Almost There!

With one somewhat overdue final paper left to do, I’m almost done. I just recently bombed my Chinese speaking portion of the final because one, I got the one topic I literally hated the most, and two, I barely have a voice. Chinese is a tonal language, so me sounding like a super raspy Lindsey Lohan who just swallowed a blender full of sandpaper couldn’t help. Oh well.

I lost my voice around last Friday night and it’s just starting to come back, but my voice was the least of my worries. Sunday night, obviously, my body decided to catch some kind of nasty bug for the first time all semester.  I mean, staying up all night and day isn’t too good for your body to begin with, but when you’re desperately sick, can’t breathe and hallucinating a little, it’s just the icing on the cake.

Luckily my room was loaded with healthy snacks packed with vitamin c, tons of tea, about sixty boxes of tissues and enough decongestants to sink a ship, so I somehow survived these past few days. Barely.

One problem about staying up all the time is, strangely enough, taking naps. I almost missed two finals because I slept though all seven alarms I set. Once you fall asleep, you never want to get back up, which is horrible. Thank god my body somehow knew I had tests that I couldn’t retake for any reason whatsoever, so I made it on time to take them, but I didn’t prepare as well as I would have liked.

My advice for anyone is to get as much of everything done before hand as you can. (Yeah, I know, it's a lot harder than it sounds, especially being a wonderful procrastinator, but I really need to start doing things earlier.) I pulled an all-nighter Monday night because I had to finish writing my final English paper. But I’m an idiot, because I had two weeks to finish it, so I spent all night writing a stupid paper while I could have been studying for my English and Calculus finals the next day. (I hate English class, if you couldn’t tell.)

I have also accomplished the feat of passing out on three different library floors at Hunter, four different floors of Hunter west, along with during one of my finals. I can’t wait to hibernate, that is until my mother drives in early tomorrow to help move stuff out of the dorm. Joy. 

I feel like I've been closed off from the world for a while now, so I’m excited to see all my friends tonight, start exercising again and, mostly, getting my eating and sleeping habits back on track! That is, until I head off to Taiwan to further mess my bodily habits up, but I can't really complain. 

Waitressing, Fake-Demolishing Finals, Things That Sound Good To Me, and Candy Center Ice Creams

Whoa, so I finished my finals guyzzz!!!! ~~~
I powered through somehow on bagels, and coffee, skittles and soda. Gotta love them good eating habits! I also totally lived off my friends' kindness sometimes. I owe people some food. Oh also FYI the ice cream vending machine is working. I am sad that I am moving out tomorrow otherwise I would have made full use of this knowledge. Candy center ice cream all the way!

How were my finals, you ask?
Well, I personally like to imagine that my pencils, while bubbling in answers, were really scorching those test papers to ashes and that I emerged from the Exam Lecture Halls of Doom in a blaze of glory, with the doors falling away behind me in all my heavenly finals-liberation state. I also imagine that while taking my exams, I emitted such a fiery glow of superior knowledge on the subjects that even my professors dared not to approach me in all of my academic glory. I do not think this happened, however. Rather I believe that I nervously scratched away at answers and bit my nails and bitterly reflected how my professors came up with their devilish questions as I tried to second-guess myself. Especially on the tricky ones. Really, Janette, really?

I haven't eaten or slept well in a while, but I haven't got an appetite. So I'm really hungry, but nothing sounds good to me. Food-wise that is. A lot of other things sound good to me though, like:
-watching arrested development (everyone watches it; i'm behind on pop culture, it's killing me)
-going running again
-watching gilmore girls
-not reflecting on the fact that lauren graham was in union square's barnes and noble and i didn't go because i had class
-reading Quintana of Charyn (slightly obscure Australian fantasy series, though probably one of my favorite series in life ever), and starting on my massive life-long book list
-my sister's upcoming sweet 16!

I have to emcee this ^ event, and I haven't got a dress, and it's a guyanese party so...well, a lot of family and extended family is coming, and I have to do a good job while looking not reprehensible, and look, sometimes that's hard for me to accomplish. Since I've made this blog overly personal I'm sure I'll let everyone know how it goes.

Other critical news of the day: I want to be a waitress. My friend reminded me of this life-long aspiration of mine.  Someone, help me be a waitress. And yes. It is because in my head it sounds like a romantic sort of job.
I can see it all now. Like, oh hello celebrity dining at the upper-class restaurant I work at, what can I do for you today? Oh, you'd like one of those fancy salad items I can't pronounce? Sure! And, what? Oh, you want to date me  too because you find my charm irresistibly adorable? [alternative to this if it is someone like dakota fanning that i see: oh? your older brother wants to date me randomly? (am aware she might not have said older brother)] But of course! Lemon water, anyone?

Just kidding. I mostly want to be one because I would seriously have a BALL if my job were talking and being really friendly to strangers. Because normally I want to talk to strangers (wow the creepiness level has just shot off the graph) and be all "your hair is awesome!" or "I love your shirt! Based on this shirt I bet you love the same TV shows I do! We probably have a similar sense of humor! Let's be friends!" "Hey cute NYU guy at Trader Joe's! I wish it were socially acceptable to chat to you about the similar bread we are buying, instead of you finding me weird!"or "Hey student next to me in line! I can totally relate to the conversation you're having with your friend right now, but it's awkward to interject so I won't!"
Plus people at restaurants love nice waitresses. I would be a really nice waitress, guys. And I would even crack jokes at every table I went to. Not even for the tips. Because I love cracking jokes to people.  Also I feel like waitresses wear red lipstick and it might be part of the uniform. I enjoy red lipstick.

Now, because I feel obligated to write school-relevant things here: summer! If you're a to-be student at MHC, utilize your summers effectively. Seriously. If you're chill with relaxing and reading and watching TV shows, dooo it. If you realize that your summers will be tied up in years to come, study abroad early in the game. OUR TIME IS ACTUALLY PRECIOUS THOUGH!
Look at internships, jobs, and summer classes. Take fun/interesting classes in the summer if you can!
I am going to study abroad in Spain for the month, so my dreams of being in Europe are actually...happening...?!?!
My best friend from high school is also going to Europe for a school seminar, so we'll be in Europe at the same time, and while we have no plans yet, we could totally channel the sisterhood of the traveling pants and hit up Greece or something. Kostos where you at homeboy?

Anyway, I have a 15 page paper awaiting me, so ta-ta!
Good luck for the rest of the week!

Amirah

Alright, maybe finals week isn't THAT bad.../ Surprising opportunities

Total papers page count due: 40
In-class papers: 2
Final Exams: 1
Procrastination level: pro

So finals roll around once again, and I am again camped out on Stacey's floor because it's moderately comfortable, pleasantly cool, and the music is excellent.
(in case I haven't mentioned it before, Stacey is the girl who lives next door to me in the dorms. She's the closest thing to a roommate I could ever want because we can barge into one another rooms, but I can kick her out when she starts to fart.  She's on the MacBlog too! )
Tonight the focus is on a paper about multiculturalism and power dynamics, with breaks to blog about what I did Friday evening that I consider really special.

So, a bit of backstory: Dr. Petraeus is coming to teach here at Macaulay next year, and I decided to apply to be in his seminar. Its only open to 16 students, but I figure its worth tossing my name out there.

Friday night, Dean Kirschner offered students the opportunity to go to a "discussion" about Dr. Petraeus' appointment. Let me tell you what I imagined:

 50 or 60 kids, sitting in an audience. The Dean gets up and speaks, illuminating us as to why Dr. Petraeus chose Macaulay and what his goals are for his time at the university, as well as what the university hopes we will learn from him. After she speaks, there is a short Q&A and we are dismissed.

Well I guess I forgot, this is a  MACAULAY event, and they are never as dull as all that.

It was a small, round-table discussion. It was tight-knit. The Dean let us run the discussion, allowing the students to ask the questions and determine that night's agenda. She chatted with us amicably before. (she was very proud of the fact that she had painted her own toenails and they had come out well)  

It was just such a surreal moment, to realize that the Dean had offered students a chance to really speak openly with her about the school. I think what was nicest was that there wasn't anything pretentious about it - she treated us like equals. So many kids don't get to go to a school where they know the "higher-ups" so  well.

 Here at Macaulay, the Deans take the time to get to know you, and they are utterly approachable. As a girl who was very sold on the "biggest school I can imagine" idea, I must admit, this small-school stuff is nice. I like that my administrators can get to know me. I like that I have advisors who recognize me and know what I want to do with my life. I like that I could possibly get to be one of 16 students learning from a retired General who also happens to be the retired director of the CIA. 

I think that's the perfect analogy for Macaulay, actually. We're big enough to get Petraeus to come, but small enough to make sure that the class he teaches is full of students he will know well.