Has it already been over three months!
Can I just say whew! I never want to jump from a job right into school. I literally had three days "off" between work and school...but they weren't even real days off! They were travel days from Valdez, AK to Idaho Falls, ID. I flew into Spokane, spent the night at Susan and K.C.'s and then drove (8 hours) to Idaho Falls. When I got to school on Monday, I jumped right into my school work and started doing, not only the work/assignments due for my classes, but the tons of homework I had already missed. And yes, there was a lot. For those of you who don't know, although I love how BYU-Idaho is a more academically leaning college (no sports teams, unless you count their extensive intermural program), even I have to admit that only 14 weeks of class (13 if you count we have one week of for Thanksgiving) with no decrease in work load from the old 16 week schedule, is brutal.
Furthermore, I would recommend you never take 3 english classes as well as 2 art classes in the same semester. In addition to all of the reading and writing you have to do in any english class, the art classes were about 3 hours long (twice a week) and then I spent between 20-30 hours a week just on completing and working on assignments...JUST FOR THOSE CLASSES. I'll be lucky if I pull a B out of each of those classes.Did I mention brutal?So, my semester consisted of those 5 classes and I also did an Internship this semester (don't ask me why...apparently I hate myself). The internship was for the English Department, so I was basically a Teacher's Assistant for the 5th semester in a row, but this time I was paid more and had to work 20 hours each week...in addition to my school load. Definitely my toughest semester thusfar.
Because I was so busy with my internship work (reading and grading papers...oh, the power!, as well as entering grades into the computer grade book and meeting one-on-one with students to go over their papers) and school work, I can honestly say I haven't been to the movie theatre ALL YEAR, except for the one movie I saw in Valdez this summer (the new Indiana Jones...what a disappointment). If you don't believe me about the whole busy-ness aspect of my semester, just ask Becca. She'll vouch for how anti-social I was (translate to no fun).
Although I've been moaning an complaining about my semester, there were some good things. I am now an officially published writer! The school journal, which is only published once a year, included two papers I had written (an original short story as well as an academic paper) in the journal. This is actually quite impressive because: 1. I'm the only person with two papers and 2. there are only about 10 papers from more than 50 submissions. Yeah for me! I also took my Graduate Requirement Exams (GREs) this semester. I scored well enough to meet the minimum requirements to get into any of the English Graduate programs I've looked at. Yes, Patty is applying to Graduate School. I have six on my list right now (2 each in Washington, Montana, and Idaho). My first choice is Boise State, but for my peace of mind, I'll take any of them.
So although Patty is finally done with finals (and for some reason I'm talking about myself in the third person...), I have the "opportunity" to continue the stress streak from finals and work on Graduate Admissions forms. -sigh-Luckily, I get to fill out the applications in a different environment...Susan and K.C.'s house in Spokane, WA. Since Susan is like Mary (read: great with child), I'm trying to help her out with the whole ACBoquet craziness and working with her during my break. I think I can help her a bit, make some money, and have a change of scenery without really putting anyone out -- except for Elisha since she's graciously given up her room to me.
So that's about all I have right now. I will be graduating from BYU-Idaho in April, but dont' know if I'll walk or not...right now I'm thinking yes...but give me a couple of days and I will probably change my mind. Lucikly, next semester is going to be a cake walk compared to this semester. I only have 12 credits (4 classes) and will not be interning. I will still be a TA, but not have to meet such strict requirements.
So, yet again, that's all I have right now, but I just want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. There's snow in Spokane (along with a bitingly cold wind) so it's finally starting to feel like Christmas. Stay safe for the holidays and I hope you have a wonderful coming year.Love,Patty
