Picking the book up (and putting it down)

There's literally no better feeling than getting your work done.

In a feat of superhuman perseverance, I was able to complete a five page, 1500 word essay on synecdoche in under three hours, after having stressed out about writing it and putting it off for an entire week. Being in that kind of mood, I decided to see how much homework I could plow through before my steam ran out. Suffice it to say, once I completed the essay, read all of my immigration articles for seminar 4, and caught up on Plato's Protagoras for my Greek Philosophy class, I was at a loss for what to do. So I took a nice, long, hot shower to destress, cleaned all the dishes and my room, e-mailed my parents, checked Facebook, watched random internet videos, and generally futzed about. Now, I'm oscillating between reading ahead on the Harlem Renaissance for my American Fiction class and catching up on all of the TV shows I'm really, really behind on.

So here's the point of this: when the mood strikes you, and I mean really strikes you, go for it. Do all the work you are motivated to do. College is all about time management, but it's also about knowing when to do your work and when not to do it. It's about knowing your body and when you're capable of plowing through a weekend's worth of homework in five hours. Trust yourself. And take advantage of those times when you have energy and motivation to do your work.

But when you're not really in the mood, like I wasn't this week (as I'm kind of unmotivated and very sick), just take a day or two to unwind. Watch some TV, do nothing, sleep, drink tea. And don't do this while simultaneously stressing out about all the time you're "wasting". Seriously, this time is so not wasted. Know when to give yourself a break, and know when you could be working harder. Know when to put your computer away, but also know when to put the book down. It'll pay off.

Vernier Calipers and Glorious Days

Hey, everyone!

My mom's birthday is tomorrow, and we just finished making the cake. At one point, my mom said, "Your dad is cracking the hazelnuts for the top of the cake, and you're doing the majority of the work in making the cake. I'm just standing here observing." So I asked her, "Does that make you happy or sad?", and she was like, "I don't know". haha. I think she's used to doing all the work in the house, and she felt strange just watching my dad and I do the work for once. I told her that it's her birthday tomorrow, so she shouldn't be doing any work anyway. But I think it's a Mom thing. They have to always be doing something. Otherwise, they feel like they have no purpose.

While on the topic of parents:

My dad is great with a set of tools. He loves getting his hands dirty and fixing and making things. (He's actually fixing something right now.) If you give him a tool he's never seen before, he'll be using it like a pro in no time. When I was a kid, he used to tell me about all of the uses of his tools, and I used to help him fix things sometimes. One thing he taught me how to use is a vernier caliper. In case, you're going "Huh? What the heck is a vernier caliper?": it's essentially a fancy kind of ruler.

I was probably the only 10-year-old I knew who had ever seen one of these things. My dad taught me how to use it, but of course, as all kids do, I was not paying attention all that much because I never thought I would ever have to actually use one. Lo and behold, last semester in physics, I walk into lab, and see one of these on the table. And I'm like, "Crap. I should have actually paid attention to my dad's explanation." I think my lab group kind of figured out how to use it, but I personally was still not 100% comfortable with it. This past Wednesday, I finally asked my dad to show me how to use it again. It's actually sitting on my desk right now because he told me to practice measuring things with it. Yay for fathers who teach you things! =)

Last Sunday, my dad and I visited a shoe repair shop because the heel of one of my boots has been giving me trouble lately. When we walked in, we didn't have to even say anything. The shoe repairman automatically remembered my boots and the work that he had done on them. (A couple of weeks ago, he replaced the heels on both, but one of them was still giving me trouble.) He must have dealt with hundreds, maybe thousands of shoes in his lifetime (he's now in his 70's), and he remembered my boots after working with them only once. I thought that was pretty amazing. That is what I call a professional.

By far the best day of this past week was Tuesday. OMG. The weather was gorgeous. I woke up to the sounds of birds singing outside of my window. Glorious. But I wanted to tell the birds not to get too excited because the nice weather was only temporary. For instance, yesterday was terrible. Just cold and miserable. I want my sunshine already!

S.

College Tip of the Week: Have fun with classes outside of your major. 

I've probably mentioned this on the blog many times already, but for those of you who are new readers, I'll say it again. I'm a biology major, and I'm pre-med (as many students at Hunter are). As you can imagine, this means that I take a whole bunch of science classes. Sometimes, these science classes drive me a bit nuts, so I always look forward to the non-science classes that I take to fulfill my GERs (General Education Requirement). GERs are classes that everyone at Hunter has to take in order to graduate. These requirements have given me the opportunity to take courses that have completely nothing to do with my future career but are awesomely interesting and expand my mind greatly.

So definitely take advantage of the GER's, and take some cool classes.

Here are a few that I thought were awesome (which you might think are awesome if you end up coming to Hunter or are already at Hunter):

(I think I've mentioned all of these classes at least once on the blog.)

1. Poli Sci 110 (w/ Prof. Polsky)

2. Macaulay Seminars (All Four):

        Mac Sem #1 (w/ Prof. Graff)
        Mac Sem #2 (w/ Prof. Friedlander)
        Mac Sem #3 (w/ Prof. Garson)
        Mac Sem #4 (w/ Prof. Gutfreund)

3. German Fairytales (w/ Prof. Titze)

4. History of Broadcasting (w/ Prof. Roman)

5. Asian Religions (w/ Prof. Nacht)

6. Filipino-American Lit (w/ Prof. Francia)

3 Things New Yorkers Hypocritically Complain About

1. Being on the wrong side of the escalators or stairs. It is one of my biggest pet peeves, especially since we go to a school with a vertical campus where one of the buildings relies on the escalators. You would think that people would learn after the tenth time of asking them to stand on the right side of the escalator, so that people can walk past if they are in a hurry. People don't learn this. And that's fine, OK, so I have to ask you to step aside instead of you already doing it, whatever, no big. It's worse on the stairs at the subway station, though. If there is a throng of people attempting to leave the station, you really don't need to be that one person who makes it more difficult for everyone to get up the stairs. That being said, if I'm deep in conversation with someone, I have been known to be party to someone standing on the wrong side of the escalator.
2. Standing by the doors in the subway car. Literally the worst, because it means less people can get into the car, and those who are further in have a harder time getting out. The subways in NYC have a lot of pros, but people not knowing how to make room for more people is definitely a con. Not moving into the car also makes the subway ride far more uncomfortable for everyone, because those who are trying to get into the middle of the car usually can't, and there's a lot more jostling and bodies pressed up against bodies. But, again, I have been known to stand by the doors from time to time. Generally, if I'm only going one stop, which I try not to do in the first place, then I'll wait by the doors because it's a hassle trying to get back out from the middle, but that doesn't excuse that I still do it.
3. Stop walking in the middle of the hallway or street. This one's a big one I think. I'm big into having a destination and walking there in as straight a line as possible, but this is made super difficult when you have to turn left or right to avoid road blocks. Road blocks in the form of people stopping to have a chat, or a make-out session, in the middle of everyone else walking. This definitely happens within Hunter as well, and is super annoying when you have a backpack (mine's a messenger bag so I only wear it off one shoulder, and it swings when I swerve) and you have to get to class. And, yet again, I still sometimes find myself stopping in my tracks to say hi to someone. I try really hard not to do this one, because it really just stops traffic, but I know I have at one point or another... Or, at least, slowed down to a point that was probably not super conducive to everyone else moving along.

Now, this may sound a little on the complaining side, but really I'm just interested in what your New Yorker pet peeves are. Feel free to list some in the comments!