FRENCH AND PHARMA DONE; THREE AWAIT
Exams are the devil. Not only that, but I seem to be losing my focus and motivation in the midst of them. In one of the busiest weeks of the year by far, I have lost my concentration, and it may very well be my undoing. I have less than one week to find a job, settle my exams, figure out my taxes, and move out, and I am ashamed to say that I have made only the most rudimentary of preparations. Nonetheless, I think I will manage because I must. There is no motivator like necessity. The pharmacology and French finals were hard, and I am a little curious how things wound up. I won't know the grades for at least another week yet though, so I am going to see how well I can do on the rest. I am really nervous about the coming ones, because of the sheer volume of memorization required. I'll do my best, and after that, well... "May fortune favor the foolish" Captain James T. Kirk I am a little nervous about spending my entire summer in Edmonton, but I think I can make this work. We shall see...
FINAL TWO WEEKS
Well, that tears it, I am living in Lister for less than two more weeks for the rest of my life. It is kind of an odd feeling, really. I have genuinely enjoyed my time living here, despite thinking I wouldn't. It certainly has its downsides, but in retrospect, they were far outweighed by the good times and friends that I have had. At the end of it all, I am grateful for the times that I have spent here, and I wait with anticipation for the next phase of my life. It only gets harder from this point on. With regard to the next phase, I have found a place to live for at least part of this summer, but I am still working on employment. It is a struggle, to be sure, but I have found two jobs that I believe are very promising, and so I hope I will get an offer from one of them. It is an odd thought, spending my summer in the West, but one that I can tolerate. Right now I am studying for pharmacology, struggling to commit to memory all of this autonomic garbage. It is quite a tricky thing to master, and understanding all of the different terms and receptors is proving to be a challenge. But it fascinates me in what it allows me to do with drugs, understanding how to treat symptoms or illnesses, etc.
ALL ALONE AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD
Here at the 53rd parallel, I am amazingly far away from everyone and everything. For the most part, I appreciate the solitude as I work out where my life is going and how I am going to get to my ultimate goals. It also lends itself a bit to an emotional detachment from what happens elsewhere. I am often aware of some of what goes on elsewhere, but my involvement is necessarily extremely limited. While this can be negative at times, on the whole I have found this to be something that I can live with. I have genuinely come to enjoy living out in Western Canada. I generally like the area, though I certainly have my complaints about certain things -- like the price of a movie ticket. Many of these problems would be mitigated if I was earning a living wage, however. I can't say where I will end up in the next five years — indeed, I have no idea where I will wind up this summer, but I am confident now that I am up to the task of living whereever I may need to. My anxiety levels get higher each day that I don't have a job, but hopefully I will have a breakthrough soon. I went to CaPS (Career and Placement Services) at the U,and they had a few tips on how to revise my employment information. I still maintain that there is a crack in the dam somewhere, and I am determined to exploit it as soon as I can find it.
FIGHTING APATHY
It is amazing to me that weather outside at this time of year is directly proportional to my feelings about studying. This is the absolute worst time of the year for me to lose my focus and resolve, and yet this weekend, I watched my determination crumble beneath me. Amazing. In any case, I have less than one month to go, and I vow to continue running until I have finished. It is the very least that I can do at this late stage in the game. Friday I went to an alumni party with people from my floor last year. Ryan and Lisa booked a room at the Fantasy Land hotel over in West Edmonton Mall, and I stayed there until 1 in the morning chatting about all kinds of random stuff. That room was a bit small for $260… It was a good night, but it got me off to a bad start on what I had hoped would be a productive weekend. The hour lost this morning did little to help either. In any case, I am hoping there is yet time to salvage my studying attempts before my oral final on Thursday in French. I am very sad to see the Pope pass away. He was, in my opinion, one of the greatest Popes that this world has seen, and I am not a Catholic. I truly view him as a great man, in both theology (well, minus a few longstanding problems like transubstantiation) and as a person. He did much for this world in forging bonds between the Protestants and Jews alike, as well as underming the Soviet Union's strength in eastern Europe. I look on with anticipation and a spectre of anxiety to see who will be chosen in conclave. This time calls for a strong Pope, and a bad decision here will be difficult to recover from. In any case, I have a midterm tomorrow. Au revoir.
CONTACTS AND TAXES
My contacts and tax information arrived in the mail yesterday, which means that I may happily undertake the task of reclaiming my stolen money from the Fed and MI. And while doing it, I will no longer require spectacles! All in all, it was a much appreciated package. Especially given that spring is around the corner, it is nice to get rid of my glasses for a bit. Contacts are far more versatile. Today was spent going through classes and figuring out what the agenda for tomorrow will be. A lot of fun, of course.
SHOTS OF CROWN (SYRUP)
You may of heard of the milk challenges that college students do or other bizarre activities. In the pure interest of randomness, a friend of mine saw the bottle of Crown Corn Syrup that I used to make the glaze for the ham on Easter and offered to try a shot of that. Incredulous, I nevertheless poured him a good two-shot glass of it, and sure enough, he kicked it back. Not to be outdone, Nickie (above) and I did one as well. That stuff doesn't go down all that easy; it's fairly thick. I'd compare it to drinking molasses and leave the image as an exercise for the reader. It's nearing spring here in Alberta, which I noticed on the way to the gym this morning. It was bright and sunny this morning at 6:50 this morning -- a pleasant surprise to be sure. I love the snow, but at this late a stage in the game, I don't mind seeing it yield to warmer days. In my mind at least, it is time for bike riding and studying on the grass. I hate the gradual process, however. There is nothing worse than soaking wet shoes and pants because there is 2 inches of slush and water to slog through on the way to class. Only received one call on Easter: you guys are going to have to get better... ;-)
LAX POSTING HABITS
It is Silent Saturday today - a time of thinking and for the apostles, despair. A brief time of intermission in which people thought that eveything they lives for had suddenly vanished. I am sure the despondance was nearly palpable. On this day, I reflect. Though we now know what is to come, and so there can be joy. And so I am actively preparing for what occurs on Easter Sunday -- I haver to run to the grocery store to pick up some ham, etc. I am been far from productive all weekend, but I figure I am not yet halfway through it, so there is time sufficient to redeem myself. I have a lot of stuff I have to get through, including for sale signs for some of my stuff. I have to figure out what I am doing with my fridge - most likely going my cousin, and what I am going to do with my monitor - selling it to a guy on my floor? We'll see. It's a somewhat thorny issue. I am loathe to give it up before I have to move out, but that may not be an option. In any case, Jars of Clay's new album is out, as well as Kutless' Strong Tower.
HOLY WEEK
With the photo that appeared above from a Passover Seder I attended on Palm Sunday, the biggest week in Christendom has begun, and while I have been a bit busy lately, I am really looking forward to this weekend. I have Good Friday and Easter Monday off as stat holidays, so I am planning on relaxing, job hunting, and cooking a feast. Since I have no family up here, I am planning on celebrating with friends that are staying here for the long weekend. I am looking forward to restoring my energy reserves before the grueling ordeal known more commonly as final exam time. I still desperately need to get better grades this semester, but I am on a good course for that, provided that finals are amazing. I have been meeting with faculty lately in an effort to better understand my options so I can make a good decision come Thursday, when I need to do next semesters registration here at U of A. I may not stay here, but I will at least leave that as a good viable option. Besides, tuition is frozen here for next year, which is very appealing.
CRAZY LAZY
I have been meaning to get to this for the longest time, but each time I get started writing something, I get distracted, and then go to bed. I have spent a good portion of this weekend being lazy and working on memorizing the needed biochemistry for Monday's midterm. I am not very close to where I need to be yet, but I think that after tomorrow, I should have a decent grasp on the material that is necessary for the exam. I have memorized the most relevant portions of the glycolytic pathway, and tomorrow I will go over more enzyme structures, like the protease, elastase. I have been busy trying to figure out what classes and courses I want to pursue next year, and even what university to take them at. It's quite the quandary, and I kinda hope I figure it out pretty soon. In addition, I am still trying to find work this summer and figure out where I am going to be working. I have worked out some general goals and directions, and now I have to chase those down. We'll see where it goes. I had lunch with the Dean of science on Tuesday. That was quite the interesting experience; I foudn it to be surprisingly helpful. I now know what the Faculty of Science is concerned with, where it is aware of its shortcomings, and information about those that graduate. In addition, the Dean is actually from a high school in New Jersey, so he had the same problems I did in making the transition. Amazing. It looks like a good friend of mine is going to spend the summer working up in Houghton, MI in the UP. I am disappointed that I won't see him, but I realize that he's got a really nice offer, so I wish him luck up there! Anyway, I'm off to bed...
THE WEEK OF PAPERS
Well, I guess it can't be said any better. I had been hoping to make a post all week, but life got in the way, sadly. There has been a flurry of activity around this area, which I suppose has a good deal to do with the visit of the Prime Minister of Canada, Paul Martin. He flew out to Edmonton this last Thursday to attend the largest RCMP memorial in Canadian history. Four RCMP officers were killed about 45 minutes away northwest of here in a reposession gone horribly awry. It was the largest death toll for peace officers in Canadian history. The memorial was literally held right across the street from where I live, and the PM himself came to Lister for a few hours to a banquet I was not invited to. They actually painted the handrails for him, which wouldn't be such a big deal, but we live here and they never do it for us. In any case, this place was quite busy for a while, and some what of a distraction that I could have done without. I have been working all week now on a series of papers which must be turned in on Monday. The term paper for bioethics was originally due on Friday, but since I was ill for a few days, I successfully requested an extension. I also must turn in a composition for French, and a lab report for microbiology. So far my progress on these projects has been lackluster, but I am making decent progress tonight. I hope that tomorrow is productive.