Monika

Two Weeks Later

So two weeks of school have already gone and I haven't blogged yet wtih reason. I was waiting to experience all of my classes so I could write the first post well. :)  I do it all for the readers, I swear.

 

I'm taking 16 hours this semester and I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about it actually. I know how many credits I have left to graduate and not taking a full course load scares me. I want to make sure I graduate earl y. It's my own personal goal and I would love to accomplish it.

My schedule is slightly saddening only because I have to go to school five days a week which is something I haven't had to do in quite some time. Classes are actually tough and the homework load is scaring me a little bit. 

It's a lot of reading and writing which I should expect as a Communications student, but hey! it's still tough especially now that I'm working. I figured that I would be able to sleep in, but alas, I have to be awake early in the mornings for work or school leaving me only Sunday to sleep in. 

There is fun news aside from working and going to class! This past Monday was Martin Luther King Day of Service. This year I went to River Rouge and painted classrooms at an elementary school. I even managed to paint with individuals who all came from Dearborn including some faculty and alums. :)  It was a lot of fun and it felt really great to see the classrooms lights up from their new paint job. A few hours of my day was worth it to help make the classroom atmosphere better for the students there. Even got a cool shirt out of it which is good enough for me!

Alright, I'm off to read all the books that need to read for next week. Hopefully I won't fall asleep like I did last time. :(

It's A New Year!

As with every new year, I've made some resolutions. However, these are ones I intend to keep completely and honestly.

Once the Fall semester ended, I checked my grades and was elated to see that I had done the best since I began college. It makes me so happy and it really made me realize that I can do much better. Taking 18 hours was tough, but I had managed to do it and do it well.

For the Winter semester, I decided to take 16 credits and am absolutely looking forward to them. I'm finally getting past my last diversity requirement which I have been putting off. Nat Sci is a tough class only because it involves going to school three days a week and it also involves a lab. It's time consuming, but hopefully I will do well.

Even better, I managed to get another job! This time, I work at a doggy daycare which is quite wonderful since I'm an avid dog lover. :) All day long, I watch dogs and play with them. It's great although some days waking up at 5am to get to work by 6:30am is sometimes tough.

Even though I begin school again, it seems so far away. The holidays have come and gone and I feel as if I were taking my finals yesterday! I just can't wait to go back and get started on everything that Amnesty has planned for this semester. It's going to be amazing and worth all the work.

Now I'm off to watching all of the seasons of Smallville before school starts. I started a few days ago and I'm already on season three. Sadly, there are 10 seasons so this may take a while!

Graduating Early!

Or so I hope.

It's getting close to that time of the semester where I have sit down and try to schedule classes for next semester. I decided to do that last night and realized that if I were to take summer classes, then I could graduate in the Winter of next year :)

It's something that I still have to think over and see if I can manage it...not to mention that I need to see if I passed all of my classes this semester...bad me, I know. I have realized, after 2 and a half years here at Dearborn, that I hate waking up early in the morning to go to class. It has not helped me and I know now that I have to take classes a little later than 10am.*-*

It would be nice to graduate early since that means I can begin my life at the young age of 21! :) Not to mention, I could move out finally and get a puppy, haha.

It does mean I wouldn't be a part of orgs anymore, which I will miss dearly. Speaking of orgs! SAB is hosting an event where we will have magician Alan Smola on campus tomorrow (Thursday) in 1500 SSB at 12:30pm. I've seen videos of him, and it looks as though it's going to be an amazing event!
Amnesty International is holding an event on Thursday as well. Our event is the Amnesty Poetry and Arts Exhibit and that will take place at 6pm in the IAVS building. T. Miller is going to host the event and there will be poetry readings along with a few musical acts. :) The theme is human rights so the poems will be related to that. It's going to be a grand time with yummy food!

On another note, it is grand that after Winter Semester, I can qualify to be a substitute teacher which allows me to make extra money during the semester. It also means I can gain some real life knowledge about workplaces, even though, it would be schools.

Now it's time to go schedule another resume critique since I'm hoping to place into a co-op by next semester, or summer even. I just hope that I changed my resume well enough that I can begin interviewing after Thanksgiving!

Until next week, I hope everyone has an amazing weekend!

A Week Since Kansas City!

Being given the chance to travel to Kansas City to attend the Amnesty International Midwest Conference was one of the best experiences that I have had since becoming a student at this university.

The trip began with a 13 hour car ride that seemed as if it would never end. For those who haven't been that far west (I'm one of those people before I took this trip) it is honestly just fields and fields of farmland and cows. That's all you are able to see except for a building every now and then.

Once in Kansas City, the fun began. The conference was really moving and a lot of information was obtained. Networking was done and the entire weekend was filled with a lot of fun. The staff at the Amnesty International Midwest Conference even held a small dance party for those attending the conference. It was a grand time especially when we got to set it up.

Leaving Kansas City was a little saddenning since the entire trip was well worth the long drive. The Plaza in Kansas City is an adorable little place that makes you want to move out there in an instant. Less than ten minutes away by car, is the Power and Light District, perfect for those that want to socialize the night away. If not for becoming part of Amnesty International, I would've never had the chance to experience all this and I am quite glad I did.

For SAB, this past week, I had the chance to be the chair of an event. It just ended a little over two hours ago. That event was Arcade Day. It was such a blast, but as the person in charge of it, it was very stressful, but in the end well worth it. There was a medley of games such as air hockey, ping pong, DDR, foosball, and Super Smash Bros. Over 130 students attended which made me really happy! :)

Hm, in terms of class, I'm doing well. It's a little tough keeping up with everything since I got another responsibility put upon me in SAB so I'm trying really hard to juggle everything. I feel that I should be able to handle it. After this semester, I know that I'm going to sit down and evaluate what I have on my plate and if anything needs to be taken off. First and foremost, I care about my graduation date and there is no way that I would want to change it. I'm a determined cookie!

Till next time :)

14 Days Later Is Better Than 21!

Ohhhh me. I'm loving this 18 credit hour situation I have going on. What I'm not loving is the constant having to get up early in order to get to these classes!

That's always the worst when there are classes you are required to take, but they're only scheduled for morning hours. I'm not a morning person, no way I can be. Even if I go to bed at a normal hour, I can't seem to get up and just get on with my day. I'm trying though! Hopefully, I do well in my class or else uh oh!

Also! Times have been crazy! Amnesty International is having their Midwest Conference next weekend in Kansas City, Missouri. I'm going to that along with more of the Amnesty crew here at UM-Dearborn. It's going to be nice an amazing time and I cannot wait for the 12 hour road trip that is going to occur...one way. It's going to be a fun trip and an amazing learning experience.

SAB is doing well. Homecoming is next weekend and it's saddening that I cannot attend. This year's theme is Casino Night. A lot of fun activities are scheduled for the whole week including the cardboard boat race! I'm not certain as to whether SAB will be participating, but it sure would be grand if we did.

Classes are fun, as usual, but the homework that I have is slowly starting to catch up on me. I did well with my speech about penguins, oh yeah! I got to do a speech on penguins and bring in one of my own to use as a visual aid. I love class sometimes. :)

I also have books to read and copy editing to study. I'm still unable to determine which class is my favorite. Copy Editing has a ton of laughter and fun in it since there are two of my friends in there and we always have a blast. Thought Investigative Journalism is also fun since there are only seven of us in the entire class and not only do we get to learn, but we also get to have chats and it's more of a relaxed classroom setting.

Alrighty! I need to get back to writing things and reading books and more than likely, passing out.
:) Till next time! Which will actually be in a week, I swear since it will be right before I leave for the conference!!!

Oh studying.

I may have been a bad student yesterday. I could possibly have skipped all of my classes for that day.

Now, it wasn't on purpose, I swear! Becoming sick is never a good thing when being a full time college student especially when most of your professors are the kind to take attendance.

Having a horrid headache and ridiculous sniffles impedes on my ability to attend class. Luckily, becoming friends with other students is an advantage when something like a sickness hits you. Getting filled in with what happened in class.

Besides being a bad student, I have accomplished a lot for my student orgs. Amnesty is doing well with a facebook and Twitter that I'm manning. :)  It's really awesome to get feedback from students about what they want to know from us.

Homework is slowly starting to pile up on me and I'm lucky enough to have three days to be catch up and get it all done. It's really important for a college student to keep on task because once you fall off that path, it's slightly tough to get back on it. I'm confident in myself that I'll be able to...if not, uh oh!

Now it's off to study and get ready for the weekend. Phi Sigma Phi is having their bid party and I get to meet the new men who will be a part of the fraternity I so dearly love.

I'll leave everyone with a quote that I happened to stumble upon that made me smile. The quote was made by The Polish Muslims who are a polka parody musical group.

"We wish everyone could see each other as paczki; it doesn't matter whether they're sugary on the outside, it's what's on the inside that counts."

21 Days Later

Times have been quite hectic lately and that's putting it lightly. Taking 18 credit hours can be quite exhausting on a student and it has proven to be a challenge. It is, however, a challenge that will I will survive through.

I also managed to turn 20 years old on the 13th a few weeks ago. No longer a teenager, but I don't feel any different yet. I'm hopefully going to get some big of revelation or something epic will happen to me. Probably not, but one can dream!

SAB has been quite busy turning out event after event. Welcome Week came out to be a really good place. There was a Slushee Bar, Backyard BBQ, Mixer, and Acitivity Day. All these events turned out quite well and it was a blast! The slushees took a while to get started, but students lined up to get delicious slushees. :) The BBQ ended up being quite delicious since there was mac and cheese (soooo yummy!) and bbq pulled chicken sandwiches. It was a different twist on a BBQ that ended being up a hit with everyone. When it came time for the SAB mixer, the office ended up looking quite snazzy. Different shaped lantern lights hung from the ceiling and were used as lighting along with lava lamps. It made the atmosphere of the room look very relaxing and inviting.

Last but not least, the Activity Day was filled with lots of, well, activities. There was a 70ft obstacle course along with volleyball and soccer nents. Students came out and had a blast running through the course and there was an intense game of soccer throughout the day.

Amnesty has also been on a busy streak. Last week, we held a 9/11 Memorial where we launched water lilies into the Chancellor's Pond. Each lily had a candle in it and there were over 100 lilies in the pond. The event went really well and to see all those water lilies in the pond was a breathtaking sight. I even got to wade around in the pond at the end to collect all the lilies. The water was suprisingly comfortable in terms of temperature. The bottom was not so nice though.

Amnesty also held an event today in memory of Troy Davis. Members were all black clothing along with a pin that says "End the death penalty!" We stood around in a circle and read Davis' last words along with a conversation about the injustice of the death penalty. Many have differing opinions about this topic since it is a very delicate subject. It was saddeing to know something like this can occur in the "land of the free."

So that's been the past three weeks really in terms of school involvement. School has been thrown in there somewhere with classes. Classes have been okay. It has mainly been a ton of reading and studying. There has been writing as well, but that's what you can expect as a journalism student. I am actually enjoying it.

Not going to lie, being a commuter campus and all, it's really tough if your car begins to break down. Xander, as wonderful as he is, is a 2005 Dodge Stratus SXT...and he is not being very nice to me lately. It's not an ideal situation when you have to rely on a car to get you somewhere and that car begins to malfunction. So this week has not been off to a great start, but hopefully he is now fixed and won't cause me anymore problems! :)

I'm going to go work on Amnesty and SAB things now as well as go to bed. Sleeping has become quite vital for me and it's very wonderful. Can't wait for the things that are going to be happening!

First Day!

Fall 2011 Semester is now in full swing and the first day
has been quite hectic! I’ve had four classes today alone which is pretty crazy
for me. I’ve never had so many classes before in one day so it will probably
take some getting used to.

However! They have gone quite well and it seems as if this semester shall be an
interesting one. There shall be 18 credits in my schedule which the highest
number an undergraduate it able to take unless asking for special permission to
take on more.


Five classes shall be on Monday (the most difficult day of my entire week),
four shall be on Wednesday, and one shall be on Thursday night. All six classes
pertain to my major which is quite wonderful. Also this past summer, I have
decided that not only will I be doing a Communications Degree, but that I shall
also be undertaking a Marketing minor along with a Certificate of Public
Relations.

I realized all of this can be achieved in the two years that I have left and I
will still have extra credits left over to do whatever I’d like with them. This
excites me very much. I got all this information and had help with the decision
from the Academic Advising that CASL offers to students. It really made me
realize how much I can do while attending UofM-Dearborn.

I also have recently decided to become a part of Student Activities Board and
Amnesty International once more as an e-board member for both organizations. I
realized that being involved with such things really helps make my college
career all the more enjoyable and I feel as if I will accomplish much more than
just attaining and a degree and getting out.


It seems that the weather now is much colder than it was last year. It saddens
me that I have to start wearing a warm jacket now when last year, that would
have been crazy! Not to mention, this rain just makes going back to school seem
much more depressing than it should.


Back to my schedule, weird things are going on which are not helpful to
students’ learning environments. Many CASL professors are stuck teaching in the
Science Building which is quite odd. My Speech 101 class is in there and it’s
difficult because many CASL classes require multimedia and the science
classrooms do not offer that. Not to mention that even within CASL, professors
requesting multimedia rooms are not getting them. Over capacity is a big issue
this semester and without multimedia, many classes cannot be taught to their
full potential.

It will be interesting to see how the University handles this situation since
it happens to be a major one for students and professors alike. We shall see!

This is a pretty long post, I will have to admit, but there are so many things
going on that I feel as though I can keep going and going. Honestly, I’ll
probably post again later this week to talk about the upcoming events on campus
because I feel this post will drown if I added more words! There will be a lot
more for me to write about and I would love to include it in this one, but just
you wait!


End of the week there shall be another post and hopefully by then you shall be
prepared to read once more :)

It's the Middle of Summer!

So it's the middle of summer and I'm writing a blog post. :) Haha, I thought I had to come back at least once to just do a little update and chit chat since I never came back after finals!


Finals ended with a wonderful joy in my heart. After all the finals were compelte, our grades were posted on UM-Dearborn Connect which is our wonderful connection to grades, scheduling classes, financial aid, and an assortment of other things. I did well this past semester! :) Managed to get A's and B's. Internet high-five.

Summer has already been a wonderful time and I couldn't ask for anything better. I recently got a job working as a sales associate at Plato's Closet in Canton. It's wonderful and the people I work with are a ton of fun. :) It's a bajillion times better than Sonic!

I also have been spending a good amount of time with the wonderful men of Phi Sigma Phi. They have been doing well at orientation and meeting some new potentials is always great. Phi Sigma Phi brings something so different to the table that it has to at least intrigue a few guys. One party has already taken place and that was an ABC (anything but clothes) party. People came dressed in garbage bags, duct tape tops, and even paper bags. It was a great time and everyone loved it.


So the not so fun part of summer is scheduling class for Fall semester. Eep! I've already had some classes on my mind and I've signed up for them and everything. However, it's 18 hours packed into two days. I'm not sure how I'm going to handle that, but it needs to happen since I also have to work while going to school. Hopefully I can survive through it and do well. You will all be there on my journey through that so you'll know how I do. Haha.


Alright! I'm going back to sitting out in the sun until I have to go to work. I hope everyone has an amazing summer and of course I will be back within a few months to chit chat some more about school and life.

Finals Next Week...dun dun dun.

Oh the dreaded week before finals!

This time of year brings a couple of emotions to mind. One of those emotions is relief. I’m quite relieved to know that I only have a week and a half left of classes and next week is just going to be finals. Another emotion is joy for the exact same reason that I mentioned above. I love how those two coincide and make me one joyous college student.

The only finals that I have going on this semester are German and Media Law and Ethics. The German one, as always, consists of a poem section, oral skit, and written exam. Well, I already finished up the poems. Go me on getting ahead! I am dreading the oral skit and written exam though. This time our skit involves one person being a travel agent and the other being someone who really wants to go on an odd travel. It seems like fun, but the scary part is how many types of sentences we have to use. All these different structures and tenses can get pretty overwhelming. Hopefully, I’m going to do well and that I will do well and then forever finished with German class! J

Media Law and Ethics sounds so much more wonderful. Tonight was my last class and it was wonderful. Our professor bought us all doughnuts which was a great way to start off the night. J Our final is a take home final first off which is something I have never done. It is also pretty great because we get to pick what we write about. We have to select three articles from the New York Times and critique them from an ethical standpoint. It’s not even due for another two weeks which is even more wonderful! I know that I keep using the word wonderful, but that’s just how I feel.

In light of this splendid weather going on lately, I flew my first kite of the year yesterday. Two of the Phi Sigma Phi’s walked me to my car after my class and we ended up getting my two kites out. They were a panda and a penguin with googly eyes. They are just so adorable and though it took us a while to put them together (who knew kites would be so difficult), when we get them in the air, it was great. I really think the best place to fly kites is to do it in the busy parking lot of the campus. That’s where the boys and I flew mine and it was hilarious. I think we got some very odd stares from people driving around trying to find a spot. It was definitely worth it.

Plus now that it’s getting warmer outside, I get to run outside and get more in shape. Sitting around in class and at my house is something I can put in the past and focus on the future. I even have an interview on Friday at Biggby! I really hope that I get this job since I love coffee and the Biggby I’m interviewing at is only a few miles from my house. It would be a great summer job and then I can apply for a Fall internship or co-op. I’m really glad that UM-Dearborn offers that for its students and I can’t wait to take advantage of that. I’ve already had my application filled out, but I don’t think that I want to sit in an office all summer.

Now it’s time for me to finish up some German homework, maybe do some of my final exam, and then pass out only to wake up to go to school.