Student Work Day – Day 36-44
I think Finals went quite well (as in, as well as they could have gone), although the very last one was rather frightening...The main thing though is that I got through finals with minimum stress, full nights of sleep (actually, I found myself sleeping in more than usual...oops), and good preparation for tests. I can't say that things couldn't have been better, though!
The student work day has worked out really well for me this last month and a half. Less stress, more “focused play time”, like video games and hanging out with friends. I haven't been perfect, but I'm hoping that a few adaptations, along with a fresh start next semester, will help improve it even more! Here is one change I definitely want to make to the work day:
Set personal deadlines at least one day ahead of real deadlines.
This is to help me feel more in control of my schedule, as well as to prevent last minute rushes in which I turn in assignments 4 minutes before deadline. So the rule will be, if I can't get an assignment (or the bulk of test preparation) done at least one day ahead of the deadline, I've got to put in some extra hours. Hopefully, with a fresh start I won't even have to think about this at all, but it'll be a good rule to have in any case.
I've also been thinking about whether I can start combining some extracurriculars (research? My part-time job?) into my workday, but only time can tell! For now though, I'm finally home and will be thoroughly enjoying myself, while continuing a slightly modified form of the workday for various projects, hobbies, and piano! Yay!
Student Work Day – Day 15-22
The last couple of days have been pretty good. The essay due Monday pretty much took over my study hours until I finally turned it in yesterday, but that's OK. In Computer Science we got a cool assignment that I was really excited about, but I don't really know if I'll be able to implement as much extra stuff as I'd like to. :-) Otherwise, things have been relatively uneventful, work-wise. I played Left for Dead and raced Portal with friends on Friday night, and didn't work five hours on Sunday like I meant to (only three) because there I was invited to a Thanksgiving Feast at a frat, which was prettyy yummy. You can't complain with free food (that isn't pizza) anyway. :-D
Tuesday went fine, except for some inner emotional resistance on my part when trying to force myself to go out to the Math Support Center and get this chapter cleared up for me. I knew that I was avoiding this task because of some perceived difficulty, so that meant I needed to get on it (sigh), but I still didn't want to go, which is interesting. Procrastination is on some level caused by fear, but I (mostly) conquered it today by going out and finally starting that assignment due next week.
And Thanksgiving Break is here! While sorting out my calendar for the last couple of weeks, I decided that I'll definitely be doing work over break. I was hoping to get in 27 study blocks (50 minutes each) in, which would be about the same as if classes were still in session, except with some extra time because I won't have to worry about attending lectures or walking around campus...but this is probably being way too idealistic. One hopes? (My goal for next semester, by the way, is to be able to fully enjoy Spring Break!)
So far I have 8 study blocks logged. Hmmmmm - well, my CS assignment was much shorter than I anticipated, which leaves much more time for studying for finals! Yay?
This website…
...will be revamped sometime in the undetermined future. Till then boys and girls. :-)