Elke's Blog

As I was plowing through midterms, all I could think about was Spring Break. The sun, the beach, Grandma's cookin'... everything was going to be perfect.

Spring Semester...

new job (which means new digs!)
...and new classes

It seems lately that I don’t even have time to look forward to Thanksgiving Break. When I’m not in class, studying for class, reading for class, or meeting with professors about class… I’m getting ready for the American International Model United Nations Conference. Saturday is the beginning of four full days of debating United Nations policies for everything from economics to human rights to the environment and climate change.

October seems to be midterm-season. Yet I look at my syllabi, and November seems to be just as busy. The only lull is at the end of the month when you get midterms back. The only way to get through this is to establish a study routine – which I still haven’t gotten the hang of.

Somehow I couldn’t have been happier shuffling from Blegen Hall to Folwell Hall in the rain, with exactly 15 minutes between classes. The first day of classes have, sadly, not gotten any less frantic for me that I am a sophomore.

It seems that spring is finally arriving to the University! (in spite of this weekend’s cold, wet and windy weather.) With only two more weeks of classes and then a week of finals, I am starting to buckle down on studying. Perhaps the cold weather lately has been a blessing, forcing me to stay inside with my textbooks.

I think back just a year, and it's amazing how everything has changed.

I was facing a decision that would determine the next four years of my life. I, like most of my high-school friends, had applied to enough schools to make this decision incredibly difficult. With the acceptance and financial aid packets in hand, I had until May 1. Out-of-state / in-state, public / private, less than 5,000 undergrad / over 10,000. Everyone was different and I felt that I overwhelmed.