Keep on Singin' My Song

I now have a new favorite Christmas tradition. Christmas at Luther.

I really wasn't big on the choir because of all the time that was put into just practicing when I could be doing something more productive... like facebooking. But after this week, I saw just what happened because of the all the practicing and it made me smile, just a little bit.

On Sunday, it was the worst rehearsal ever because it lasted forever and we had to come back from break early, but every other rehearsal after turned less and less into a hassle. We had a dress rehearsal on Wednesday and we wore our robes and make-up and went through all the individual choir songs and I felt kind of giddy. The lights were in full view and there was even a little audience. Sure, we had to go back and forth a few times, but it felt almost like the real thing with the running up the stairs to the balcony and the coming down and running into Aurora.

We had our first performance on Thursday and that was where all my friends and my roommate were (my other roommate was in choir). Overall, it went very well for having messed up a few times in the dress rehearsal. I was definitely feeling the spirit because of the song selection. I was pretty much on a high the entire time because not only was it a really good Christmas performance, but it was the first time I was on a stage like that in years. So afterwards, at the dorm, I had a dance party with my friends (even though we probably should have been studying for the biology quiz) and we popped, locked, and dropped it until we were sore.

Not a good idea.

On Friday, there were two performances and I was still aching sore from the dancing the night before. It was the most unpleasant, hardest, painful-est recital to go through. Standing the on the risers did nothing to curb the pain in my legs. I was fairly certain that all people saw on my face was clear agony and pain. However, it was still a better performance than the one on Thursday (in my opinion). That was just the first concert. The second one was a little worse for me, so I might have gotten a little overenthusiastic when we were singing the last song (which I was already enthusiastic about because it's my favorite) and raged out of there to change into my jeans and warm boots and then proceed to collapse in my bed. We didn't get out until eleven that night, but it was totally worth it.

Saturday was, what I thought, the best performance. Everything went perfectly and I wasn't in as much pain as I was the night before. It was great. I wished it could have been Sunday that was the best performance because that was when my mother was going to be there, but alas, it wasn't. Sunday was one of the top because of the candle-lighting, which is my second favorite part of the concert.

Because the concerts were being recorded by public television people, we couldn't have the stage completely dark during the lighting, so the effect wasn't as powerful. But on Sunday, we had the lights off and I quickly scanned the room looking at all the choirs (even though I probably wasn't supposed to) and got kinda happy. I'm a sentimental person--it gets me every single time.

Really, that was the best experience ever. I probably wouldn't repeat it right now and I'm kind of happy it's over, but I would do it again next year in a heartbeat. I was happy to be a part of it, no matter how painful, time consuming, paper failing, test failing, hot, and crowded it may be.

(Yes, I did fail my paideia paper that was due on Wednesday [I think] and it was partly the reason I failed my quiz) -- but it was totally worth it. And I just suck at time managment.

Marcie

That's Not My Name

So, Thanksgiving break has come and gone. Unfortunately, it is gone and there's school tomorrow. I'm not sure what's more depressing; the fact that for the rest of this week, there will be no rest, that I won't get to see my friends forever, that I didn't get into the class I wanted for J-Term, or that I have class tomorrow. I think they're all pretty equal.

It's Christmas at Luther week. The dreaded week is here. Today we had a six hour rehearsal (five hours plus an hour long break for some) and my voice is dying. I had to leave home, my warm, amazing, awesome home at seven in the morning. Not only that, but it took double the time to get here because of the weather. Then I'm here for an hour and I have to go to choir. Me? I'm not a big choir person. I like to sing and I like the songs, but I have extremely mixed feelings about choir. It's just always been an 'I hate choir, but when I'm there it's ok' kind of thing.

Let me tell you, there was none of that today. This break, I was meaning to catch up on all the things I had fallen behind in other classes and start the paideia paper that I thought was due on Monday (it's due Wednesday). Didn't happen. I did get caught up, but only in one class. Bad times, but they were oh-so enjoyable (seriously, biology or dinner party with friends you haven't seen since July? I think we all know the answer). So, since I didn't do diddly squat during my break I was freaking out the entire five hours to the point where I made myself sick. It was the worst choir rehearsal/day/life experience ever. I was seconds from crying.

Kids, I am not a good role model, I'll say that right now. I'm stuck in high school where I never studied for tests and never actually read the material (can someone say sparknotes?), but I'm learning. And everyone is going on a learning experience with me. I had learned before, but then I got lazy, which happens a lot. But I need to remember that I am 18,000 dollars in debt so that I can study. So I should study and get off facebook. I'm getting there. Slowly, but surely. And next semester is going to be so much better.

Marcie

And all the titles lately have been titles of songs that I listen to while I write these SPECTACULAR AMAZING blogs, in case anyone was wondering. Look them up. They're pretty good.

An Honest Mistake

Alright, it's officially the week of Thanksgiving Break. That's three days of no classes, no work-study, no cafeteria food, no choir rehearsal, no Rigoberta Menchu, or common quizzes. However, break starts Tuesday and I still have Monday and my 8:00 class on Tuesday. My heart, however, doesn't know that.

I have a paideia rough draft due tomorrow.
It's three in the morning.
I haven't. even. started.
In fact, I'm watching 2Fast 2Furious.

See my problem?

And I honestly don't know when I'll get it done! I only have an hour and a half between calculus and bio and I have a really big topic! I'll be one of the shame-faced losers that walks into class and hopes they don't get the one girl that would turn them in to the teacher. I mean, I'm not a big fan of the misspellings, but that does not mean that I shouldn't write the paper! *panics*. Oh boy. It's not like I can write it during biology either. That would be WRONG (I'm sure it wouldn't matter if I had read the chapter last night, but I didn't).

Now, I am not a hypocrite. I DO learn from my mistakes... but this is a new one. I'm in break before break actually happens. But no worries, I'll manage.

Now... I'm going to write my paper on the Guatemalan Civil War in regards to Rigoberta Menchu and the speaker we had come into class (I would probably write about that, except that we signed a form that said we couldn't repeat what he said in class outside of class, since he's testifying in court).

That's all for today. I'm going to make an outline of my paper.

Marcie

Under the Gun

Again, another busy week ahead of me. Not as busy as the last two, but who knows what unexpected things will happen.

I facilitated last week in my Honors class. I sucked. Everyone said it wasn't that bad. Everyone is a liar.

Last night was the first Christmas at Luther rehearsal and it was amazing. All the choirs were together and it was just really awesome to hear. I'm in Cantorei--I'm not going to say anything negative about it, but we were just a little unprepared for the mass rehearsal. There were two songs where everyone just looked at each other, smiled, and faked it. I almost died because I tried to hit the notes. It didn't work out so well.

My godmother, she works here at Luther, tried to scare me about Christmas at Luther. She said that I'd have to start getting ahead because I'd for sure fall behind because of all of the rehearsals. I'm going to have to call her out on that. The mass rehearsals are on Sundays, which isn't a problem for me, until the week of Christmas at Luther in which case the rehearsals are when I'm usually doing my work-study, so it's not like I'm doing homework then anyway.

But Christmas at Luther is probably going to be the most amazing Christmas event ever [besides going back home and seeing my friends and going to the Kris Kindl Market] and I seriously can't wait until the performances. There are going to be candles and we get to be broadcasted on national television, which is always a plus. I can't wait.

And now, it's time for Bio. T_T

Die Another Day... Cause Imma busy!

Oh my goodness. It has been a crazy week. Let me tell you. With the paideia paper, the bio exam, my birthday, the elections, and all the events that I had to go to for my political science class, I don't think I've had time to even sleep, let alone feel homesick!

It's crazy and half the time I have no idea what takes priority. It leads to stress, but then you're always relieved the next week when there's nothing to worry about. That's clearly not the case this week because my weekend was stress-filled as well, but I'm sure I'll feel a whole lot better next week.

Obviously, I got through the last week and I have no idea how. Not only was the Bio exam a slap in the face [even though I knew about it two weeks earlier], but my paideia paper was much harder than I remembered it being the first time I read the prompt. It was as if college came full speed in all my classes all at the same time -- I was getting run over from every direction. Even calculus was getting hard!

Normally I'd write a list of how I got through it all, but I have no idea how it happened. At all. I stayed up until two writing that paideia paper that I did not understand how to do, studied for the biology exam for 45 minutes before the class [not a good strategy if you want to get anything higher than a C, but I have to say I only passed because I went to lecture], stayed up until two writing all the one-page responses for my political science class and managed to find people to cover two of my shifts so that I could go to the events I needed to go to and so that I could spend time with my family during my birthday. It was hectic. I can't even keep track of it when I write it down, as I'm sure no one else can either.

On the plate for this week is.... On Tuesday, I have to facilitate a class, big deal. I'm freaking out mostly because I don't know how to be a teacher, I never even wanted to be a teacher. It should be interesting and I hope it all goes well, but we'll have to see. The final draft of the paideia paper is due on Wednesday [oh crap] and that's a big event within itself. Usually my whole Tuesday nights are dedicated to that after I finish my calculus and biology, but I have a lab group meeting on Tuesday because we have to give an oral presentation on Thursday in lab. What is it with all the public speaking? It's a crazy week!

Anyways, I hope everyone else has a nice calm week.

Marcie

Different Air

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't homesick. I am terribly so. Decorah itself is so different from Elgin (where I'm from) in population dynamics and mentality. I'm used to walking down the street and receiving glares for being in the way or the awkward look away, but here everyone smiles or says hello. I'm getting used to it, but there are those days when I really miss the cold nastiness. It makes me feel like a better person sometimes.

I miss my house. I used to live in my basement and it was my Lair of Darkness, as my friends and I coined it, and I'd have my air mattress right in the middle and my couch right next to it. Sure, there were bugs, but there are always going to be bugs. I could turn off the light whenever I wanted and do whatever I wanted. With two roommates, it gets really hard. There's always someone there, which can be nice, but it can also drive me crazy. Everyone has their individual mess and everyone touches things [like my outlet where they "kindly" unplug things] and there's just no escaping the cramped-ness of the room. In my room particularly, I cannot turn on the lights, not even a desk light, after one of my roommates go to sleep. It's REALLY hard. I went from absolutely independent in my basement to sharing with two people.

Of course, I miss my friends. No one drives up five hours to see me, which is alright. I haven't seen a good lot of them in over three months, but hopefully that will change over Thanksgiving. I miss having them around me. The people here are amazing, but it's four years vs. a few months. It's just a lot of turmoil.

I'm not condemning roommates or college, for that matter. I love my roommates to death and I enjoy college, really, but everyone has their days and the more homesick I get, the more I have them. Part of college, probably, is overcoming it and finding your strength. Prioritizing and focusing on what you need to get what you want. Homesickness is going to come along, but it'll also pass.

On that depressing note, I will announce something happy. As in, Happy Birthday to me... on Friday. Woot! 19!

Do it to it

It snowed yesterday. Kind of random considering it's not even Halloween. This is a little more north than I've been, but come on? Winter in October? You have got to be kidding me. I did not appreciate that little gift. I don't start to appreciate it until after Thanksgiving. But that's okay. It kept me inside so I could "do my homework."

That was a random look into my mind about how I feel about the temperature and early winter in Decorah, IA.

So I came back from fall break and had to work, which was... terribly painful for my psyche, but I got paid for it, so I wasn't going to complain. After that, I beached. I met up with the friends and didn't do anything. It was amazing, I'm not going to lie. Thursday was the same and I loved it. I just slept all day and then watched TV and got on the ever deadly facebook.

Then midnight rolled around and Friday slapped me in the face. Last time, I mentioned something about laziness and getting destroyed--it still applies during and after break. Had I done ANY of my homework prior to Thursday, I might not have gone to bed a three in the morning, still not done with it. It was a headache to deal with.

After that tragic Friday, I had a tragic Sunday [I clearly don't learn from my lessons] and then it was Monday. I managed to barely scrape by, but after a long talk with my god-mother, who works on campus, I decided that none of that was going to happen. So! With new found determination and responsibility I went to the Diversity Office and had a talk with one of the people that had asked me to come in on Friday [oops! (and it's okay to do that, as long as you COME IN)] and got my shots so that I could register for classes next semester and sat down to do my homework.

... sort of. There might have been a trip to the cemetary sometime during the 'doing homework'. Bu no worries. It's getting done as we speak. One page is this blog, another is the website I'm getting my information off of, and then there's aim. Hooray for multitasking! The iTunes is on too. Can't forget that.

Hey, everyone has their own study habits--mine might just be a little distracting. But at least I'm doing it.

In college, the professors may not collect the homework or the meetings may not be necessary or can be done later, but one day, that professor might suddenly ask for that assignment attached to your paideia paper [true story] and those meetings might be extra credit and later turns into late. So, just do the work and all of it is gonna come back A+ [or at least with credit].