer the teacher's questions during class. Talk to that cute person, ask why they chose a __________ major, why do they identify with their mother's culture more than their father's, and what do they miss about their home country? Start texting people more often. Start telling your parents about what you're really interested in (even though it should be a bit obvious by all the books lying around). Speak out against various social justice issues.
Just use your voice, please.
Even if it's one word, one sentence, or a paragraph. It's better than all of that silence and missed opportunities.
And now the weather:
Katie Queen Of Tennessee by The Apache Relay
~ Stacy N.
9/20/17
College: Level 3
 |
| Photo by Brad Stallcup |
Classes:
ENGL 5885 - Adolescent Literature
It's a fun class, but a lot of hard work because you're divided into groups and assigned a book, and then your group has to teach the class said book. My group got The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, and we are in the middle of teaching it right now. It's not bad this time around because it's mainly discussion based. And surprisingly, not surprising, it's a lot easier teaching college students than seventh and eighth graders, which is what I had to do last semester. Plus, it helps that the teacher is hilarious, and always has a creative excuse as to why he's late to class.
ECON 2010 - Principle Of Microeconomics
As with all of my business classes that I've taken so far, it's been pretty intuitive. The teacher is interesting, occasionally funny, but he needs to speak louder. It's also pretty nice because he also lets us out early a lot, giving me more free time than I expected. Plus, the TA who holds review sessions on Fridays is also pretty funny. I like how she admits that she's a screw-up sometimes and then proceeds with a funny, awkward story, making Fridays easier to bear.
ENGL 5930 - Theory Race/Ethnicity/Nationality: The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
It's a gut-wrenching class as I learn more about the horrors of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade and how that plays into the racism that still exists today in America. The teacher is sweet and amazing, and I thoroughly enjoy all the discussions we have in that class. It requires a lot of work though because of the multimedia project and a Wikipedia page that I either have to come up with or modify.
Plus, it's unlike anything I've taken before because this time one of my required texts includes Beyonce's latest album Lemonade. It's a good album to listen to as I'm doing all of my readings for this class.
GNDR 3380 - Social Inequality
It's a useful class that is also helping me in my Theory of Race class a bit. I like how it talks about social class because that is one of the top inequalities that isn't talked about as often. It's also interesting to learn a bit more about racism, sexism, and other isms, even though I already know quite a bit about it. Honestly, the best part about this class is mainly the videos that I get to watch because they give you a lot of insight that is sometimes hard to capture in words.
Extracurricular activities:
I'm the treasurer for the Asian American Student Association (AASA) and the secretary for the Vietnamese American Student Association (VASA) this year. It's a lot of work but a lot of fun. And I admit it is frustrating at times, but that's always going to happen in any situation that I end up in.
One of my professors once said that I have a quiet kind of leadership that isn't loud and steeped in masculinity, and I never really thought about it till I got into these positions. I'm endlessly grateful too that I get to further develop my skills and take up a lot of opportunities that I wouldn't have imagined otherwise.
I'm also involved with the Canticle, my college's undergrad literary magazine, again. And it's going great so far, still just trying to get it a little bit bigger than last year. My other extracurricular activities include napping, but even I'm having trouble napping nowadays.
Work:
It sucks, but I'm tolerating it.
And now the weather:
I Dreamed A Dream Les Misérables cover by Darren Criss
~ Stacy N.
2/1/17
Valor lies just halfway between rashness and cowardice.
 |
| Photo by Janko Ferlic |
It's been a few weeks since classes started and it's actually not that bad this semester because it seems like I have a lot more time. And that is because I have a more or less similar schedule Mondays through Thursdays. On those days, I have a 9:10 AM class and another class starting around 12 PM, with an hour and a half-ish break in between those classes. And that break usually includes eating lunch from one of the food trucks (which isn't that great on my budget), doing homework, napping, driving back to the campus, or trying to get through my online anthropology class. After classes are over, it's either more homework (aka actually trying to get through anthropology), work, going to some sort of club meeting, napping, or procrastinating. And then I make it back home, sweet home, somehow surviving Utah's kind of weird winter (it's very snowy this year yet still warm in some aspects, complete with lots of bad air >-<.) Fridays, as usual, are my day off but I always somehow end up on campus again because of more club meetings and some kind of socializing event with my friends afterwards, which mainly includes getting boba.
Classes:
ANTH 1020: Human Origins: Evolution and Diversity: An interesting class so far. I've been thinking about anthropology in new ways that I didn't think of before because frankly, I wasn't interested in the subject. But this class is forcing me to think of all the different variances of anthropology, especially in physical anthropology. And honestly, the only reason why I'm taking this class is because I need it for one of my general education requirements. Also, since the class is online, it's interesting to see the lectures in a video format instead of a PDF format that I'm used to by now.
BUS 1050: Foundations of Business: This is an important class that I need for my business minor, but it's also a slightly uncomfortable class to be in because the teacher continually emphasizes his white male privilege. An example would be, "He or she gets too long, let's just assume that it has a male identity and just call him a he" (or something along those lines.) (Funny thing is, he always goes back to saying he or she the next day). But, I'm not dropping out because it's too late for that, and in order to grow I need to be around others who have a different mindset from mine, so... It is interesting to see how he incorporates the fine arts into business, in the hopes of making us a more well rounded person who sees the humanity in others, and hopefully avoid the route of corporate scandal.
ENGL 5810: Writers in the Schools: By now it has become obvious that I like volunteering with people younger than me because they're fun to be around. It's also a good trial as to who I might become whenever or if I decide to become a parent. This time I'm teaching and in a way help cultivate a love of creative writing to seventh and eighth graders at a nearby middle school (or at least try to do that). It' also a bit weird because I'm only with four specific students all semester, so I'm really taking on the role of mentor. And honestly, it's a bit relieving because I don't have to focus on ten students at a time and worry about whether or not I'm displaying favoritism.
ENGL 5830: Studies in Asian American Literature: This is one of my favorite classes this semester because it's actually taught by an Asian American professor with a bit of a social justice lens (it's also an Ethnic studies course). It's nice to know that I'm not alone in feeling like other, like a [explicit word that I decide to censor this time] token minority. Though it's hard because it looks like most of the class is white (that's Utah for you), so trying to get them to see how white culture is dominant and how trying to fit in and in a way pretend to be white is continually tiring, gets well tiring. It's also nice to read more books about Asian Americans that doesn't focus predominately on the immigrant experience. Instead, I think it's trying to focus on the diversity among Asian Americans and how race continually defines our experience in life.
VIET 2020: Intermediate Vietnamese II: Ahh! I'm so close to finishing the language part of my B.A. (Bachelor of Arts). This semester is a bit weird though because the original teacher who taught my other three Vietnamese courses decided to only teach the 1020 students this semester (I think because of his other work schedule getting in the way). So, his wife is now teaching my class. She was supposed to also have taught my class last semester too but she didn't because who knows. It's interesting because she doesn't speak Vietnamese the proper way like her husband does, instead she says it in a Northern accent. And for me coming from a family who's predominately Southern, it's a bit hard to understand her accent. However, I'm trying and that's all that matters.
Other events that has happened this semester:
- Ta-Nehisi Coates came to talk at my college for our annual MLK Jr. week. Unfortunately, I was unable to see him live because I forgot to grab myself a ticket. Fortunately enough, my university always live stream big talks like this one, so I was able to still see him talk. In this particular keynote, he points out the fact that the United States was built on the violence of black people and how it still enacts that violence, albeit in different ways, today. And how systemic racism is. He doesn't offer a solution as to how to stop it, but I think he's already offering a solution. Education. Just educate people about it and then hopefully they're inspired enough to help stop it within the systems. Which will take a while, but it's a worthy cause to fight against, in my opinion. Also, educate people because you actually want to, not because you're forced to.
- Women's March, Salt Lake City version. An interesting event that I'm glad that I got to attend, more of my thoughts on it later in a different blog post.
- Getting free tickets to go see a Sundance film from one of the lovely college advisers who's also into social justice all because I happened to be in the right place at the right time. The film was God's Own Country, and the very basic gist of it is two gay farmers who don't die in the end. It's a sweet film and kind of sad in some parts but you should definitely watch it, if you get the chance (just be aware that there are a few sex scenes and a lot of moaning.)
Note: The quote in today's title is from Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes.
And now the weather:
I Don't Know My Name by Grace VanderWaal
Oh I don't know my name because I'm really, really tired from staying up at four in the morning trying to finish this essay. (Even though I haven't gotten any essays assigned just yet.)
~ Stacy N.
12/12/16
How to not stress about finals
 |
| Photo by Davide Cantelli |
And now the weather:
In my dreams by Ruth B.
~ Stacy N.
12/4/16
A look into my life for Thursday, November 3, 2016
 |
| source |
This is an idea I got from nevillegirl at Musings From Neville's Navel, and I thought it would be interesting to do to. So here it goes. Note: there is a mention of rape.
7:05 AM:
Alarm goes off, go to my phone and play the little games it provides to try and
wake me up. Finish, set the timer to go off in ten minutes, and go back to
sleep.
7:15 AM:
Timer goes off, sets timer for another 10 minutes.
7: 25 AM: Timer goes off once more, the timer is set for another five minutes.
7: 30 AM:
I’m up, I’m actually up.
7:32 AM: Grab
the clothes I’ve laid out the night before, get dressed, and wash my face.
If you want to know my secret to
looking like a 17-year-old even though I’m twenty, smile and moisturize.
7: 53 AM:
Eat a quick breakfast of a ham sandwich and take my vitamins.
8:00 AM:
Finish eating, brush my teeth, get my hair ready, put on my shoes, steal my
twin’s jacket, grab my phone, keys, backpack, and purse, and get out the door.
8:10 AM: Scrape
a bit of ice that is on my windshield. Utah temporarily decides to act like
winter even though it’s still fall.
8:15 AM: Finally
start driving to school, listen to music on my phone, try to not panic a little
because of the possibility that I might be late to my first class, hope that
there isn’t any bad morning traffic around this time.
8: 47 AM:
Park at the engineering building and try to remind myself that I’m not going to
be late. And not panic too much about the rape that happened in the middle of
the day on Monday that happened in the same exact parking lot that I’m at right
now.
8:50 AM:
Walk to accounting class, a bit pissed off about rape culture, sexism, the
patriarchy, hyper-masculinity, male entitlement, etc., and still be a bit scared
and a bit worried.
8:53-ish AM:
Talk a bit with a friend that I haven’t seen a while, say goodbye, and then
continue walking to class.
9:00 AM:
Make it class, talk a bit with another friend about the business scandals we’ve
ended up choosing.
9:10 AM:
Class starts. Time to learn about some business scandals. That included…
Enron, and how big and involved
the scandal was Ã
Lehman Brothers (my pick) and how it ended up copying some of Enron’s moves,
and then it went bankrupt and it almost caused a financial black hole à Bernard Madoff and how
he created a giant Ponzi scheme that finally broke because of the financial
crisis that the Lehman Brothers had a play in.
10: 30 AM: Class
ends, and I came out of it surprised and disgusted with all of the scandals.
10: 35 AM: Grab
my weekly/biweekly brunch from one of the food trucks. In this case, a
Vietnamese food truck that has good caramel pork.
10:40 ish
AM: Go to the library to study aka try to finish reading Othello and eat a bit of my brunch. Talk a bit with a mechanical
engineering student. Try to come up with an idea about what to write my Othello
paper on. Get a bit distracted writing this blog post.
12:00 PM:
Pack up my stuff and head to my Parenting and Cultures class.
12: 10 PM:
Make it to class and continue writing on this blog post some more. Watch some
of my classmates set up their board about a country and their parenting
practices.
12: 25 PM:
Class begins and I learn about Costa Rica, China, Brazil, Ethiopia, and Denmark
and some of their culture and parenting practices.
Costa Rica has a 97% literacy
rate. It also has free healthcare, however, since the religion is predominately
Catholic there is more restricted access to get birth control and abortions.
China has the second largest
economy and it (like most East and maybe Southeast Asian countries) practices
Confucianism.
One of Brazil’s top three religions
is Mormonism and there has been an education reform recently, however, it’s
better to send your kid to somewhere with a private education despite the fact
that it costs a lot of money to do so.
Ethiopia is the most populated
landlocked country, it has one of the richest coffees in the world, and
typically the father is not present during the birth of his child.
Denmark is the happiest country in
the world, education costs are covered all the way from daycare to college
level (it actually pays you to go to school), its birth rate is dropping so
there are companies that are paying people to have babies, but instead of money
it’s just free baby care stuff.
12:
something PM: After hearing the presentations, we’re allowed to go on a gallery
like stroll and look at the posters more clearly and try some of the different
countries’ food like Danishes (Denmark), limeade without the sugar (Brazil, which
brings me back my childhood memories of when my own mother would give me that
when I was sick, only it was hot), okay eggrolls (China), Injera, a sourdough
flatbread (Ethiopia), and plantain chips (Costa Rica). Talk a bit with other
people and eat some leftover Halloween candy that my teacher still had.
1: 45 PM: Class
ends, I walk back to the library to read more Othello. Instead, I’m still writing this blog post trying to
remember everything.
2:38 PM: I end
up writing another blog post that’s scheduled before this one, all the while
getting distracted with stock photos, music ,and youtube in general.
Surprise! You found out my secret.
I usually end up scheduling everything in advance. I try to be random as
possible so you don’t notice it.
3:25 PM:
Procrastinate on my reading for a bit more.
3:50 PM:
Pack up and go to the Canticle meeting.
3:52 PM:
Make it to the room and found myself guarding the pizza because we forgot the
cups for the meeting again. Thankfully a few more people come so I’m not
lonely. We end up talking and eating some of the food.
4: 05 ish?
PM: The main Canticle workshop guy comes back with the cups and hands out the
writing prompts. We end up writing a bit but end up talking more about the
election, work, and eating a bit more etc. More people eventually come and then
we started complaining about classes. This meeting has basically much turned
into a therapy Canticle meeting.
6:00 PM: We
get kicked out of the room because it’s now a tutoring space. I end up taking the
rest of the Oreos before walking to the Union to wind down a bit, look at
Instagram and facebook, and prepare myself for next Monday (that was the day I
got a free tattoo and donate to a great cause).
6:50 PM:
Walk towards my next club meeting, this time for Students for Choice. Try to
not freak out a bit because it’s dark and I still can’t help but think about
what happened on Monday.
6:55 PM:
Make it to the building where it’s at, but it felt like I was going in circles
because there were construction and confusing hallways with room numbers that
don’t go in order. Share my Oreos with everybody else because I couldn’t eat
anymore.
7:01 PM: In
an impromptu camp style circle in the lobby of the building (because we
happened to be locked out of our usual room) we have an hour long discussion
about what happened on Monday, rape culture, consent, how the school is failing
in some ways, what it’s doing right, etc.
8:00 PM: Meeting
ends, some of us stay back to make posters for the protest that’s happening in
response to the rape, how the school is responding, rape culture, etc. for
tomorrow (Friday the 4th).
8:55 ish PM:
We finish making posters, so an acquaintance and I walk to our cars together,
getting lost in the building’s confusing hallway, somehow making it outside,
end up taking a shortcut and cut through the construction site (that’s already
finished, yet the fences are still up), all the while talking about school and
such. Eventually, make our separate ways.
9:05 ish PM:
Make it to the parking lot that I’m in and notice a blue flashing lot that is
most likely a new camera (or two) and security(?) in a corner of the lot. Also, make it to my car safe and sound, and then quickly drive off.
9: 43 ish
PM: Made it home, procrastinated on writing this piece, watch youtube videos,
and rested.
11:23 ish
PM: Finish writing this blog post and procrastinate a bit with KPOP and reading
up on tattoo aftercare.
12: 15 AM: Finally
finish and then get ready for bed. Good night!
Well, that’s
what I end up doing every other Thursday. The other Thursdays when I don’t have
club meetings to go to, I just end up studying for whoever knows how long,
maybe end up at another school event, and/or try to get more writing in.
Tuesdays are slightly different, I don’t grab brunch after accounting and I
usually study some more after Parenting and cultures before going home or to
work. Also, my Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are on a completely different
schedule that I might write about one day.
And now the weather:
Talk Less, Sign More - A Ham4Ham by the New York Deaf Theatre and Hamilton cast members
~ Stacy N.
10/20/16
College so far
 |
| source |
ACCTG 2600: Survey of Accounting
It's not a bad class, it made me realize that there is a lot more to accounting than ledgers, debits, and credits.
ENGL 370: 1 Introduction to Literary History 1 (works before 1800)
I like the readings because most of them are translated into Modern English. However, the online class is a bit disorganized.
ENGL 5550: Young Adult Novel
It's a fun class, taught by the lovely young adult author, Sara Zarr. Also, it's the only creative writing class that really made me write more often, plus it made me think about novel writing in a different (more manageable) way.
FCS 3370: Parenting &; Cultures
This is a pretty cool class because it made me think about parenting differently, and how we shouldn't make the white, middle-class American model the right way to parent. Also, I found myself doing another volunteer project for this class. This time I'm helping tutor refugee teenagers from Africa. I'm trying to not develop white savior complex and really learn about them because they're fun people.
VIET 2010: Intermediate Vietnamese 1
The class tripled in size in both the intermediate and the beginning courses. Which is amazing because it means that more people want to connect to their roots. It's also a fun class , we have interesting conversations and try to help each other survive. Reading Vietnamese is still hard but writing it is a bit easier now.
I've also found myself involved in several clubs this year: Vietnamese American Student Association (VASA), Asian American Student Association (AASA), Students for Choice (a pro-choice, intersectional feminist group), the Canticle (the undergraduate literary magazine), and Write Club (which I need to go to more meetings). The first two, I ended up joining again is because I want to connect to my Asian side more, and to learn a bit more about the Vietnamese culture (I've realized that I'm pretty whitewashed after living in Utah for my whole life). I'm also on the Canticle staff, and it's fun because we host workshops to try to get other writers to edit their piece to send to the magazine. The Write Club, as far as I know, is mainly about workshopping creative writing pieces. And Students for Choice has helped me realize more about reproductive health than any health class that I took in the past (oh, Utah and its abstinence-only teaching, though I do have to applaud my eleventh-grade health teacher for actually bringing in someone to talk about contraceptions.)
I could talk more about how productive I was in the beginning before slightly procrastinating again. And how I'm actually enjoying myself more. Or I could also talk about how my favorite moment so far was when I was in a dress, wearing my big coat and it was pouring out. It was cold, and it was around nine at night. My car was all the way across campus at one of the engineering buildings, and I was at the library. Thankfully, I had an umbrella and not wearing heels. It was pretty exciting walking across campus in the rain (though, kind of scary considering the dangers out there). And it was the first time in a while when I truly felt happy and free and light. I miss that part of me, the one not bogged down by college, adult responsibilities, work, and depression.
And now the weather:
Secrets by OneRepublic cover by Bryson Andres
~ Stacy N.
6/13/16
A late college post
College, being a full-time student with a hard workload and add in a part-time job, there was barely any time for anything. However, it was worth every second of it. From parties to meeting a lot of new people. From not having to wake up at 5:30 in the morning to random conversations with friends. And throughout it all learning about myself, social justice issues, books, how to college, random things, etc. College definitely was worth every expensive penny. Now to continue at least three more years of it.And now the weather:
7 Years by Lukas Graham
~ Stacy N.
6/10/16
A test
 |
| Photo by Priscilla Westra |
A) Finals
B) Sleep deprivation
C) Stress
D) Internally screaming as I tried to find a way to balance my school, work, and personal life balance.
E) All of the above
What happened to me in May?
A) Finishing up finals and last minute projects
B) Saying goodbye to friends that I got to know
C) Work
D) More summer classes (two this time)
E) Relaxing and masterdating
F) All of the above
And now the weather:
~ Stacy N.
3/18/16
College in a nutshell
Except for me it’s long train rides, messy siblings, hello Amazon it’s nice to see you again, and long hours at the movie theater serving people popcorn and drinks and various other snack items.
~ Stacy N.
1/15/16
Another semester full of stress
Courses:
English 3510: Writing Fiction. A class to learn how to write fiction, particularly short stories.
Viet 1020: Beginning Vietnamese 2. Part two of the Beginning Vietnamese class, where we will continue to learn how to speak it and write it.
English 3600: Introduction to Critical Theory. Another required class for English majors, where it’s full of confusing yet interesting questions, such as, what is literature? What is reality and its relationship to literature? And how to see literature in a variety of lenses like Marxism, feminism, postcolonialism, etc.
Gender 3500: Where We Stand: Part two of Gender 2500: Where I Stand. This time, it’s going to look at various feminist topics on a broader level, such as institutional and state violence, sex and gender, what it means to be an ally, etc.
And now the weather:
Latch by Disclosure feat Sam Smith
~ Stacy N.
9/8/15
Just College Things
- It’s pretty damn cool that the professors here are required to call people by their preferred name and preferred pronouns.
- Inwardly moaning about printing costs, and how it’s eventually going to add up.
- Walking everywhere, mainly in the heat (darn you Utah), and up and down hills and stairs.
- Starting to become a hungry college student (probably from a lot of walking and thinking), and probably be one of the few who doesn’t get the freshman fifteen.
- Tired.
- Cursing about parking on game days.
- Reading a lot of great, surprising, weird, and/or sometimes okay stories.
- There’s usually some kind of event going on somewhere on campus, like a farmer’s market, a club’s social, meeting the dean of your college, etc.
- There’s peace, quiet, and comfy chairs in the library.
- Getting lost while driving around campus.
- That excitement about going to the local bookstore to grab some books for class. And exploring all the little nooks and crannies of that place.
- Procrastination
- Accidentally being late for work (look back at the getting lost around campus, and the many events that are happening).
- Fingerprinting and how modern it is now.
- Kind of dreading and kind of excited about getting to play with little kids for my gender class.
- There’s free food somewhere.
- Finally knowing the meaning of a broke college student.
- Writing papers in the middle night (look back at procrastination and look down at the schedule)
- Trying to juggle my schedule so it could fit school, study, work, and fun. As one of my department leaders from work said, “It’s like Jenga” or something like that.
- Meeting lots of people.
- Hanging out with friends.
- Studying almost everywhere, at work, home, school, and on the Trax train.
- Slowly getting used to the Trax train and bus system that’s in Utah.
- Getting a new laptop and trying to make that become a bit like the old one.
- Windows 10 and the school internet.
- Thinking that one of my exes was going to another college. But nope the joke is on me. Oh well, at least we have different schedules, so the chance of actually running into each other is pretty low.
- Busy, busy, busy.
- Feeling happy because its college, where you (slowly) become your own independent self.
And now the weather:
~ Stacy N.
9/4/15
8/17/15
Toto, I've a feeling I'm not in high school anymore
 |
| Source |
Well college is exactly a week away and I’m both freaking out and excited about it. Freaking out because of the many decisions that I have to make (mainly financial), and just knowing that I actually have to become an adult. Though it’s a bit hard to become a full-fledged adult when I still live with my parents and still haven’t figured everything out yet, like taxes. Excited because I’m finally in college and could make my own decisions, like not taking classes so early in the morning. Also, because I’m three classes away from finishing my general ed requirements. Leaving me a lot of room to finish all the requirements for an English major, business minor, and maybe a gender studies minor, as well as take other classes that I like.
That reminds me, here are the classes that I’m going to be taking this fall:
Critical Introduction to Literary Forms
Or as I like to call it, step one for acquiring an English major. This class will most likely involve a lot of writing and reading. Which is both yay and nay. Yay, because I love reading (as you may have already noticed) and analyzing the text because it gives deeper meaning to the work as a whole. Nay, because I’m not a big fan of writing essays.
Beginning Vietnamese I
Finally a language course that will hopefully fit my needs. After living eighteen or so years in a Vietnamese home, I’ve only managed to speak a few words/phrases of the language. Which is certainly not enough to carry on a conversation with someone. However, I can understand some of it, to a certain extent. And not having enough motivation to study Vietnamese on my own (after so and so failed attempts), it’s nice to find a teacher willing to teach it in a small classroom setting. Hopefully, this will stick and I can speak a bit more Vietnamese to my family by the end of the school year.
Here I Stand: An Intro to Gender Studies
Where I learn more about the discrimination against gender and/or lgbtqia+ minorities. Which will probably anger me, as I learn more about the injustice that is found in our society and around the world. However, this is also a class I look forward to taking because it will help me get out of my comfort zone and develop my leadership skills (which is so-so). And by developing my leadership skills, I mean I’m going to an after school program for K-6 graders, with a group of my classmates, and mentor little kids. Which is extremely terrifying to me, because one, I don’t teach; two, I’m not that great with little kids; and three, just the fact that they’re eventually going to look up to me makes me feel even older than I already am. Hopefully, it will be worth it though.
Introduction to Creative Writing
As you can deduce from the title, this class is not going to involve writing critical essays about the symbolism of the green light in The Great Gatsby or another symbolic item in another great work of literature. However, this class might involve fanfiction that includes the green light from The Great Gatsby. It’s also most likely going to involve quite a few writer’s blocks; coffee; crazy stories about who knows what; and poetry about the large, mysterious void that is the future.
And there you have it, part one of my classes that I’m going to be taking this year. And as you can see, math will not be involved, nor will I take it in the spring. This is a grave choice that I’m making because eventually I have to take it if I want that business minor.
And now the weather:
~ Stacy N.
