I (as I am sure everyone else is!) am sooo looking forward to the end of next week, but there’s no getting there with out going through finals...

Three exams, a test, and a practical are what I have on tap for the next ten days…

Given some of the stories I’ve been hearing, that’s not too bad at all –

I’ve been making it a point to study as I go along so I am not too stressed out about the situation.

This semester I finally figured out how I learn best, and that has made all of the difference. I know every one is different, but I am definitely not a crammer. Everything I try to stuff in at the last minute just slides right out of my mind as soon as I am forced to regurgitate it…

On top of everything else the calendar is rife with inductions, luncheons, and a myriad of other end of the year activities. Another lesson I learned this term? Know when to say no, but saying yes sometimes is a good thing! Deprivation (read: taking no study breaks ever!) definitely doesn’t work for me either. Dr. Annette warned us last fall to schedule in down time and it has taken me this long to catch on. A more balanced approach has definitely made me more successful this time around.

Chem. classes at Xavier don’t start until the end of the month so I will be there bright & early every morning of every weekday for the entire summer. I’m thrilled…(truly!). I have a good feeling about our relationship and sense that a little one on one time might bring me and chemistry back together in a beautiful way. (Just in time for the fall chem. class!)

The best thing about finals week as far as I am concerned?  It makes the weekend that much sweeter!

Even with a couple of classes this summer, I am sure I will find time to squeeze in a new adventure or a visit a place that I’ve never been. I hope you get to do the same!

See you in August!

Word of the Day: Priorities

So Monday morning I woke up from a nightmare that I was somehow on the wrong campus looking for a non-existent science building that I should have been in twenty minutes earlier for a chemistry exam, racing around in a panic...

I can't remember the last time I had a dream like that. Obviously something was out of whack.

Needless to say, I had been a little stressed about this class. Doing all of the wrong things for my learning style - focusing on points instead of knowledge, cramming instead of just pacing - everything that sends me into a tailspin. I know better - right? Study better, study smarter, and above all don't freak out! It's the last part that got me. Not a big hysterical freaking out, but a quiet little in-my-own-head one.

Well, waking up to the reality of the "failed bailout" and people "losing it" en masse shortly after dragging myself downstairs and logging on snapped me back into shape pretty quickly. The cover of the Times was practically screaming about the nearly 800 point drop overnight and all of the resident Chicken Littles were in line proclaiming the falling sky in six languages. My bank is on the latest dumpster list along with a lot of other people's I'm sure.

Egads.

Suddenly, the "horrors of chemistry" seemed like a small thing to raise my blood pressure over. Happy home, good life, and the privilege of learning something new everyday. There are worse places to be - both literally and metaphorically. If the worst thing that happens today is that I get some things wrong, then it is good day.

Sometimes I really do learn more by getting it wrong than I do by getting it right; but that's just me. Fortunately that I can afford to make some mistakes right now - so I'll take it while I can and save a little happy for when things get really rough.

My priorities this week:

1. Try to get more things right than wrong.

                          BUT

2. Learn just as much from the wrong answers.

That should keep me calm for a little while...at least today.