This morning, I woke up dreading school, which is nothing out of the ordinary. I am just not a fan of school, and that's no secret, but I'm praying that all of this will be worth it someday. That is how much I believe in the dream I have in my heart. If it wasn't for that, I probably would have given up awhile ago.
Anyway, my morning went the same as it always goes. Brush my teeth. Turn my heater on. Do my makeup. Pick out clothes. Get last minute stuff together. Grab breakfast/lunch for the day. Off I go. I was a little later than usual, but still made it to school in plenty of time.
I made my way to feature writing, which is my first class of the day. I'm usually still trying to wake up, but once we get started, I'm okay. We talked about writing query letters to magazines; pitching our ideas for possible stories, which is what I want to do potentially, when I get out of school, so I'm very into this assignment. Our professor showed us a powerpoint of what we needed to do, where to look and some samples of her writing that was published in Sunset magazine. I was pretty fascinated, and I ended up participating, when she asked if anyone has ever done "Freelance" writing. I told her about my experience of writing for one of our magazines in town and she asked me a few questions about that. I was surprised that no one else had done anything like that. Maybe I'm not as behind as I think I am. We got our assignment, and I believe this was the first time I've walked out of class not feeling completely overwhelmed and stressed out with the rest of the day, knowing it's just going to get worse from here. Instead, I was positive and to my surprise, it only got better.
I met up with my friend, Sarah at the library and we walked to the tables by a small coffee shop on campus to eat lunch. The sky was overcast and looked like it was going to rain. Normally, it would be the perfect day to stay in and write or watch movies, but not today. We ate and talked about classes, reminisced our high school days of being class president, former teachers and how we were the "underdogs" and some of the crap we had to put up with back then. And of course, being two 20-something girls in college, we talked about our lives, our struggles, our stories, and all of the good stuff in between. These vent sessions have been giving me so much clarity about my life and purpose. I also told Sarah about a project of mine that has been on my heart forever, and she gave me some ideas that might help me move forward a bit. It's exciting stuff, folks! It was pretty close to class time, so Sarah walked with me, then we parted ways as she went to the Student Union and I went to the classroom.
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| Isn't it beautiful?…HAHA! Not really. |
Next up is newspaper production. Normally, Mondays are absolutely crazy with last minute edits, handing out stories, people talking and getting page layouts ready. But, again…I was so surprised at how smooth it all went. I chilled with some of the other editors as the staff writers finished the edits for their stories. I continued to work on story ideas, then our managing editor asked if I could start working on page layout. I've never had a chance to do it myself, since I have a class Monday nights and can't stay with the rest of the staff. I messed around with text boxes and pictures, inputting stories and headlines. It was actually not as bad as I thought it would be. It's a little time consuming, but I'm sure once I start doing it more, it'll come naturally. As the staff writers finished, I gave out stories and helped assign photographers for the week. The other editor isn't always there, so when she isn't, I'm in charge. I didn't like that idea at the beginning, as I'm just learning how it all works from another perspective, but it was FUN! I'm glad this is giving me practice, so next quarter when I take over, it won't be so intimidating.
I left class a little early, and the sun was shining; crisp and clear, as the trees are starting to bloom. It might still be winter technically, but California has never been one to follow the rules. So, you can definitely tell that spring is in the air. It was almost hot. I could feel the heat beating down on me through my sweatshirt, and it was rather toasty. I was able to grab an iced tea at the coffee shop, then walked to my next class. I still had a little time, but I just wanted to get a seat and to cool off for a few minutes.
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| So pretty! |
My third class of the day is mass media and society, which is probably my easiest class, but the most draining. It's a two hour lecture that feels more like seven. He's one of the nicest professors, but he definitely uses up all of his time. We talked about mens roles in the media, advertisements and what to expect on the midterm.
I was so wiped out by the time I got out of that class and walked into Theories in communication, where I had a midterm. I talked to a couple of guys from the other class about it and it didn't feel like it would be too bad! HAHA! Boy, was I wrong. I went through the test and was completely confused on most of the questions. I didn't remember learning any of it and started feeling that pain in my chest, like I do when I'm stressing big time, by the time I was done. I talked to the professor about my grades (which I am so not happy with) and that I won't be in class on Wednesday, so I just wanted to be prepared with what to do.
I waited around a few minutes, because I was going to try to talk with my group members about our presentation coming up in a few weeks, but only one of the girls was still there. I walked outside, where I saw several other of my classmates talking about the midterm…Let's just say, I was definitely not alone in feeling like I knew absolutely nothing on that exam. We talked about how worried we are for our grades and it's a lot more intense this quarter. *sigh* I was really not feeling too confident after that. We decided to call it a night, and I walked back over to the newspaper office, since I had gotten out of class early (HALLELUJAH!)
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| YUMMY! |
A few of the editors were still there, working on layout, so we chatted for a few minutes about…Uh, people I knew in high school and some interesting drama that has been going on in the newsroom/on campus. Then, my dad picked me up, since I don't have a car at the moment. Yeah, that's just another thing that's a "work in progress." The team asked me if I needed someone to walk out with me, but I was good. I do appreciate and love the bonding that has been happening lately. This is the closest thing I've ever had to a real job, so I'm guessing this is what it's like…a little family. Dysfunctional a good portion of the time, but still a family. There is never a dull moment with those guys!
I came home vented to my parents about the day, as I do every night, and then we had dinner. My mom made pasta (with the recipe from Buca Di Beppo), salad and bread. It was so delish! Mondays, I'm usually starving by the time I get home, so it was the perfect meal.
After dinner, I relaxed for a little while, then started working on an essay for Theories. Or mainly just complaining. Since the Olympics are on, I'm bummed that some of my favorite shows aren't, like Hollywood Game Night. That helps me get through my Mondays, so I'm extremely saddened by this. But, oh well…It will be back soon enough. The rest of the night was pretty boring…Just me on the computer, on Twitter, Instagram and texting.
It was a very good day. Now, if the rest of the week can live up to Monday, we will be just fine.
That's all for now,
Shelby :)
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